Latest news with #CentreForSocialJustice
Telegraph
16 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Young people want to work. Yet we are stopping them
In my industry, I meet countless young people full of energy and potential. Hospitality has always offered opportunities for those who are ambitious, practical and determined to get ahead – particularly those spurning university to get straight into the jobs market. But more and more, I hear the same frustration from employers: it's getting harder to bring young people into the workforce and keep them there. This isn't because young people don't want to work. It's because we've created an environment that makes it incredibly difficult for them to start. Nearly one million young people are now not in education, employment or training (NEETs). This is an economic disaster, but it is also a profound waste of human potential. Above all, it is a failure in policy. Because while the Government talks a good game on growth, the reality is it is building an environment at odds with young people's natural desire to get on and succeed. Take the benefit system. I was shocked to read in new research from the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) that by 2026, someone out of work due to anxiety, receiving both Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment, will receive more than £25,000 a year. A full-time worker on the national living wage, meanwhile, will take home only around £22,500 after tax. This is not a criticism of those receiving support. The fault lies ultimately with a benefits system that, however well-intentioned, now too often rewards economic inactivity and traps people in dependency. It can't be right that some interviews with potential claimants are now done online and over Zoom. We must not forget that the ultimate goal of welfare should be to provide hand up not a handout. The problem is being compounded by short-sighted policies. Recent increases in National Insurance have raised costs for employers – especially in labour-intensive sectors like hospitality – and made it harder to create and sustain jobs. Hospitality has been hit hardest: since April, almost 70,000 jobs have been lost, reversing a gain of 18,000 last year. Add to that talk of more tax rises, and we risk sending a clear message to young people: effort doesn't pay, and enterprise isn't welcome. We've been here before. In the 1970s, Britain learnt the hard way that punishing work and subsidising idleness leads to stagnation and decline. Today we face a similar moment. If we want a dynamic, outward-looking economy again, we need to restore the link between work and reward. That means rebalancing the benefits system. The CSJ's proposals to tighten eligibility for long-term sickness claims based on less severe mental health conditions, using the savings to reinvest in NHS therapy, would be positive step in the right direction. Another idea is to use the saving to bring in tax relief for employers taking on NEETs. What better way to ameliorate the effects of the NICs rise for businesses, solve our inactivity problem and help thousands more young people reap all the financial and mental health benefits a job? The scheme would more than pay for itself, the CSJ finds, in added value to the economy. We cannot allow young people to drift, unsupported, when they could be building careers, confidence, and lives of purpose. A modern economy should reward ambition, support those who fall on hard times, and help people into meaningful work. For Britain's young people, there is no time to lose.
Telegraph
18 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
£30bn wasted on failed bid to boost poorest children's grades
Taxpayers have spent £30 billion on an equality drive that has failed to boost the grades of the poorest children, a damning new study has found. Researchers found the scheme, which was launched by Nick Clegg, the former deputy prime minister, has not delivered any meaningful results despite its huge price tag. Under the 'pupil premium' schools are given extra grant cash based on the number of their students who are eligible for free school meals. Introduced by Mr Clegg in 2011, it was designed to help close the attainment gap between children from wealthier and poorer households. But a report by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) found that, almost 15 years later, official data shows the difference in grades has 'barely narrowed'. The think tank said its findings raised questions about whether the pupil premium, which will cost another £10 billion by the end of the decade, is 'fit for purpose'. At around £3 billion a year the scheme costs the same as Britain's annual support to Ukraine and is twice as expensive as the winter fuel payment. The CSJ found that, despite the extra funding, the attainment gap at both primary schools and secondary schools was wider in 2023-24 than in 2016-17. It also discovered that disadvantaged pupils at six in 10 schools had worse outcomes on average in 2023-24 than they did before the pandemic. The report said: 'Fourteen years on, the stark reality is that attainment gaps between disadvantaged pupils and their peers have barely narrowed. 'This raises serious questions about whether the policy – in its current form – remains fit for purpose.'
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Kemi Badenoch says people with anxiety and mild depression should not get benefits as she demands 'a line in the sand' to cut 'immoral' welfare costs
People should not be able to claim benefits or be signed off work due to anxiety or mild depression, Kemi Badenoch said today, demanding handouts be restricted to those with 'severe' mental health problems. The Conservative leader lashed out the UK's welfare dependency today as she outlined proposals to cut billions from the bill and get people back into work. She used a major speech to demand an end to a system of 'self-certification' that had led to a situation where 25 per cent of workers claim they are disabled. 'I do not believe that one in four of us can be considered disabled without that term losing all meaning,' she told an audience in Westminster. 'In this new age of diagnoses and self-certification, our sickness benefits system cannot cope.' And she also hit out at the amount of money and aid - including funding for brand new cars - being given to people with non-life-threatening ailments like anxiety, food intolerances and acne. 'We are going to have to draw a line in the sand about which conditions the state gives out support for,' Mrs Badenoch said. 'Food intolerances are a medical fact, but they're not something we should be handing out new cars for. That is not a joke. This actually happens. 'And anxiety and mild depression are real conditions but that doesn't mean those suffering should be signed off work courtesy of the taxpayer.' She pointed to Centre for Social Justice analysis suggesting that by tightening mental health claims the government could save £9billion, which could be spend on research and treatment. Living on sickness benefits will soon pay £2,500 a year more than a minimum wage job, it has was revealed last night. Earnings of the unemployed who claim ill health payments will overtake those of workers on the national living wage next year, according to the CSJ. A separate report last week showed disability benefits worth up to £10,000 a year - including funding for a brand new car - are being handed out to people suffering from acne, old age and even writer's cramp. The number of people receiving the enhanced mobility rate personal independence payments (PIP) has shot up in the past six years, from 734,136 in January 2019 to 1.75 million people in April this year. The largest increase in recipients uncovered by the Taxpayers' Alliance's analysis were for autism, anxiety and depression. Mrs Badenoch called for an end to remote assessments of benefit claimants, arguing that this had allowed people to 'game the system', and pledge to 'get people back to work' through retraining and 'early intervention'. The s speech comes a week after Sir Keir Starmer U-turned on proposals to cut the benefits bill by £5 billion in the face of discontent among his backbenchers. After the U-turn, economists have warned that the Government's proposals will now deliver zero savings by 2030. Mrs Badenoch attacked the Labour Government as being 'beholden to left-wing MPs' and 'completely unprepared for government'. And she also took aim at Reform UK, accusing both Nigel Farage's party and Labour of 'turning a blind eye' to the impact of the rising welfare bill. Mr Farage has vowed to scrap the two-child benefit cap if Reform UK comes to power, something the Conservatives have criticised as unaffordable. 'Nigel Farage pretends to be a Thatcherite Conservative but really, he's just Jeremy Corbyn with a pint and a cigarette,' Mrs Badenoch said, to applause. 'On welfare he shows his true colours – promising unaffordable giveaways with no plan to fix the system.'
The Independent
3 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Kemi Badenoch to call for tougher restrictions on benefits
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch will call for health benefits in Britain to be restricted as she sets out her plans for welfare. In a speech on Thursday, she will call for benefits to be only for people with the most serious conditions and will warn of a 'ticking time bomb' of welfare dependency. Government forecasts suggest annual spending on health and disability benefits could reach £70 billion by 2030, whil other projections suggest the figure could go as high as £100 billion. The Office for Budget Responsibility has warned that failing to cut the rate at which people take up benefits could cost an extra £12 billion. Calling for tougher action on benefits, Mrs Badenoch will say: 'We should be backing the makers – rewarding the people getting up every morning, working hard to build our country. 'Our welfare system should look after the most vulnerable in society – not those cheating the system.' Mrs Badenoch's speech coincides with the publication of a report by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) think tank suggesting some benefit claimants could receive more in welfare than they would be paid working full time. The CSJ said an economically inactive person currently claiming universal credit, the average housing benefit and personal independence payment would receive around £25,000 next year – more than the £22,500 post-tax income of someone working full time on the minimum wage. For new claimants, cuts to universal credit proposed by the Government would reduce that figure to £22,550. CSJ policy director Joe Shalam said the disparity created 'perverse incentives' that left 'too many people trapped in a cycle of dependency and wasted potential'. As well as restricting benefits to 'more serious conditions', Mrs Badenoch is expected to reiterate her policy of preventing foreign nationals claiming welfare. She will say: 'It is not fair to spend £1 billion a month on benefits for foreign nationals and on handing out taxpayer-funded cars for conditions like constipation.' The £1 billion figure refers to benefits paid to households that include at least one foreign national, but may also cover payments to British citizens. The taxpayer-backed Motability scheme provides vehicles to people who receive the 'enhanced' mobility element of personal independence payment, covering those with serious mobility problems, and usually involves exchanging all the allowance and providing an additional upfront payment in exchange for a lease on a vehicle. She will also call for an end to remote assessments of benefit claimants, arguing that this had allowed people to 'game the system', and pledge to 'get people back to work' through retraining and 'early intervention'. Mrs Badenoch's speech comes a week after Sir Keir Starmer U-turned on proposals to cut the benefits bill by £5 billion in the face of discontent among his backbenchers. After the U-turn, economists have warned that the Government's proposals will now deliver zero savings by 2030. In her speech, Mrs Badenoch will attack the Labour Government as being 'beholden to left-wing MPs' and 'completely unprepared for government'. And she will also take aim at Reform UK, accusing both Nigel Farage's party and Labour of 'turning a blind eye' to the impact of the rising welfare bill. Mr Farage has vowed to scrap the two-child benefit cap if Reform UK comes to power, something the Conservatives have criticised as unaffordable. Mrs Badenoch will say: 'Nigel Farage pretends to be a Thatcherite Conservative but really, he's just Jeremy Corbyn with a pint and a cigarette. 'On welfare he shows his true colours – promising unaffordable giveaways with no plan to fix the system.' A Labour Party spokesperson said: 'The Conservatives had 14 years to reform welfare. Instead, they left the country with a broken system that holds people back and fails to support the most vulnerable. Kemi Badenoch's Tory Party should be apologising for the state they left the system in. 'Labour is committed to reforming the broken welfare system through our Plan for Change by investing £3.8 billion in supporting sick and disabled people back to work, introducing our new Youth Guarantee giving all 18 to 21-year-olds the chance to be learning or earning, and creating more good jobs in every part of the country.'
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Health
- Telegraph
Cut benefits for depression and ADHD, Tories demand
Benefits for depression and ADHD should be cut to save up to £9 billion, the Conservatives have demanded. Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary, said those with common mental health disorders or some behavioural conditions 'shouldn't be receiving sickness benefits'. It comes after the Centre for Social Justice called for the Government to withdraw Personal Independence Payments (Pip) and Universal Credit from those with milder anxiety, depression or ADHD. They estimated that such changes would save £7.4 billion by 2029-30, and that £1 billion of it should be redirected towards reinvestment in front-line mental health services. Ms Whately told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: 'We cannot have a country in which one in four people believe they are disabled and believe that means that they should be receiving benefits from the state. 'Clearly we can't afford that. So for instance we have said that you shouldn't be receiving sickness benefits if you have what is called a common mental health disorder, something like anxiety, mild depression and some behavioural conditions like ADHD and that has been the fastest-growing area of new benefit claims in recent years.' Better off working Recent analysis of government figures shows that a record 531 people per day were granted Pip payments, which can be given to those in work or who are unemployed, for mental health problems last year. Asked how many people would lose out, Ms Whately told the BBC: 'The Centre for Social Justice has been doing work on that and predicts that you could achieve between £7 billion up to £9 billion worth of savings because as I said that is the fastest-growing area of benefit claimants.' The CSJ also found that a non-working Universal Credit claimant receiving the average housing benefit and Pip for ill health would have an income of £25,000 in 2026-27. A full-time worker paid the national living wage will earn about £22,500 after income tax and National Insurance.
