It has been reported by the BBC that nearly a third of fit notes are for psychiatric problems. The data comes from NHS Digital, which has analysed fit notes from December 2014 to March 2017.

The NHS, on its website page devoted to mental health issues, highlights the fact that work can be beneficial to health and wellbeing. Our next public course “Ill Health Absences – Working Towards Return & Setting Fair Attendance” examines how to develop a return to work plan with an employee who has been absent on long term ill health arising from a physical or mental health issue.

This course will empower HR professionals to keep control of the absence management process and to avoid long term resourcing problems with no prospect of any solution in sight.  The course also explores the limits on how far an employer needs to go to accommodate on-going absences and/or modifications to attendance or performance standards. For more details and to book, please click here.

End Hunger has been actively campaigning to make a difference on holiday hunger over the summer break, including a meeting at City Hall in London and activists sending over 150 postcards to MPs asking them to tackle holiday hunger.

Next week there will be a chance to persuade the government to step up to the plate on the issue, with Frank Field MP presenting a bill on 5 September that would see funding for every local authority to end holiday hunger - along the lines of the Welsh Assembly Government’s Food and Fun project. The UK has the highest level of childhood food insecurity in the EU it is important we take steps to tackle food poverty.

End Hunger national conference

The End Hunger conference is coming together with leading academics, activists, foodbank volunteers and cross-party MPs. 

If you’re working for food justice in your community, join End Hunger on 17 October. You’ll learn about plans for the End Hunger UK campaign in 2018, and how you can help build cross-party support in Parliament for ending hunger in the UK. There will be high-profile speakers, policy discussion, and workshops to give you the skills you need to help build a powerful movement for food justice where you are.

Date and Time

Location

ABC Note: End Hunger UK is supported by many national organisations, including: Child Poverty Action Group; Church Action on Poverty; Fareshare; First Steps Nutrition; Food Ethics Council; Fabian Commission on Food and Poverty; The Food Foundation; Food Matters; Nourish Scotland; Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming; Trussell Trust; Independent Food Aid Network and Magic Breakfast.

Universal basic income and the future of work was written for the TUC by the Fabian Society. It examines the arguments and evidence for and against Universal Basic Income (UBI) policies, concluding that there are as many potential problems as benefits. It suggests that, if the aim is to support working people with the principal problems they face, such as job insecurity, income inequality, and low pay, policies that more directly address these problems are likely to be faster and more effective.

You can download the report here: https://www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/UBI.pdf

The 2017 Macquarie Youth Index reveals that young people's happiness and wellbeing are at their lowest levels since the study was first commissioned in 2009.

This report reveals that more than a quarter of young people do not feel in control of their lives, and that a crisis of confidence in their own abilities and future prospects is preventing them from realising their true potential.

Equally shocking is that many young people feel trapped by their situation, with almost a fifth saying they do not have the ability to change their circumstances if they want to. Things are even worse for young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEET), who are more likely to be unhappy and lacking in self-belief than those who are.

The Index takes an in-depth look into the views and outlooks of young people aged 16 to 25. It gauges young people’s feelings about their lives today and their feelings about the future.

Mental health:

• 78% of young people think there is a stigma attached to mental health issues
• 24% of young people would not confide in someone if they thought they were experiencing a mental health problem 
• 32% of young people who wouldn't talk about mental health worries think that admitting to a mental health problem could affect their future job prospects 
• 42% of young people who said they ahve experienced a mental health problem said they don't feel in control of their job prospects
• 56% of young people who said they have experienced a mental health problem didn't believe in themselves when they were at school

Mental health and feeling in control:

Feeling in control with the power to shape their own lives impacts positively on a young person’s mental health and overall outlook. However, the research finds that young people today are feeling increasingly unable to control their futures, and those who have experienced a mental health problem are even more likely to feel anxious about their circumstances.

Other key findings:

• More than a quarter of young people (28 per cent) do not feel in control of their lives
• A third of young people (36 per cent) do not feel in control of their job prospects
• More than one in ten (16 per cent) think their life will amount to nothing, no matter how hard they try
• A fifth of young people (18 per cent) do not think they can change their circumstances if they want to
• The situation is even worse for NEET young people, who are more likely to feel worried about their circumstances and future
• 34 per cent of young people think they will have a worse standard of living than their parents
• 42 per cent of young people feel traditional goals like owning a house or getting a steady job are unrealistic

“The potential consequences of failing to help these young people who are so clearly in need of support have huge implications for our nation’s future. We simply cannot allow them to be paralyzed by their circumstances and self-doubt. In the year ahead, we aim to help 60,000 vulnerable young people to believe in themselves again and take steps towards a brighter future, but we will need support from every quarter in order to reach our target. By working with us, you can be a part of the solution to the issues raised in this report and help young people to regain control of their lives.”

Dame Martina Milburn DCVO CBE

Chief Executive

The Prince’s Trust

Are you 18-30 and live near a train route to London? Areas include Colchester, Ipswich, Basildon, Southend, Rayleigh, Chelmsford, Rochford, Wickford, Stansted, Shenfield and Stratford.

Looking to get a customer service job within the railway industry?

The Prince's Trust, Greater Anglia and ESP are running an eight-week traineeship to support young people who are not in education, training or employment.

• Complete four weeks training and four weeks work experience with Greater Anglia
• Gain Diploma in Customer Service and support with personal development
• Improve your teamwork and communication skills, boost your confidence, develop your interview skills and build your CV
• Be offered a guaranteed interview upon successful completion. 
• Travel expenses refunded. Joining this traineeship will not affect your benefits 

Taster Day – Tuesday 26th Sep at the Stratford Training Centre.  Programme will run from Monday 2nd October – 24th Nov.

Interested?  

To join the course or find out more, please contact Claire Burgess on 07984 005 934 or Janet Craven 07768905602  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Judges in Strasbourg will today rule on the so-called Bărbulescu v. Romania case, in which a company fired an employee after monitoring his electronic communications. Expect 11 judgments today involving Turkey, Belgium and Montenegro.

The case of Bărbulescu v. Romania (application no. 61496/08) concerned the decision of a private company to dismiss an employee after monitoring his electronic communications and accessing their contents, and the alleged failure of the domestic courts to protect his right to respect for his private life and correspondence.

In today’s Grand Chamber judgment1 in the case, the European Court of Human Rights held, by eleven votes to six, that there had been: a violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life, the home and correspondence)  of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court concluded that the national authorities had not adequately protected Mr Bărbulescu’s right to respect for his private life and correspondence. They had consequently failed to strike a fair balance between the interests at stake.  In particular, the national courts had failed to determine whether Mr Bărbulescu had received prior notice from his employer of the possibility that his communications might be monitored; nor had they had regard either to the fact that he had not been informed of the nature or the extent of the monitoring, or the degree of intrusion into his private life and correspondence. In addition, the national courts had failed to determine, firstly, the specific reasons justifying the introduction of the monitoring measures; secondly, whether the employer could have used measures entailing less intrusion into Mr Bărbulescu’s private life and correspondence; and thirdly, whether the communications might have been accessed without his knowledge.

A UN panel has slammed the UK for creating a “human catastrophe” for disabled people, and is “going backwards” in areas such as education, health, transport and social security.

Following a major review, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) said a combination of funding cuts, rights restrictions and Brexit mean its fears about the UK outstrip those of anywhere else it has investigated in its 10-year history.

UN CRPD committee chair Theresia Degener said the investigation revealed that “social cut policies have led to a human catastrophe ... totally neglecting the vulnerable situation people with disabilities find themselves in.”

She said austerity measures are affecting 500,000 people, costing those with disabilities up to £3000 a year and pushing “vulnerable” people into work, despite their needs. The committee raised concerns over restrictions on the ability to choose where, how and with whom to live and cited evidence presented by charities and expert groups about in-school bullying and service cuts. Degener said: “The evidence that we had in front of us was just overwhelming.”

But the report praised action by the Scottish Government to include disability groups in planning and policy making and for their inclusion of disabled people in designing the Scottish social security system.

Image Courtesy Natasha Hirst: UN CRPD committee chair Theresia Degener. 

SNP MSP and convener of Holyrood’s Equalities and Human Rights Committee, Christina McKelvie, said: “The UK Government should be totally ashamed that the pursual of welfare cuts and an austerity agenda at all costs has led to this damning criticism from the United Nations Committee. Now the UN is telling them to change the sanctions regime and Personal Independence Payments will they finally listen?

“The UN’s report needs to act as a wake-up call. The UN could not be clearer – UK ministers’ record on disabled rights is shameful ... and must be changed.

But the report praised action by the Scottish Government to include disability groups in planning and policy making and for their inclusion of disabled people in designing the Scottish social security system.

SNP MSP and convener of Holyrood’s Equalities and Human Rights Committee, Christina McKelvie, said: “The UK Government should be totally ashamed that the pursual of welfare cuts and an austerity agenda at all costs has led to this damning criticism from the United Nations Committee. Now the UN is telling them to change the sanctions regime and Personal Independence Payments will they finally listen?

“The UN’s report needs to act as a wake-up call. The UN could not be clearer – UK ministers’ record on disabled rights is shameful ... and must be changed.

+++

ABC Note: A recent report by researchers at Oxford and Liverpool universities claimed the stress of the Work Capability Assessment was probably the main cause of 590 suicides and 279,000 cases of mental illness.

Those seeking work, or keen to find out about career development opportunities, will have the chance to speak to employers and training providers directly at a series of jobs fairs in towns held across Breckland.

The jobs fairs have been organised in partnership by Breckland Council and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), with support from a number of local organisations.

The events will take place this autumn in Dereham, Thetford, Swaffham, Attleborough, and Watton.

Cllr Adrian Stasiak, Executive Member for Growth and Commercialisation, said: "While jobs fairs are obviously of great value to the unemployed, it also allows those in employment who want to examine their options for a new career path, or to develop their skills, to talk directly to employers and training organisation in a relaxed and informal atmosphere.

"Job fairs such as these have a double benefit in both helping individuals find work, and strengthening regional businesses by helping them meet their recruitment needs locally. Breckland Council is committed to encouraging as many people into work as possible. Employment doesn't just affect individuals financially; it has significant effects on their personal wellbeing and their communities."

Julia Nix, East Anglia District Manager at Jobcentre Plus, said: "This is a great opportunity for Jobseekers across Breckland to find out more about the range of job vacancies available in the area. Jobcentre Plus will be on hand to help people with job applications, interview techniques and job searching."Job fairs will be taking place at:

• Dereham, Wednesday 6th September, 10:00am-1:00pm, Dereham Library

• Swaffham, Wednesday 13th September, 10:00am-1:00pm, the Assembly Rooms

• Attleborough, Friday 22nd September, 10:00am-1:00pm, Town Hall

• Thetford, Tuesday 26th September, 10:00am-1:00pm, the Carnegie Rooms

• Watton, Tuesday 3rd October, 1:00pm-4:00pm, Queens Hall

For the period April to June 2017, there were 22.3 million people aged 16 to 64 (54.2%) living in working households, up 0.8 percentage points over the year. A further 14.7 million people (35.7%) were living in mixed households, down 0.6 percentage points and 4.1 million people (10.0%) were living in workless households, down 0.2 percentage points.

Excluding student households, which are more likely to be workless than the rest of the population, there were 22.2 million people (54.8%) living in working households, 14.4 million people (35.6%) living in households classed as mixed and 3.9 million people (9.6%) living in workless households.

The number of people living in households where all members had never worked decreased by 81,000 over the last year and now stands at 379,000. Excluding student households, the number of people living in households where all members had never worked decreased by 42,000 and now stands at 276,000.

The SNP’s Social Justice spokesperson has condemned the UK government’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), after Freedom of Information requests revealed that the department spent almost £40m actively fighting appeals made by sick and disabled people challenging the loss of their benefits – despite the majority of appeals being successful.

Neil Gray MP said that the appeal success rate shows that the current system is failing and needs to be urgently reviewed to prevent people being forced through a stressful time. He added that the current system saw them lose much needed financial support, and called on the government to spend this money on services not legal battles.

According to The Independent’s FoI findings, the DWP in 2016 spent £22m processing claimants’ initial appeals against sanctions and a further £17m taking cases to courts that were not settled during the earlier stages in order to remove benefits crucial to those who are sick and who have disabilities.

Within this period the UK government lost 62% of tribunal cases when challenging those on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) – benefits which supports people who are sick or have disabilities that hinders their ability to work. The figure stands at 65% for tribunal cases against people on the Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

The findings come a week after the Chair of the influential UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities warned that the Tory government’s welfare cuts have created a “human catastrophe” for disabled people across the UK.

Neil Gray MP, the SNP’s Westminster Social Justice spokesperson, said:

“The figures revealed by The Independent are almost too staggering to believe. Put simply it shines the light on a callous Tory government that will attempt to stop people from receiving benefits at any cost, but will scrimp and save on providing support to those who need it most. We have seen this in particular with the shameful cut to ESA work-related activity group of £30 a week.

“Rather than supporting those that are sick and disabled, the UK government instead saw it fit to use almost £40m of taxpayers' money to needlessly bring claimants to courts to strip away financial support that is vital for their day to day needs. This is money that should be spent supporting our ill and disabled people not legal battles.

"The DWP seem to want to put further stress and anxiety on people. They must immediately end its cruel long-standing approach to those that are struggling in our society and instead adopt a policy that seeks to help those in positions of need, rather than pushing them closer to the brink."