Cabinet Office Social Exclusion Taskforce

Main navigation

Work key for people with severe mental health conditions, says new report

CAB/112/09 
7 December 2009

More people with severe mental health conditions should be in work, according to a new Government report published today.

The report ‘Work, Recovery and Inclusion’ outlines that not only can people with the most severe mental health conditions work, but that working positively benefits their mental health and can support their recovery.

The report sets out a vision for a radical increase in the number of people from this group in employment by 2025, with clear steps to making this achievable. It calls for public services to work together, for more targeted support for those who have jobs to keep them and for public services to employ more people with severe mental health conditions.

‘Work, Recovery and Inclusion’ incorporates the delivery plan for the Socially Excluded Adults PSA (PSA 16) mental health client group. PSA 16 is one of the Government’s top priorities and aims to increase the number of vulnerable groups into a home and a job. The Social Exclusion Task Force coordinates this work across Government, and this report is the culmination of the work of four Government departments – Department of Health, Department of Work and Pensions, Business, Innovation and Skills and the Cabinet Office.

‘Work, Recovery and Inclusion’ forms part of the Government’s response to the Perkins review, also published today along with New Horizons, and ‘Working our way to better mental health: a framework for action’.

Angela Smith, the Cabinet Office’s Minister for Social Exclusion, said:

“This report clearly presents the benefits of work for people with mental health conditions, and should spur more people from this group into work.

“It sets down an important vision for everyone. Public services must work together to get more people with severe mental health conditions into work, employers and the public must value the input of people with mental health conditions, and people with severe mental health conditions must have the clear aspiration and expectation to work.”

For a copy of the report, visit http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/social_exclusion_task_force.aspx

Notes to editors

• New Horizons is DH’s framework to enable England’s strategic health authorities to deliver their regional plans for improving mental health and mental health services.
• Working our way to better mental health: a framework for action, the national mental health and employment strategy, sets out the Government’s overarching ambitions for mental health and employment, covering both mild mental health problems as well as the group in WRI.
• Perkins Review: Realising ambitions: better employment support for people with mental health conditions was commissioned by DWP from Rachel Perkins to undertake a review of mental health and employment for people who are out of work and in the benefits and welfare to work system.

Tel: 020 7276 0400 – Fax: 020 7276 0618
www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Out of hours telephone 07699 113300 and ask for pager number 721338