Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has conducted a review of the adequacy of the rate of Statutory Sick Pay since the introduction of the Social Security (Incapacity for Work) Act 1994, excluding the annual uprating exercise.

The consultation ‘Health is Everyone’s Business' proposed a broad package of measures which aimed to reduce ill-health related job loss, including reform of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). As part of this, the Government sought views on the impact of the rate and length of SSP on employee and employer behaviour and decisions.

In the response to the consultation, the Government made clear that the pandemic was not the right time to introduce changes to the rate of SSP.