Ministers are planning to ramp up the number of routine checks on sickness benefits claimants as Chancellor Rachel Reeves looks at ways to cut the welfare bill
Routine checks on sickness benefits claimants will reportedly be reintroduced under plans to slash the welfare bill.
Ministers are planning to ramp up the number of reassessments which are carried out on people receiving benefits due to ill health, the Telegraph reported. Work Capability Assessments (WCAs), which determine whether a person can work, were effectively suspended during the pandemic.
They have not returned to pre-pandemic levels despite the number of people being out of work due to ill health having risen to 2.8 million. Currently benefit claimants are required to report when there is a change of circumstances. In most cases, an individual’s current benefit award continues unless they advise of a change in their circumstances.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves followed through with controversial Tory proposals to change WCAs, which would see thousands fewer people be ineligible for benefits, at the Autumn Budget. She is also expected to announce plans to cut the welfare bill as she scrambles to balance the books ahead of the Spring Statement at the end of the month.
Reports emerged last week that the Government is looking to cut £5billion from the welfare bill by imposing far tougher tests for Personal Independence Payments (PIP). The benefit, which is not linked to work, provides support for people with the additional living costs due to their disability. Ministers are also said to be looking at raising the basic rate for Universal Credit paid to people looking for work, or already in work, while cutting it for those deemed unfit for work.
Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden yesterday(SUN) confirmed disability benefits “will be part of this discussion” to bring down the welfare bill. He said: “There are 2.8 million people on long term sickness benefits. We are an outlier in the UK, and not in a good way. We’re the only G7 country that hasn’t recovered its pre-pandemic rate of employment.
“We’re the Labour Party. We believe in work. We believe in the good that a good job can do for people. We don’t believe it is good that if somebody could work with a bit of support, that they’re left to live a life on benefits – 200,000 of those 2.8 million have told us they would work tomorrow with the right support. So we’ve got to reform the system, because if we don’t, the trajectory of standing back and doing nothing is that it won’t be 2.8 million in a few years, it will be over four million people.”
Last year the Government spent £65billion on sickness benefits – a 25% increase since the year before the pandemic. It is forecast to hit £100billion before the next general election.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: “We’ve been clear that the Work Capability Assessment is not working and that our welfare system is broken. As a result, for too long, sick and disabled people have been told they can’t work and have been denied support, so they miss out on all the benefits that good work brings.
“That’s why, as part of our Plan for Change, we will fix the system and deliver proper support to help people get into and get on at work, in turn, bringing down the benefits bill.”
