Welcome to Britain’s disability benefits capital

It is not only a health crisis but an economic one. Downing Street is increasingly alarmed by the rising cost of disability benefits, driven by mental health claims.

Rishi Sunak wants to reduce his health and disability benefit bill before it gets out of control – it is currently forecast to reach around £100bn by the end of the decade.

That means tackling unemployment in places like Knowsley, which has one of the highest numbers of claims for mental health problems, including anxiety and depression.

“We now spend £69 billion on benefits for people of working age with a disability or health problems,” Sunak said earlier this month. “That’s more than our entire school budget; more than our transportation budget. More than our surveillance.”

Addressing the problem may seem as simple as cutting benefits and making them harder to claim. But there is no guarantee that will prompt more people to look for work: in Knowsley, there is a toxic triangle of unemployment, poverty and poor health.

‘Unable to cope’

“We’re at the top of every list you don’t want to be at the top of,” says Lynn Wilson, community wellness manager at Volair Leisure Centre.

Knowsley has the lowest level of female life expectancy in the country, according to Public Health England, and just under a fifth of households were unemployed in 2022, compared to the British average of 14 per cent.

Of the unemployed, two-fifths suffer from health problems, double the national average.

Between 1971 and 1991, the Merseyside metropolitan area lost almost 230,000 manufacturing jobs as manufacturing went into a sharp decline.

But while the city of Liverpool has since recovered, its suburbs have not.

In Huyton town center in Knowsley, a woman on a scooter passes the empty Wilko store which closed in September when the national retailer went bust.

The main street is lined with betting shops, discount stores, closed shop windows and a few beauty bars.

“Who can afford to get their nails done?” asks a retiree sitting on a bench.

In nearby Prescot, the district’s other major town, the shopping center is almost completely empty and the escalators are quiet and fenced off.

Locals say the area is being held back by a lack of public transport links and healthcare services. “There’s no dentist here,” another man says, pointing to the gap in his mouth where a canine used to be.

Phil Noon, co-founder and director of Evolving Mindset, which helps people return to the workforce after leaving for mental health reasons, says lockdowns and rising prices after the pandemic made health problems worse. in Knowsley.

The pandemic caused an increase in depression and “the community has not been able to cope,” he says.

“I’ve worked with a lot of people whose only social interaction was at work. Then suddenly they were living and working in their flat.”

For some, the isolation proved paralyzing.

“People still cling to the fear of the outside as a dangerous place,” Noon says.

The cost of living crisis has caused another surge in anxiety: “It’s about paying the bills or parents not being able to buy their children Christmas gifts. Or buy Christmas gifts and then go into debt.”

In areas like Knowsley, benefits can be a lifesaver.