Sick note squads to crack down on workshy Brits: Rishi Sunak warns 'life ... trends now
Rishi Sunak is unveiling a major crackdown on Britain's 'sick note culture' today as he warns normal 'life worries' are not a reason to stay out of the workforce.
The PM is using a speech this morning to lay out plans for specialist teams to assess what work people can do, rather than GPs signing them off.
He will argue that it is time to be 'more honest about the risk of over-medicalising the everyday challenges and worries of life'.
In a round of interviews ahead of the speech, Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said 'enough is enough' - pointing to 'skyrocketing' benefits spending.
The intervention comes after figures released this week revealed that the number of people considered 'economically inactive' after being placed on long term sickness benefits has jumped by a third since the start of the pandemic and now stands at a staggering 2.8million.
In a major speech today, Rishi Sunak will warn that a surge in people signed off sick with mental health conditions is placing 'unsustainable' pressure on the welfare budget
Around half are signed off with depression, anxiety and bad nerves.
Overall, 9.4 million people aged between 16 and 64 are economically inactive - meaning they are neither in work nor looking for work.
The PM will highlight figures showing that GPs issue so-called 'fit notes' to 94 per cent of those who ask for them, with more than 11 million doled out last year.
He will unveil plans to end the role of GPs in the system.
It comes as questions have been raised over whether surgeries need the added workload amid a long backlog of patients in the wake of the pandemic.
In future, those looking to be signed off could be asked to discuss their health with teams of 'specialist work and health professionals' who will assess what work they can do and what help they need to 'bounce back to the workplace'.
The plans are likely to face questions over whether people without medical qualifications are well-placed to make decisions about someone's ability to work.
But Mr Stride told LBC Radio there was no alternative to reform. 'If you look at issues like long-term sickness, disability, and you add up all the costs of all the benefits there, you get to about £69billion,' he said.
'The most worrying aspect of all of this… is the increased cost going forward. So all the forecasts are for these benefits to be skyrocketing upwards in time. And that is something that we must address. Enough is enough on that one is my message.
'So what you will be hearing from the Prime Minister is that we will be taking measures to make sure that welfare spend is under control.'
Mr Strike said higher spending on welfare is 'adding to the pressures for people to be paying, for example, more taxation'.
Mr Stride acknowledged that the details of the new system were yet to be finalised, but argued that in many cases it would just mean 'different configuration of existing resources'.
He added: 'We have already gone out to the various health boards around the country and we have 15 of the 42 in England who in the autumn will be participating in something called WorkWell, which is the name for what I described earlier of bringing together the medical assistance but also that critical work-based advice and support as well.'
In a round of interviews ahead of the speech, Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said 'enough is enough' -
