‘Unsustainable’ sickness benefits cost UK more than defence, Lords warn January 20, 2025 The UK is spending more on “financially unsustainable” sickness benefits than defence, and “urgent” reform to the welfare system is needed to rein in costs, a group of Lords has said. In a letter to the work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall, the cross-party Lords Economic Affairs committee said the current benefits system penalises people [...]
Questions grow over triple-lock as number of people on state pension climbs by 220,000 November 29, 2024 According to data from DWP, 12.9m people were receiving the benefit in May 2024, a 1.7 per cent increase on the previous year.
Autumn Budget 2024: Treasury cracking down on fraud October 30, 2024 The Chancellor of the Exchequer has made fraud and error in the welfare system a priority, with a new programme aiming to save £4.3bn by the end of the decade
Millions pumped into anti-fraud work as DWP staff costs jump almost 200 per cent October 23, 2024 The Department for Work and Pensions has increased its anti-fraud staff costs by nearly 200 per cent since 2021, as it seeks to crackdown on fraud
Labour’s growth push continues with ‘fundamental’ welfare reform promised July 23, 2024 Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, said that her department would become “a genuine department for work” as the new government attempts to tackle the rise in economic inactivity. “DWP has focused almost entirely on the benefits system, and specifically on implementing Universal Credit,” she said in a speech in Barnsley. “Nowhere near enough [...]
Government plan to get people back into work and tackle economic inactivity announced July 11, 2024 Labour has laid out its first steps to get people back into work as the new government attempts to tackle the worrying rise in economic inactivity.
Can Mel Stride’s bootcamps address ‘urgent need’ to boost workforce? May 21, 2024 Stride admitted that moving away from migration might provide a "recruitment challenge," but argued the policy formed part of a shift towards an "economic model based on British talent".
Proposed snooping powers are an incursion into our most basic rights May 2, 2024 Slippery slopes are so named for a reason. One step might feel okay; a second, trouble-free. But suddenly momentum builds, and there’s no stopping you. The metaphor could not be more appropriate for the snooping powers that government is soon to take for itself – powers that represent a most aggressive incursion into basic privacy [...]
UK firms want tax incentives to invest in employee health amid growing sickness crisis April 30, 2024 The report comes amid a growing debate about the impact of long-term sickness on the UK labour force.
Jeremy Hunt suggests the state pension triple lock is unsustainable. Is it? March 20, 2024 Jeremy Hunt suggested that the state pension might have to come "under review" in the coming years as an ageing population puts ever greater strain on the public finances.