London has the second highest rate of Incapacity Benefit (IB) claimants in the country, with more than 246,000 people currently receiving sickness benefits.
According to a pilot scheme that took place last year, 32 per cent of these claimants were fit to work straight away and 38 per cent were assessed as able to work with some support.
The Government is prepared for the biggest crackdown on welfare system in a generation and up to 10,000 people's benefit claims will be reassessed each week up and down the UK, by medical tests carried out by private sector doctors. Everyone who has the potential to work will get the right support through the new Work Programme in order to move to the Jobseeker's Allowance list and then back into work.
According to Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, it has always been quite easy to get Incapacity Benefits and once people were on them, they never had to look for a job; many applicants have been on IB for years.
There are 2.1 million claimants all over the UK at the moment and most of them will be tested over the next few years in order to be scratched from the list of benefit fraudsters.
No comments:
Post a Comment