Member

Amendment 72 has been tabled by my noble friend Lady Lister of Burtersett. As I have just highlighted, the current system is designed to balance support for the individual with the cost to the employer. My noble friends Lady Lister, Lord Davies and Lady O’Grady, and the noble Baroness, Lady Smith, raised a more fundamental challenge about the levels of SSP and indeed made compelling cases. However, as noble Lords will know, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions already carefully reviews and sets the rates for statutory sick pay each year as part of the social security uprating process, and that rate is agreed by Parliament. The formula and the rate of SSP, if we change it, will be reviewed throughout that process.