Gavin, a taxi driver, has told The Times that the jobcentre could not say when his sickness benefit would be stopped. The paper says he was told to keep working and to see the benefit as a perk. His case is what prompted the paper’s welfare inquiry. The Times
He had a heart operation and claimed long-term sickness benefit. He has driven a taxi for more than 30 years. When he had recovered he asked to come off the benefit. He says he was told the award could not be changed until he was reassessed, and that no date was given. Daily Mail He was filmed in Shoreham-by-Sea.
Still waiting
Fraser Nelson wrote on 11 October that Gavin has now been waiting almost four years. He was told to carry on working and to declare his earnings, with the sickness benefit reduced to match. He objects to being paid more than a colleague for the same work because he was once ill. An extra hour, he finds, is barely worth it, because the benefit is withdrawn so quickly. The inquiry
Liz Kendall, then work and pensions secretary, said she would take his number and call him. The call did not come.
The Times says reassessments stopped in lockdown and were not properly restarted. It puts the number of people still waiting at 1.8 million, for an average of two years. The reports do not give Gavin’s surname, his firm, or the weekly sum.