Baroness Louise Casey, the government’s social care tsar, has raised serious concerns about the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) sickness benefit system, suggesting it is overly lenient. Speaking in the course of her work leading Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s review into social care, Baroness Casey told the BBC that the current system is so relaxed that even she could qualify for benefits despite not being disabled.
“I would qualify, and I’m sitting here right now,” she remarked. “I’m not disabled, but I could qualify if I answered questions based on my medical records - it’s that simple.”
Baroness Casey further highlighted that approximately 16.8 million people answered questions in such a way that the DWP would classify them as disabled. She expressed scepticism about these figures, stating, “I don’t buy it.”
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Currently, around 17 million people in the UK are classified as disabled, with 6.9 million claiming disability benefits.
Meanwhile, Andy Burnham, the Labour Party government prime minister and Makerfield MP, has reiterated that the debate on assisted dying should be postponed until palliative and social care systems are adequately reformed and funded. While not opposing the conversation, he described it as “very challenging” to introduce assisted dying legislation when the care infrastructure remains insufficient.
Burnham told reporters, “I take the view that that debate – and I don’t say that there shouldn’t be a debate at some point about those issues – personally, I think there’s something that needs to happen first. That is the fixing of the funding of palliative care and social care. I think it is very challenging to introduce that wider debate in a context of people not receiving that care and having the peace of mind about that care.”
He also addressed funding and workforce issues affecting social care, stating, “I think more is possible from within existing resources. And the things that I’ve talked about today, particularly around the workforce, will be fully funded. I think it is possible from existing budgets to do much more.”
However, Burnham acknowledged that some measures will require difficult decisions. “Some of what we would want to [do] in the fullest sense will require difficult decisions… But we will be honest with people about those. We will put them before the country at the right time, and we will hopefully proceed with people’s consent.”