Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Q102 of the oral evidence given by Lorraine Jackson to the Work and Pensions Select Committee on 31 January 2024, HC 148, when the constant review of statutory sick pay began; what steps his Department is taking to conduct this review; and what sources of information are included in this review.

As with all government policy, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) policy is kept under review. The department through the Joint work and Health directorate, monitors feedback from correspondence and reviews evidence from a range of organisations. The rate of SSP is also reviewed each year as part of the annual uprating exercise.

The government reviewed SSP as part of both the ‘Work, health and disability green paper: improving lives’ consultation (2017) and the ‘Health is Everyone’s Business consultation’ (2019, HiEB). In response to the HiEB consultation (2021) we maintained that SSP provides an important link between the employee and employer but Ministers confirmed it was not the right time to introduce changes to the sick pay system.