Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall – The NEN

Social Justice Secretary urges UK Government to reinstate Winter Fuel Payment

Call for action to tackle root causes of fuel poverty

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has written to Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Liz Kendall to urge the UK Government to reverse the cut to Winter Fuel Payment.

Call for action to tackle root causes of fuel poverty.

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has written to Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Liz Kendall to urge the UK Government to reverse the cut to Winter Fuel Payment.

Ms Somerville called on the UK Government to take action to address root causes of fuel poverty and volatile energy prices.

The full text of the Social Justice Secretary’s letter:

Winter Fuel Payment: Letter to UK Government

To: Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Liz Kendall

From: Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice Shirley-Anne Somerville

20 September 2024

Dear Liz,

I am writing to you to express further concerns, following the publication of the UK Government’s equality analysis on the impact of the introduction of a means-tested Winter Fuel Payments, which shows that across all assessed characteristics those affected by this change in policy will greatly outnumber those unaffected.

The Scottish Government continues to support vulnerable households from fuel poverty through a range of actions within our limited devolved powers. This year alone, we are spending £134 million on activities to mitigate UK Government policies through schemes such as Discretionary Housing Payments and the Scottish Welfare Fund, which provide vital support to households struggling to meet their housing and energy costs.

However, we cannot continue to mitigate UK austerity policy decisions. What is really needed is reform of the UK energy markets to address the root causes of fuel poverty in Scotland, such as high fuel prices. In these circumstances I would urge you to now reverse the Winter Fuel Payment decision and reinstate the payment for all pensioners.

This decision was of course taken without consultation or discussion with the Scottish Government and it has had devastating consequences for our planned launch of Pension Age Winter Heating Payment, reducing the Block-Grant Adjustment for our devolved payment by over 80%.

Having carefully considered the options, given the significant impact of this decision and the wider cuts being imposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on our budgets, we have had no choice but to mirror this approach in Pension Age Winter Heating Payment, our replacement for Winter Fuel Payment, which is to be delivered in Scotland this Winter by the Department for Work and Pensions on behalf of the Scottish Government.

A copy of this letter goes to the First Minister, the Deputy First Minister, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Scotland.

Kendall launches blueprint for fundamental reform of employment support

Changing the DWP from a ‘Department of Welfare’ to a ‘Department for Work’

Hundreds of thousands more people out of work due to long-term sickness since the pandemic.
Experts on new board will help to shape government work ahead of groundbreaking White Paper this autumn.

Liz Kendall will today set out how Britain’s system of employment support must be fundamentally reformed to tackle the “most urgent challenge” of spiralling economic inactivity.

Experts advising the Westminster government on how to tackle the ‘greatest employment challenge for a generation’ met with the Work and Pensions Secretary for the first time yesterday (Monday 9 September).

The new Labour Market Advisory Board – appointed by Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall MP – is made up of labour market experts from across business, industrial relations and academia.

At its first meeting, members offered new approaches to shape government work on economic inactivity, tackling the root causes for people remaining out of work such as poor physical and mental health, and how the group can help the government reach its ambition of an 80 per cent employment rate.

The Board will develop new ideas and initiatives for the Work and Pensions Secretary to consider as she sets about bringing down the levels of economic inactivity, with the UK being the only G7 country whose employment and inactivity rates haven’t returned to pre-pandemic levels, part of the dire inheritance left by the previous government.

Work and Pensions Secretary, Liz Kendall MP, said: “Spiralling inactivity is the greatest employment challenge for a generation, with a near record 2.8 million people out of work due to long-term sickness.

“Addressing these challenges will take time, but we’re going to fix the foundations of the economy and tackle economic inactivity.

“The board’s knowledge, expertise and insight will help us to rebuild Britain as we deliver our growth mission, drive up opportunity and make every part of the country better off.”

As the Health Secretary Wes Streeting has previously set out, cutting NHS waiting lists will get Britain back to health and back to work. and the Board’s first meeting will examine the impact of ill-health on inactivity and how the Government can support more people into good work.

Paul Gregg, Chair of the Labour Market Advisory Board said: “Having studied the UK’s labour market across several decades, it is clear that the current labour market faces a deep-seated set of challenges.

“We have seen a sharp increase in economic inactivity and long-term sickness, most notably in our young people post-pandemic. Further, real wage growth has been heavily supressed for 15 years hitting living standards and government tax revenues. Reversing these trends will be key to ensuring the long-term prosperity of the UK’s labour market.

“I look forward to working with members of the board and the Secretary of State to support her vision for growth and examining positive solutions to address inactivity and harness the true potential of the UK’s labour market.”

The Secretary of State is also expected to outline her plans to devolve power to local areas so they can tackle inactivity with bespoke work, health, and skills plans, which are expected in a White Paper in the autumn.

It will also include plans for a new youth guarantee for 18-21-year-olds, and the overhauling of jobcentres by merging them with the National Careers service.

Inactivity levels and rates across the UK & regions as of 13/08/2024:

Area	Level (000s)	Rate
United Kingdom	9,410	22.0%
Great Britain	9,090	22.0%
England	7,756	21.6%
North East	454	27.4%
North West	1,112	23.6%
Yorkshire and The Humber	862	25.0%
East Midlands	616	20.1%
West Midlands	875	23.5%
East	851	21.7%
London	1,263	20.7%
South East	1,080	18.7%
Wales	541	28.3%
Scotland	793	23.1%
Northern Ireland	319	27.1%

Back to Work plan will ‘help drive economic growth in every region’

On a visit to Leeds Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall will today (Thursday 11 July) confirm the Government’s commitments to its manifesto Back to Work plan, and say tackling economic inactivity is central to the UK Government’s number one mission of growing the economy.

New Work and Pensions Secretary today sets out how the Government’s back to work plan is critical to growing the economy
On a visit to Leeds with Ministerial team, Liz Kendall identifies tackling economic inactivity as top priority, saying Mayors and local areas will be in the driving seat of change
Visit follows Chancellor’s speech earlier this week setting out immediate action to fix the foundations of the economy, rebuild Britain and make every part of the country better off

The visit comes days after the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves MP, unveiled the Government’s first steps to securing sustained economic growth as the only route to improving the prosperity of the country and the living standards of working people.

Ms Kendall said rising levels of economic inactivity are unacceptable and that immediate action must be taken. 9.4 million people are now economically inactive, a record 2.8 million people are out of work due to long-term sickness, and 900,000 young people (1 in 8) are not in education, employment, and training.

On her first visit as Secretary of State, with the rest of the Ministerial team, Liz Kendall MP will confirm the three pillars of the UK Government’s Back to Work plan:

A new national jobs and career service to help get more people into work, and on in their work.
New work, health and skills plans for the economically inactive, led by Mayors and local areas.
A youth guarantee for all young people aged 18-21.

Work and Pensions Secretary, Liz Kendall MP, said: “Growth is our number one mission and, as the Chancellor said, our Back to Work Plan is central to achieving our plans.

“Economic inactivity is holding Britain back – it’s bad for people, it’s bad for businesses, and it’s bad for growth.

“It’s not good enough that the UK is the only G7 country with employment not back to pre-pandemic levels.

“It is time for change in every corner of the country.

“We’ll create more good jobs, make work pay, transform skills, and overhaul jobcentres, alongside action to tackle the root causes of worklessness including poor physical and mental health.

“Change delivered by local areas for local people, driving growth and delivering opportunity and prosperity to everyone, wherever they live.”

Earlier this week the Health Secretary set out how cutting NHS waiting lists will get Britain back to health and back to work, and how by taking bold action on public health we can build the healthy society needed for a healthy economy.

Under the DWP’s plan, Jobcentre Plus and the National Careers Service will be merged to get more people into work and to support those seeking better opportunities with the means to find better paid work.

The Youth Guarantee will mean more opportunities for training, an apprenticeship or help to find work for all young people aged 18-21 years old, to prevent young people becoming excluded from the world of work at a young age.

More disabled people and those with health conditions will be supported to enter and stay in work, by devolving more power to local areas so they can shape a joined-up work, health, and skills offer that suits the needs of the people they serve.

On their visit to Leeds today the DWP’s new ministerial team will visit a jobcentre to see first-hand how they’re supporting people with health conditions, and those aged 18-24 and over 50.

They will then be joined by Tracy Brabin, West Yorkshire Mayor. They will visit Smartworks – a charity who work to build the confidence of clients and help prepare for interviews by providing free clothing ahead of interviews.