Chancellor to launch £2.5bn ‘back to work plan’ in autumn statement aimed at increasing workforce participationWelfare claimants who “refuse” to engage with their jobcentre or take work offered to them will lose their benefits, under plans confirmed by the chancellor before next week’s autumn statement.The crackdown, first floated by Jeremy Hunt in his Conservative party conference speech in October, is part of a wider government plan to tackle a decline in workforce participation since the Covid pandemic. Continue reading...