07 March 2007

Lord McKenzie

Speech for SOHAS event

Wednesday, 7th March 2007

[Check against delivery]

Thank you for inviting me here to attend today’s event.  Somewhat unusually for a Minister I hope to be doing at least as much listening as talking this morning!

I have been in post for just two months as Minister in the Department for Work and Pensions, but I have already been struck by the importance of local stakeholders and local partnerships to the health and work agenda.  If we are truly to make a difference and improve the lives of some of our most disadvantaged citizens, it will not be primarily due to those of us in Whitehall and Westminster, but to the efforts of people like you here in Sheffield and elsewhere in the country.

We in DWP are very interested in what is happening here in South Yorkshire.  We want to learn from what you and other groups like you are doing already, as we try to embed the principles of the Health, Work and Well-being Strategy in service delivery across the country.

I’ll say more on this a bit later but first perhaps it would be helpful to set this work in the wider context

Background: motives of welfare reform

We are currently in the process of taking our Welfare Reform Bill through the House of Lords.  This Bill is primarily about helping people on incapacity benefits to realise their ambitions of a return to work.

Let me be clear that these reforms are not about forcing people off of benefits; forcing them into work; or forcing them to undertake work-related activity that would be detrimental to their health or well-being.

Of course we would like there to be fewer people on incapacity benefit.  But the reason we are carrying out these reforms is because we believe that work is a right and that this right is as important as any other. Since 1997 we have set about implementing the most profound extension of disability rights this country has ever seen.  Our welfare reform proposals are simply a further step along this journey.

So why do we think work is important?  Well we know that work is good for individuals, their families and, by lifting people out of poverty, it also benefits communities and leads to improved social and financial inclusion.  We really do believe that work is the best route out of poverty.

But we also know that work is good for our health and well-being.  There is strong scientific evidence that not only is being out of work associated with poor physical and mental health, but that being in work is good for health and returning to work can have a positive impact on most health problems that people may have.

And we also know that over 80% of incapacity benefit recipients want to work, and that most will be capable of doing so, provided they get the right support.

This goes to the heart of our welfare reform proposals.  Up until recently the vast majority of people claiming benefit because of a health condition or disability have not received any support to help them move closer to employment. 

In recent years we have made very good progress.  For example through the New Deal for Disabled People and more recently through our very successful Pathways to Work pilots – we’ll hear more about the Pathways experience in South Yorkshire a little later.

However, we have only just scratched the surface and we now want to offer this type of support to the widest number of customers possible.

This is why we are replacing Incapacity Benefit with the new Employment and Support Allowance.  Instead of being a negative benefit focused on customers’ incapacity and what they can’t do, the new benefit will be more positive and will focus much more on what a customer can do, despite the challenges that they may face. 

The revised and improved test for the benefit will assess this capacity and, although it will look at the health and other barriers that exist, more importantly it will identify the interventions that might help people overcome these barriers and make a return to work.

Meanwhile, we are extending Pathways to Work across the country, so that these interventions, including health interventions will help people manage or overcome their condition, are available to as many of our customers as possible.

We will expect most of our customers to engage in this process, even if they are not likely to be ready for work for some time to come.  This is part of our rights and responsibilities agenda – and we are determined not to write anyone off.

However, those customers who are most disadvantaged by their health condition or disability will not be required take part.  These customers will be placed in a special group, where they will receive increased financial support with no additional requirements attached. They may, nevertheless volunteer to participate and access the support which is on offer.

We know that we have made good progress in helping those with health conditions and disabilities move into employment. But, we know that there is much more to do and that we must go further. This is why we asked David Freud to review the Government’s welfare to work strategy.

Along with recognising the progress we have made, Freud says that we should do more to help those who have been on incapacity benefits and other benefits for a long time and that we should expect more in return. These arguments build on the successes of Pathways to work and the New Deal for Disabled People.

David Freud has set out a compelling framework for the next stage of welfare reform which the government must now consider carefully.

Health, work and well-being

But if we are to achieve our aspiration of having an 80% employment rate, we can’t just help those who have already fallen out of employment - we have to do more to prevent them from falling out of work in the first place.

Key to this is working to prevent healthcare problems from arising and helping to retain and rehabilitate people when they do.

This is what the Health, Work and Well-being strategy is all about.  It’s a recognition that while we have made progress, many challenges remain. 

The figures speak for themselves:

• 164 million days of sick leave taken last year
• 30 million days lost to work related ill-health
• 600,000 new people flowing onto incapacity benefits

The impact on the economy, on the health service and on society is obvious.

This is why government has had to act.  And for probably the first time it is acting together on this.  The strategy is led jointly by DWP, the Department of Health, the Health and Safety Executive and our health colleagues from Scotland and Wales. 

And it brings together other departments such as the Treasury, Communities and Local Government and of course the Department of Trade and Industry.

This joint working seems obvious and simple.  Well, obvious it may be but simple I can assure you it isn’t!  Despite good intentions in the past, this is probably the first time these departments have worked together on this subject in real partnership.

The strategy has a number of goals:

• We want to ensure that the general health of the working age population improves;
• We want to prevent work-related illness and injury, but also to go further and use the workplace as an opportunity for general health improvement;
• We want to respond early when health problems arise – and, combined with this, ensure that the necessary interventions are easily and speedily available;
• And we need to help people to better manage their conditions so that they can lead as full a life as possible;
• Finally, we must also ensure that appropriate rehabilitation support and workplace adaptations are available for those who have been out of work because of ill-health, enabling them to make that leap back into work as soon as possible.

Centrally we are developing a number of programmes and initiatives to help make this happen.

For example, we are working to engage and support employers through the expansion of Workplace Health Connect and Department of Health’s Action on Stigma programme.

We are testing the impact of providing increased access to simple psychological therapies.  And I know that one of the demonstration sites isn’t a million miles from here, in Doncaster.

And we are introducing a range of education and training programmes to make current and future healthcare professionals more informed on work and health matters.

We have appointed Dame Carol Black as the first National Director for Health and Work.  Since she was appointed last summer, Carol has worked extremely hard to meet as wide a range of stakeholders as possible, engaging them on the agenda, and importantly getting their opinions on what works, what doesn’t and what we need to do to move forward the strategy.

The local challenge

This engagement is really critical, as one of the key pillars of the strategy is that it recognises that government can only do so much, and that success can only be achieved by the involvement and commitment of a wide range of stakeholders.  In particular, we need local government, employers, trade unions, the general public, healthcare professionals, insurance companies and voluntary organisations to play their part.

But we don’t just need them engaged with the agenda, we need them engaged with each other.  Only by working together to joint goals, focused on the needs of the local population, will these groups reach their potential.

Having read your framework, this is what you are doing here in Sheffield and is the reason why I am here today.  It is local action like this that will breed success.  We need to learn from you and your work and from the other examples of activity underway.

Not just learning what they are doing and whether it works.  But also why?  What were the motivations and what brought people together in the first place.  And what can we do to encourage others to follow these examples? I would also like to understand what you see as the barriers to further and faster progress.

The reason I say this is that in most parts of the country these partnerships simply don’t exist.  Local authorities aren’t leading the way on this agenda; health and employment services remain divorced; and local employers and other stakeholders remain disengaged.

You are very much ahead of the game in Yorkshire, with strong partnerships not just here in Sheffield but in Leeds and Bradford too.  We need to encourage this type of activity across the country.

I think it important that local authorities and local strategic partnerships take these issues seriously and get involved in driving the strategy forward.  I am convinced that Local Strategic Partnerships and Local Area Agreements are essential to effective delivery generally, but in this agenda, which relies on so many stakeholders, they may prove critical.

The recent Local Government White Paper will be important in this.  It recognises that central to the effective delivery of public services is local leadership, local partnership and local empowerment.  And it puts in place frameworks to allow this to happen.

The White Paper sets out how local partners can contribute to tackling health issues.  But importantly it states that this work shouldn’t be limited to just “core” health issues, such as heart disease or cancer, but can and should include wider issues, such as Health, Work and Well-being. 

This approach is essential – we in government can no longer look at our work in silos, but must increasingly look across departmental boundaries, looking at issues as they affect people, not as we wish to label them.

As well as having frameworks that support strong local partnerships though, perhaps we also need practical tools? For example, would other fledgling partnerships benefit from a toolkit, informed by experiences of groups like yourselves?  Groups that to some degree have had to write the script as they go along. How can we share the learning?

And what about the Regional Development Agencies?  What role can they play?

It is questions like these that I will challenge my officials to answer over the coming weeks and months, as we gain a better understanding of what is already happening, what the best practice is and how we might help to replicate this activity. 

But let me assure you that we’re not looking to produce anything prescriptive or bureaucratic here.  I think partnerships should be given freedom to develop in their own style, managed by local partners and focused on local priorities and local people.  But anything we can reasonably do to smooth this process, we will.

The benefits of success of the strategy are for all to share.  They’re not just the obvious benefits of a healthier, happier and more productive society.  But tackling this challenge will also reduce social exclusion and poverty, enable regeneration and growth, and bring communities together.

Your leadership and innovation demonstrates that we can succeed and I should like to place on record my thanks and admiration for your endeavours.