Sickness Benefits

(asked on 13th February 2025) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people waiting for elective treatment are claiming sickness benefits.


Answered by
Stephen Timms Portrait
Stephen Timms
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This question was answered on 24th February 2025

The information requested is not held by the Department.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) plans to link NHS waiting times data to Census, DWP Benefits and HMRC PAYE records to analyse the relationship between waiting time duration (for various health conditions and procedures) and labour market outcomes (such as employment status, gross pay and benefit receipt) in England. This may shed light on the role of extended waiting times witnessed during and after the COVID-19 pandemic on benefit receipt, including sickness related benefit receipt. ONS currently has access to linked Census, DWP Benefits and HMRC PAYE data and is working with NHS England to acquire the waiting times dataset. Due to many dependencies and unknowns, ONS is not able to confirm when the analysis will be available.

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