Incapacity benefit reform

A fresh bid to win support for controversial welfare reforms has been launched by the government.

 

Ministers on Tuesday released figures linking dependency on state hand-outs with deprivation.

 

 

Government Response: John Hutton

 

Work and pensions secretary John Hutton has written to MPs - almost all Labour - representing the 100 areas with the highest number of incapacity benefit claimants.

 

"I do not believe we should accept a system that perpetuates hardship and denies people the opportunity to better their lives by accessing the world of work," he said.

 

"The vast majority of people who start receiving incapacity benefit want to go back into work, but the system currently provides them with little help in doing so.

 

"The welfare reform green paper will break down the remaining barriers people face when seeking to enter the world of work.

 

"A key part of that will be replacing incapacity benefit with a new system that gives genuine protection to people who truly cannot work, but properly assesses what people are able to do and gives them increased support to build up that level of capacity.

 

"The changes will seek to match rights with responsibilities in the way that has been so successful with the New Deal."

 

 

Opposition Response: The Conservatives 

 

Philip Hammond, shadow work and pensions secretary, said that the incapacity benefit system "has fostered a culture of dependency that we urgently need to break".

 

"If Labour produce a set of sensible proposals that genuinely help people who are able to work back into sustainable jobs, we will support them.

 

"But John Hutton has a very tough job convincing Labour backbenchers of the need for reform.

 

"It is therefore surprising that he has left his consensus-building until now, with the green paper due in a matter of days.

 

"This is a process that he and his predecessors should have started a long time ago." 

 

Opposition Response: The Liberal Democrats 

 

Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesman David Laws said: "The fact that more needs to be done to help people off incapacity benefit is blindingly obvious.

 

"The problem is that the government has been talking about this for eight years and has failed to make an impact.

 

"The issue now is what proposals John Hutton will come up with later this month. We cannot judge his proposals on his good intentions alone.

 

"Incapacity benefit needs to be restructured and made more flexible, and the government must provide the staff and resources to help people back into employment." 

 

 

Stakeholder Response: Institute of Directors  

 

 

Geraint Day, head of health policy at the Institute of Directors, said: "We welcome the government's intentions to move ahead to improve on a situation where approaching three million people of working age are claiming incapacity benefit.

 

"Most of these will want to return to employment.

 

"Statistically speaking, being out of work for a prolonged period is likely to lead to poorer health alongside the obvious loss of skills to the economy. 

 

"What is needed as part of any reform is a package of measures aimed at advising and assisting employers - particularly small enterprises - to play a part in helping those people who can get back into work."

 

 

Stakeholder Response: Disabilities Trust

 

 

 

A spokesperson for the Disabilities Trust told ePolitix.com: "The Disabilities Trust accepts there is a need to review incapacity benefit.

 

"There does appear to be very significant numbers of people on the benefit who are desperate to work and who have the skills to do so.

 

"And this is especially true of many people with disabilities, who for too long have been facing huge barriers to entering the jobs market.  

 

"However there are some concerns with the floated proposals. The Trust feels it would be unhelpful to place an arbitrary figure on the numbers to be removed from the benefit as there is a danger in that approach of targets rather than individual need and circumstance driving the reforms.

 

"Furthermore it is important to re-emphasise the point that many people on benefit are genuinely unable to work (in a conventional full-time capacity at least) and there must not be any undue pressure placed on those people to go back into the jobs market.

 

"In addition, for people with disabilities, benefit reform is only half the story. The other half is employment practices and the barriers that impede people with disabilities from accessing a job.

 

"These barriers are not just of the physical type (although those remain a problem) but are also cultural and environmental.

 

"Until these issues have been adequately addressed, by employers in particular, there will continue to be major difficulties for people with disabilities getting a job whether Incapacity Benefit has been reformed or not."

 

 

Stakeholder Response: Help the Hospices

 

 

A spokesman said: "Help the Hospices, the national charity that supports the hospice movement, welcomes the proposed support for enabling people to return to work.

 

"However, our primary interest is with individuals with an advanced illness or disability.

 

"The government should be aware of the specific needs of terminally ill claimants.

 

"There will be individuals for whom it is inappropriate to attend Work Focused Interviews, as is reflected in current government policy, because of a short prognosis, whilst other claimants’ ability to remain in work may be affected by a progressive illness."