The department’s fourth misleading statement came as it claimed – again in a footnote – that 70 per cent of the increase in the number of disabled people receiving the health element of universal credit and ESA in the past five years “was not expected by the Department”.
But it failed to mention the impact of the pandemic, with research by the respected Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) – published the previous day – finding that “mental health has worsened since the pandemic”, which was “consistent with rising disability benefit claims for mental health”.
The IFS report found that “deaths of despair” – those attributed to alcohol, drugs and suicide – rose by 24 per cent in England and Wales in 2023, compared with the 2015-19 pre-pandemic average.
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 