The cross-party House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee (EAC) has today called for the government to “accelerate its plans to reform health-related benefits”, warning that the country now spends more on incapacity and disability benefits than on defence
The 14 member EAC has four each of Labour, Conservative and crossbench peers and two Lib Dems and includes former Tory Chancellor Norman Lamont.
The EAC claims that 3.7 million people of working age receive health-related benefits, 1.2 million more than in February 2020. They argue that the UK is now spending more on incapacity and disability benefits (almost £65 billion) than defence – and that figure is set to rise.
The committee also says it has seen no convincing evidence that deteriorating health or high NHS waiting lists have been the main driver of the rise in health-related benefit claims
It argues that there has been “a wealth of analysis” of the problems with the benefits system along with credible solutions.
The EAC’s recommendations include
- A reform of the fit note system
- Individuals who are signed off work for more than a month should undergo additional or ongoing assessments
- Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is not rigorous enough and susceptible to error. The assessment should be face-to-face and seek to establish what work an individual can do rather than looking to corroborate what they cannot do.
- If people return to work, they should not be at risk of immediately losing benefits; or, if the job proves unsuitable, they should not be immediately faced with having to reapply for these benefits.
- Just as unemployed people have a work coach, so should those on incapacity benefit for the first two years of their period on benefits.
The call will add to growing pressure on Liz Kendall to make cuts to benefits, at the same time as last week’s High Court Judgement will oblige her to be honest about the financial effects of those cuts on claimants.
