Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help reduce the number of people over the age of 60 that have had to retire as a result of ill-health.

The Department set out its strategy to see one million more disabled people in work by 2027 in the 2017 Command Paper “Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability”. A key element of this is action to help keep people (including older workers) with health conditions in work. We are already investing in testing new interventions to support people, including our Health-Led Trials, and the Government is working to ensure employers and key stakeholders across all sectors adopt and implement the core and enhanced mental health standards set out in Thriving at Work: The Stevenson / Farmer review of mental health.

To support older people falling out of labour market due to health conditions, the Government has extended the right to request flexible working for all employees with 26 weeks’ continuous service with their employer. Access to flexible working practices, such as flexi-time, compressed hours and remote working, is key to helping older workers stay in the labour market.

We are also exploring further ways to reduce the number of people who leave work each year for health reasons and will consult on measures to encourage and support all employers to play their part. This consultation will also propose ways to improve access to occupational health.

Background

In February 2017 Government published an employer-led Strategy Fuller Working Lives: a partnership approach, which sets out the importance of Fuller Working Lives for employers and individuals. It also sets out action Government is taking to support older workers to remain in the labour market.

Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability published in November 2017 set out an ambitious and comprehensive programme of action to support disabled people and people with long term physical and mental health conditions to get into and stay in work and progress in rewarding careers. This action spans the workplace, health and welfare settings.

Since the launch of the publication, progress has been made in a number of areas including:

• Health Led Trials, the worlds largest trial of Individual Placement and Support, testing whether the internationally proven model to support people with severe mental health conditions to find sustained work can be as effective to those with different conditions.
• More than doubled the number of Employment Advisors in IAPT services, ensuring that more people with mental health problems receive employment support to them get into or remain in work.
• Undertaken a substantial package of activity within the health system itself, both to support healthcare professionals to have effective, appropriate, work conversations with their patients, and are exploring ways to reform the fit note.