The Get Britain Working White Paper published today fails to give any information about a proposed overhaul of the health and disability benefits system, instead revealing that a consultation will begin in the Spring
According to the DWP, the government:
“will bring forward measures to overhaul the health and disability benefits system so it better supports people to enter and remain in work and to tackle the spiralling benefits bill. A consultation will be published in Spring as part of a commitment to put the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of any policy changes that directly affect them
A DWP press release makes it clear that ill health and disability are seen as major problems in relation to increasing productivity in the UK, claiming that.
“The UK is also the only major economy that has seen its employment rate fall over the last five years, which has been largely driven by a significant rise in the number of people out of work due to long-term ill health with an outdated employment support system which is ill equipped to respond to this growing challenge.”
Plans in the white paper include:
- extra NHS staff to cut waiting lists in areas of high inactivity;
- an additional 8,500 new mental health staff;
- increased access to Individual Placement and Support (IPS) for severe mental illness, reaching 140,000 more people by 2028/29;
- funding in three trailblazer areas for NHS accelerators to stop people falling out of work completely due to ill health;
- jobcentres to become a new national jobs and careers service, focused on people’s skills and careers instead of just monitoring and managing benefit claims;
- staff at Jobcentres will have more flexibility to offer a more personalised service to jobseekers;
- new coaching academies to upskill jobcentre staff to better support people into work;
- a disability panel set up to ensure the voices of disabled people are at the core of reforms;
- a new supported employment programme called Connect to Work scheme which provides voluntary employment offers to people with disabilities, health conditions or complex barriers to work and will support up to 100,000 people a year at full roll out;
- an independent review into how employers can be better supported to employ people with disabilities health conditions, and to keep them in the workplace.
DWP Secretary of State, Liz Kendall said:
“The Get Britain Working White Paper shows that this Government stands unashamedly for work. We will make sure everyone, regardless of their background, age, ethnicity, health, disability or postcode can benefit from the dignity and purpose work can bring.”
Meanwhile, millions of claimants will spend the Christmas period not knowing what plans the DWP has for them in the coming year or how they will be affected by any proposals to “tackle the spiralling benefits bill”.
You can read the full DWP press release here.
