Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's Press release entitled £122 million employment boost for people receiving mental health support, published on 10 October 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of £122 million funding on helping people (a) find and (b) into work.

The £122m funding will enable the expansion of Employment Advisers in NHS Talking Therapies from the current 40% of England to the whole of England by Summer 2024. This joint programme by DWP, DHSC, and NHS England will see the recruitment of around an additional 700 employment advisers to support people with common mental health conditions to improve their mental health, whilst also helping them stay in, or find, work.

As the Employment Advisers programme is rolled out across England, we will be evaluating the impact on health and employment.

Evaluation of the trial of the service (across 40% of England) showed that Employment Advisers had a positive impact on mental health across all Talking Therapy client groups. Those who were out of work at entry to the service were 6 percentage points more likely to be in work at the end of treatment, compared to a matched comparison group which received IAPT support only.