The Autumn Budget is an opportunity for the Government to show that it truly understands the link between health and growth. The Chancellor has said she wants to “get Britain working.” But the truth is, the UK can’t grow its economy unless it keeps its people healthy enough to work.
We talk a lot about boosting productivity and tackling economic inactivity – yet the single biggest driver of workforce loss is preventable ill health. One in five working-age adults, over nine million people, are now economically inactive. Almost three million cite long-term sickness as the reason – the highest level on record. The cost to the economy? An estimated £85 billion a year.
This isn’t just a healthcare issue. It’s an economic emergency.
If the Government is serious about growth, the Autumn Budget must finally recognise preventative health as core economic policy – and give businesses the incentives and tools to deliver it.
Prevention: the missing link in the UK’s growth plan
Charlie Mayfield’s recent government review, Keep Britain Working, made the scale of the problem clear: millions are falling out of the workforce not because they want to, but because their health won’t let them work.
Many of these cases could have been prevented with early intervention – before sickness became long-term and livelihoods were lost. Yet our entire system is designed to react to illness, not prevent it. NHS waiting lists dominate headlines, but they are a symptom, not the root cause.
The NHS’s own strategy calls for a fundamental shift towards prevention – moving care from hospitals into communities and workplaces. But that shift can’t happen unless the Treasury, the NHS and business policy are joined up.
Right now, they’re not. And that’s why we’re stuck treating the symptoms while the underlying crisis deepens.
Why business has to be part of the solution
Employers are uniquely placed to spot early warning signs, intervene sooner, and embed wellbeing into working life. They understand their people better than any central system can. Through education, access to preventative services, and supportive workplace cultures, they can stop employees becoming part of the long-term sick cohort.
This isn’t just theory. Major employers – from Google to Sainsbury’s to British Airways – are already involved in initiatives like the Keep Britain Working Vanguard, proving that large organisations want to be part of the solution. But right now, government policy makes it harder, not easier, for them to invest.
The last Budget made prevention harder
Over the past year, in conversations with business leaders across the UK, we’ve heard a consistent message: employers want to invest in the health and wellbeing of their people, but it’s becoming harder to do so.
Recent changes to National Insurance contributions and other cost pressures have created real headwinds for investment in employee health. Businesses haven’t stopped caring about wellbeing – they’ve simply had to make tougher commercial choices in a challenging environment.
When the financial climate makes it harder to prioritise prevention, it discourages exactly the kind of long-term thinking the economy needs. That’s why we believe future policy should make it easier – and more economically sensible – for businesses to invest in keeping people healthy and in work.
What this Autumn Budget must do
If we want to tackle the UK’s £85 billion sickness crisis, the Autumn Budget must treat prevention as a growth policy and create conditions that make investing in health make business sense. There are lots of ways it could do this, including:
- Forward funding the prevention agenda – The NHS is planning a 10–20 year shift towards prevention. Treasury must fund that ambition now, sending a clear signal that prevention isn’t rhetoric – it’s the foundation of economic strategy.
- Introducing tax incentives for workplace health investment – Offer National Insurance reductions for employers that fund defined preventative interventions – from musculoskeletal and mental health support to physical activity programmes and occupational health. Define clear standards and reward those who meet them.
- Removing Insurance Premium Tax on health insurance – Health insurance isn’t a luxury good – it’s an essential component of national resilience. Removing IPT would make Health Cash Plans and private health cover more affordable, increase capacity in the system, and take pressure off the NHS.
- Creating Workplace Innovation Zones – Apply the freeports model to prevention. Offer tax incentives for businesses pioneering new workplace health and wellbeing solutions.
None of these are expensive. They are smart, targeted investments that reduce NHS burden, strengthen the workforce, and create sustainable economic growth.
South Yorkshire is already showing the way
Through the Sport Legacy Institute, a partnership between Westfield Health and the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, we’re building the UK’s first prevention-focused regional economy.
This is a collaboration between public, private and academic partners – a live experiment proving that prevention works, not just for health outcomes but for productivity and growth.
South Yorkshire is our national testbed. The lessons we learn here can inform how prevention-led growth is delivered across the UK, and provide the Government with an oven-made model that can easily be scaled.
A Budget that joins the dots
Businesses are ready. The NHS knows it must shift to prevention. Mayfield’s report has quantified the cost of inaction.
This Autumn Budget is the moment to join the dots – to align government, the NHS and business around one shared mission: reducing economic inactivity through better health.
That means real commitments, not warm words:
- Tax incentives.
- Policy clarity.
- Forward funding.
- Accountability for outcomes.
Health is the UK’s untapped growth strategy. The Autumn Budget must treat it like one. And in doing so, it can finally prove that prevention isn’t just good policy. It’s good economics.