The government’s March 2026 update on Keep Britain Working shows the programme moving beyond review and into implementation. The Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Business and Trade and the Department of Health and Social Care say work is now under way with Vanguard employers and regional partners to develop the Healthy Working Lifecycle Standard and associated Workplace Health Provision. The page was first published on 31 March 2026 and updated on 3 July 2026 to clarify that the progress reported relates to March. (gov.uk) Since the final report was published on 5 November 2025, the number of participating organisations has more than doubled. GOV.UK says 150 organisations employing around 1.5 million people across 24 sectors are now involved, alongside 10 mayoral or strategic authorities and representatives from all UK nations. (gov.uk)
That expansion matters because the policy problem is substantial. According to the March update and the underlying final report, more than one in five working-age adults are out of work and not looking for work, with 2.8 million people economically inactive because of health conditions. That is 800,000 more than in 2019, and the review warns the total could rise by another 600,000 by 2030 without action. The same material places the disability employment rate at 52.8 per cent, 29.5 percentage points below that of non-disabled people. (gov.uk) The government accepted the review’s recommendation for a three-year Vanguard phase, the creation of a Workplace Health Intelligence Unit and later work on possible incentive changes by the next Spending Review. In practice, that suggests ministers are using this phase to test an employer-led model before deciding whether broader system changes should follow. (gov.uk)
The Vanguard phase is organised around three outputs over three years. In 2026, the stated aim is to turn the Healthy Working Lifecycle into an employer-facing standard, define a quality framework for Workplace Health Provision, create the Workplace Health Intelligence Unit and settle the data requirements needed to measure absence, return-to-work and the participation and retention of disabled employees. (gov.uk) The later stages are intended to refine the standard in 2027, begin confidential data aggregation across employers and sectors, and use the resulting evidence in 2028 to inform policy changes and targeted incentives. That points to a staged implementation model rather than an immediate new compliance regime for employers. (gov.uk)
Year one is centred on three workstreams. According to the March update, the first of three eight-week employer-led sprint cycles has already started, with groups of six to 10 organisations examining prevention, stay-in-work, return-to-work and disability inclusion questions. Transport for London is leading the prevention sprint, Siemens the stay-in-work work, Google the return-to-work work, and the Business Disability Forum is supporting the disability inclusion strand. (gov.uk) Alongside that, more than 40 public and private providers are involved in early roundtables on Workplace Health Provision, covering case management, access to treatment, links between non-clinical and clinical pathways, and market development. A separate data sprint led by EDF is intended to define outcome measures and shape the future Intelligence Unit. (gov.uk)
One of the more consequential areas is the proposed approach to sickness absence. The update says the programme will examine how the fit note system could be improved, adding that 93 per cent of fit notes currently mark people as not fit for work. Officials want to test a model based on collaborative stay-in-work and return-to-work plans involving employers, employees and health providers, with the longer-term aim of reducing reliance on fit notes. (gov.uk) For employers, the immediate effect is not a new statutory duty but a clear indication of direction. The government is building a framework that places more weight on early intervention, reasonable adjustments, structured returns and better data, while also examining how support can be made affordable and accessible, particularly for smaller firms. (gov.uk)
Regional delivery is also becoming more concrete. The programme says 10 mayoral or strategic authorities are working with ministers, and employer workshops were due by the end of April across Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, the West of England, the North East, the East Midlands and South Yorkshire, with a particular focus on SMEs. Scotland has already held an employer workshop with Public Health Scotland, and similar sessions were planned in Wales and Northern Ireland during the spring. (gov.uk) The update also says the government plans to work with the British Standards Institution so that the Healthy Working Lifecycle is developed through a recognised standards process rather than through departmental guidance alone. For policy professionals, that is one of the clearest signs that Keep Britain Working is being framed as a practical operating standard for employers, not simply a short-term engagement exercise. (gov.uk)
Governance arrangements show that the programme has cross-Whitehall backing. The Leadership Board is made up of Pat McFadden, Peter Kyle, Wes Streeting and Sir Charlie Mayfield, with support from senior officials in DWP, DBT and DHSC and an external advisory group drawing on employer, union, disability and clinical expertise. (gov.uk) Taken together, the March 2026 update reads less like a holding statement and more like an implementation marker. The review phase established the case for change; the current phase is concerned with drafting the standard, testing workplace health provision and building the evidence ministers say they need before any wider incentives or system reforms are considered. For employers and regional partners, the practical question is now how quickly that experimental phase turns into an accepted national benchmark. (gov.uk)