DWP to 'leave no stone unturned' in benefits crackdown after 1m leave workforce

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Bosses at the Department for Work and Pension (DWP) have promised to 'leave no stone unturned' in tackling unemployment after it emerged that 85,000 people had left work since the start of the year.

This makes Britain the only major economy with fewer people working than before the pandemic, after more than one million people dropped out of the workforce.

Speaking after the Office for National Statistics posted the weak employment data, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride said the DWP was rolling out the "most radical changes to welfare in a generation", which include reforms to sick notes that could see GPs replaced by "health and work professionals." But despite this employment slump, pay increases across the economy have continued with the average salary going up by six per cent in the first three months of 2024.

With a record increase in the National Living Wage to £11.44 and pay on the rise, the government is shifting focus to the long-term sick and disabled with reforms to Personal Independence Payments and sick notes. READ MORE: Martin Lewis urges regulators to make one change that could slash energy bills Mel Stride MP said: "We are leaving no stone unturned to get people back to work, rolling out the most radical changes to welfare in a generation including reforming how we assess someone's capability to work, overhauling the fit note process and helping over a million people through our £2.5bn Back to Work Plan. "We'll always be on the side of hardworking families and with real wags still rising, alongside tax cuts and the huge boost to the National Living Wage, we are incentivising work over welfare as we build a strong economy where everyone has a brighter future." However, multiple