Social Security Benefits: Reform
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's proposed welfare reforms on levels of economic inactivity.
Answered by Sir Stephen Timms
No estimate has yet been made.
As announced in the Green Paper, we will build towards a guarantee of personalised employment, health and skills support for anyone on out of work benefits with a work-limiting health condition or disability who wants it. Catalysed by an additional £1 billion a year by 2029/2030, this will improve returns to work and prevent economic inactivity, as part of rebalancing spending towards work over welfare.
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
As stated in the Office for Budget Responsibility’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook, OBR plan to work with the Treasury and DWP to further scrutinise both the direct and indirect effects of these welfare and employment support policies ahead of their next forecast, alongside the effects of any further measures from the Green Paper that have been sufficiently developed.
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