In the last few months it’s been pleasing to see Government starting to talk about what was becoming an uncomfortable truth. And that is that our welfare net, which was supposed to be there for those who fell on hard time, or those who are genuinely unable to work, but instead it has increasingly been taking people out of the labour market. And that affects our business community just as much as it does the taxpayer.
Now, there are many great aspects of our social security system that we rightly cherish and ought to guard, fiercely. One is the staff making it all work. Whenever I visit or speak to the Burnley JobCentre team I’m genuinely blown away by both their passion for getting people into work, and their compassion for those who can’t. But they can only work within the system given to them. And as the Prime Minister and Work and Pensions Secretary have set out, that system is no longer functioning correctly.
Far too many people are being written off. It patently can’t be right that 94% of the fit notes issued were signed as “not fit to work”. Not when our economy is changing and the ability to work flexibly or remotely is growing. And the vast majority of those are simply repeats.
But it isn’t just the fit note itself, it’s the reasons people are being signed off. We are increasingly able to talk about mental health openly – which is a good thing. But what is not so good is the movement to shift general stresses of life, which we will all go through, into diagnosed medical conditions which result in not being able to work.
That isn’t to say some people won’t experience mental health illnesses which are severe enough to need a time out from work, or studies. They will. But it is about recognising that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach.
And we should reflect on where the direct cost of all this sits. With the taxpayer, and with the businesses who find themselves losing staff because of a system that doesn’t help them keep people working in the right way.
The reforms being proposed, on fit notes, occupational health, work capability, and now disability benefits too, are about supporting people to remain in the workplace. And supporting our businesses as they, in turn, support their staff to do so. Being fair to taxpayers, those impacted, businesses, and society overall.
