Putting people at the heart of change: Unlocking the benefits of the Mayfield Review

The Keep Britain Working review, led by Sir Charlie Mayfield, calls on government to “reset the system” so more people can stay and thrive in work throughout their lives. It recognises that tackling health-based economic inactivity depends on supporting older Disabled workers - a group often hit hardest by barriers to good work.

But the review’s potential will only be realised if the government takes the next step: embedding people with lived experience at the center of its response.  

The importance of this can not be overstated. As Martine Connolly, Expert by Experience Steering Group Member of our own Supporting Disabled Older Workers project put it: 

Why lived experience is the key to unlocking culture change

The review rightly identifies there’s currently a “culture of fear” in workplaces, where both managers and employees are anxious about discussing health. Our Supporting Disabled Older Workers research showed how stigma around age and disability can stop people from applying for jobs, disclosing conditions, or asking for the adjustments they need to stay in work.

To break this cycle, government must co-design solutions with those who experience these barriers first-hand. People with lived experience can help identify what genuine inclusion looks like - and how to measure culture change beyond compliance.

Seeing work as part of life, not separate from it

Another change proposed by the review, is the introduction of the Healthy Working Lifecycle, a framework that reflects the different stages of a person’s health journey during employment. Whilst having a lot to offer promoting a healthy discourse between employees and employers, this cannot be achieved in isolation from the rest of people’s lives. Disabled older workers often balance health management, caring responsibilities, and financial pressures - sometimes at the expense of recovery.  

In this sense, adopting recommendations from the review cannot come at the expense of essential commitments to Disabled workers that only government can offer. Participants in our research told us that Access to Work and social care support are lifelines, but too often these systems don’t join up.

By listening to and working with lived experts, government can design employment policies that recognise how work, health, and care interconnect - ensuring reforms actually work in practice. This should include a commitment to sustaining and promoting effective resources including Access to Work, which is vital for many to stay in work.  

Taking an intersectional, co-produced approach

To deliver on Mayfield’s ambition for an inclusive labour market, government must move beyond one-size-fits-all solutions. Intersectional inequalities - linked to class, gender, ethnicity, and caring roles - compound disadvantage for many Disabled older workers. Only by involving people who live these realities can government ensure new standards and policies address the right barriers.

In practice, this should look like meaningful involvement with people with a wide range of lived experience in order to alleviate deepening inequalities experienced by employees.  

Sharing power to build trust and impact

The review’s proposed Vanguard Phase provides an opportunity to shape what inclusive workplaces look like. But to succeed, this must be done by supporting employers to work with employees  with  lived experience in a meaningful way, not rolling out new policies ‘to’ them. Our co-produced research showed that when Disabled older workers help define problems and test solutions, the results are more credible, effective, and trusted.

Embedding the Social Model of Disability, which says that people are disabled by barriers in society, not by their impairment or condition, is fundamental to underpin all approaches across policy areas. Whilst the Vanguard approach promises to see good practice shared in a ‘race to the top’ this cannot be done in isolation, and those who are furthest from the job market, and in industries and employment not represented by the coalition of the winning, must be supported with the same inclusive support. If not,  thousands of Disabled employees risk being left behind.

Freely available guidance for employers and job-seekers, which articulates tools and support is essential, and again should be co-produced and fully accessible.

The way forward

If the government is serious about tackling economic inactivity and culture change, it must be serious about sharing decision-making power with those who are most likely to win, or lose, from the proposed recommendations. Working closely with people with lived experience of disability, ageing, and work - from design to delivery to evaluation - will ensure the Mayfield Review’s recommendations achieve their full potential: creating workplaces where more Disabled people and people with long term health conditions can get on and thrive. 

Our Supporting Disabled Older Workers report sets out clear, practical, co-produced recommendations on how meaningful involvement can be achieved.