Oh, this is good... Not.

[Just-Legal]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7101106.stm

Tougher work tests for disabled
A man searching on a Jobpoint computer terminal
The new rules will focus on what tasks people are able to do
Fewer sick and disabled people will qualify for disability benefits for being unable to work, after a new test is introduced from next year.

Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain says the changes will end what he calls "sick-note Britain".

But campaigners from the Disability Alliance say they have grave reservations about the consequences of bringing in a tougher test.

The new disability test could cut the number of annual claimants by 20,000.

The Department for Work and Pensions estimates that about 2.64 million people currently claim incapacity benefits.

The new work capability assessment is being introduced alongside the employment support allowance - which will replace incapacity benefits for new claimants from next autumn.

Mr Hain said the true cost of people claiming incapacity benefit in 2006-07 is £12.5 billion.


We want to help people, not punish people - this is about giving people opportunities
Peter Hain
Work and Pensions Secretary

At the moment more than 60% of the people who apply for incapacity benefits are successful, but only 50% of people who take the new test are likely to pass it.

Those who fail will be expected to seek work.

It is estimated that some 250,000 people claim £600m in benefits for stress-related illness, while the 2,000 who are too obese to work claim £4.4m.

Mr Hain says the new system will place greater emphasis on what sick and disabled people can do, rather than what they cannot.

Tests such as being able to walk more than 400 metres (437 yards) or being able to climb 12 steps without the aid of a banister would be abolished.

The new test will look at other skills, such as a person's ability to use a computer keyboard or a mouse, because this type of task is likely to be needed in the workplace.

Transform lives

"There are lots of jobs that people can do now which don't involve that kind of physical test, so we will be looking at what people could do," Mr Hain said.

"Could they operate a computer properly, use a mouse, operate a keyboard rather than have they got the physical stamina to do the old type of jobs that involve a great deal of physical hard work?"

Mr Hain told BBC News: "We want to help people, not punish people. This is about giving people opportunities because you are better off in work - the evidence shows that."

He said people who remained on benefits for long periods of time were more likely to become ill, as were their children.

"If we can provide the support, the training, the skills, the professional help, we can transform people's lives," he said.

But Neil Betteridge, head of the charity Arthritis Care, says he is worried the new test will not take enough account of people whose conditions change from day to day.

 

[rgraham666]

I can never get over how they keep trying to redefine pain.

 

[fifty5]

Yet another case of politicians (and journalists) trying to treat a complicated issue as if it were simple. Depending on the disability in question, part of the benefit must surely be intended to meet extra costs such as mobility aids (electric wheel chairs and their batteries are not cheap!)

And if someone could do a job if only they were capable of getting to the workplace...

Sheesh! Of course it's better to be able to work and pay one's own way, but I'd have thought the way to help people do that would be to offer support with difficulties, not to withdraw support.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

Agreed, but I did read something that said that some people were getting UK disability benefit by claiming to be too tired or too fat to work.

It just takes a few to take advantage of a system and the authorities take a swipe at the deserving as well.

 

[oggbashan]

Agreed, but I did read something that said that some people were getting UK disability benefit by claiming to be too tired or too fat to work.

It just takes a few to take advantage of a system and the authorities take a swipe at the deserving as well.

But being too tired and too fat can be symptoms of severe disabilities, not the cause of the incapacity...

The UK authorities, encouraged by the Government, had been directing people towards invalidity benefit because those on such benefits don't count as "unemployed" and high statistics for "unemployed" = Government failure.

The other new target "NEETS" - those classed as "Not in Employment, Education or Training" reflects government failings to improve the education system to make people employable. If 11 years of school have failed, how are short-term training courses going to succeed?

Og

 

[Vermilion]

Agreed, but I did read something that said that some people were getting UK disability benefit by claiming to be too tired or too fat to work.

It just takes a few to take advantage of a system and the authorities take a swipe at the deserving as well.

I claim UK benefit because I am too tired to work. I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Being tired is not the only symptom, but it is the main one.

I have no trouble using a computer, or walking a short distance, or cooking for myself... but sometimes I do. That's the trouble with my illness - it is constantly changing. Just recently I had a bout of 'flu which has caused my CFS to become far worse. A 'normal' person would need a week, maybe two, to recover enough from 'flu to return to work. I'm still recovering a month later. I need Benefits because whilst I have short bursts of being able to work, there is absolutely no way I could commit to a regular job - noone would hire me. If they did I'd soon be fired due to my constant sick days and the fact I can only focus on something for an hour or maybe two at the most before I need a rest.

Disability is fluid and personal - no one 'test' can define disability. I am very lucky, my problems have been recognised and I get the help I need which allows me to live an independent life. I am currently doing a correspondance course to become a proof-reader which will hopefully allow me to work from home in my own hours. For now I rely on my benefits to live, because I am too tired to work.

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