Employment Outcomes of Drug or Alcohol Addiction, and Obesity: Review

(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)

Monday 5th December 2016 Written Statements

[The Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work (Penny Mordaunt)]

Today I am publishing Professor Dame Carol Black’s independent review into the impact on employment outcomes of drug or alcohol addiction, and obesity (Cm 9336). This fulfils a manifesto commitment.

Dame Carol makes 13 recommendations for Government intended to help improve the employment rates for those with drug or alcohol addition, and obesity.

The review does not recommend addicts should be mandated to treatment, providing evidence that this would not improve employment outcomes, or meet legal or ethical concerns. The review makes clear recommendations for improving welfare and health services, building new evidence, and focusing on the role of employers—all with the aim of increasing job outcomes for people with addictions. There is a limited focus on obesity in the review, a reflection of the weak evidence that obesity directly causes unemployment.

The Government welcome the report and will carefully consider its findings. The Government are grateful to Dame Carol, and her team, for the hard work that has gone into this review.

[HCWS314]