Five headaches for the incoming prime minister
Incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham faces significant policy challenges, most notably the rapidly rising costs of disability benefits. The government is considering reforms to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) system to address fiscal sustainability while managing potential political backlash.
Why it matters
Highlights the tension between fiscal responsibility and social welfare obligations in UK domestic policy.
Share Save Add as preferred on Google Ben Chu Policy and Analysis correspondent, BBC Verify BBC When Andy Burnham enters No 10 Downing Street, he will inherit some formidable and complex problems that successive prime ministers and governments have attempted to address - mostly without success.
BBC Verify has looked at five big policy challenges Burnham will face and the approaches he might take to address them.
The cost of sickness and disability benefits for people of working age has grown rapidly since the Covid pandemic and now stands at around £58bn a year .
And it's projected to rise to £78bn a year by 2030 .
The biggest driver of the increase is the number of people claiming Personal Independence Payments (Pip) - a working age benefit designed to support people with disabilities that increase their living costs.
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