Rishi Sunak's 'sick note culture' clampdown divides Britain as disabled people say it is 'embarrassing' to use a voucher instead of cash – but others say it will stop abuse of system

Rishi Sunak’s plans to stop the welfare system becoming a ‘lifestyle choice’ divided opinion on the streets of Britain today.

Disabled Brits and their carers slammed the Prime Minister’s proposed scheme to scrap monthly benefits payments, claiming being forced to use a voucher instead was ’embarrassing’.

However, there was also vocal support for the ‘sick note culture’ clampdown amid growing concerns over 10 million people being unemployed and 4,000 a day signing off sick.

Ministers are urging people with ‘mild’ mental health problems to get therapy and return to work, as the government looks to reduce its huge disability benefits bill, with 3.5 million people claiming Personal Independence Payments (PIP).

When MailOnline visited the struggling steel town of Port Talbot, South Wales today, more than its share of locals were seen on mobility scooters driving through the shopping centre made up of vape shops, charity shops, betting shops, cafes and pubs.

Ex-miner Kenneth Evans, 70, is disabled due to his early working life as a coal miner at the St John’s colliery in the South Wales coalfield.

The father-of-two, who later worked at the giant Amazon distribution centre outside Swansea, is receiving PIP and a mobility allowance.

Ex-rugby player Ken said: ‘Bringing in a voucher scheme for genuinely disabled people is an insult. It’s disgusting.

‘I have arthritis throughout my body and wearing of the spine.

‘I fought long enough to get PIP but it’s a lifesaver for me and a lot of other people. I don’t know where we would be without it.’

Mother-of two Sue Newcombe, 66, said: ‘I’m on PIP for a variety of serious health problems. People don’t see what’s wrong by looking at me and may think I’m swinging the lead.

‘But I had to fill in a 45-page questionnaire, the DWP checked my application with my surgeon and then came to see me.

‘How would a voucher system work? It would be unfair. I and a lot of other people depend on our benefits for food, heating and electricity.

‘I think Rishi is just trying to cut the billions the Government spends on benefits by making it harder for people to claim.’

Retired NHS healthcare support worker Maxine Jones, 53, has anxiety and depression, COPD, asthma and heart failure. She said: ‘I’m on PIP, they can’t just change it overnight into a voucher system.

‘The PIP scheme is a lifeline for so many disabled people. Vouchers aren’t going to work, it’s just the Government trying to save money.

‘My biggest worry is mobility – I need my scooter to get around, without that I’d be cut off.’

Retired teacher Robert Llewellyn-Jones, 80, said: ‘I don’t take advantage of the benefits system, fortunately I don’t need to.

‘But for people who are in need of benefits, we are very fortunate to have the advantages that this country offers.

‘Unfortunately there are those who take advantage of the benefits – that’s a great shame, it undermines the whole system.’

Former call centre worker Lisa Cooper, 57, depends on her electric scooter for shopping trips with her partially-sighted husband Lee.

Lisa, a smoker, has osteoporosis-arthritis, osteoporosis, asthma and COPD. She gets £400-a-month through PIP and £359-a-month through Employment Support Allowance.

She said: ‘People are used to dealing with money, not vouchers. It looks like Rishi is trying to save money by cutting people’s payments and making it hard for them to claim by having a voucher system.’

David Roberts, an NHS worker from Newcastle, said it’s ‘insane’ and ’embarrassing’ to use a voucher, while claiming ‘it’s the government telling people where to spend their money’. 

The 40-year-old said: ‘If you are on benefits of any kind people think you don’t want to work, which isn’t the case.

‘It’s dehumanising. They are adding to the stigma that already exists around disability benefits.’

Kerry Treacy, from London, said the Tory’s attitude to benefits had had a huge impact on her family’s life and branded Rishi Sunak as ‘heartless’. 

She said: ‘I have a disabled sister. We had to move from London to Dublin because we weren’t getting enough help or social care workers.

‘I was working a full-time job and caring for my sister. I think it is disgraceful. He is just going to make people worse. He has no heart.’

Jenny Ibbeston, who is a carer for her mother, labelled it a ‘blanket policy, but one size does not fit all’ and accused the government of ‘targeting’ people.

She said money payments are better for her mother who ‘can’t leave the house’. 

The 43-year-old from Newcastle added: ‘Unless you have lived the life of a disabled person, you can’t say what they need.’ 

It is the latest government attempt to reduce the number of people in the UK who are registered as long-term sick and unable to work. Last week Mr Sunak announced a clampdown on ‘sicknote culture’ with changes to the way people are signed off.

Mel Stride, the Work and Pensions Secretary, today suggested that some people who were labelled as having ‘serious mental health conditions’ were simply struggling with ‘the kind of ups and downs of life that is part of the human condition’.

‘We all have challenges in our life,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

‘Work being right at the centre of people’s lives is something that is really good for mental health.’ 

However, concerns may be raised about the length of time patients wait for treatment amid NHS backlogs.

Ben Smith, 47, who is retired said he was conflicted on how to feel about the new rules.  

He said: ‘It will be more difficult for many people. On the other side of things, it could stop fraudulent claims. I am in the middle on it.

‘It doesn’t affect me or anyone that I know so it is difficult.’

May Wales, 61, a shop worker from Newcastle, said: ‘I do not agree with the policy at all. It is going to single people out. It’s embarrassing to use a voucher.

‘If you see someone using a voucher you’ll know straight away if they are receiving disability payments.

‘I have a friend who has bipolar and wants to work but can’t. This would destroy him.

‘It is going to make people who are off sick with mental health problems worse.

‘People should get the money they are entitled to. A lot of them have worked and paid into the system and now have to be on PIP.

‘Everyone is different and has different needs. This policy doesn’t account for that.’

However, Tamzin Martin, 18, a college student in Newcastle believes the system will help people who are on disability benefits.

She said: ‘The voucher may be helpful as it will go towards things people on disability benefits need instead of just giving them money to spend on anything.

‘There are people who take advantage of the system and it will make sure it is going towards what that money is supposed to be spent on.

‘It will help some people get back into work but it depends on the circumstances. Hopefully people can get tailored help.

‘It will help people who do not know how to spend their money or who struggle with budgeting.

‘It will stop people from abusing the system. The system is stigmatised because of people who abuse it and this will stamp that out.’

Dylan Browning, 18, a college student who lives in Newcastle said: ‘The voucher system is a good idea.

‘It will cut down on people who are using benefits because they want to indulge themselves in behaviour that is destructive for them.

‘The grant to make changes to their homes is a great idea.

‘There’s a sociologist who said people who are disabled are not disabled by themselves but by society so that grant will mean they can build their house around their needs, not have someone build it for them.’

NHS data published earlier this month found that almost a third (32.2 per cent) of patients were waiting more than the 18-week benchmark to start mental health treatment in February, with 8 per cent waiting almost a year.

Sir Keir Starmer branded the proposed changes ‘slightly farcical’.

‘The principle that those that can work should work is the right principle and that’s why I have long supported reform. I’m very keen on the schemes that support people back into work,’ the Labour leader said.

Sir Keir said many people want to work and need support to do so, but that waiting lists to get that support are keeping people out of the workplace.

The Government proposals being unveiled today are ‘slightly farcical,’ he said.

Sir Keir said: ‘The scheme they now say isn’t working is their scheme. They designed it and put it in place and now 14 years later they say it’s not working so there’s an element of farce to it but obviously we’ll look at the details when they come.’

In a Green Paper due to be published alongside Mr Stride’s statement, ministers will set out plans to reform personal independence payments (PIP), the main disability benefit, through changes to eligibility criteria and assessments.

The plans, which will be consulted on over the coming months, also include proposals to ‘move away from a fixed cash benefit system’, meaning people with some conditions will no longer receive regular payments but rather improved access to treatment if their condition does not involve extra costs.

In an interview with The Times, Mr Stride suggested this would mean people with ‘milder mental health conditions’ would no longer receive financial support.

But Labour’s Ellie Reeves told Sky News the government plans were ‘a consultation rather than actually any firm proposals to get to grips with this issue, which has happened on their watch’.

The three key changes set to be included in the Green Paper are:

• changing PIP eligibility criteria to better reflect how conditions affect a claimant’s daily life;
• making the PIP assessment more closely linked to someone’s condition, including removing assessments entirely for some conditions supported by medical evidence;
• moving away from a fixed cash benefit for some conditions, providing either one-off grants for specific costs such as home adaptation, or ensuring access to ‘alternative means of support’.

Sunak said Monday’s Green Paper marked ‘the next chapter of our welfare reforms’ that would make the benefits system ‘fairer to the taxpayer, better targeted to individual needs and harder to exploit’.

He said: ‘It’s clear that our disability benefits system isn’t working in the way it was intended, and we’re determined to reform it to ensure it’s sustainable for the future, so we can continue delivering support to those who genuinely need it most.’

The Prime Minister announced his plans for a crackdown on benefits today ahead of a predicted bruising week for the Tories in the local elections on Thursday.

A government source said the reforms were not about ‘making the safety net less generous, but PIP is a blunt and increasingly unsustainable benefit’.   

Mr Sunak gave a major speech earlier this month in which he pledged to crack down on the country’s ‘sick note culture’, insisting normal ‘life worries’ are not a reason to be signed off.

The plans will be presented to the House of Commons tomorrow by the Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride. The proposals in a green paper will then go out for consultation. 

Within them it will suggest those who have long-term serious conditions should not be reassessed for PIP. 

A government source told The Telegraph: ‘By the end of the decade the bill will have more than doubled since Covid, to over £30 billion. So we need a proper conversation about whether the current approach is best supporting the rising caseload, particularly those with mental health conditions.

‘We owe it to those who need the help the most to ensure the system is sustainable and working for them, including by providing extra support for those with the most severe conditions.’

Official figures have showed disability benefits for anxiety and depression have surged up to 200-fold over the last decade.

Almost £1.6billion is dished out per year on PIP for the two mental health conditions, according to data from Department for Work and Pensions.

For comparison, the figure stood at £7.5million when it was introduced in 2013.

Official forecasts also show spending on ill health through the same scheme is set to spiral to £33billion by 2029 — compared to just under £19bn last year.

Experts warned that a greater awareness and ‘changing attitudes’ to mental health conditions could be behind the rise.

Under the PIP scheme, recipients in need of help due to illness, disability or mental health problem can get up to £172 per week.

The system was introduced in April 2013 and in the first year, £7.5million was dished out to people for anxiety or depressive disorders.

It is intended to help people living with long-term illness, disability or mental health conditions to live a more independent life, by covering extra costs that their ailment incurs.

Mr Sunak stressed earlier this month he did not want to make the system less generous for those who genuinely needed support, but would not ‘let down’ Brits by refusing to tackle the issue for fear of ‘causing offence’.

‘The situation as it is is economically unsustainable,’ he said. ‘We can’t afford such a spiralling increase in the welfare bill.’

The intervention came as the IFS think-tank estimated that 4.2million working age people are currently claiming at least one health-related benefit. That is equivalent to one in 10 of the population in that age band, and up from 3.2million in 2019.

Strikingly, that level is predicted to spike even further, potentially hitting 5.8million by 2028-29 if the post-Covid trends continue.   

Separate official figures released this week revealed that the number of people considered ‘economically inactive’ after being placed on long term sickness benefits has jumped by a third since the start of the pandemic and now stands at a staggering 2.8million.

PIP is aimed at helping with extra living costs if someone has a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability, and has difficulty doing certain everyday tasks or getting around because of that.

But Mr Sunak said that since 2019, the number of people claiming PIP citing anxiety or depression as their main condition has doubled, and it is ‘not clear they have the same degree of increased living costs as those with physical conditions’.

He described the system as being ‘undermined’ as people are ‘asked to make subjective and unverifiable claims about their capability’.

Scope’s director of strategy, James Taylor, has previously accused the Government of proposing to ‘slash disabled people’s income by hitting PIP’ in a cost-of-living crisis, branding the suggestion ‘horrific’.