The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will be scrapping the harshest sanctions previously planned by the Tories including slashing benefits for Universal Credit and PIP claimants
The DWP is set to ditch some of the harshest sanctions that were on the cards under Tory rule. Liz Kendall, the new Work and Pensions Secretary, slammed the previous government’s proposal to strip Universal Credit and PIP recipients of their benefits if they didn’t find work within a year.
In her first address as head of the Department for Work and Pensions, Kendall unveiled her blueprint for overhauling the welfare system and redefining sanctions. And she said it was time for end to talk of ‘strivers versus scroungers’.
She told The Sun that the DWP will ensure “people after 12 months without genuine support” are not left in the lurch. And she pledged to “get Britain working again”.
During a speech in Barnsley, coinciding with the release of the Pathways to Work Commission report, she pointed out the flaws in the current system. She said it was “both too siloed and too centralised”.
She said: “Their divisive rhetoric about strivers versus scroungers or claiming people just felt ‘too bluesy’ to work may have grabbed headlines, but it did absolutely nothing to actually get Britain working again. As today’s report rightly concludes, people who are economically inactive are not one single group.
“There will be a few who act fraudulently, others who say they can’t work but who can. But the vast majority face a complex range of barriers which stop them from getting what both they and policymakers want a pathway into paid employment.”
She also set a goal of achieving an 80 per cent employment rate within the next decade. The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal that as of this March, the employment rate for those aged 16 to 64 stands at 75 per cent, which is a 1.2 percentage point fall compared to the period from December 2019 to February 2020.
Ms Kendall said: “They turned Job Centre Plus into a benefit monitoring service not a public employment service, which was its original aim and they didn’t give nowhere near enough attention to the wider issue like health skills, childcare, transport, that play such a huge role in determining whether we get work, stay in work and get on in work.”
She went on to say: “The problem with what the Tories proposed was after 12 months to do this. We are not leaving people 12 months without genuine engagement and support.” She stressed that “there have always been conditions to look for work and consequences.
“That won’t change, but I’ve got to see a much greater focus on that upfront help and support.” Current data shows that approximately 2.8 million individuals are unemployed due to ill health or disability.
In addition, one in eight young people are currently neither employed nor in education. Following her announcement, the Office for Budget Responsibility has forecasted a £30bn rise in spending on disability and sickness benefits over the coming five years.
Ms Kendall also confirmed that the government will be transferring some powers to local areas, marking “a fundamental shift in the balance of power and resources”. She added: “My department will support local areas to make a success of this new approach, starting by devolving new powers over employment support to catalyse action and change because the man, or even woman, in Whitehall will never know what’s best for Barnsley, Blackpool or Birmingham.”
