'30?!' Camilla Tominey astounded as Pat McFadden vows to increase face-to-face benefits checks to '30 per cent'

Watch the moment GB News host Camilla Tominey is left astounded as Pat McFadden vows to increase face-to-face benefits checks to just "30 per cent". Referring to new data on face-to-face PIP assessments, Camilla highlighted that appointments were at 83 per cent in 2019, but plummeted to just five per cent last year. Grilled by Camilla on what percentage he plans to increase the five per cent level of assessments to, the Work and Pensions Secretary told GB News: "Well, it's getting even worse than you think, Camilla." The GB News host responded: "Why aren't you improving it then?" TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say Mr McFadden explained: "Shortly before the election, the previous secretary of state, who's now the Shadow Chancellor, signed off a load of contracts allowing the health assessors to work from home." Camilla pressed Mr McFadden again, urging him to "give her a percentage". She asked: "What are you trying to get them up to?" The Work and Pensions Secretary revealed: "We are trying to get them up to 30 per cent from an almost complete collapse." Taken aback by Mr McFadden's figure, Camilla repeated in disbelief: "30?! 30!?" Mr McFadden then explained: "But I'm having to do that against a backdrop of inheriting a lot of contracts from the previous Government, which allow the health assessors to work from home. "And that might mean that if you were in a position of going through a health assessment, the person who is doing it might not be in an office a few miles from where you live, they might be in a completely different part of the country." Assuring GB News viewers that there are "a lot of changes" being made in the welfare system, Mr McFadden added: "There's a lot of change going on in the system to try to get these numbers back up after what I inherited from the Conservative Party." LATEST DEVELOPMENTS Wes Streeting declares 'public don't have any kind of emotional connection to Keir Starmer' Andy Burnham to spend more than £700,000 helping migrants claim benefits in Manchester Keir Starmer set to 'water down' benefits checks amid a record backlog of mental health cases MORE TO FOLLOW... Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter

Go to News Site