Prime minister Keir Starmer has refused to say if he will let MPs see evidence that Labour’s welfare reforms will help more people into work before they are expected to vote the controversial measures through.
Entitled the ‘Pathways to Work’ green paper, the policy package will make £4.8 billion in cuts to spending on health and disability benefits. The changes aim primarily to support more people into work, Labour says, alongside bringing down Britain’s spiralling benefits bill and reducing youth inactivity.
However, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said last month that it could not yet provide any evidence that Labour’s reforms would help more people into work.
This was because it had not been provided with this analysis by the government, it said, adding that it was also unable to make its own in the limited time available.
The prime minister has now added to concerns that this analysis will not be made available to MPs before they are expected to vote through the measures this year.
Speaking to the cross-party Liaison Committee on Tuesday, Sir Keir said: “We need an evidence base, but we also need to get on with the work that we need to get on to, so I’m not going to make commitments in relation to timetabling.”
The prime minister also criticised the OBR for not pricing in the positive impacts the measures could have on employment into its forecast. “The assumption is not a single person changes their behaviour,” he said. “I personally struggle with that way of looking at it.”
His statements came in response to a question by Debbie Abrahams, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth. The Labour member also pointed to analysis by leading anti-poverty charity Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) that found 400,000 people would be pushed into poverty following the measures, well above the 250,000 figure given by the government.
James Taylor, executive director of strategy at disability equality charity Scope, said: “It’s clear these cuts are about saving money, in spite of the enormous cost they will have for disabled people.
“The government has repeatedly claimed they are making these changes to get more disabled people into work, in which case they must urgently publish evidence this will be the outcome before any changes are voted through.
“Cutting disability benefits does not support disabled people into work, it will just push hundreds of thousands more into poverty.”
The government has said it wants to introduce the primary legislation in the current parliamentary session, which ends in July. This means that voting on the measures could begin in just the next few months. However, the OBR said in its forecast that it would provide a more full assessment at its next report, which is unlikely to come until October.
Confirming the welfare cuts in her spring statement in March, chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “The Labour Party is the party of work. We believe that if you can work, you should work. But if you can’t work, you should be properly supported.
“This government inherited a broken system,” she said, adding: “If we do nothing, we are writing off an entire generation. That cannot be right, and we will not stand for it. It is a waste of their potential and it is a waste of their futures.”
A DWP spokesperson said: “Helping people into good work and financial independence is at the heart of our Plan to Change, but the broken social security system we inherited is failing people who can and have the potential to work, as well as the people it’s meant to be there for.
“That’s why we’re delivering a £1 billion employment support package to break down barriers for disabled people into work. We’re also rebalancing Universal Credit payment levels, so the benefit’s main rate rises permanently above inflation for the first time, in a boost for low-income families.”
