1 week ago
.png)
The jobless will have their benefits axed if they fail to find work within a year, Rishi Sunak said yesterday.
Unveiling the biggest shake-up of the welfare system for a generation, the Prime Minister said he was determined to prevent people staying on benefits as a 'lifestyle choice'.
Outlining a new 'moral mission' to get Britons back to work, the PM also said too many young people complaining of mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression were being 'written off' and should be helped to look for a job.
More than 420,000 who are classed as sick or disabled will be asked to look for work for the first time.
Mr Sunak's comments triggered a furious backlash from disability charities. But he said it was 'fair' to expect people able to work to take a job, adding that going to work 'can actually improve mental and physical health'.
In a speech at the Centre for Social Justice think-tank in London, Mr Sunak (pictured) said 'something has gone wrong' since the pandemic, with too many young people 'parked on welfare' and producing a benefits bill that was 'financially unsustainable'
A job centre. The PM said there was 'no reason those people should not be in work, especially when we have almost one million job vacancies' (stock image)
The PM served notice to the long-term unemployed that they would not be allowed to linger for years on the dole. Official figures show that half a million able-bodied people have been out of work for six months, with more than a quarter of a million jobless for more than a year.
Anger over PM's 'hostile rhetoric'
By Shaun Wooler
Unions and health charities have accused Rishi Sunak of using ‘hostile rhetoric’ in his war on the ‘sick-note culture’.
The British Medical Association said the Prime Minister should focus on improving the NHS so patients can get faster care and return to work sooner.
Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, chairman of the BMA’s GPs committee, said: ‘When they are unwell, people need access to prompt care. With a waiting list of 7.5 million – not including for mental health problems – delays to diagnostics, and resulting pressures on GP practices, patients cannot get the treatment they need to be able to return to work.
‘So rather than pushing a hostile rhetoric on “sick-note culture”, perhaps the Prime Minister should focus on removing what is stopping patients from receiving the physical and mental healthcare they need.’
The Unison union said: ‘The Prime Minister has promised and failed to cut NHS waiting lists. Threatening to remove benefits and forcing sick and disabled people further into poverty is most definitely not the way to increase the health of our sick nation.’
The Centre for Mental Health said services were struggling to cope with the rising demand. It fears suggestions that the increase is due to an ‘over-medicalisation of the everyday challenge of life’ may discourage people from seeking support.
The PM said there was 'no reason those people should not be in work, especially when we have almost one million job vacancies'.
He said the Tory manifesto would pledge legislation that will mean people will have 'their claim closed and their benefits removed entirely' after 12 months on the dole if they are failing to comply with Jobcentre conditions, such as accepting available work.
Mr Sunak dismissed concerns the move could leave people destitute, saying that pushing people into work would leave them better off by an average of £7,000 a year. He added: 'There is an enormous amount of support available to these people, and no medical reason why they can't work, but we have half a million currently on benefits for a very long time.
'And I worry very much about this becoming a lifestyle choice. It's a basic matter of fairness.'
The number of people considered 'economically inactive' after being placed on long-term sickness benefits has jumped by a third since the start of the pandemic and now stands at a staggering 2.8 million. Around half are signed off with depression, anxiety or bad nerves.
In a speech at the Centre for Social Justice think-tank in London, Mr Sunak said 'something has gone wrong' since the pandemic, with too many young people 'parked on welfare' and producing a benefits bill that was 'financially unsustainable'. He warned against 'over-medicalising the everyday challenges and worries of life' and said an expected rise in benefits spending in the coming years was 'not sustainable'.
Mr Sunak also outlined plans for radical reform of the personal independence payment (PIP) which is claimed by 3.4 million people, half of them for mental health issues. The payment, worth up to £700 a month, is meant to help the sick and disabled with additional living costs.
A consultation on the issue will consider whether cash payments should be limited to those with physical disabilities and the most severe mental health conditions.
The PM said the number of people claiming PIP for anxiety and depression had more than doubled in the past five years.
Mr Sunak dismissed concerns the move could leave people destitute, saying that pushing people into work would leave them better off by an average of £7,000 a year
Mr Sunak said people suffering from conditions such as anxiety and depression could be offered 'access to treatment like talking therapies or respite care' instead of cash.
The charity Scope accused the PM of a 'full-on assault on disabled people', but Mr Sunak said there was 'nothing compassionate about leaving a generation of young people to sit alone in the dark before a flickering screen watching as their dreams slip further from reach every passing day'.
The work capability assessment, which governs entitlement to disability benefits, will also be reformed, forcing 424,000 people currently signed off sick indefinitely to look for work. Mr Sunak said 'people with less severe mental health conditions should be expected to engage with the world of work'.
And the PM confirmed that GPs could be stripped of their role in signing people off work, with responsibility for handing out so-called 'fit notes' given to teams of 'specialist work and health professionals' who will focus on what work a person could do with support.
Official figures show 11 million fit notes were handed out by GPs last year, with just 6 per cent assessed as 'maybe fit for work'.
Labour said it was committed to social security reform but declined to say which parts of the plan it would support, if any. A spokesman said: 'All we heard today were sweeping questions and reheated proposals without any concrete answers.'
How Rishi will tackle sick-note culture...
12-month rule for unemployed
Tory manifesto plans will see people on the dole have their benefit claims closed after a year unless they can convince Jobcentre staff they are actively looking for work and willing to accept any reasonable job offer.
Personal Independence Payments
Hundreds of thousands of people with anxiety and depression could lose access to payments worth up to £700 a month and instead be offered therapy to help them back to work.
PART-TIME WORKERS
New rules will require part-time workers on Universal Credit to look for more work. Anyone working for less than the equivalent of 18 hours a week on minimum wage will have to show they are actively seeking more hours.
Disability rules
The work capability assessment rules, which govern who is eligible for sickness benefits, will be tightened to require 424,000 with milder mental health conditions to start looking for work.
Sick notes
GPs could be stripped of their role in signing off people as sick and replaced by 'specialist work and health professionals' who will focus on what work people could do with support, such as flexibility to work from home.
Benefit Fraud
Investigators will be handed new powers to tackle benefit fraud, which hit £6.4 billion last year. In future they will have similar powers to those investigating tax fraud, including the ability to make seizures and arrests.
