Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of making (a) early intervention mental health support and (b) physiotherapy provided by employers non-taxable benefits-in-kind.

The Government is exploring a range of policy options aiming to reduce ill-health related job loss. The consultation ‘Health is Everyone’s Business: Proposals to Reduce Ill Health-related Job Loss’ closed in October 2019.

It set out proposals to boost Government support available to employers to support employees who are managing health conditions in work and to manage sickness absence more effectively. It included proposals to encourage employers to take early, sustained and proportionate steps to support a sick employee to return to work, reform Statutory Sick Pay, improve occupational health availability and improve the provision of advice and support for employers. We have received a good response from a range of stakeholders, which we are reviewing.