Surge in UK LongTerm Sickness Benefit Claims Sparks Fresh Welfare Reform Debate

Britain faces a sharp rise in people moving onto long-term sickness benefits, with five thousand claimants joining the system every working day. Recent analysis indicates incapacity claims have doubled since the Labour government took power. The uptick comes as ministers intensify discussions around the future of welfare amid growing concerns over rising costs.

This year has seen an unprecedented acceleration in new claimants. March alone recorded over one hundred thousand people signed off onto universal credit health benefits or employment and support allowance, effectively just under five thousand each working day. Compared to figures of just over two thousand per day in April last year, the magnitude of this growth is clear. Over the past twelve months, a rolling average shows two thousand nine hundred people per working day being signed onto sickness benefits—forty-three per cent more than last year and double the pre-pandemic average.

The fiscal implications are substantial. Britain now devotes upwards of eighty billion pounds annually to all types of sickness benefit, a figure expected to reach one hundred billion by decade’s end. This surge has reignited the debate around not only the sustainability but the effectiveness of the system in its current form. Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, recently made the “moral case” for re-examining how benefits for mental health are awarded, querying whether resources might be better shifted into direct mental health support rather than cash payments alone.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves reinforced the message at the recent Labour conference, stating “we cannot go on like this” and signalling an appetite for reform after a prior five-billion-pound cuts proposal fell to a parliamentary revolt. Ministers now face the challenge of persuading sceptical backbenchers to support measures to curb spiralling expenditure.

One measure still advancing is the halving of the universal credit health element for new claimants, aiming to reduce incentives to claim incapacity status. The true impact of this change remains uncertain, as it applies only to new enquiries. Policy debate is also considering recommendations such as ending separate disability payments for milder mental health conditions and diverting savings towards NHS therapy provision.

Critics argue this rapid growth reveals a structural failure in the current system. Joe Shalam of the Centre for Social Justice think tank remarked that five thousand new claimants per day is “not a phenomenon seen in other countries.” He urges urgent government action both on fiscal and ethical grounds, to avoid consigning thousands of working-age Britons to a lifetime of welfare dependency when targeted interventions and employment support might yield better long-term outcomes.