Statutory guidance

Chapter 4: Customer Journey Referral, Start, Support Period and Leaver Process

Updated 21 November 2024

Applications to AtW MHSS

4.01 Access to Work is delivered through the DWP Access to Work Service Delivery team who can offer advice to potential or actual Customers and employers.

4.02 Individuals can apply for AtW MHSS by making an application in any of the following ways:

• online at https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work/apply;
• by telephoning the AtW Service Centre between 9.00 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday on 0800 121 7479 (Textphone 0800 121 7579); or
• directly applying to either of the Providers (Supplier Generated Candidates)

4.03 Applications made to DWP for the AtW MHSS will be processed by the AtW Service Delivery team.  For Supplier Generated Candidates, the AtW Service Delivery team will check eligibility for all applications but will only contact the applicant if there are eligibility doubts (e.g. self-employed applicants).

4.04 For applicants who are eligible for AtW MHSS, the AtW Service Delivery team will email the MHSS Referral Form to the relevant Provider and a referral will be made via the Provider Referrals and Payment system (PRaP). You may only commence engagement activities once you receive the PRaP Referral.  If you have not received the associated PRaP referral by the following working day, you must e-mail the AtW Service Delivery team atwprovider.contractcorrespondence@dwp.gov.uk immediately.

Authority Referrals

4.05 DWP intends to allocate Authority Referrals to Providers on a National Insurance Number split. Please see your AtW MHSS Contract for more detail.

4.06 DWP intends that customers who are employees of one of the AtW MHSS Providers will be referred to the alternative Provider to maintain confidentiality. Providers should not process their own employees’ referrals to AtW MHSS.

4.07 In the event that one of your employees is mistakenly referred to you, you should let the AtW Service Delivery team know immediately so that a re-referral to the other Provider can be made. You must not provide the Services under AtW MHSS to any of your own employees, from any Referral route.

4.08 For individuals applying directly to you as a result of your marketing and promotional activity (Supplier Generated Candidates), you should send the AtW MHSS Supplier Generated Candidate form, Annex A, by secure email to the AtW Service Delivery team to determine eligibility. The AtW Service Delivery team will notify you and the Customer if the AtW MHSS eligibility criteria has not been met and the AtW MHSS referral cannot proceed.

4.09 The decision of Customer eligibility for AtW MHSS always remains with the AtW Service Delivery team.

4.10 Secure email must be used for sending and receiving AtW MHSS Referrals and Supplier Generated Candidate forms. All queries regarding Supplier Generated Candidate forms, Referrals and Reports should be sent to atwprovider.contractcorrespondence@dwp.gov.uk

Identity checks

4.11 Providers must ensure that in all communication with Customers you are satisfied that you are engaging with the correct person; this applies to both Authority Referrals and Supplier Generated Candidates.

4.12 To do this you may decide to ask Customers to state a combination of their personal information, such as:

• full name;
• address;
• National Insurance Number (NINo);
• other information that was included in the AtW Service Delivery team Referral; and
• details held in your records

4.13 AtW MHSS is not prescriptive about how you collect the required signatures, and an electronic signature is as valid as a wet signature. Where digital processes are used for signatures, you must ensure that these processes are suitably robust and will allow the storing of Customer signatures as evidence of any key activities.

Inappropriate referrals and errors recorded in PRaP

4.14 Situations may arise where the AtW Service Delivery team make an inappropriate PRaP referral in error.  When the error is discovered by the AtW Service Delivery team they will contact Providers and advise how the error occurred.  If you discover the error, you must contact the AtW Service Delivery team immediately to inform them.

4.15 Where the error is discovered prior to acknowledging the PRaP referral, you should reject the referral in PRaP with the rejection reason ‘Other’.

4 16 Where the error is discovered after acknowledging the PRaP referral, prior to a start in PRaP, you should cancel the referral in PRaP recording the reason as ‘Did Not Start’.

4.17 When an error is discovered after the AtW MHSS Support Plan Start has been recorded, you should complete a PRaP14 form and send it to the AtW Live Running Policy inbox atwproviderguidance.policy@dwp.gov.uk

4.18 The AtW Policy team will then consider your request and you will be notified of the outcome. We may need to gather further information from you to enable us to process your request. If the PRaP 14 request is agreed, it will be sent to the PRaP Operational, Digital and Database Support (PODDS) team prap.support@dwp.gov.uk. The PODDS team will then take action to remove the incorrect details.

Delivering AtW MHSS prior to the support period

4.19 Key to scheduling a meeting with the Customer to develop and agree the Support Plan is to ensure that it takes place as quickly as possible but takes into account the availability of all parties to be involved. Providers should:

• contact the AtW Customer within two (2) Working Days of receiving the PRaP referral, (the day you receive the PRaP referral is the first (1st) Working Day), to arrange and agree an initial date and time to meet with the Customer, to develop and agree a Support Plan;
• make several attempts at various times within two (2) Working Days of the PRaP Referral to contact the Customer to agree an initial meeting;
• use a variety of media to contact Customers, using the Customers’ preferred method wherever possible (e.g. mobile phone, landline, email, video link) and record all information regarding attempted Customer contact;
• ensure that the attempts to contact the Customer are made at different times of the day to avoid conflicting with regular scheduled commitments the Customer may have (e.g. school run);
• offer the Customer several appointment slots within two (2) working days;
• keep a record of all appointments offered to the Customer;
• arrange and undertake the initial meeting, either face to face or virtually, based on the Customer’s preference, to ascertain and agree delivery of the Customer’s work-related mental health support needs;
• produce a completed specified AtW: MHSS Support Plan Annex C signed by the Customer (electronic or wet signature), within 31 Calendar Days of receipt of the PRaP Referral;
• deliver the agreed, and any subsequently identified, work related mental health support to the Customer to the agreed timescales, providing solution-focused interventions to help keep the Customer in work;
• add specified detail on the interventions and support offered to the Customer, as well as recording the Customer’s progress, throughout the Support/Sustainment Period (as applicable), to the relevant AtW MHSS Report;
• produce a completed specified AtW MHSS 6 Month Report (as set out in Annex D), signed by the Customer (electronic or wet signature), within ten (10) Working Days of the end of the Support Period;
• produce a specified AtW MHSS Exit Report (as set out in [Annex E) if required, signed by the Customer (electronic or wet signature), within ten (10) Working Days of the end of the Sustainment Period;
• return to DWP at atw.mhsupportservice@dwp.gov.uk by secure email an electronic copy of the completed MHSS Report.
• have an awareness of other external support which may be suitable for the Customer and highlight this if appropriate, either in addition to, or instead of, MHSS;
• have a thorough understanding of the purpose of AtW MHSS and all relevant factors that impact on the Customer’s workplace-based mental health condition;
• demonstrate a sound understanding of the breadth of workplace-based mental health conditions which may be experienced by AtW MHSS Customers and appropriate support options to address these;
• remain as the Customer’s AtW MHSS Coach throughout the whole Support Period (wherever possible); and
• notify AtW Service Delivery team immediately should the Customer leave their job, become long-term sick, or no longer want or need the support within the Support Period or Sustainment Period.

4.20 If you are unable to contact the Customer within two (2) Working Days of a PRaP referral, you should confirm the Customer contact details with the AtW Service Delivery team informing them of the dates and methods you have used when attempting to contact the Customer. The AtW Service Delivery team will offer advice on further action to be taken.

4.21 At the initial meeting you must develop and agree a Support Plan with the Customer (Annex C).

4.22 The Support Plan should be sent to the AtW Service Delivery team atw.mhsupportservice@dwp.gov.uk within 31 calendar days of receiving the PRaP Referral, ensuring this meets the required quality and standard and it has been signed by you and the Customer.

4.23 The AtW Service Delivery team will send you an email with “Approved” and the date of approval in the subject line. After you receive this email, you should input the start date on PRaP.

Please note: the start date is defined as the date you submitted the AtW MHSS report even if the date on which approval is given is later than the date of submission.

Cancellation of an AtW Mental Health Support Service Referral prior to the Support Period

Cancellation by the Customer

4.24 If a Customer cancels an appointment to develop and agree the Support Plan, it is important that Providers act quickly, as delays could impact on the achievement of KPI3 specified in your contract. This applies if a Customer cancels a scheduled appointment or no longer requires AtW MHSS.

4.25 In the event of a cancellation by the Customer, you should try to reschedule a new appointment. However, you should notify the AtW Service Delivery team if it is not possible to reschedule. You need to notify the AtW Service Delivery team if any of the following apply:

• the Customer is not available in the timeframe specified in your AtW MHSS Contract from the original Referral. The AtW Service Delivery team must be informed of the reasons for the Customer cancellation and any rescheduling attempts you have made;
• the Customer does not want to join AtW MHSS;
• the Customer is not sure when they will be available;
• you are unable to contact the Customer within two (2) working days of the PRaP Referral and the Customer has not contacted you. The AtW Service Delivery team must be informed of all the dates and times you have attempted to contact the Customer and the method of contact used; and
• where you are unable to contact a Supplier Generated Candidate within two (2) working days of receiving the PRaP Referral, you must contact the AtW Service Delivery team on the second working day (if the AtW Service Delivery team confirms that no further contact attempts are required, a No Contact can be input to PRaP)

4.26 You will need to notify the AtW Service Delivery team if the Customer does not wish to join the AtW MHSS provision or create a Support Plan and close the PRaP Referral accordingly, please see Chapter 6 – The Provider Referrals and Payments System (PRaP) for further information.

Please note: PRaP Referrals should not be cancelled prior to contacting the AtW Service Delivery team.

Cancellation by the Provider

4.27 If you need to cancel a scheduled appointment to meet with the Customer to develop and agree the Support Plan, you should contact the AtW Service Delivery team for advice, giving the reasons for cancelling the appointment.

4.28 It is not acceptable to return Referrals due to your staff availability.

Support Period

4.29 Customers will receive the initial work-related Support Period of 182 calendar days from the date of acceptance of the Support Plan by the AtW Service Delivery team. Customers can work independently to manage their mental health condition in the workplace in between meetings/interventions with Providers. At the end of the Support Period, you and the Customer should agree and complete the MHSS 6 Month Report (Annex D), to the specified standard and forward the Report to the AtW Service Delivery team by secure email.

Sustainment Period

4.30 Following the end of the Support Period, a period of light-touch support (Sustainment Period) is available, if this is required by the Customer.

4.31 At the end of the Sustainment Period, (273 calendar days from the date that Providers submitted the Support Plan to the AtW Service Delivery team (as notified by the AtW Service Delivery team in the Support Plan approval e-mail)), the AtW MHSS Exit Report Annex E should be completed to the specified standard and signed by the Customer and sent to the AtW Service Delivery team within ten (10) Working Days of the end of the Sustainment Period.

4.32 The end date should be recorded in PRaP. More information regarding PRaP can be found in Chapter 6.

Re-referrals to AtW MHSS

4.33 The AtW MHSS is a non-clinical mental health programme designed to help Customers for a maximum of 273 calendar days starting on and including the submission date of an approved Support Plan). If a Customer requires support for a longer period than this, they should be signposted to an alternative, more appropriate support before they start MHSS.

4.34 Customers can only complete the AtW MHSS Programme once – and receive a maximum of 273 calendar days. Once a 6 Month Report has been sent, the Customer will be deemed to have completed the Programme (regardless of whether or not the Customer has completed the Sustainment Period) and will no longer be eligible for any re-referral to MHSS.

4.35 If, following the Sustainment Period (or following the Support Period for Customers who do not remain on the Programme during the Sustainment Period) the Customer requires further support, they should be signposted to alternative, more appropriate support.

4.36 DWP expects AtW MHSS Providers to have a strategy in place to prevent individuals who have previously completed the AtW MHSS Programme (with any current or previous Provider) from being sent to DWP as Supplier Generated Candidates.

4.37 DWP will reject as ineligible any Supplier Generated Candidates that have previously completed the AtW MHSS Programme (with any current or previous Provider).

Disengaged Customers

4.38 DWP expects AtW MHSS Providers to have a strategy in place to minimise the instances where Customers disengage from the AtW MHSS programme.

4.39 There are several scenarios where a Customer would be considered disengaged from AtW MHSS within the Support Period or Sustainment Period. These are:

• the Customer is no longer in employment or self-employment; 

• the Customer is no longer able to engage with the Programme because they are long-term sick; 

• the Customer misses a scheduled support meeting/intervention and consequently is uncontactable; or 

• the Customer requests a break from the Programme 

4.40 You must notify the AtW Service Delivery team immediately by secure e-mail when a Customer disengages from AtW MHSS. The AtW Service Delivery team will update DWP’s systems noting that the Customer has disengaged from the provision.

4.41 A disengaged Customer would be considered withdrawn from AtW MHSS within the Support Period or Sustainment Period in the following scenarios:

• the Customer has been disengaged (not in employment or self-employment, unable to engage due to long-term sickness, is uncontactable or has been on a requested break) for 6 weeks;
• the Customer informs you that they no longer want or require support under the Programme;
• the Customer remains disengaged on the last day of the Support Period (or Sustainment Period as appropriate) regardless of how long they have been disengaged

4.42 You must notify the AtW Service Delivery team immediately by secure e-mail when a Customer withdraws from AtW MHSS. An end date in PRaP should only be recorded for a withdrawn Customer when directed to by the AtW Service Delivery team.

4.43 Where a disengaged Customer has informed you not to attempt to contact them again because they have decided that they will not re-engage with AtW MHSS, you should advise the AtW Service Delivery team by secure e-mail within ten (10) Working Days, recording the date of the final contact and a brief explanation of why the Customer requested no further contact.

4.44 Where a disengaged Customer wishes to re-engage during the Support Period (or Sustainment Period, as appropriate), within the relevant timeframes described above, you should notify the AtW Service Delivery team by secure e-mail. The AtW Service Delivery team will confirm that you should recommence support using the original PRaP referral and AtW Unique Reference Number.

4.45 In the scenario above, the Customer will not be entitled to receive the balance of time of any missed support; instead, you should agree with the Customer to provide additional support meetings/interventions before the end of the Support Period (or Sustainment Period as appropriate) if required.

4.46 Where a Customer who has previously withdrawn from AtW MHSS before completing their original Support Period wishes to re-join the Programme, you should notify the AtW Service Delivery team by secure e-mail. The AtW Service Delivery team will confirm if the Customer can restart the Programme and, if approved, a new PRaP Referral and AtW Unique Reference Number will be provided.

4.47 Where a disengaged Customer successfully re-engages with the Programme as per the paragraphs above, you should submit the relevant AtW MHSS Report, signed by the Customer, when the Support Period (or Sustainment Period if appropriate) ends. You will be entitled to claim the associated Outcome Payment, subject to the outcome criteria being met.

4.48 Where a disengaged Customer is withdrawn from the Programme as per the paragraphs above, you are not required to submit the relevant AtW MHSS Report and are not entitled to claim the associated Outcome Payment.

Special Customer Records (SCR)

4.49 Customers who have been granted SCR status (as determined by HMRC Special Section D), must not have their records held on any electronic system. These Customers will be Referred to Providers clerically. Information on these Customers must be held securely with restricted access.

4.50 You are required to submit your claim for payment following the SCR clerical claim process. Where DWP identifies that SCR status is not granted the claim will be rejected. Further information regarding managing SCR’s is available in Chapter 2 of the DWP Generic Provider Guidance.

4.51 If a SCR Customer is identified, please liaise with the AtW Service Delivery team, by e-mail, at atwprovider.contractcorrespondence@dwp.gov.uk

4.52 The AtW Service Delivery team will then process a clerical payment that mirrors the PRaP automated process. All clerical documents carrying personal information should be retained securely.

Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) referrals

4.53 MAPPA are statutory arrangements for managing sexual, violent, and certain other offenders in the community in Scotland, England and Wales.

4.54 MAPPA is not a statutory body but a mechanism through which agencies can better discharge their statutory responsibilities and protect the public in a co-ordinated manner.

4.55 MAPPA cases who have not been given SCR status will be referred through PRaP. Providers will receive the Referral, minus the Customer’s address, postcode and contact telephone number.

Actions

• the nominated officer from AtW will contact your nominated officer to give Customer contact details and any restrictions that should be in place for each MAPPA Referral. They may decide to forward to you a copy of the MAPPA J form which will detail the restrictions. Risks or restrictions will be different for every MAPPA case;
• the MAPPA J form and any other clerical documents for each referral must be held securely, with restricted access, following the same process as for SL2s; and
• take the same action on PRaP as for non-MAPPA cases to acknowledge and start the Customer

4.56 Providers can set up normal electronic records on your IT systems for MAPPA Customers. However, the record must only contain minimal information and should be marked that it is a MAPPA case, and that further information can be obtained from your nominated officer. Therefore, access to this record does not need to be restricted.

SCR Referrals (including MAPPA cases given SCR status

4.57. A process is currently being determined for SCR, and this Provider Guidance will be updated in due course.

4.58. If a SCR Customer is identified, by DWP or the Provider, please liaise with the AtW Service Delivery team, by e-mail, at atwprovider.contractcorrespondence@dwp.gov.uk

Incident Markers

4.59 In some circumstances Providers will receive a PRaP referral with an incident marker recorded. Customers will not be excluded on the basis of potentially violent or inappropriate behaviour, and you will need to speak with the AtW Service Delivery team to find out the specific details.

4.60 Further information regarding managing Incident Markers is available in Chapter 2 of DWP Generic Provider Guidance.

Handling of Sensitive Customer Referrals

4.61 There may be occasions where members of the AtW Service Delivery team will be referred to AtW MHSS. These Referrals will be made clerically. Providers must ensure that any contact regarding these Referrals are to the specified members of the AtW team stated on the clerical Referral.

4.62 Clerical payments will be made for Sensitive Customer Referral Outcome Payments as per the SCR process above.