Workforce needs support not sanctions - MP candidate

People unable to work due to sickness need more support, not sanctions, according to a Labour candidate.

Markus Campbell-Savours, who is standing in the Penrith and Solway constituency at the UK general election, said: “The support network has been the opposite of support.”

The Chancellor said in the Budget that those who can work, should. But 2.8m people are not working because they are long-term sick, a number that has risen by 200,000 in a year.

Carlisle's Conservative MP John Stevenson said: "There's a lot of employment available, so that's not a barrier to people getting on with improving their lives."

In Cumbria and north-east England, people are twice as likely to have left the jobs market because of sickness than people living in south-east England.

Mr Campbell-Savours told BBC’s Politics North: “I think the big challenge here is making sure that job centres are actually job centres.

"We've seen a period of time where the support network for many people has been the opposite of a support network. It's just sanctioned them when they've needed help."

He also said long NHS waiting lists meant people were locked out of the workforce.

“You can't hide the fact that we've got record waiting lists in the National Health Service. That will not be helping economic inactivity.

"People who, years ago, were getting treatment within a matter of months, are now waiting a year-and-a-half and are seeking mental health support on the journey."

But Carlisle's Conservative MP John Stevenson said the Department for Work and Pensions already worked closely with individuals to get them back in the jobs market.

“We must not lose sight of the fact that the most important thing of all is getting people into work. If people are in work they’ve got self-esteem, financially they’re better off, they feel better about themselves.

“The DWP has taskforces getting in contact with individuals to see what they can do to help guide that person into a job."

The Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, Jemma Joy, said more mental health support was key to solving the problem.

"There are people who've got mental and physical health issues that just aren't being addressed because of a crumbling NHS and not enough services in mental health," she said.

"You've also got carers. There are a lot of people who are not in work because they have caring responsibilities."

BBC Politics North (North East and Cumbria) is broadcast at 10:00 GMT on Sunday on BBC One, and available afterwards on the BBC iPlayer.

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