Treasury will not commit to reducing welfare bill before next election
Healey said the government will cut the benefits bill before the next election, with two welfare reviews due next month and legislation planned next year.
- On Thursday, British Chancellor John Healey pledged to reduce the welfare bill before the next general election, despite his Budget presented Wednesday lacking specific cost-cutting measures.
- The Budget faced backlash for failing to address the 'ballooning' welfare bill, forecast to rise £19bn to £353bn this year; Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch claimed the country is 'drowning in an out-of-control welfare system.'
- Rejecting 'crude cuts,' Healey emphasized a 'moral duty' to assist the almost 1 million young people out of work, education, or training, arguing this will 'bring the welfare bill down in the long-term.'
- The government delayed major welfare changes until 2027, awaiting findings from reviews led by Alan Milburn into youth unemployment and Sir Stephen Timms into disability benefits; both reviews are due next month.
- Health-Related benefits are forecast to reach £105bn by the 2028-29 financial year, as Healey labeled the current system 'unsustainable' and ministers prepare legislation next year to curb spending.
10 Articles
10 Articles
Treasury Tries to Walk Back Healey’s Pledge to Cut Welfare Before Election
The Treasury is in panic mode this morning after a spokesman went rogue by suggesting the government would be so bold as to cut the welfare bill before the election. Unfortunately that spokesman happens to be the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Here is what Healey told Nick Robinson on the Today programme: Robinson: “Briefly, because…
UK will reduce welfare costs by next election, Healey says
British finance minister John Healey said the government would lower its spending on welfare benefits by the time of the next election as he sought to address one of the big public spending challenges that remain after his first budget announcement.
The Independent
The Independent (US)Healey insists he will bring welfare bill down despite delaying decisions
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicted that the total cost of health-related benefits will exceed £100bn by the end of the decade, with three quarters of the payments forecast to be paid to working-age adults
Treasury denies Healey plan to cut welfare bill before election, claiming his comments were misinterpreted – UK politics live
Asked earlier if there would be a cut to the welfare bill before the next election, the chancellor said: ‘There will be a reduction in the benefits bill’ John Healey is rowing back from his answer in an interview in the Today programme implying he wanted welfare spending to go down before the next general…
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