Burnham says government is working 'flat out' to cut welfare bill after Budget cost warnings

Andy Burnham says the Government is working ‘flat out’ to cut the ballooning costs of welfare spending, amid mounting scrutiny over how the Chancellor will handle the rising costs of benefits after the Budget. This comes as the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) warned sickness and disability benefits could cost the Government £100 billion a year before the end of the decade, prompting reporters to grill John Healey over the proposed costs.

But Treasury officials have rejected media interpretations of Mr Healey’s responses which suggested he wanted the bill to start falling before the next election. The Prime Minister addressed questions around a timeframe for reducing the benefit bill in Derby on Thursday, telling reporters: “We want to get the welfare bill down as quickly as possible, and we’re working flat out to that end. Read more: UK spent £1.1 trillion more on benefits than infrastructure since 2006, with Burnham urged to get a grip on welfare bill Read more: British families face the worst decade for household incomes on record, IFS warns after Budget “Now that we are through the Budget, the big next priority in front of us is the publication of the Milburn report, long awaited, but it’s coming soon.

“We just want to get stuck into supporting people to help people off benefits and into work. “There’s no delay there. We want that to happen as quickly as possible.” The Chancellor previously told LBC that welfare reform would not simply become “crude benefit cuts” which would be a “pressure too far” when people were “suffering” with the cost of living. Downing Street insisted the Chancellor had remained “completely in line with what the PM has said over the last few months that the welfare bill needs to come down” and added the Government was not “setting an arbitrary target or timetable on that”.

More details about the Government’s plans to bring down benefits spending will follow the publication of two major reviews next month, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said. “We’ll bring the bill down by tackling the underlying drivers of spending, getting more people into work, and matching support with clear opportunities and responsibilities to engage with the Government’s support offer,” the spokesman added. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) warned that the Government’s plans to help households with the cost of living will not prevent living standards from falling.

Helen Miller, director of the influential think tank, said in her post-Budget analysis: “This decade looks set to be the worst decade for growth in household incomes on record. Just wait until you see the chart; it’s depressing. No amount of temporary cost of living packages will fix that.” The IFS criticised the Chancellor for choosing to fund a £4.7 billion black hole in the defence investment plan (Dip) – left over by Sir Keir Starmer – in part from the Treasury’s reserves.

This further narrows Mr Healey’s options to keep his spending plans on course in the event of another global economic shock, the think tank said, while suggesting the Chancellor could face rampant speculation about tax rises ahead of the next budget. The reserve may also be needed to top up departmental budgets facing inflationary pressures, according to the IFS.