Life coaches and running clubs will be recommended to those on long-term sickness leave under government plans to get people back to work. Ministers are to launch a scheme to help reduce the numbers signed off sick in England. There are 2.2 million people claiming universal credit with no work requirements. The number of workers taking sick leave has hit a 10-year high. Jobcentres will be encouraged to refer people for advice and therapeutic recreation, including gardening clubs. Doctors, employers, jobcentres, social workers and charities will be encouraged to suggest therapy and life coaching under plans to create a national occupational health service and reduce the number of people GPs sign off from work. Community activities such as singing, cooking or gardening clubs will also be offered through NHS “social prescribing” initiatives. Mel Stride, the work and pensions secretary, and Victoria Atkins, the health secretary, said the scheme was not a “one size fits all” but they hoped it would work with other services to help people stay in employment. They told the Times: “We know the longer someone spends out of work, the harder it becomes for them to find a job. We also know that one in five of those claiming the highest level of health benefits want to work and feel they could do so with the right support.” The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has previously committed to tackling the growing numbers of those too ill to work. The pilots will involve 15 areas testing a service known as WorkWell, which involves work coaches, physiotherapy and mental health treatment. After the trials, the government hopes to expand the scheme nationally but key elements of it will not take effect until 2025. Atkins and Stride said: “Where someone could fall out of work and on to long-term sickness benefits, WorkWell is designed to swoop in and provide the support that people need to stay in work, or return as soon as possible.” The shadow employment minister, Alison McGovern, told the Times the scheme was “all too little and it’s far too late”. More than half a million young people in the UK say they are out of work due to long-term illness, a 44% increase in just four years. Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that more than 560,000 people aged between 16 and 34 were economically inactive – meaning they were not in work or seeking work – in the first three months of 2023 due to long-term sickness. The findings, which experts connect to a growing mental health crisis and an underinvestment in health services, are also reflected in other studies.