Labour's plan to get people back to work has been slammed (Image: Getty)
Labour has dodged the “difficult decisions” on tackling Britain’s ballooning sickness benefits bill, the Tories have claimed.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall will announce the plans on Tuesday as part of wide-ranging reforms designed to tackle economic inactivity and deliver the Government's promise to bring more than two million people back into work.
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But critics argue Ms Kendall should have reformed Britain’s benefits system to save vital cash.
Taxpayers will shell out ￡70.5 billion on sickness benefits this financial year.
Helen Whately has slammed Labour's benefits plan (Image: Getty)
Shocking projections have revealed this will rise to ￡89.8 billion in 2028/29, prompting demands for ministers to take urgent action.
Overall, handouts cost the taxpayer more than ￡260bn.
Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Helen Whately said: “This latest announcement shows that Labour are not prepared to take the tough but necessary choices to bring down the benefits bill.
"There is no attempt to match the ￡12 billion in welfare savings we promised in our manifesto.
“They have even dodged the difficult decisions on sickness benefits, which are needed to make the welfare system sustainable in the long term.
“To get people off benefits you also need jobs for them to go to. But Labour’s disastrous anti-growth Budget is already making businesses think twice about taking people on.”
Professor Len Shackleton, Editorial and Research Fellow at the IEA said: "The Government’s Get Britain Working White Paper seems at first glance to amount to the square root of nothing much at all.
“Money is being spent and the Jobcentre once again 'transformed' but the really important stuff - reforming benefits - is ignored.
"It is a disappointing package, unlikely to do much to stimulate the inactive back into work. It is questionable that there would be jobs for them in any case, given that the budget and minimum wage increases has sharply raised the cost of employing people, especially the young, while new employment rights from Day One mean that employers face greater risk in taking on those without a sound employment record."
While unemployment stands at almost 1.5 million, economic inactivity has also soared to more than nine million, with 2.8 million people out of work due to long-term sickness - a major driver of the rise in joblessness since the pandemic.
Labour wants to boost NHS capacity in the 20 areas with the highest levels of economic inactivity.
Ms Kendall's plans will also see an expansion of mental health support and efforts to tackle obesity.
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Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “From the broken NHS, flatlining economy, and the millions of people left unemployed and trapped in an inactivity spiral – this government inherited a country that simply isn’t working. But today we’ve set out a plan to fix this.
“A plan that tackles the biggest drivers of unemployment and inactivity and gives young people their future back through real, meaningful change instead of empty rhetoric and sticking plaster politics.
““We’re overhauling jobcentres to make them fit for the modern age. We’re giving young people the skills and opportunities they need to prepare them for the jobs of the future.
“We’re fixing the NHS so people get the treatment and mental health support they desperately need to be able to get back to work. We’re working with businesses and employers to better support people with disabilities and health conditions to stay and progress in work, and it doesn't stop there.
“Our reforms put an end to the culture of blaming and shaming people who for too long haven’t been getting the support they need to get back to work. Helping people into decent, well-paid jobs and giving our children and young people the best start in life - that’s our plan to put more money in people's pockets, unlock growth and make people better off.”
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Alongside the focus on improving health, the Government's plans will see Jobcentres replaced by a new National Jobs and Careers Service.
Backed by ￡55 million, the new system is expected to have a greater focus on helping people back into work rather than monitoring benefit claims.
Other policies include providing additional employment and training opportunities for young people and extra powers for mayors to develop their own employment plans.