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Benefits claims should no longer be able to be made over the phone as part of efforts in tackling the \u201cmushrooming\u201d number of recipients post pandemic, former chancellor Sir Jeremy Hunt has said.<\/p>\n
Sir Jeremy, who also served as health secretary when the Conservatives were in power, also said those with \u201cmoderate\u201d anxiety and depression should be given treatment, rather than being \u201cparked\u201d on benefits.<\/p>\n
He spoke out on the issue when he appeared at the Edinburgh International Book Festival \u2013 revealing to the audience there that he had sent a copy of his book Can We Be Rich Again? to Prime Minister Andy Burnham after messaging him during the Makerfield by-election campaign.<\/p>\n
With the book focused on how to improve the UK\u2019s economy, Sir Jeremy\u00a0stressed the need to reduce the country\u2019s benefits bill.<\/p>\n
He told the audience: \u201cIf we got the welfare bill down to 2019 levels it would save more than \u00a350 billion a year, that\u2019s a lot of money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Increasing welfare spending is a \u201cproblem that really started in the pandemic\u201d, the Tory added, saying benefits spending had been reducing prior to 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had this mushrooming since the pandemic,\u201d the former chancellor added.<\/p>\n
Asked what should be done, Sir Jeremy said: \u201cI think you should say for moderate anxiety and depression we\u2019re not going to park you on benefits, we\u2019re going to give you treatment, which would be a fraction of the cost.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also said that \u201cwe should stop people applying by telephone\u201d for benefits.<\/p>\n
His comments came as he argued welfare reform is key in improving the country\u2019s economy,\u00a0saying: \u201cIt cannot be right that in the UK we are signing off 1,000 people every single day and saying, \u2018not only do you not have to work, but you don\u2019t even have to look for work\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe majority are now off for anxiety and depression, and we should be saying to people with anxiety and depression not \u2018we\u2019re going to put you on benefits\u2019, but \u2018we\u2019re going to treat you\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause when I was health secretary every doctor I spoke to said people with anxiety and depression need social contact, but if you put them on benefits you are excluding them from the world and probably making their condition worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
The former health secretary, who is still a Conservative MP,\u00a0insisted: \u201cIt is not very compassionate to park someone with mental illness on benefits so they don\u2019t work for the rest of their lives, it is the worst possible thing you could do for their mental health and their future.\u201d<\/p>\n