Kemi Badenoch arrived at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham promising to cut £13billion from the welfare budget by removing disability benefit eligibility for conditions including ADHD.
In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, the Conservative leader argued that “mild anxiety, ADHD or routine back pain do not mean you cannot work”. She also pledged to end what she described as “cash handouts that leave people trapped in a cycle of worklessness”.
The Conservatives plan to make welfare reform a central dividing line with Andy Burnham’s Labour, as the party targets the £333billion annual cost of the social security system amid speculation that Westminster could face a snap election in the spring.
While Mr Burnham used Labour’s conference speech last week to promise an “adjustment” to the pensions triple lock, Ms Badenoch is expected to defend the current arrangement. Instead, she will focus on the growing number of disability claims linked to mental health conditions.
An investigation by this newspaper earlier this year found that taxpayers were paying out £800 a minute in disability benefits to people claiming anxiety-related difficulties.
Spending on personal independence payments (PIP) for anxiety has climbed from less than £100million in 2019 to almost £427million last year. Under the current rules, payments can be claimed regardless of income and applicants do not necessarily have to undergo a medical examination.
The benefit, which can be worth as much as £194 a week, may be awarded on the basis of a personal diary or a letter from a friend outlining the effect anxiety has on someone’s everyday life.
PIP claims linked to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have risen from 24,697 to 91,181 in six years. Claims associated with autism have increased from 61,641 to 210,605 over the same period, with the two conditions together costing about £2.4billion annually.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch arrived at her party’s conference in Birmingham promising to reduce handouts for mild anxiety and ‘routine’ back pain
Under Ms Badenoch’s proposals, “mild health conditions” including anxiety and routine back pain would no longer automatically qualify people for disability benefits. The conditions currently account for 43 per cent of PIP claims, and the change is expected to save taxpayers £13billion.
Instead, affected claimants would be offered help with their conditions, supported by £1billion of additional funding for therapies and occupational health services.
Eligibility would be determined through face-to-face appointments and what the Conservatives described as a “thorough, evidence-based assessment process”.
People who lose their payments would still be able to access mental health services, including talking therapies.
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Government spending on sickness and disability benefits for working-age people is projected to reach £71.4billion by 2029. PIP spending alone is expected to hit £41.2billion, more than three times the £12.9billion recorded in 2019.
Ms Badenoch said: “My focus is making sure that those who can work, do work. Mild anxiety, ADHD or routine back pain do not mean you cannot work. We should also stop pretending that a diagnosis is a reason to give up on someone.
“There is nothing compassionate about telling a young person that their future is a lifetime on benefits. Where people have mild conditions, we should help them, not leave them behind.”
Ms Badenoch said it was ‘nothing compassionate’ to tell young people they faced a lifetime on benefits
“Andy Burnham won’t address these issues because he’s more interested in appealing to Labour members than tackling the ballooning welfare bill. It’s time to get serious on benefits. We are the only party that will.”
Payments for psychiatric disorders have surged since the Covid pandemic, and such conditions now account for more than 40 per cent of all PIP claims.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has reported that mental health conditions were responsible for 55 per cent of the growth in disability benefit spending.
A thriving cottage industry of unregulated no-win, no-fee firms has grown up to coach applicants through the process, taking up to 60 per cent of any backdated payment secured.
Helen Whately, shadow secretary of state for work and pensions, said: ‘One in four people now consider themselves disabled.
‘Claims for disability benefits have doubled since 2019 – but Britain isn’t twice as sick.
‘Our sickness benefit system was built with the best of intentions, but it is broken.
‘It pays better to be off sick and claim benefits than get help and work. The incentives are all wrong. Writing millions of people off onto benefits is morally wrong.
‘And it’s unfair to the taxpayers footing the bill. Conservatives will reform our sickness benefit system to bring down the welfare bill and get people back to work.’