The Department for Work and Pensions has been told it should no longer accept benefits claims made over the telephone, following a call from former Conservative Party chancellor Sir Jeremy Hunt. Speaking as the DWP welfare bill continues to grow, Sir Jeremy argued that the current system is unsustainable and harms claimants.
Sir Jeremy Hunt criticises telephone claims process
Sir Jeremy, who also served as Health Secretary under the Conservatives, made the remarks at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. He said: “We’ve had this mushrooming since the pandemic.” He added that “we should stop people applying by telephone” for benefits, stating: “It cannot be right that in the UK we are signing off 1,000 people every single day and saying, ‘not only do you not have to work, but you don’t even have to look for work’.”
The former chancellor described the situation as “a crying waste of talent.” He noted that “the majority are now off for anxiety and depression,” and argued that the response should be different: “we should be saying to people with anxiety and depression not ‘we’re going to put you on benefits’, but ‘we’re going to treat you’.”
Mental health and benefits: a compassionate approach questioned
Drawing on his experience as health secretary, Sir Jeremy said: “every doctor I spoke to said people with anxiety and depression need social contact, but if you put them on benefits you are excluding them from the world and probably making their condition worse.” He added: “It is not very compassionate to park someone with mental illness on benefits so they don’t work for the rest of their lives, it is the worst possible thing you could do for their mental health and their future.”
Sir Jeremy’s comments come as the DWP welfare bill continues to rise, with Reform Party figures cited in the article claiming that by 2029, some 1.5 million adults who are not British citizens will be Universal Credit claimants, and 215,000 will be in receipt of Personal Independence Payment (PIP). The article states that this growth in welfare dependency has been fuelled by younger people citing a combination of “mixed anxiety and depressive disorders”.
