Liberal Democrats in government have announced a further £12 million investment to help people with mental health conditions get back into work.

This ties in with the Liberal Democrats‘ commitment to bringing treatment for mental health problems out of the shadows and in line with physical health.

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The funding will be used in four pilot areas to test whether better coordination of mental health and employment services can help people to find and stay in work, whilst improving their mental health.

The pilot areas include Blackpool, Greater Manchester, North East Combined Authority and West London Alliance. They will trial a number of approaches, including:

• Support packages to help claimants create bespoke action plans and coordinate exisiting local support services
• Support for new employees to make sure they can stay in work and cope with anxiety and other ongoing problems
• Training employment advisors to identity mental health problems and for GPs to recognise the importance of work in improving mental health

Nick Clegg said:

“It is shocking to think that mental health is now the leading cause of illness in the workplace. It’s even more shocking that many of the people suffering are simply not getting the support they need.

“That’s why I’m working hard in government to bring mental health out of the shadows. I’m heading up a dedicated mental health taskforce and pushing for investment in pilots like this to help create a fairer society where people get the right support and treatment they need, when they need it.”