Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 29
29
Not Addressed
Paragraph: 124
We welcome the publication of the Government’s response to the Health is everyone’s business consultation,...
Recommendation
We welcome the publication of the Government’s response to the Health is everyone’s business consultation, which closed in 2019. We look forward to scrutinising the Government’s proposals in greater detail, particularly on improving access to occupational health for people in smaller businesses, which may not have dedicated HR functions. We recommend that the Government set out, in response to this report, more detail about its plans to test and evaluate the impact of a subsidy for SMEs and the self-employed, including its planned timetable.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government states that detailed proposals from the Green Paper consultation will be brought forward in a White Paper in 2022, focusing on the benefits system and enabling people to work independently. This response does not provide the specific detail or timetable requested for testing and evaluating a subsidy for SMEs and the self-employed regarding occupational health.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
124
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government · verbatim extract
Not Addressed
The Health is Everyone’s Business (HiEB) consultation response was published in July 2021 and aims to reduce ill-health related job loss and see 1 million more disabled people in work from 2017 to 2027. The measures Government is taking forward provide greater clarity around employer/ employee rights and responsibilities; recognise the important role of Occupational Health (OH); re-enforce the need for employers to have access to clear and compelling information and advice that is easy to understand, trustworthy and accessible, and improve access to expert support services such as OH when needed. 20 Disability employment gap: Government response Government is working with the Occupational Health (OH) sector to improve access to quality, cost effective, expert work and health support. Evidence shows that cost is one of the main reasons for not purchasing OH among small- medium employers (SME) and the self-employed. Lack of knowledge about the benefits of OH and how to purchase this through the commercial market is also a barrier for SME and the self-employed. Many employers will have no awareness or experience of procuring or using OH for themselves and there is limited guidance targeted at SMEs and self-employed people. We are continuing to explore the efficacy of co-funding OH services, through a financial incentive scheme, and are working on ways to test this to inform further development. Initially we plan to test incentivising expert-led, work and health assessments that help employees to remain in, or return to work, for SMEs and the self-employed. This test will be robustly evaluated and findings, alongside developments in OH workforce and innovation policies, and affordability, will inform our approach. At this stage, we are not committing to the introduction of a financial incentive, but we are interested in the strength of the case to do so and building evidence on whether OH incentives and purchasing support can increase access to OH services for employees of SMEs and the self-employed, and the effect on employee outcomes. We expect to launch a user-research exercise this financial year. This will work with employers and OH providers to explore effective ways of delivering financial incentives and support to navigate the market. These findings will be used to determine the further development. Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
Read the full response on Parliament ↗