Some on advantages are ‘taking the mickey’, says minister | EUROtoday

Some folks on advantages are “taking the mickey”, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has mentioned, as the federal government seeks methods to curb welfare spending.

Kendall was talking to ITV a few Department of Work and Pensions survey that urged 200,000 folks on advantages had been able to work if they’d assist.

The DWP report discovered 49% of well being and incapacity advantages claimants felt they might by no means be capable of work once more.

But it additionally confirmed almost half (44%) of individuals with a psychological well being situation anticipated to have the ability to work in future if their well being improved.

Kendall advised ITV: “I think what the survey shows today is that despite all the myths, a lot of people who are currently on sickness or disability benefits want to work.”

When requested if folks on advantages had been “pretending they can’t work”, she added: “Many of them have either just lost jobs that they desperately miss, or really want to get back into to work once they’ve got their health condition under control.

“So I believe that there are a lot of extra individuals who wish to work. I’ve little doubt, as there at all times have been, there are individuals who should not be on these advantages who’re taking the mickey and that isn’t adequate – we’ve got to finish that.”

The government says the number of young people aged 16 to 34 who do not work because of long-term sickness and have a mental health condition has reached 270,000.

This number increased by 60,000 (26%) in the last year, according to the DWP.

As of January, 9.3 million people aged 16 to 64 in the UK were economically inactive – a rise of 713,000 since the Covid pandemic.

Last year, the government spent £65bn on sickness benefits – a 25% increase from the year before the pandemic. That figure is forecast to increase to around £100bn before the next general election.

Kendall said the DWP survey, which spoke to 3,401 benefit recipients, showed the need to reform the current welfare system and encourage young people to work if they can.

The DWP secretary said: “There is genuinely an issue with many younger folks, significantly the Covid technology, however we won’t have a scenario the place doing a day’s work is in itself seen as nerve-racking.”

Kendall said supermarket managers had told her some young people did not understand work was “simply the character of life and that is not stress or strain”.

The DWP secretary is expected to present a policy paper on welfare reform next month.

Ministers are worried about the surge in the number of people claiming benefits since the pandemic and the cost to the taxpayer, as the country faces challenging economic headwinds.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said people who claim long-term sickness benefits should be made to return to work “the place they will”.

“The primary proposition that it’s best to search for work is true,” he told the BBC last year.

“People must search for work, however in addition they want assist.

“That’s why I’ve gone out to look at schemes where businesses are supporting people back into work from long-term sickness.”