Sick note culture is fuelling crisis, says Pimlico Plumbers founder
‘If more young people were able to access a trade then GPS would spend less time composing notes’
A SICK note culture is to blame for Britain’s worklessness crisis, the millionaire founder of Pimlico Plumbers has claimed.
In a letter to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride, Britain’s richest plumber Charlie Mullins said the country has become “too keen to write sick notes”, which has contributed to soaring levels of economic inactivity.
He called for a government-funded apprenticeship service to solve the problem. He said: “If more young people were able to access a trade then GPS would spend less time composing notes. I would go further and make [a state-funded apprenticeship scheme] available as a second chance to graduates who feel duped by the English Literature or Sociology degree they have gone into debt for.”
His letter to Mr Stride, sent on Friday, comes after the Secretary of State told The Telegraph last month that he was concerned the “normal anxieties of life” were being labelled as an illness.
Mr Stride said at the time: “There is a real risk now that we are labelling the normal ups-and-downs of human life as medical conditions which then actually serve to hold people back and, ultimately, drive up the benefit bill.”
The worklessness debate has intensified in recent months after figures found almost 3m under-25s are neither employed nor looking for a job.this led to accusations young people were driving Britain’s economic inactivity crisis.
Overall, 9.25m people of working age are now classed as economically inactive, up from 8.55m in February 2020, according to the Office for National Statistics. This includes 3.5m economically inactive 50 to 64-yearolds, up from 3.3m before the pandemic.
In recognition of the problem, the Government has introduced measures to encourage people back to work. Mr Stride last month unveiled plans to get 150,000 people signed off from work with “mild” conditions back into a job.
Senior Tories have long expressed concern that doctors, nurses and pharmacists are signing people off sick via a video or phone call.
As well as helping to solve worklessness, Mr Mullins, who set up Pimlico Plumbers in his 20s after leaving school at 15, said a state-backed apprenticeship scheme would help fix Britain’s skilled labour requirements. It comes after he said earlier this year that selling his business to Kkr-backed Neighborly for £145m in 2021 was a mistake. He is planning to launch a new company when a non-compete clause ends in September.
A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “The link between work and good mental health is clear, which is why our £2.5bn Back to Work Plan is expanding support to help over a million people, while reforms to help small businesses through the apprenticeship levy are expected to further boost placements by 20,000.”