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Attention: Industrial, political and social affairs correspondents

TUC backs government’s 'carrot' approach to get sick and disabled into work

Responding to the Prime Minister’s speech on welfare and public services reform today (Monday), Frances O’Grady, TUC Deputy General Secretary, said:

'The big problems that Incapacity Benefit claimants have finding and getting work need bold but fair solutions. The Prime Minister today backed successful pilot projects that are helping rather than forcing the sick and disabled back into work. Rolled out nationally this ‘carrot’ rather than a ‘stick’ approach could fill 110,000 jobs a year and save £110 million annually.'

Incapacity Benefit fact file

There were 2.7 million Incapacity Benefit claimants in May 2004, only 1.478 million of these people actually receive payments and this number has fallen by nearly 400,000 since 1995.

Forty per cent of Incapacity Benefit claimants say they want a job but are prevented from working either by the practical requirements associated with their disability or employer discrimination. Government research shows that nearly half (45%) of Incapacity Benefit claimants who had moved on to Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) were still on benefit a year later, compared to an average of less than a third (28%) for all claimants.

‘Pathways to Work’ pilots that combine mandatory work focussed interviews with expert personal advisers with a £40 per week Return to Work Credit and other measures are getting twice as many Incapacity Benefit claimants back to work than in other areas and six times as many taking positive steps to get back to work. With these results a nationwide programme could reduce by 110,000 a year the numbers claiming Incapacity Benefit, saving over £110 million a year.

Rolling out ‘Pathways to Work’ nationally would take considerable resources but currently the UK invests five times less than the EU average into labour market programmes for disabled people and twenty times less than in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands.

Incapacity Benefit fraud is so low it is almost impossible to measure accurately but it is estimated to account for overpayment making up less than 0.3 per cent of total Incapacity Benefit payments.

Incapacity Benefit, paid to people unable to work due to illness or disability, is not ‘generous’. Its three rates go from £55.90 to £74.15 per week, which can be increased by additional allowances, and the average total Incapacity Benefit payment is £84.51. As a proportion of average earnings Incapacity Benefit paid to a single person fell from 17.4 percent in April 1995 to 15.2 percent in April 2003.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- A TUC report ‘Defending Incapacity Benefit’ is available at:

http://www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-8754-f0.cfm

Contacts:

Media enquiries : Ben Hurley T: 020 7467 1248; Pager: 07699 713182 ; E: bhurley@tuc.org.uk
Liz Chinchen T: 020 7467 1248; Pager: 07699 744115; E: media@tuc.org.uk

Press release (500 words) issued 11 Oct 2004