The work and pensions secretary has paved the way for another fight with MPs over Britain’s welfare bill, saying Labour must stop “simply writing a cheque” for benefits claimants and instead provide more job support.
Announcing plans for a renewed effort at welfare reform, Pat McFadden said he does not “believe government fulfils its responsibilities simply by writing a cheque”.
“I think we owe people more than that”, he said.
The government failed at its attempt to slash the welfare bill last year, after backbench MPs forced the government into a £5bn U-turn after launching a major rebellion over the reforms.
Sir Keir Starmer was facing a humiliating defeat, with more than 120 Labour MPs having signed a rebel amendment seeking to kill the welfare bill.
Speaking to the Guardian on a visit to a jobcentre in south London, Mr McFadden said: “Of course, for people who can never work, the system must always be there for them, and it always should be. But for those who could work, or could change their situation, then we’ve got to help them do that.”
The work and pensions secretary said he believes welfare reform could be the centre of Labour’s response to two government reports, Alan Milburn’s report into youth worklessness and Stephen Timms’s review of disability benefits – both of which have raised clear issues with the welfare system.
He also insisted that the government’s approach must be centred around support to get back into work.
Mr McFadden said: “You have to invest in the support. In the past, people have been signed off [on benefits] and written off. That has – as we’ve heard from this morning’s group – often led to people feeling isolated, depressed, their condition becoming worse, not better.”
The interim Timms review, published last week, found that disability benefits are “no longer fit for purpose”, saying that claimants of personal independence payment (Pip) often find the system to apply for the benefit “dehumanising”, “soul destroying”, and “degrading”.
Pip is intended to help with everyday tasks and extra living costs if someone has a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability.
The latest official figures earlier this year showed the number of people in England and Wales claiming the main disability benefit passed four million for the first time – roughly doubling since 2019.
Meanwhile, in late May the first phase of the Milburn review called for a “whole system reset” involving welfare, schools, and employers to bring down a massive increase in the number of young people out of work or education after the number topped one million.
Mr Milburn, the author of the review, last week insisted that incoming prime minister Andy Burnham is up for overhauling the welfare system and knows it is “absolutely necessary”.
Speaking at an event hosted by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) think tank, Mr Milburn revealed he has held private talks with Mr Burnham and agreed the incoming prime minister will have the “appetite” to revisit welfare reforms during this parliament.
He told the event on Monday: “I’m not going to go into what we’ve discussed privately, but everything I’ve seen from Andy publicly suggests that he knows that welfare reform is absolutely necessary”.
He added: “Honestly, my sense is that the appetite within the Parliamentary Labour Party and the new administration will be absolutely up for this.”
