DWP will have access to your bank accounts to tackle debt as millions of Brits have been ordered to “get back to work” or risk losing their benefits.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed in the Budget today a raft of measures to get Brits back into the workforce as part of a crackdown on unemployment.
The Chancellor said: “We will expand DWP’s counter-fraud teams using innovative new methods to prevent illegal activity and provide new legal powers to crackdown on fraudsters including direct access to bank accounts to recover debt.
“This package saves £4.3billion a year by the end of the forecast.
“The government will shortly be publishing the ‘Get Britain Working’ white paper tackling the root causes of inactivity with an integrated approach across health, education and welfare.
“We will provide £240million for 16 new trailblazer projects targeted at those who are economically inactive and most at risk of being out of education, employment or training to get people into work and reduce the benefits bill.”
It comes after it was confirmed this week that local services would get a £240million funding boost to “get Britain working”.
The Government will seek to “tackle the root causes of economic inactivity”, Sir Keir Starmer said in a speech earlier this week.
“Trailblazers” in local areas will bring together and streamline work, health and skills support to disabled people and the long-term sick.
The Prime Minister said: “Rebuilding Britain and delivering growth will take the skills and effort of all of us.
“That’s why this Budget will also get Britain working. It will pave the way for reforms that tackle the root causes for economic inactivity and make sure that those who can work do work.
“As a Labour Government, we will always help those who cannot support themselves, but the UK is the only G7 country for whom inactivity is still higher than it was before Covid.
“And that’s not just bad for our economy, it’s also bad for all those who are locked out of opportunity.
“So the Chancellor will announce £240 million in funding to provide local services that can help people back into work and the dignity that that brings.”
Labour had previously promised reforms to help the “lockdown generation” get back into employment, and ministers expected to publish a “Get Britain Working” white paper due this autumn.
When Liz Kendall took over as Work and Pensions Secretary after the July election, she said Labour’s goal to reach an 80 per cent employment rate would mean getting two million more people back into work.
WATCH RACHEL REEVES ON NEVER MIND THE BALLOTS
By Ryan Sabey, Deputy Political Editor
RACHEL Reeves will be grilled in a special Budget edition of The Sun’s Never Mind The Ballots show today.
Our Political Editor Harry Cole will put the Chancellor on the spot shortly after she’s finished delivering her crucial address in the House of Commons.
It will be available to watch on thesun.co.uk, YouTube and Sun social channels at 5.30pm.
Topics will include her decision on whether to spare motorists a fuel duty rise, and the expected eye-watering tax rises she will impose.
Since its launch earlier this year, NMTB has cemented its place at the heart of British politics.
During the General Election campaign The Sun was the only print publisher to host back-to-back grillings of Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer.
Footage from The Election Showdown has been viewed over 15 million times.
NMTB has also featured interviews with ex-PMs Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, as well as senior politicians Nigel Farage, James Cleverly, Wes Streeting, Steve Reed and Bridget Phillipson
She also said powers and resources would be transferred to mayors and local areas to lead work, health and skills plans for the economically inactive.
Economic inactivity has soared by 900,000 to 2.8 million people since before Covid in 2020.
Around 85 per cent of this due to those who are long-term sick, according to a report from the BCG Centre for Growth and the NHS Confederation published in September.
Wednesday’s Budget is set to be the first one under Labour government for 14 years.
The £2 cap will increase to £3 in a bid to help plug the £22bn black hole in the public purse.
Inheritance and capital gains tax will also go up, alongside a two per cent rise on National Insurance paid by employers.
Income tax thresholds will be held beyond 2028, while duties on beer and vapes are set to rise.
