Sick note culture for ADHD is insane & trapping youngsters on welfare for life, warns government jobs tsar

THE Benefits Fit Note system has been branded “insane” by the government’s jobs tsar.

Alan Milburn hit out at how young people can get signed off for conditions such as ADHD after just a brief consultation with a GP.

He said the system was “ruining the life chances” of youngsters, leaving them on a life of welfare.

Mr Milburn made the intervention during a fact-finding mission to Holland where he was accompanied by ex-England manager Sir Gareth Southgate.

He said: “The fit note thing is just bloody insane. You get a fit note. You enter the welfare system.

“We know that once you enter the welfare system, you get a health and disability benefit.”

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“The stickiness kicks in. You stand a 50 per cent chance of being on a health and disability benefit if you get it today, in 15 years’ time.

“Everybody talks about the fiscal disaster.

“Fine, but most importantly, it’s a life chances disaster because we’re ruining the life chances of these young people.”

The government is overhauling the Fit Note system and has launched pilot projects across the country.

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Milburn, a former Labour Cabinet Minister, is conducting a major review into why a million young people are not earning or learning.

His probe is expected to be published in the autumn.

He added: “Just because you’ve got a condition, or even just because you’ve got the diagnosis, shouldn’t mean you aren’t able to work.

“What is it that we need to do to stop the notion that just because you either self-identify or are identified as having a condition, that automatically means you’re not able to participate in the Labour market.”

Sir Gareth, who made a BBC documentary on the struggles of young men, added that those with conditions should not be written off.

He said: “As a coach, as a parent, you are very conscious of putting a label on a young person because firstly, it can limit what they think is possible in their life. And secondly, it follows them around.

“I’ve met lots of youngsters with ADHD, with autism, have had the opportunity to have a different way of being schooled and are really thriving.

“There are definitely so many good qualities for people with those diagnoses and we have to be very careful not to write those people off.”

The government is under huge pressure to reduce the benefits bill that is set to hit £400 billion a year by the start of the next decade.

It comes after official statistics revealed that more than 11million “fit notes” – the modern iteration of the traditional sick note – were handed out last year.

Almost all “fit notes” handed out last year declared the recipient entirely “not fit for work”.

This effectively cut many Brits off from further support to re-enter the labour market.

A burgeoning “sick-note culture” over the past decade is increasingly blamed for stifling the country’s economic growth.

Detractors have blasted how it has let individuals remain off work, claim sick pay, and potentially qualify for long-term welfare.

And while usually issued by GPs, the notes can also be authorised by nurses and pharmacists.

Mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression, alongside musculoskeletal disorders like back pain, remain the leading drivers of long-term absenteeism.