The 2026 interim report of the Mayfield review, published on the 23rd of September, argues that ‘keeping more people healthy and in work is one of Britain’s largest and most attainable growth opportunities’ and sets out the review’s proposals for creating more accessible and inclusive workplaces.
In the latest update to the government’s ‘Keep Britain Working’ agenda published today, Sir Charlie Mayfield and his taskforce have set out initial proposals for building a new ‘Workplace Health System’ aimed at:
Building better, more inclusive workplaces,
delivering better workplace health provision, and
increasing data intelligence on workplace health and inclusion.
The government report that health-related economic inactivity is costing Britain around £212 billion a year or close to 7% of GDP. We are also seeing around 300,000 people with a health condition leaving the workforce each year. According to the report, achieving ‘a one percent increase’ in workplace participation would mean around 300,000 more people in work, with predicted annual financial benefits of between £3 billion and £8 billion initially, which could rise to a potential £9 billion to £18 billion as the proposed ‘Keep Britain Working’ programme matures.
The ‘Keep Britain Working: A National Growth Opportunity’ report sets out initial plans for developing and implementing a ‘Workplace Health System’. It makes clear that ‘this is not a spending programme’ and that the operational levers of change sit with employers developing more inclusive workplaces and employers and employees getting greater access to support through a new model of ‘Workplace Health Provision’ (WHP). The WHP system will facilitate discourse around how best to support continued work, remove barriers to ongoing work, develop and monitor ‘stay-in-work’ and ‘return-to-work’ plans, and provide trusted advice and tools for both employees and employers.
The review advocates a strong leadership and delivery role for Regional Mayors, Strategic Authorities and Devolved Governments in creating a joined-up health and employment support programme. The strategy focuses on developing better, more inclusive workplaces and the implementation of early interventions to:
‘better support people to be better in work, prevent a modest proportion of avoidable work loss, remove barriers, improve sustained return to work, and narrow the employment gap experienced by disabled people and people with health conditions.’
The ‘Keep Britain Working’ review in partnership with the British Standards Institution (BSI), have appointed a panel of experts to develop employer guidance making clear what good practice looks like in building more inclusive workplaces. This standard will be informed by insights and evidence, including from the Mayfield Vanguard employment partners, a set of volunteer employer organisations who are working with the Mayfield review to help develop and deliver change.
The interim report strongly emphasises the need for improved workplace health data to better understand and measure factors such as workforce retention and disability inclusion. As such, the review has developed a prototype ‘Work and Health Toolkit’ alongside the Civic Health Innovation Labs at the University of Liverpool to enhance data intelligence. The review also plans to establish a ‘Workplace Health Intelligence Unit’ (WHIU), to develop and collect standardised and nationally consistent workplace data. This Unit will provide feedback to employers and report publicly at least once a year.
The ongoing work of the ‘Keep Britain Working’ review will focus on building and testing these new proposals with the Vanguard employers over the next 12 months. The review taskforce will then develop a plan for a phased roll-out of the new ‘Workplace Health System’ in advance of the Government’s next spending review in 2027.
The new proposals place a great deal of responsibility on employers and devolved leaders to implement the proposed changes. It remains to be seen how a new ‘Workplace Health System’ can be properly funded and realised in practice. Key questions remain about how these changes can be delivered in an affordable, accessible and sustainable way for all employers, particularly for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
See the review document here