Young people will lose their benefits if they refuse to take up work and training opportunities, a minister has said before announcing measures to cut the welfare bill.
Liz Kendall, work and pensions secretary, told Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that “conditions” will be attached to the new skills opportunities the government intends to create.
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With a record number of young people currently unemployedLabor promised in its manifesto a “youth guarantee” allowing 18-21 year olds to have access to training, apprenticeships or help to find work.
“If individuals repeatedly refuse to take on training responsibilities, their performance will be sanctioned,” Ms Kendall said.
“The reason we believe in this so strongly is because we believe in our responsibility to provide these new opportunities, and that’s what we will do.” We will transform these opportunities, but young people will have to seize them.
The Labor government said it would stick to a pledge made under the previous Conservative administration to cut the welfare bill by £3bn over five years.
Ms Kendall said her party would make its “own reforms” to achieve this goal, but gave no further details.
The Conservatives had planned to change the work capacity rules to strengthen eligibility, so around 400,000 extra people on long-term sick leave would be considered to need to prepare for work by 2028/ 29 to achieve savings.
Asked whether these people would ultimately be denied their current benefits under Labor’s plans, Ms Kendall told the BBC on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “I say we will come up with our own reforms. You wouldn’t expect me to announce it in your program.
“But my goal is that people with disabilities have the same opportunities and rights to work as everyone else.”
The latest official forecasts published by the government show that the number of people receiving incapacity benefits is expected to increase from around 2.5 million in 2019 to 4.2 million in 2029.
Last year there were just over three million applicants.
Ms Kendall will launch proposals to “make Britain work” on Tuesday amid concerns over soaring unemployment rates.
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The white paper is expected to include the placement of work coaches in mental health clinics and a “youth guarantee” aimed at ensuring 18-21 year olds work or study.
Ministers are also considering a supported employment schemeSky News revealed last week.
The UK remains the only G7 country experiencing higher levels of economic inactivity today than before the pandemic.
Ms Kendall said the reasons are “complex” and include the fact that the UK is an older and sicker nation.
When asked if she thought “normal feelings” were “over-medicalized,” she said that while some people may “self-diagnose” themselves with mental health issues, it’s of a “real problem”.
“There is no simple thing. You know, the last government said that people were too blue to work.
“I mean, I don’t know who they were talking to. There is a real mental health problem in this country.
Ms Kendall’s language was gentler than that of Sir Keir Starmer, who this weekend promised a crackdown on “criminals” who “game the system”.
Writing in the Mail on Sunday, he said: “Make no mistake, we are going to tackle the welfare bill that is blighting our society. »