Government plans to get long term sick back to work.

[Miley1967]

Does anyone have any information about how the Government are planning to get long term sick/ disabled back to work? I have read there is a paper being published/ announced this week. In my local area ( East Midlands) I have seen jobs advertised this week ( multiple jobs) for health and work coaches but employed through the NHS and based in Gp surgeries, so it does seem as though they are already taking steps to implement this.
Just a bit worried for some of my clients( I work in benefits advice work ) as to whether this is going to be pushed on them or if it's a scheme they will choose to be part of and just wondering what it is going to entail, will these coaches be working with employers who are genuinely going to be able to support this group of people into work?

It's harsh but why do they have childcare costs if they are currently on benefits long term so had a child they couldn't support.

Those who had kids whilst previously working are going to have a CV that will get them a job. The issue this is targeting isn't Sally down the road who was made redundant last month and already has three interviews lined up. It's John in number 62 who is 44 but has never worked a day in his life.

I've done some pretty rubbish jobs over the years but they paid the bills until I started a career.

Some people never have a career. But they still work.

You are worse off if you factor in the cost of actually working. These are often hidden costs like I explained above.

Your take home pay might be higher, but once you calculate fot travel, clothes, food and extra childcare it's a different picture.

@DancefloorAcrobatics I know people say this, but it is rarely true.

It is for the child free who get fuck all

@JenniferBooth the child free get fuck all on benefits as well though. You really want to pay all your daily costs on a budget of £91 a week?

No they don't because they have no money to use a train so they are stuck on buses for hours

This is the kind of cruel, unhelpful comment that this subject gets. As if everyone on disability benefits is simply too lazy, or has never worked a day in their lives. And it's utter BS.

For fucks sake. Yes I'm sure there are a lot of people on long term sick who could probably do some kind of job. But this isn't going to make them suddenly develop a work ethic.

All this ridiculous plan is going to achieve is forcing a bunch of people into roles they aren't capable of and then plummeting them into debt when they get sanctioned through no fault of their own.

By the same logic you might as well say that some kids are lazy in PE so we're going to get everyone to run a marathon. Oh that dude has no legs and is paralysed from the neck down? Well he still has to do it or we'll fine him.

It makes no fucking sense. This government is genuinely off their nut if they think this will help anyone.

What has not having children got to do with anything? I was child free for 38 years so worked for 20 years and got 'fuck all' then as well...what is your point?

@ForRealTurtle - I have been in this situation where I had to calculate the cost of taking a job. Starting by calculating the costs of keeping a car on the road , the extra costs of childcare, even if it's just providing a packed lunch and extra food cost as I simply don't have time & energy to cook cheply from scratch every night. Try that on nmw. And it's not just the financial aspect either.

Working is a complex entity, someone who has been out of work long term, needs more than the incentive of a few extrav quid to go back.... as I said above, we need to understand the phycology of being unemployed and on benefits. We need to understand at what point does the safety net turn into a comfort blanket instead of labeling every other person as work shy scroungers.

You do know that some disabled people do work, don't you? And many worked for years, struggling along until their health gave up and they no longer could? These people all pay, and have paid taxes.
I'm sick of ignorant comments like this.

🤔 you also need employers who are patient understanding and supportive.
But that's a whole new line of discussion.

(I know my employer would drag you through disciplinary ending in dismissal if you have to much time off sick. And for the ones saying it is a protected characteristic, there are legal ways of managing people out...) The whole thing is a red herring destined to fail.

The point I am making is that "All the increase in non-working must be LC!" makes little sense, since we have not seen similar increases in other countries, where COVID also did the rounds among the population.

Your point is incorrect. The U.K. has a lower than average rate of LC per capita compared to other OECD countries. You are wrong to think that LC is being overstated/overestimated.

https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2024/06/the-impacts-of-long-covid-across-oecd-countries_f662b21c/8bd08383-en.pdf

This is going to be one of the biggest hurdles I would agree. Businesses, for obvious reasons, need good & reliable staff and especially for smaller businesses as someone mentioned earlier on this thread they’re unlikely to take the risk of hiring someone that could be off for weeks on end. It’s a really difficult one because I don’t really know what the solution is, potentially the civil service or NHS could lead by example but then if people are having to wait longer for things as a result of gaps in staff the public will be in uproar about how the gov is wasting tax payer money, or if they essentially hire double the people actually needed to cover those who need the time off they’ll be raked over the public still for wasting tax payer money for over hiring. There’s no one easy solution.

@DancefloorAcrobatics I did cook every night cheaply whilst working full time. I used to get home from work at 8pm on the bus (shift work) and then start cooking for everyone.
The psychology of being unemployed is that people lose confidence to do a job and lose work habits or never develop them.

I can’t imagine it repeated daily because it doesn’t happen daily.

You have no idea why 4 could not or did not attend.
Perhaps their conditions worsened while waiting and they were physically unable to undergo elective heart surgery- this happens.

Perhaps one of the surgeons tested positive for Covid (2yrs ago was 2022- tail end of covid) or was otherwise ill or called away and so they cancelled some of the surgeries.

When I went in for surgery, it was a full house and they ended up turning people away due to an emergency that came in, making the operating room unavailable.

There definitely are people who want to stay on benefits and not work- I know one of them.

There reason there is no way that 10% of the working age population are not able to do any work at all, is because it is only 6.5% of the working age population are disabled and unable to work.

Why would the disability benefit bill need to be brought down? These are meant to be needs based benefits to ensure disabled people can live independently and afford the minimum basics. The “bill” isn’t a zero sum pie where the disabled have to fight over it like some sort of perverse hunger games.

Where did you find your “7% of 25 year olds are too sick to work” figure?

By uneconomic you mean less profitable.
No job is worth less than minimum wage.
You are advocating exploitation of the poor.

This is not true at all. Minimum wage is £1,800/mo, which is 50% more money than the £1200 you are saying. You also can’t get a council tax reduction for most mental illnesses.

@LoremIpsumCici you get a council tax reduction for PIP

No you don't. I only get a reduction because I live alone and my income. I still have to pay 20%