Rishi Sunak lays out his five key reforms to welfare
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Rishi Sunak has today unveiled a landmark 5-point plan to crack down on Britain’s ballooning welfare bill and get scroungers back to work.
Mr Sunak warned that GPs have been too easily handing out sick notices, and Britain has begun “over-medicalising” the challenges of everyday life, such as anxiety.
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The PM warned that the current situation is “economically unsustainable”, with a shock claim that the current disability welfare bill is set to increase by more than 50% over the next four years if left unreformed.
Announcing a new 5-point plan, Mr Sunak explained how the Government, if re-elected this year, will reform and control the whopping ￡69 billion welfare bill currently spent on people of a working age with a disability or health condition.
He pledged a more ambitious scheme for assessing people’s potential for work, with too many potential workers being written off with no expectations of finding a job.
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READ MORE: Rishi Sunak tells sicknote Britain to get a grip and find a job
Mr Sunak unveiled a five-point plan this morning (Image: Sky News)
In another shocking statistic, Mr Sunak said that in 2011, 20% of those doing a work capability assessment were deemed unfit to work. Today that figure is 65%.
Mr Sunak argued that Britons are not three times sicker today than they were a decade ago, and by tightening up work capability assessments, thousands more will be expected to work.
Secondly he appeared to take a swipe at GPs, for being too lenient when deeming their patients as not fit for work.
Just 6% of those assessed are currently signed off as fit for work, with Mr Sunak warning of a pressing need to “change sick note culture”.
He pledged a new system where people have rapid access to work advice, and warned that the Government may strip GPs of their role in the process and give it to specialists who are able to give more objective assessments.
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GPs may no longer have a role in signing workers off as sick (Image: Getty)
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Thirdly, he said those fit for work must have higher expectations when receiving benefits.
Currently, if you work just nine hours a week, you get all benefits without needing to look for additional work,
Mr Sunak promised that anyone working less than half a full-time work week will now have to try and find extra work in return for claiming benefits.
Anyone unable to comply with the conditions set by the work coach, such as accepting an available job, will after 12 months have their claim closed and their benefits removed entirely.
Fourthly, the PM warned that people claiming personal independent payments because of their mental health could have the handout scrapped and replaced with non-cash transfers.
Since 2019, people citing anxiety and depression as their main condition has doubled, with 5000 new awards on average every month.
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Finally Mr Sunak said the Government will not allow fraudsters to exploit the taxpayer, and pledged to save ￡600 million by 2029 by legislating to access data from third parties like banks.
He also warned that AI will be among the tools used to crack down on exploitation in the welfare system.
Responding to Mr Sunak's speech, the chairman of the One Nation Conservatives, Damian Green, said it was a "great step forward".
"We are right to support the most vulnerable in society when they need us the most. But we can’t go on the way we are. The UK’s welfare budget is increasing at an unsustainable rate, largely driven by the increasing numbers of people claiming ill-health and disability benefits.
"While we must support those who are genuinely struggling, today’s announcements are a great step forward towards a more efficient benefits system that will prioritise those who actually need help. Benefits aren’t and must never be a chosen way of life; everyone who can work, should. It is the right thing for our economy and hard-working tax payers."
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