Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will have discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of including migraine as a category within the (a) Get Britain Working white paper and (b) workforce participation and productivity strategies.

In relation to the Get Britain Working White Paper, the Government has engaged with both internal and external stakeholders through existing fora and Government engagement structures. We will be carrying out further, in-depth engagement, and look forward to working with stakeholders during policy development and implementation.

Access to Work is a demand-led, personalised, discretionary grant that supports the recruitment and retention of disabled people in sustainable paid employment. The tailored nature of the scheme allows customers to receive the appropriate grant and support based on their specific health and disability-related needs, including migraines. Access to Work grants do not replace an employer’s duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments.

The goal is to open up opportunities to work and to support a healthier, more productive and inclusive nation, by helping more disabled people and people with health conditions like migraine to get appropriate work, get on in that work, and to return to work as quickly as possible if they leave it. This supports the Government priority of tackling economic inactivity, as set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper.

The latest data from the Office for National Statistics shows that 4.3 million working days were lost due to headaches and migraines in 2022. The represents 2.3% of all days lost.