The Project findings were launched on 22nd October 2008. The final Project report together with the evidence base for the Project, including scientific reviews, is available from the Project Outputs page.

The aim of the Foresight Project on Mental Capital and Wellbeing has been to advise the Government on how to achieve the best possible mental development and mental wellbeing for everyone in the UK in the future.

The Project has used the best available scientific evidence to develop a vision for:

• the opportunities and challenges facing the UK over the next 20 years and beyond, and the implications for everyone's mental development and mental wellbeing
• signposts to what we all need to do to meet the challenges ahead – Government, individuals and business

New research concludes that more than 90 per cent of people with health problems can be helped to return to work by following a few principles of good health care and work place management. Simple measures, alongside structured support for those who need extra help, could reduce long term sickness absence and the number of workers going on to long term incapacity benefits by up to 60 per cent.

Evidence from the review into vocational rehabilitation, Vocational Rehabilitation: What works, for whom, and when? shows effective return to work depends on two key strands:

1. Healthcare which includes a focus on work - this means early intervention which is tailored to meet the individual needs
2. Workplaces that are accommodating - incorporating a proactive approach to supporting return to work and the temporary provision of modified work

The Green Paper No One Written Off: Reforming Welfare to Reward Responsibility included proposals to give people more support through a personalised back to work programme to address their health and skills needs precisely to address these issues.

The research, from the Social Policy Research Unit at the University of York, also found many employers and employees are very supportive of mental health conditions. Research conducted found that the majority of people with mental health problems, who had talked about their condition at work, reported colleagues were positive and constructive.

The research data in this book indicate that, collectively, adults from Britain's black and minority ethnic communities participate in learning in similar proportions to the general adult population. However, this conceals significant differences between different minority ethnic groups, with some exhibiting extremely low levels of participation in adult learning.

It is clear that the challenge is most extreme for adults identifying themselves with the Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities. For women, the rate is lower still. That said, it is comforting to note that the decline in levels of participation amongst Pakistani adults is less marked than for other groups.

These findings are a challenge to the Government's commitment to ensuring social cohesion and access to the labour market to all communities in the UK through lifelong learning.

A report commissioned by the TUC and published on 09/02/08 reveals a huge gap between the present contribution migrant workers make to the UK economy, and the contribution they could make if their skills and qualifications were recognised by employers.

'Migrant workers in the labour market' reveals how many migrant workers are trapped in low-skill, low-pay jobs with poor conditions that do not use their skills and experience gained back home. Too often they find themselves working well below their capabilities on the bottom of the jobs ladder, while British workers with similar skills and qualifications are much more senior.

The research highlights a disturbing lack of awareness among employers about the skills and qualifications migrant workers can offer them, and a systematic failure to employ migrants in jobs that allow them both to use their existing skills and learn news ones to enable their careers to progress.

The Policy Research Institute at Leeds Metropolitan University conducted a rapid review of the literature associated with FE colleges and community cohesion on behalf of the LSC.

The report provides an overview of the literature in relation to the role the FE colleges may play in promoting social cohesion. It also provides a summary of the key literature in related areas, in particular access to FE and the participation of groups that face social exclusion. It aims to inform further thinking about the way in which FE colleges can support social cohesion.

New research by the Refugee Council and the University of Birmingham contains powerful evidence of refugees'' own experiences and understanding of integration.

Carried out in the London Borough of Haringey and Dudley in the West Midlands, the research is an important contribution to the debate about integration and settlement into Britain.

While the report shows that there are some successes, it is widely accepted that integration in many areas is poor, and various government initiatives are in place to try to address this. However, the research shows that Home Office policies on asylum, including restrictions on the right to work, benefits below the poverty line and lack of help with settling into the UK until people have been granted leave to stay hinders integration and creates more divided communities.

The Policy Research Institute was commissioned by LSC to carry out a rapid review of research evidence on ''what works'' to inform the development and activities of the Skills for Jobs programme.

The LSC is in the process of integrating services to support employment and skills. The Skills for Jobs programme will consist of a range of services and programmes to increase skills interventions in the form of new services developed to tackle specific gaps or extend existing good practice by geographical location or by client group.

The key aim of Skills for Jobs will be to reduce the number of individuals not in employment through more effective engagement and to move individuals into sustainable jobs through support, learning and achievement of qualifications.

Groups who continue to face difficulty in entering and staying in employment include disabled people and those with health conditions, lone parents, ethnic minorities, people over 50, and people with no or low qualifications. The aim of this rapid review is to:

• provide a summary of existing research evidence to inform the development of the Skills for Jobs programme



• provide a summary of the key findings from systematic reviews of evidence by Hasluck and Green (2007) and Sanderson (2006), and LSC research undertaken as part of the worklessness strand of New Deal for Communities



• provide a summary of literature and reports published in the last 12 months

The Commission's final report provides practical approaches to building communities' own capacity to reduce tensions and create opportunities for more integrated and cohesive societies.

The report urged the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) to review the way it plans to allocate funds for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) over the coming academic year to ensure there was adequate provision.

The report, by the Commission on Integration and Cohesion, entitled 'Our Shared Future', added that employers in England needed to do their bit to help their migrant workers settle in by meeting the costs of English classes.

The commission said it had "heard loudly and clearly" the concerns about changes to ESOL funding, announced in October last year, and recognised that the government was caught "between and rock and a hard place" trying to find the money to meet increasing demand for courses.

"But our consultation suggests that it remains the case that vulnerable communities are being left without the English skills they need to get by," the report said.

A collection of case studies illustrating examples of local good practice, produced alongside Our Shared Future, is offered as a companion piece to the local messages in our report; it is hoped that these will promote creative ideas on how to take our recommendations forward.

A summary of the key themes that emerged from the Commission's extensive consultation process is available by clicking Consultation Results.

This is the regional report for London and is one of 9 Regional Profiles. The aim of the report is to provide a succinct analysis of changing patterns of employment by ethnic groups and for migrants.

Here are some of the key findings to emerge for London:

• Ethnic minorities accounted for 27% of employment in London in 2004, compared with 17% in 1994.



• The largest single ethnic group is people of Indian origin, accounting for almost 7% of total employment in 2004.



• Ethnic groups account for a much larger share of employment in the London area than in England as a whole.
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The National Report, provides an overview and some cross-regional comparisons, while the Regional Profiles focus in more detail on each English Region, presenting results in a common and consistent fashion.

The aim of this report is to provide a succinct analysis of changing patterns of employment by ethnic groups and for migrants. It provides a technical description of sources and methods as well as covering other issues related to definition and classification.