Helen Jones

Labour Party | Warrington North

Incapacity Benefit

There are two million more people in work in Britain today than in 1997.  In my constituency unemployment has fallen by 64% and nearly 1,500 people have got jobs through Labour’s New Deal.  The challenge now is to help all those who are able to work find jobs that suits their skills and abilities.

The scale of the challenge is clear.  Between 1979 and 1997 the numbers of people on Incapacity Benefit (IB) trebled from 700,000 to 2.6 million,  with people given little or no opportunity to return to work.  The government has recently outlined a new agenda for reforming Incapacity benefits and developed reform plans which could help move as many as a million people off benefits and into work.

At the heart of the proposals is the need to provide financial security for those with severe conditions who can not return to work.  We know that 9 out of 10 people who come onto IB want and expect to get back to work.  I believe  it’s government’s job to help them fulfil that aspitration.  Medical evidence also shows that for many conditions working is much healthier than being inactive.  Take back pain for example,  by advising patients to stay active,  they can expect a faster recovery and a speedier return to work.

The recently announced proposals will be based on expanding the help and rehabilitation support offered to people and then reforming the benefit itself.  The successful Pathways to Work initiative which combines work focused interviews with NHS rehabilitation and a £40 a week back to work payment when someone gets a job will be rolled out across the country.

Building on this increased employment and medical support IB can be reformed so that it focuses on what people can do,  rather than what they can’t.  These reforms are designed to help those who are able get back to work through training and rehabilitation,  while providing financial security for the most severely sick.  The reforms are not about cutting people’s benefits or forcing the people with serious health conditions into work.

The new reformed system can help as many as one million people fulfil their own aspirations to work.  It will:

• ensure everyone goes through the proper medical assessment before they access the benefit;
• look at the individual’s health condition,  and avoid lumping everyone into a single category regardless of whether they have terminal cancer or back pain;
• give more money than now to severely sick and disabled people;
• offer everyone else a basic benefit at Job Seekers Allowance levels,  but then ensure that they can build up to get more than today’s IB rate by giving them extra money,  first for attending Work Focused Interviews,  and then also for taking steps to get them back towards the labour market.

Those who can work will get more money than now as long as they are willing to engage with the new support that is being offered.  The most severely sick and disabled will be provided with increased financial security without new conditions.
These proposals will apply to future recipients,  those already on IB will not be affected.  I think it is the right way forward,  combining the right to extra help with the responsibility to take steps back to work and ensuring that the chance of a job is available to everyone.

I would like to know what you think.  For example : Should Incapacity benefits be structured to help people return to work?  Do you believe everyone should be better off in work than staying on incapacity benefit?  Should those who claim incapacity benefit be offered medical treatment to help them find work?  Should people on incapacity benefit be offered special skills training to help them find work?

Let me know:

• by post to Gilbert Wakefield House,  67 Bewsey Street,  Warrington,  WA3 7JQ or House of Commons,  Westminster,  London,  SW1A 0AA;
• by fax on 01925 232 239
• by phone on 01925 232 480
• by e-mail at jonesh@parliament.uk