17 March 2005 - Extra support to help claimants get into work announced as number on incapacity benefits falls by 22,000
More action to make it easier for people on incapacity benefit to return to work was announced in the Budget, as national statistics released show 22,000 people came off incapacity benefits last year.
Work and Pensions Secretary Alan Johnson said official figures showed that reform was working and the tide was beginning to turn in cutting the high number of people on incapacity benefits.
Changes to “linking rules” announced in the Budget will mean someone on Incapacity Benefit will be able to return to the same benefit they were on if the job does not work out for up to two years.
In further simplifying rules that remove disincentives to work, claimants will no longer have to wait six months before they can try out work again if they do have to go back on benefits.
Alan Johnson said: “These much-needed changes will reduce the risk of losing benefits that puts many disabled and sick people off trying to get back to work.
“We want to offer people both the opportunity and the security they need to help them succeed in what can be a challenging and sometimes frightening transition back to full-time work.”
Mr Johnson announced this week that the Government will this summer publish its Green Paper setting out plans to scrap Incapacity Benefit and replace it with a new work-focused benefit system.
Mr Johnson added: “As the official statistics published today show, we are beginning to turn the tide and have substantially cut the number of people on incapacity benefits last year.
“People are swapping sick notes for pay slips in increasing numbers and our reforms will build on the progress made by Jobcentre Plus and innovative Pathways to Work and New Deal programmes.
“Our reforms work and so do people previously on IB. We need to build on this success and our Green Paper will set out the new approach outlined in our Five Year Strategy.
“Nine out of ten people who go on IB expect to work again – with the right help, support and security we want to help people to do so and end the sick note culture which has in the past left no option but benefit dependency.”
Special interest groups including the TUC and the Disability Alliance have previously called for a “no quibble” return to the same benefit if a job does not work out.
- The Budget also announced free off peak local area bus travel for disabled people and those aged over 60 in England from April 2006.
Notes for editors
- The details of changes to “linking rules” for people on Incapacity Benefit who want to try work can be found in the budget at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk
- The latest statistics for people on incapacity benefits were released as national statistics today in the Client Group Analysis: Quarterly Bulletin on the Population of Working Age on Key Benefits – November 2004.