Disability groups are branding recommendations for tighter work assessments at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) as ‘draconian’, following a parliamentary committee’s suggestion that moving 400,000 benefit claimants into employment could cushion government finances by up to £10 billion.
A focus on disability benefits has intensified among politicians aiming to trim down DWP expenditure in the face of what Chancellor Rachel Reeves has dubbed the “£22 billion black hole” swallowing public funds. This financial chasm has widened partly due to a stark 50 per cent rise in British citizens drawing sickness benefits since February 2020; currently, approximately 3.7 million individuals rely on DWP aid, including benefits like the Personal Independence Payment.
The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee, chaired by Conservative Lord and Santander adviser Lord Bridges of Headley, are pushing for actions reminiscent of past Tory government plans. These include transferring the duty of issuing GP fit notes to occupational health providers and toughening work capability evaluations for beneficiaries.
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Proposed measures indicate that individuals incapacitated or afflicted with disabilities, if jobless for over one month, would undergo additional assessments. Moreover, claimants gauged to have restricted work ability might be compelled to engage with a job coach during the initial two years of their claim.
The committee underscored that financial allocations for DWP sickness and disability payments have now surpassed the national defence spending, with an annual outlay of £65 billion.
The committee’s findings suggest that work capability assessments are “not rigorous enough” and a “lower level of conditionality” makes it too easy to apply for them. However, the committee has faced criticism for not inviting disability groups to share their perspectives, instead opting to hear from economic think tanks, civil servants, and other politicians.
Lord Bridges, Chair of the Economic Affairs Committee, stated: “The health benefits system is financially unsustainable, wastes human potential and – in the words of the Employment Minister – ‘does not work for anybody’. Given the pressure on the nation’s finances, tackling this must be a top priority for the Government.”
He added: “Urgent action is needed to reform both the unemployment and health-related benefits system, and how they interact. There should be more support to help those who are able to find and accept work – and to ensure that those who cannot work for a period are not abandoned to a life on benefits. Without a clear plan of action, growing welfare spending will remain a significant challenge for the forthcoming Spending Review.”
The Disability News Service has argued that the recommendations echo an old slogan about assessing what a disabled claimant can do rather than what they cannot, and fail to consider the broader context driving the increase in sickness and disability in society.
Linda Burnip, campaigner and co-founder of Disabled People Against Cuts, expressed her concerns to DNS, stating that there was “no economic sense in these draconian proposals” but “yet again, disabled people will bear the brunt of cuts if they are adopted”. She further commented: “know nothing about how the social security systems work and most of their suggestions would involve large additional expenditure to achieve the goals the committee are proposing.”
She highlighted the strain on DWP staff, saying: “DWP staff are already massively overworked, with lengthy backlogs for many claims, so to have a jobcentre coach involved after someone was off work for over a month and to have a jobcentre coach pursuing people to get into work for the first two years of any claim would involve recruiting many extra staff, which would cost more than any savings made.”
Burnip also pointed out the potential financial implications of stricter assessments, noting, “Changes to assessments, making them more stringent, would also necessitate additional funding for the corporations carrying these out. Added to that, pushing even more disabled people into further poverty would increase demands on the NHS, which we know is already under enormous pressure and that too would cost more in the longer term.”
You can view the House of Lords committee’s recommendations here.