The health secretary, Wes Streeting, has said he believes there is an “overdiagnosis” of some mental health conditions as well as “too many people being written off” – factors he said were the key drive for the government’s welfare measures.
Speaking to broadcasters, Streeting was repeatedly challenged on whether ministers were leaving disabled people uninformed for too long about the plans – and whether they would freeze the personal independence payment (Pip) as part of their welfare package this week.
The health secretary did not deny the government had dropped plans to freeze Pip after a major backlash from Labour MPs this week. There are still expected to be major changes to Pip including making the disability payment – which is not dependent on work – harder to claim, as well as changes to employment support for those too sick or disabled to work.
Asked whether he thought overdiagnosis of some conditions was a problem, he told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “I want to follow the evidence and I agree with that point about overdiagnosis.
“Here’s the other thing, mental wellbeing, illness, it’s a spectrum and I think definitely there’s an overdiagnosis, but there’s too many people being written off and, to your point about treatment, too many people who just aren’t getting the support they need. So if you can get that support to people much earlier, then you can help people to either stay in work or get back to work.”
The Guardian reported on Friday that ministers had threatened to resign over any potential freeze to Pip, which would require a vote in parliament. But there remains widespread concern from Labour MPs about how tight the criteria to claim the disability payment will be, and about the changes to employment and support allowance, which covers those who cannot work.
“I haven’t seen the full plans, they haven’t come to cabinet yet,” Streeting said. “But what I do know is the work and pensions secretary wants to support people who need help the most and we’ve got to make sure that there is a wider range of support, and that everyone’s playing their part, including me, because with those levels of illness, for example, if I can help people back to health, in many cases I’ll be helping them back to work and that’s what we’ll do.
“I haven’t seen the proposals but you’ve seen the briefing, you’ve seen the speculation, I think the moral of the story is wait for the plans.”
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Streeting said he did not come into politics to take money from the most vulnerable in society but that there was still a need for reform. “We want to support people who are the poorest and most vulnerable to make sure they’ve got dignity, independence and great quality of life,” he said.
“Without that support from an active state, I wouldn’t be here talking to you. The challenge we’ve got [is] we’ve got one in eight young people in this country not in education, employment or in training. We’ve got one in 10 people who are off work, sick, and 3 million people shut out of the labour market because of long-term illness.
“Now, of course, there will be some people because of serious disability or because of chronic illness that can’t be turned around, will not be able to work, and those people need to be supported, to be a springboard back to work.”
