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Can the new work and pensions secretary win back trust on welfare? Can the new work and pensions secretary win back trust on welfare?
(5 months later)
Standing before MPs last week in the wake of the government’s disability benefits fiasco, the new work and pensions secretary, Stephen Crabb, did more than promise that no more welfare cuts were planned. He offered a perceptive insight into why the social security system treats badly so many of those it is designed to support.Standing before MPs last week in the wake of the government’s disability benefits fiasco, the new work and pensions secretary, Stephen Crabb, did more than promise that no more welfare cuts were planned. He offered a perceptive insight into why the social security system treats badly so many of those it is designed to support.
“A compassionate and fair welfare system should not just be about numbers,” he told MPs. “Behind every statistic there is a human being, and perhaps sometimes in government we forget that.”“A compassionate and fair welfare system should not just be about numbers,” he told MPs. “Behind every statistic there is a human being, and perhaps sometimes in government we forget that.”
Crabb’s carefully chosen words are in part an admission that perhaps his biggest political challenge is to try to rebuild the credibility of his party’s social justice mission, which lies in tatters after his predecessor Iain Duncan Smith resigned, accusing the Treasury of treating its vast programme of welfare reforms as predominantly “money-saving exercises”.Crabb’s carefully chosen words are in part an admission that perhaps his biggest political challenge is to try to rebuild the credibility of his party’s social justice mission, which lies in tatters after his predecessor Iain Duncan Smith resigned, accusing the Treasury of treating its vast programme of welfare reforms as predominantly “money-saving exercises”.
Related: Stephen Crabb appointed new work and pensions secretary
His words also acknowledge that for all Duncan Smith’s claims to a moral quest to “save lives” through welfare reform, the social security system – from fit-for-work tests to benefit sanctions – has in practice become a watchword for bureaucratic indifference and indiscriminate computer-says-no punishments.His words also acknowledge that for all Duncan Smith’s claims to a moral quest to “save lives” through welfare reform, the social security system – from fit-for-work tests to benefit sanctions – has in practice become a watchword for bureaucratic indifference and indiscriminate computer-says-no punishments.
Crabb should study the troubling evidence supplied to MPs by charities and welfare advisers of the damage caused by a purely numbers-based approach. It is not just headline policies like the bedroom tax that cause misery, despair and hunger, but the hidden, routine processing delays and dead zones of a glacially remote and inflexible benefits apparatus.Crabb should study the troubling evidence supplied to MPs by charities and welfare advisers of the damage caused by a purely numbers-based approach. It is not just headline policies like the bedroom tax that cause misery, despair and hunger, but the hidden, routine processing delays and dead zones of a glacially remote and inflexible benefits apparatus.
His words may well signal a more empathetic approach than Duncan Smith’s. Crabb, a Welsh working-class Tory, was brought up by his single-parent mother in a council house. “He was saying, in effect, ‘I understand what it is like when the benefit payment doesn’t arrive on time’,” a Labour MP told me last week.His words may well signal a more empathetic approach than Duncan Smith’s. Crabb, a Welsh working-class Tory, was brought up by his single-parent mother in a council house. “He was saying, in effect, ‘I understand what it is like when the benefit payment doesn’t arrive on time’,” a Labour MP told me last week.
Crabb also told MPs he wanted to reassure disabled people that they would be “at the centre of the debate” on welfare changes. He proposed a “new conversation” with those affected by reforms. Disabled people – not least Tory activists – who felt routinely ignored by the old conversation, may justifiably treat this with scepticism.Crabb also told MPs he wanted to reassure disabled people that they would be “at the centre of the debate” on welfare changes. He proposed a “new conversation” with those affected by reforms. Disabled people – not least Tory activists – who felt routinely ignored by the old conversation, may justifiably treat this with scepticism.
Crabb’s eagerness to listen may of course be a conventional piety. But as he prepares for the government’s ambitious plans to get more than 1 million people with a long-term sickness or disability into employment by 2020 (a white paper is, in theory, imminent) he must also understand that he needs the trust and cooperation of those it intends to help if the plans are to succeed.Crabb’s eagerness to listen may of course be a conventional piety. But as he prepares for the government’s ambitious plans to get more than 1 million people with a long-term sickness or disability into employment by 2020 (a white paper is, in theory, imminent) he must also understand that he needs the trust and cooperation of those it intends to help if the plans are to succeed.
The disability jobs agenda offers a chance for Crabb and the government to regain a measure of plausibility as social reformers. A more “human” approach to closing the disability employment gap, however, requires not just warm words and promises of a friendlier face in the jobcentre, but realistic, properly funded actions. A recent Social Market Foundation paper by Matthew Oakley, a Department for Work and Pensions social security adviser, describes both the scale of the problem – job outcomes for disabled people have remained static for 15 years despite heavy coercion and billions in welfare-to-work investment – and the kind of boldness required to fix it.The disability jobs agenda offers a chance for Crabb and the government to regain a measure of plausibility as social reformers. A more “human” approach to closing the disability employment gap, however, requires not just warm words and promises of a friendlier face in the jobcentre, but realistic, properly funded actions. A recent Social Market Foundation paper by Matthew Oakley, a Department for Work and Pensions social security adviser, describes both the scale of the problem – job outcomes for disabled people have remained static for 15 years despite heavy coercion and billions in welfare-to-work investment – and the kind of boldness required to fix it.
Oakley calls for the “broken” system of fit-for-work tests to be abandoned and sanctions for people on employment and support allowance to be scrapped and replaced with an approach providing meaningful help to those closest to the job market. Those who engage with an employment programme should be encouraged and rewarded; those who are unable to should not be punished.Oakley calls for the “broken” system of fit-for-work tests to be abandoned and sanctions for people on employment and support allowance to be scrapped and replaced with an approach providing meaningful help to those closest to the job market. Those who engage with an employment programme should be encouraged and rewarded; those who are unable to should not be punished.
Crucially, he warns that there are no “silver bullets”. Policies should be co-developed with service-users and rigorously trialled. There should be honesty about what is achievable. It is unlikely that 1 million people will move into work, he argues, but even reaching (a more realistic) 100,000 target would save £1bn over the course of the parliament.Crucially, he warns that there are no “silver bullets”. Policies should be co-developed with service-users and rigorously trialled. There should be honesty about what is achievable. It is unlikely that 1 million people will move into work, he argues, but even reaching (a more realistic) 100,000 target would save £1bn over the course of the parliament.
A more personalised - human, if you like - approach to getting disabled people into work was latterly one of Duncan Smith’s aims, but by then he had long lost all credibility. Crabb’s battle to win back trust on welfare-to-work may be futile because of the ferocity of existing cuts. But humility, honesty and a willingness to listen would be a start.A more personalised - human, if you like - approach to getting disabled people into work was latterly one of Duncan Smith’s aims, but by then he had long lost all credibility. Crabb’s battle to win back trust on welfare-to-work may be futile because of the ferocity of existing cuts. But humility, honesty and a willingness to listen would be a start.