Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment they have made of the adequacy of Statutory Sick Pay in meeting essential living costs for low-income workers.

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is designed to provide a minimum level of support and financial security for employees when they are unable to work due to sickness whilst also balancing the cost to employers.

The government has made key changes to SSP, which came into force last month. Through the Employment Rights Act, we have removed the Lower Earnings Limit for SSP. Previously employees had to earn at least £125 per to week to be eligible to receive SSP from their employer, the removal of the Lower Earnings Limit has meant this threshold no longer applies.

This means up to 1.3 million more employees will be covered, supporting low-income workers and those who work for more than one employer. We have also removed the waiting period, so people can access sick pay from their first day of sickness absence.

These changes will mean that employees receive around an extra £400 million a year in sick pay.