Thousands to lose benefits in shake-up

[Deadly]

A million people could be taken off incapacity benefit and forced back to work as part of a Government overhaul of the welfare system.

Tony Blair will join Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton in publishing the controversial and much-delayed proposals to cut the annual £12.6bn bill. They will say "perverse incentives" are encouraging one million claimants to stay on the dole and out of work.

The benefit is also to be renamed amid fears the term "incapacity" makes it seem those on it have no hope of working again.

Doctors may be offered financial incentives to encourage them to sign off less people long-term sick and encourage them back to employment instead.

The plans will provide another test of the Prime Minister's ability to get crucial reforms past his own backbenchers.

Means testing, time limiting eligibility for benefits and making payments in training vouchers rather than cash are all "tough" measures which have faced heavy criticism.

Under the "something for something" regime, those on incapacity benefit will be given more help to return to work but face payment cuts if they do not take advantage of it.

Incapacity benefit is currently paid at a rate of £57.65 a week for new claimants. In many cases that rises to £68.20 after six months and £76.45 after a year.

Under the Government's plans, benefits will be docked by as much as £10.93 a week for refusing to attend a work interview and £21.86 for a second refusal.

The "perverse incentives" identified include the fact that the benefit becomes more valuable over time and can be cut if claimants do take on training or voluntary work.

The TUC has accepted the "clear" need for reform but has warned that claimants should not be presumed to be cheats or "coerced" into getting work.

Source - http://uk.news.yahoo.com/24012006/14...its-shake.html

[elephantsoup]

Saw that on news this morning. Was a report from some town where 1 in 5 were on incapacity benefit or the likes. While I am all in favour of a decent social welfare system this surely is taking the piss, with this in mind I would give a guarded welcome to any Govt initiative which does weed out those who are scamming the system.

Regards

Elephantsoup

[kracken]

Benefit for all those that deserve it , not the scrounging twats who dont .Get off your arse and get a job !!!

[Zippeyrude]

Ahhh, finally some of the tossers who do central government maths realise that the working population should not subsidise the lazy fookers who can work but choose not to.

If it were my policy i'd friggin burn the lot of em in a special 'recycling power station', less scroungers, less wasted on benefits, more for teachers, nurses, police, pensions, etc. It all makes sense.

Burning the scammers would produce heat, the energy produced could heat hospitals, schools and the homes of pensioners who fought for this country and freedoms but who pay tax on heating.

Long live the revolution.

[4me2]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=629 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Hutton unveils benefits shake-up

</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=416><!-- S BO --><!-- S IBOX --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=208 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=5></TD><TD class=sibtbg>

<!-- S IMED -->Hutton statement
<!-- E IMED -->

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IBOX --><!-- S SF -->Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton has unveiled plans to get one million incapacity benefit claimants back into work, saving £7bn a year.
The more severely disabled people will receive a higher rate of benefit and have no obligation to look for work.
But claimants who refuse to take part in back-to-work schemes risk losing part of their benefits, Mr Hutton said.
There will also be moves to get a million older people and 300,000 single parents back into work, he said. <!-- E SF -->
Employment rate
About 2.7m people currently claim incapacity benefit, resulting in an annual bill of £12.5bn. From 2008 it will be renamed the Employment and Support Allowance.
If one million incapacity benefit claimants return to work, the country would move closer to Labour's ambition of an 80% employment rate, Mr Hutton said as he unveiled the Welfare Reform Green Paper.
<!-- S IBOX --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=208 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=5></TD><TD class=sibtbg> We are concerned that these proposals could disturb an often fragile balance, trigger relapse and worsen the symptoms and outcome


Marjorie Wallace, Sane



<!-- S ILIN -->Q&A: Incapacity benefit
<!-- E ILIN --><!-- S ILIN -->Send us your comments
<!-- E ILIN -->
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IBOX -->
The measures include the UK-wide roll-out of the Pathways to Work initiative, currently being tested in seven regions.
The idea is to give individual counselling, training and advice to sick and disabled people to help them back to work.
It will be compulsory for claimants assessed as able to work to take part in these schemes.
Those who refuse to take part could lose as much as £10.93 a week in payments, rising to £21.86 for a second refusal.
Mr Hutton told MPs the aim was to reduce the number of new claimants, to provide greater help to those on the benefit to return to work, and to give more support to the most severely sick and disabled.
'Fair' proposals
Other measures include, in a month's time, the hiring of employment advisers by GP surgeries as part of a trial scheme to help sick people return to work.
Health staff who help to keep people in work while they were ill, or assist them to return to a job, will be rewarded, under the proposals.
<!-- S IBOX --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=208 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=5></TD><TD class=sibtbg> There is a long way to go to eradicate negative attitudes about the ability or willingness of the long term sick to work






<!-- S ILIN -->How the government is trying to get claimants into work
<!-- E ILIN --><!-- S ILIN -->Welfare reforms at-a-glance
<!-- E ILIN -->
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IBOX -->
"Our proposals will be fair to claimants and fair to taxpayers," said Mr Hutton.
"Nine out of 10 people who came on to incapacity benefit expect to get back into work, yet if you have been on incapacity benefit for more than two years, you are more likely to retire or die than ever get another job. That cannot be right."
A third of new claimants now cite mental health problems as the reason for coming on to benefits, he said.
<!-- S IBOX --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=208 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=5></TD><TD class=sibtbg>WHAT IS A GREEN PAPER?
It is a consultation document containing policy proposals for debate before a decision is taken on the best policy option
It contains several alternative policy options
After the consultation, ministers normally publish firm recommendations in a White Paper, which may then be put before MPs in the form of a Bill
It is thought the government wants to get the welfare reforms into a published bill and through Parliament by the end of November

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IBOX -->
Lone parents whose youngest child is at least 11 will be required to attend interviews every three months, while those on benefit for a year will have to visit a jobs adviser every six months.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Philip Hammond said that, while the Conservatives broadly welcomed the thrust of the policies, much of it had been heard before without any government action.
David Laws, the Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesman, said setting targets was "the easy part" and that the "test" would be whether the reforms delivered in the long run.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber gave a "guarded welcome" to the plans, but said he had "real concerns" about how they will work in detail.
Lorna Reith, of the Disability Benefits Consortium - which brings together a number of leading disability groups and health charities - said she was concerned about the sanctions contained in the proposals.
She urged ministers to concentrate on preventing people from being pushed out of the labour market in the first place. Mr Blair is trying to win over Labour MPs concerned about the changes. Sixty-five backbenchers rebelled against planned reforms to the benefit in 1999.<!-- E BO -->

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4641588.stm

[Deadly]

Ahhh, finally some of the tossers who do central government maths realise that the working population should not subsidise the lazy fookers who can work but choose not to.

If it were my policy i'd friggin burn the lot of em in a special 'recycling power station', less scroungers, less wasted on benefits, more for teachers, nurses, police, pensions, etc. It all makes sense.

Burning the scammers would produce heat, the energy produced could heat hospitals, schools and the homes of pensioners who fought for this country and freedoms but who pay tax on heating.

Long live the revolution.

Have you ever heard of this guy called Hitler? burned a few people...you might get some tips from him lol

[burner1]

I'm all for a fair system and people who deserve the benefits, but when I think about it, every person I know who are claiming incapacity benefit are scamming it in one way or another. Hopefully this sort of move will wipe the smirk off their faces. My mate lost his legs in the Falklands conflict and although he was pensioned off, he has never gone a day without being employed in one way or another and I think if he can contribute to society, a lot of people claiming can do the same.

[wiggi28]

does anybody actually know somebody who really deserves their incapacity benefit ?
as burner says most of the people i know claiming are scamming it in one way or another .

[mysterym]

There are way too many scroungers who are capable of working but prefer living on welfare. If they can weed them out and give them a kick in the ass then i'm all for it. For the people that can't genuinely work then the state system must support them without fail.

Fucked off with paying more and more taxes and having more and more stress at work when the most pressure that some twats have is waiting for there dole money so they can get pissed at the end of the week. You can call me heartless if you like, but i've worked hard for the last 10 years without taking a penny from the goverment.

[DelTrotter]

Only the dregs of society are happy being on the dole, having a fivers sput a night, eating smartprice goods and watching channel 5. Let em be i say you wouldnt want them in a Working environment

[MercuryRises]

Only the dregs of society are happy being on the dole, having a fivers sput a night, eating smartprice goods and watching channel 5. Let em be i say you wouldnt want them in a Working environment

As may be. But I don't wanna pay to keep the lazy cunts either

[DelTrotter]

But I don't wanna pay to keep the lazy cunts either

What shall be done to these people?
Any measure extreme would be seen as too harsh and wouldn't be implemented as the Left wouldnt except this.
I know a few friends who just dont wanna work and they laugh at all this New deal Bollox

[BertRoot]

There are plenty out there living it up at my expense. Makes me sick. Those who put it on when outside the house should be crippled and then disallowed benefit.

Sympathetic quacks also make me sick. They seem happy to spunk more of their tax to these scrounging layabouts.