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Louise Thomas
Editor
Labour will end “divisive rhetoric” and blame culture towards people on benefits, the new work and pensions secretary has said.
Liz Kendall has said that an overhaul is needed to get people back to work, warning that the increasing number of people needing financial support from the state is unsustainable.
Britain’s welfare bill is set to increase by £60bn over the next four years, according to analysis from think tank the Resolution Foundation. This has been driven by the growing number of people claiming disability or incapacity benefits and by guarantees for pensioners.
In an interview with The Observer, Ms Kendall said: “I do not think it’s sustainable when you’re seeing those levels of increases, but we can do something about it.”
She criticised the Tory government for “divisive rhetoric that blames people and doesn’t support them”.
In May, ministers opened a consultation on the disability support system PIP, with ideas including replacing cash benefits with a voucher scheme and one-off grants.
Ms Kendall added: “We’ve never seen more people written off. The last parliament was the worst for economic inactivity on record. It is for us to put this right. But we will need big reforms and big changes.
“I know people worry about this, but I want to say, we are on your side. We are not going to write you off and blame you. We take our responsibilities seriously. We’re going to bust a gut to give you the support you need to build a better life.”
Ms Kendall added: “All of the talk about strivers versus scroungers or shirkers – I think the people who really shirk their responsibility were the people who last sat in this office because they wrote off millions of people who actually want to work.”
She suggested that the current system that aims to help people back to work “is broken”. Ms Kendall said that her department would look at serious reforms to job centres, and connecting them to the NHS.
She said that work coaches need to get back to helping people back into employment rather than focusing on policing benefits.
According to calculations by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, there are now 4.2 million working-age individuals who are claiming a health-related benefit.
They predict that that number could rise to 5.4 million by 2028-29.
Ms Kendall has committed to a review of universal credit, new local-led plans to tackle economic inactivity and more support for 18-21-year-olds to find training or work.
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