2 weeks Ago By Mark Benstead
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall today announced plans aimed at saving £5 billion by 2030. With three million people out of work for health reasons, the new measures are designed to support those who can work, while still protecting those that can’t. The reforms aim to give people the support they need, whether in preventing people falling ill in and out of work in the first place, changing how benefit eligibility is assessed, or by making sure disabled people and people with health conditions get proper employment support and the same chances and choices as everyone else.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Poynton said: “My Livingston constituents will welcome the Secretary of State’s commitment today to protect with dignity those who cannot work because they're so severely disabled or with illness. But there are many sick and disabled people who can work with the right support. So can my Right Honourable friend confirm that those people will get the support they need to get into work to build a better life for them and their families?” In response, Liz Kendall MP said: “Yes.
Honourable members have rightly said that PIP (Personal Independence Payment) is not a benefit related to work, it's a contribution to the extra cost of living with the disability. And actually, 17% of people on PIP are in work. I want to expand opportunities for disabled people who can work to get into work because the disability employment gap, which actually fell under the last government, has sort of flatlined.
We want to sort that out because we believe disabled people should have the same rights and chances to work if they can, as everybody else. However some important elements of social security are devolved, meaning the Scottish Government has to act as well if the country is to push past the existing barriers to growth. They have the power to set rates and eligibility here.
This includes PIP, which in Scotland is called Adult Disability Payment. Similarly health care falls under the remit of Holyrood as well, which is clearly linked to welfare, and the numbers on both parts underline that more needs to be done here. Scotland’s economic inactivity rate is higher than the rest of the UK - just over 130k Scots want a job but aren’t actively looking and almost 300k are out of work and not looking because they are either temporary or long term sick.
700k are on NHS waiting lists for treatment, so cutting waiting times in Scotland will help more people back into work..
