Blunkett: Welfare reform is Labour’s ‘greatest challenge’
David Blunkett today said reforming the welfare state was the Labour government’s greatest challenge.
The work and pensions secretary said the government must “provide a ladder out of poverty, not to merely ameliorate it through a safety net”.
Next month Mr Blunkett will set out detailed plans for welfare reform, and today he provided an insight into the direction reform would take.
“Liberating” and “empowering” people would figure prominently, and action would be based on the belief that “work is the best route out of welfare”, he said.
Addressing a Labour conference for the first time in his new role, Mr Blunkett told delegates: “Today’s welfare state has more sticking plaster than Boots the chemist.”
Billions of pounds were being spent on helping people to survive, but often not to flourish, he said.
On pensions, he pledged radical proposals to tackle the “historic scandal” of women being disadvantaged by the system.
He added that the current crisis would only be solved by the government, individuals and employers pulling together.
There would be a “root and branch” reform of the Child support Agency, he revealed, but the government would also be working to ensure that parents could avoid having to “enter the minefield” in the first place.
He pledged to work with health secretary Patricia Hewitt on occupational health policy, and announced the appointment of an occupational health policy officer.
Mr Blunkett, whose father was killed in an accident at work, and now has responsibility for the Health and Safety Executive, also pledged to tackle the causes of accidents at work.
