The cost of disability benefits specifically is projected to surge almost a third in the next four to five years, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
It predicted the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) would spend £63bn by 2028-29, a jump from £48bn for 2023-24.
“I want to see those costs coming down, because I want to have people able to work, to get on in their work, which is good for them,” Kendall told BBC News in an exclusive interview.
She indicated some people will lose their benefits, saying the “benefit system can have a real impact on whether you incentivise or disincentivise work”.
Kendall praised projects in Leicester and at the Maudsley Hospital in Camberwell, in south-east London, which offered employment support – such as training on CV writing and interviews – to people with serious mental health conditions, including on hospital wards.
“This is for people with serious mental health problems,” she said. “And the results of getting people into work have been dramatic, and the evidence clearly shows that it is better for their mental health.”
She added: “We really need to focus on putting those employment advisers into our mental health services. It is better for people. It is better for the economy. We just have to think in a different way.”
