Think Tanks: Welfare Cuts Completely Eroded by Rayner Union Bill
Westminster’s wonks have weighed in on Labour’s welfare reforms. The overall reaction is that Labour’s plan to get people back to work and cutting the welfare bill is a step in the right direction, though it doesn’t go far enough. Wonks are also pointing to Rayner’s much-hated Employment Rights Bill – which hands power to unions and discourages hiring – meaning there won’t be enough jobs for those being pushed off benefits. Welfare reforms are only part of the puzzle…
- Jobs Foundation President Matthew Elliott welcomes the ‘Right to Try’ scheme and the government’s plans “to tackle the growing issue of economic inactivity and worklessness.” But he warns “we also need new jobs for people to fill.” He points out that “there are currently only 800,000 job vacancies, so the Government needs to support businesses to create an additional 1.2 million jobs for people to fill.” The ‘Union’ Bill won’t help with that…
- The Adam Smith Institute’s Sam Bidwell calls the reforms “a step in the right direction” though says the government must be more ambitious to keep costs down. He also slams the decision to scrap the Work Capability Assessment as “particularly concerning,” calling it “a crucial tool for ensuring that support is targeted at those who genuinely need it.”
- Professor Len Shackleton of the Institute of Economic Affairs dismisses the £5 billion savings as “a flea-bite in the context of total welfare spending.” He adds: “Today’s announcement will upset disability campaigners and Labour’s back-benchers, but will do nothing much to reform benefits or save significant amounts of money.” He also flagged the difficulty of being able to implement tightening PIP eligibility and merging jobseekers’ and employment support allowances…
- Policy Exchange’s Jean André-Prager was more supportive, saying, “Our health and disability benefit system incentivises claimants to prove what they cannot do, rather than what they can. Therefore, the measures set out in the Green Paper represent a step forward in re-aligning these incentives.”
- The Centre for Social Justice’s Ed Davies says the reforms were “a missed opportunity in terms of growth and supporting individuals to reach their potential. Its aspiration to find a paltry £5 billion, lacks vision and ambition.”
- The TaxPayers’ Alliance’s John O’Connell is even more scathing: “Liz Kendall talks about giving benefits claimants the right to try work, yet her colleagues are effectively banning companies from the right to try new employees through the Employment Rights Bill. The work and pensions secretary needs to convince her cabinet colleagues to cease their attacks on the private sector, otherwise her ambition to increase employment and cut the benefits bill will be dead on arrival.” SMEs would agree with that…
Fixing welfare is one thing, but without enough jobs, Labour’s reforms risk collapsing under their own contradictions. One step forward…
