DWP work crackdown for Birmingham and Black Country as 645,000 sick notes issued

The Department for Work and Pensions has announced details of a new crackdown to boost employment and stop people from ending up on incapacity benefits. It will include Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country where almost 645,000 sick notes have been issued in 12 months to write people off from working.

The West Midlands is among the hotspots for what Prime Minister Rishi Sunak labelled a "sick note culture" in his recent speech on welfare reforms. Mr Sunak said: "We don't just need to change the sick note – we need to change the sick note culture so the default becomes what work you can do – not what you can't.

"Building on the pilots we've already started, we're going to design a new system where people have easy and rapid access to specialised work and health support to help them back to work from the very first Fit Note conversation."

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In the first steps of the new clampdown, the DWP this week announced a new initiative to help people find work or stay in their current employment rather than going on long-term sickness benefits.

The £64 million WorkWell scheme will connect people to local support services including physiotherapy and counselling. Pilot schemes will start in October in the 15 areas where most sick notes are being handed out and the scheme could then be rolled out nationally.

Latest figures show there are currently 2.8 million people who are economically inactive due to long-term sickness, a near-record high. The fit note process is often the first step to someone falling out of work and into inactivity, the DWP said, with 11 million of these notes issued by GPs last year and 94 per cent of people deemed "not fit for work."

The DWP said: "Many of these are repeat fit notes issued without any advice, resulting in a missed opportunity to help people get the appropriate support they may need to remain in work."

As part of major reforms of the system, people who ask to be signed off as unable to work will be referred to WorkWell where they can access local employment support services. Some of the WorkWell pilots are in areas of the country with some of the highest numbers of fit notes issued, such as Greater Manchester and the Black Country where a combined total of over one million fit notes were issued last year.

The DWP added: "We are also rolling out 'fit note trailblazers' in some of the WorkWell pilot areas to ensure people who request a fit note have a work and health conversation and are signposted to local employment support services so they can remain in work. The trailblazers will trial better ways of triaging, signposting, and supporting people looking to receive a fit note and will be used to test a transformed process to help prevent people with long-term health conditions falling out of work, including referral to support through their local WorkWell service."

Total number of fit notes issued (Jan-Dec 2023)

Birmingham and Solihull: 334,072

Black Country: 310,812

Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire: 191,192

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough: 137,566

Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly: 95,934

Coventry and Warwickshire: 243,508

Frimley: 112,259

Herefordshire and Worcestershire: 150,606

Greater Manchester: 744,442

Lancashire and South Cumbria: 455,436

Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland: 192,650

North Central London: 262,733

North West London: 348,112

South Yorkshire: 322,958

Surrey Heartlands: 130,341

The list is based on areas defined by separate NHS Integrated Care Boards rather than parliamentary constituencies or council wards.

How will the new scheme work?

The DWP provided an example of a "WorkWell user journey" for a person who is already working but has been signed off and is on the verge of going on to long-term sickness benefits:

• The person is employed but chronic back pain and depression means they have been signed off work and are considering stopping altogether, leaving them financially vulnerable.

• They are referred to WorkWell by their GP, employer, or local service.

• They meet with a Work and Health Coach for a work and health assessment to understand their health and social barriers to work and develop a plan to overcome them.

• They are signposted to in-house WorkWell services – four sessions with a physiotherapist, a meeting with a counsellor, and a meeting with a Human Resource Advisor for employment advice.

• Their plan also includes referrals to other relevant local services that will enable them to overcome their barriers to work. This includes training opportunities to help them explore new career opportunities; social prescription to a support group tackling loneliness; and speaking to Citizens Advice for financial advice.

• The plan should ensure they can remain at work. They continue to meet with their Work and Health Coach, who checks their progress and offers further work and health advice as needed.

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