Getting people back into work must be a priority as we begin to rebuild the economy after Covid and two years of lockdowns. 

Part of that is ensuring work pays and people know they will always be better off in work than on benefits. 

The coalition and Conservative governments made huge strides helping people into work, getting 1,000 more people into work each and every day. But since lockdown numbers have fallen drastically. 

There are currently nine million people in the country classed as economically inactive. We need to change people's attitudes and get people back into the workplace.

There will always be people who are unable to work through serious illness or disability. I am not referring to them, I mean people choosing not to work.

Numbers of people on out of work benefits in Tatton are extremely low compared to both the North West and across the UK. Our latest figures show there were 1,030 claimants in the constituency in December, just two per cent of those of working age, compared to 4.2 per cent in the North West and 3.7 per cent nationally.

Government has promised to move half a million more people into jobs by the end of June as part of its Way to Work campaign and I welcome all measures to tackle this growing problem.

This week in Parliament I raised the issue of inactivity and making sure work pays during departmental Work and Pensions question time. Government said it was “absolutely focused that work pays and that should always be the balance”. 

I went on to question the Secretary of State Mel Stride over what government is doing regarding conditionality – a group of conditions that must be met to qualify for benefits.

Conditionality was relaxed, understandably so, throughout the pandemic but we need to ensure people are now fulfilling their requirements, looking for jobs and attending face to face appointments as a matter of urgency. Job vacancies are at a record high, they need to be filled. 

I was told pre-Covid requirements are now back in place, but as part of government’s review of economic inactivity, conditionality would be looked at further.

Just this week a report by think-tank Civitas found half of Britons now live in households that receive more from the state in benefits and services than they contribute via taxes.

Although that is inflated by people in retirement, this report still made sobering reading.

I know from my time as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how vital it is for work to pay to get people off benefits, and we need to do everything we can to get people back into work as well as continue to create as many new job opportunities as we can for people.

The best route out of poverty must always be work.