Reform Spending Review recommendations

How to run a country: working age welfare

Reform has published recommendations for the 2015 Spending Review. Each day they will publish analysis for each of the main areas of public spending.

Reform is a British think tank, whose stated mission is to set out a better way to deliver public services and economic prosperity.

Reform recommends:

Stopping the freezing of benefits;
Abolishing Child Benefit and compensating low income families through Universal Credit;
Either taxing or means-testing Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment;
Reconsideration of extending the Right to Buy to Housing Association tenants and greater investment in new social housing to reduce the Housing Benefit bill;
Overhauling Employment and Support Allowance as follows:

increasing conditionality by considering the scope for mandating claimants to follow a rehabilitation plan and engage fully in back-to-work programmes.
reducing the Work Related Activity Group rate to that of Jobseeker’s Allowance.
exploring the advantages and disadvantages of a single rate out of work benefit.
overhaul the gateway and assessment process to ensure that recipients receive personalised, rehabilitative employment support as quickly as possible;

That the Government should have as an objective a reduction in the number of people on low pay to reduce the Tax Credits bill. It should include encouraging employers to pay higher wages for those at the bottom of the earnings scale, and applying ministerial pressure where appropriate.