DWP issues new warning to three million people 'who are long-term sick'

DWP issues new warning to three million people 'who are long-term sick'

by · Birmingham Live

The Department for Work and Pensions has issued a new message to people who are "long-term sick". Sir Keir Starmer says those who are long-term sick need to get back to work where they can, as the DWP crackdown on fraud begins.

People who have been on long-term sickness leave and claiming benefits will need get back into the workplace “where they can” he told the BBC. He wants more schemes across the country that support people back into work from long-term sickness, he said.

This is because he believes in the “basic proposition that you should look for work”, he added. Starmer was speaking on the final day of Labour conference, after telling members there would be “light at the end of this tunnel”.

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But Starmer said they must first join a “shared struggle” through tough short-term pressures. He said: “If we want to maintain support for the welfare state, then we will legislate to stop benefit fraud, do everything we can to tackle worklessness.”

Starmer said: “I think the basic proposition that you should look for work is right. Obviously there will be hard cases, but the way I would do it is to say: yes, that’s the basic proposition, but we also want to support [people] that so that more people can get into work.”

He had earlier said: “I’ve gone out and looked at schemes where businesses are supporting people back into work from long-term sickness. Because quite often I think what lies behind this is a fear for someone who’s been on long-term sickness, that: can they get back into the workplace? Are they going to be able to cope? Is it all going to go hopelessly wrong?

“Yes they need to be back in the workplace where they can, but I do think that if we can put the right support in place, which I’ve seen pilots of, they work pretty well, and we want to see more of those across the country.” About 3 million people in the UK are not working because of long-term sickness.