Good quality, tailored support needed to help Incapacity Benefit claimants to return to work, says Local MP

6.19.21pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 24th Jan 2006

Annette Brooke MP welcomed the Government's commitment to reduce the number of people on incapacity benefit as new welfare reform proposals were announced today.

She also revealed that in Mid Dorset and North Poole constituency there are:

• 2,300 people in receipt of incapacity benefit.

• This represents an increase of 13% since Labour came to power.

• All but 200 of the claimants (8.7%) have been claiming for at least 2 years.

• 800 of these claimants have mental or behavioural disorders which accounts for 35% of all cases.

• There has been an increase of 13% in the number of people with mental or behavioural disorders on Incapacity Benefit since Labour came to power.

Annette Brooke MP said:

"Within a year of coming to power, Labour published a Welfare Reform Green Paper, talked about tackling the rising number of people on incapacity benefit and helping the million claimants who said they wanted to work.

"Eight years on we are in exactly the same position.

"Despite these eight years of failure, the Government are right to go back and look again at tackling a system which is a scandalous waste of human potential and which has condemned a million people who want to work to a lifetime on benefits.

"The strategy set out by the Government today is welcome, but it will not be easy to deliver.

"I will be looking at the proposals in detail in order to make sure that the 2,300 incapacity benefit claimants in Mid Dorset and North Poole are given good quality support, individually tailored to meet their needs. I will also be looking to make sure that are sufficient safeguards to prevent vulnerable people from being sanctioned because the system is not sophisticated enough to deal with complex conditions.

"There must also be more support to help people retain their jobs when they become ill; more support for employers to take on disabled staff; greater use of voluntary sector expertise; and enough flexibility within the proposed new benefits so that those with fluctuating conditions are not penalised.

"Finally, the increasing incidence of mental health problems requires special attention. The grim statistics show that if you are on the benefit for more than two years, you are more likely to die or retire than return to work. In Mid Dorset and North Poole constituency it seems that not only is there an increasing proportion with mental health problems on benefit but 88% of them have been on the benefit for over 2 years."

ENDS

Notes to editors

The figures for the constituency are based on analysis of statistics available from www.nomisweb.co.uk. A copy of the excel file with figures for all constituencies is available for email on request.

The Welfare Reform Green Paper was published on 24th January 2006 and is available via the Department for Work and Pensions website - www.dwp.gov.uk