UK Expands Scheme Helping People With Mental Health Issues Find Jobs

A man walks past a job centre in Manchester, England, on July 8, 2020. (Phil Noble/Reuters)

The UK government has expanded a scheme aimed at helping people with mental health problems find work.

The government is investing £122 million ($135 million) to extend a service providing those who receive mental health support with employment advice to help them stay in work or return to the job market quicker, the Department of Work and Pensions announced on Oct. 10.

The service is already fully operational in 40 percent of the country including Cheshire and The Wirral. Over the next three years, it will be extended nationally with recruitment and training of around 700 employment advisers.

Under the scheme, up to 100,000 people with common mental health problems like stress, anxiety, and depression will have access to an employment adviser and get support to “start, stay, and succeed in work,” the government said.

It comes at a time when the UK is facing acute labour shortages, which are affecting the country’s economic recovery.

Hundreds of thousands of people have left the labour market altogether since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), there are 640,000 more “economically inactive” people in the UK now than before the pandemic, around 350,000 people of working age have been signed off as long-term sick.

‘Drive Down Inactivity’

Chloe Smith, the work and pensions secretary, said the expansion of the scheme will “drive down inactivity” and help boost economic growth.

She said: “The government’s growth-focused agenda will deliver jobs, higher wages, and greater opportunities—and I am delighted that people who have faced barriers to entering the workforce due to poor mental health will now be able to access support across England.

“Helping people access both clinical support for their mental health as well as employment advice gives them the tools they need to get into or return to work. This is vital to helping drive down inactivity and growing our economy so we can deliver more money and support for public services such as these.”

Thérèse Coffey, the health secretary and deputy prime minister, said the move will improve the mental wellbeing of the nation and also grow the economy.

“Good physical health and mental wellbeing of the nation is also good for the economic health of the nation and this government is committed to supporting those not working due to ill health,” she said.

“Giving people receiving mental wellbeing support access to an employment adviser will help them start, stay, and succeed in work—improving their wellbeing and resilience as well as growing our economy.”

PA Media contributed to this report.