Mental health conditions are overdiagnosed, Streeting says

There is an "overdiagnosis" of intelligence wellness conditions with "too galore radical being written off", Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said.

Streeting told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme that the payment strategy had to beryllium "sustainable", arsenic helium defended the government's upcoming reforms aimed astatine cutting the benefits bill.

The eligibility of radical to use for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) - the main payment for working-age adults - looks apt to beryllium tightened nether the plans.

More than fractional of the emergence successful working-age disablement claims since the Covid pandemic is related to intelligence wellness oregon behavioural conditions, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall is expected to acceptable retired details of reforms to payment connected Tuesday.

When asked if helium agreed with experts that pass of an overdiagnosis of intelligence wellness conditions, Streeting said helium wanted to "follow the grounds and I hold with that constituent astir overdiagnosis".

He told the BBC: "Here's the different thing, intelligence wellbeing, illness, it's a spectrum and I deliberation decidedly there's an overdiagnosis but there's excessively galore radical being written off."

The wellness caput said determination were "too galore radical who conscionable aren't getting the enactment they need" and highlighted the government's pledge to enlistee 8,500 much intelligence wellness unit to chopped waiting lists.

The erstwhile Conservative authorities had explored making it harder for younger radical with intelligence wellness conditions to assertion PIP.

Streeting would not beryllium drawn connected the details of the government's payment reforms.

The BBC understands ministers are considering abandoning plans to not summation PIPs successful enactment with ostentation - the complaint astatine which prices emergence - for a year.

The imaginable displacement successful presumption comes aft a fig of usually loyal Labour MPs voiced beardown absorption to freezing PIP.

When asked if PIPs would beryllium frozen, Streeting said: "I haven't seen the afloat plans, they haven't travel to Cabinet yet.

"But what I bash cognize is the Work and Pensions Secretary wants to enactment radical who request assistance the most."

He added: "I haven't seen the proposals but you've seen the briefing, you've seen the speculation. I deliberation the motivation of the communicative is hold for the plans."

Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott accused the authorities of being "all implicit the spot and divided" implicit payment reform.

When asked if the Conservatives would backmost the payment changes, she said her enactment supported the "principle of payment reform" but "we're not wide connected the plan".

The SNP has urged Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to scrap the "cuts to disabled people".

The party's Westminster person Stephen Flynn said the Labour authorities had "boxed itself successful with its Tory austerity rules" connected nationalist spending.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has earmarked respective billions of pounds successful draught spending cuts to payment and different authorities departments up of the Spring Statement.

On Friday, she said ministers needed to "get a grip" connected the payment bill, arsenic she attempts to conscionable the government's self-imposed rules connected nationalist spending.

Total spending connected wellness and disablement benefits is forecast to emergence from £64.7bn successful 2023-24 to £100.7bn successful 2029-30.

The biggest contributor to this summation would beryllium from payment spending connected working-age adults, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.

PIP is the second-largest constituent of the working-age payment bill, with spending connected this projected to astir treble to £34bn by 2029-30.

PIP is intended to assistance with the other surviving costs for radical who person a semipermanent carnal oregon intelligence wellness condition.

Some recipients are successful enactment and reason it provides indispensable enactment enabling them to stay successful employment. But it besides goes to those who are heavy disabled and incapable to work.

Part of the reforms acceptable retired by Kendall volition see a "right to try" warrant - allowing radical with disabilities the accidental to instrumentality up employment without the hazard of losing their benefits if it does not enactment out.