New approaches to supporting people with mental health conditions to stay in work are to be tested by four pilots.
The government has provided £12m to test whether better coordination of mental health and employment services could help reduce sickness absence and welfare benefits.
Local government minister Kris Hopkins said: ‘Mental health is a big problem but we can do something about it. As the successful Troubled Families programme has shown, by bringing different services together in a way that works for the people who need them, we can get better results for individuals and save money for the taxpayer too.
‘These programmes will help show how better coordinated health, care and employment services can get people back to work or reduce their sickness absences. That’s not only good for businesses and the economy but, more even importantly, can help make people healthier and happier.’
The pilots will trial:
- support packages to help claimants create bespoke action plans
- support for new employees to make sure they can stay in work
- training employment advisers to identify mental health problems