Economic inactivity: Why cutting NHS waiting lists is key to boosting growth

Wes Streeting was in the right place when he announced plans to prioritise cutting NHS waiting lists in areas with the highest numbers of people out of work due to ill health. Liverpool, where the health secretary was speaking at Labour's annual party conference yesterday, is top of the list.

- Richard Partington

More than a decade of austerity, an ageing population and the impact of the pandemic have left Britain with deep problems with ill health. Economic inactivity - the number of working-age adults not in a job or looking for one - has risen sharply, reaching more than 9 million, with about a third of cases a consequence of record levels of temporary and long-term sickness.

On Merseyside, the challenges are particularly acute. Four of the top 10 parliamentary seats in England and Wales with the highest health- and disability-related inactivity rates in the 2021 census were in the region, according to the Health Foundation thinktank.

Liverpool's inner-city Walton constituency walking distance from Labour's conference and among the party's safest seats ranked first, with about one in 10 of the over-16 population inactive.

Tackling the issue was a priority for the previous government, but with considerably more focus on toughening up the benefits system, alongside tax cuts and childcare policies designed to promote work.