Starmer's welfare overhaul could help just 60,000 into work

Yahoo

20-05-2025

Sir Keir Starmer's welfare reforms could push just 60,000 people back to work, according to a leading think tank.
The Resolution Foundation said proposals to cut the welfare bill by £4.8bn would push between 38,000 and 57,000 people back to work, while £1.9bn in employment support could result in just 23,000 extra people finding a job.
'Under a best-case scenario 105,000 more people would be in work by the end of parliament,' the think tank said in a report.
The foundation also said the number of people finding a job would be 'dwarfed' by the quarter of a million pushed into poverty and 700,000 families falling further below the poverty line, according to the Government's own analysis.
It also warned that the cuts would hit many older people who were less likely to be able to start work.
The foundation noted that around 55pc of claimants of the personal independence payment (PIP), Britain's main disability benefit, were aged over 50.
This group was among the least likely to go back to work even if their welfare payments are reduced, the think tank said.
It also noted that the 'phased nature' of benefit reforms suggested savings would build over many years, with the bulk coming well into the next decade.
Official figures show spending on health and disability benefits is on course to rise to almost £100bn a year by 2030, driven by claims from working-age adults.
However, the Prime Minister is facing the biggest rebellion of his premiership over proposals to reduce the working-age benefits bill by £4.8bn by the end of the decade.
The think tank's figures will hand more ammunition to up to 170 Labour MPs who are planning to oppose the cuts or abstain in a planned vote next month.
Rachael Maskell, a Labour MP who will be voting against the reforms, said the cuts would hurt working people and pile more pressure on public services.
She said: 'Twenty per cent of PIP recipients are currently in work and many rely on PIP to maintain their independence, so cutting this lifeline will come at huge expense as people will lose their ability to function and become more dependent on public services, while the costs of poverty and worsening health are well understood.'
Jon Trickett, another Labour rebel, suggested he was prepared to lose the party whip over the issue.
'It's quite disturbing that the Government projects such a large increase in the number of people in poverty as a result of changes which they themselves are introducing,' he said.
'I spent all of my political life fighting on behalf of working people – and especially people living difficult lives as a result of poverty. So I will continue to take that stand whatever the consequences.'
Greg Thwaites, at the Resolution Foundation, urged the Government to bring forward employment support 'so that more people are helped into work at the point at which they lose benefit income, rather than years later'.
Currently £1bn of the £1.9bn spending on employment support this parliament will not begin until the end of the decade.
The think tank also called for PIP recipients who fail the new, tougher assessments to be given six months' notice before any cuts to their benefits take effect.
'This would prevent disabled people being hit by sharp, immediate income losses, and offer them more time to find work if they can,' it said.
PIP is paid regardless of whether someone works. The Government has been contacted for comment.
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