Sunak bids to cut ‘sick note culture’ to save money
Fewer people should be signed off work ill by doctors to end a “sick note culture” leading to soaring numbers of people out of work, Rishi Sunak will say today.
The Prime Minister will set out plans to reduce the number of people off work through illness, and the bar will be raised to cut down on unemployment stemming from conditions such as anxiety and depression.
Under the proposals, GPs could no longer be responsible for issuing fit notes, and the duty would instead be upon occupational health specialists to make the call as to whether someone is able to work.
The announcement prompted concern from charities which argued that economic inactivity was linked to “crumbling” public services.
Mr Sunak will stress that he would “never dismiss or downplay” health conditions, but will say that the focus must shift to what work people might be able to do.
The Government said the fit note system had “opened the floodgates for millions of people to be written off work”, and the policies will instead focus on supporting people to stay in appropriate employment.
NHS data show that almost 11 million fit notes were issued last year.
Mr Sunak is expected to say: “We should see it as a sign of progress that people can talk openly about mental health conditions in a way that only a few years ago would have been unthinkable, and I will never dismiss or downplay the illnesses people have.
“But just as it would be wrong to dismiss this growing trend, so it would be wrong merely to sit back and accept it because it’s too hard or too controversial, or for fear of causing offence. Doing so would let down many of the people our welfare system was designed to help.”
He will say that there is a “growing body of evidence that good work can actually improve mental and physical health”.
In his speech, Mr Sunak will address the challenge of rising economic activity since the Covid pandemic, linking it to mental health conditions.
Since 2020 the number of people out of work because of long-term sickness has soared and a large proportion of those report suffering from depression, bad nerves or anxiety – although often these are secondary conditions. Spending on working age disability and ill-health benefits increased by almost twothirds from £42.3bn to £69bn, figures show. Disability charity Scope UK questioned whether Mr Sunak’s announcements were “driven by bringing costs down rather than how we support disabled people”. Its spokesman, James Taylor, said: “Much of the current record levels of inactivity are because our public services are crumbling, the quality of jobs is poor and the rate of poverty among disabled households is growing.”