Incapacity claimant cheats to end; whoever they are..

The government has signalled its intention to intensify the assessment of incapacity benefit and encourage those who are fit for work back into employment.

George Osborne said it was important to protect those with “genuine needs”, while cutting the welfare bill in order to reduce the budget deficit.

Last year £12.5 billion was spent on incapacity benefit and the employment and support allowance (ESA), which replaced incapacity benefit for people with long-term health problems.

Some 2.6 million people claim one of these incapacity benefits, and 10,000 of these claimants are currently being assessed each week for their ability to carry out some kind of work.

The country’s total welfare bill has nearly doubled to £192 billion since 1997, and last week’s emergency budget outlined spending cuts of up to 25 per cent in most Whitehall departments.

Ministers are evaluating potential cost-saving measures before October’s spending review, and the chancellor indicated further welfare savings could be part of a “trade-off” to cushion cuts in other public services and protect benefits for the elderly. Osborne said: “It’s a choice we all face. It’s not a choice that can be ducked. Of course we have to look across the piece at the welfare bill and of course we have got to look at individual benefits.” “That is what I want to be part of the spending review over the summer. It is a trade-off and some of these benefits are very much larger than most government departments,” he continued. “We have got to look at all these things, make sure it protects those in genuine need, protects those with disabilities and protects those who can’t work but also encourages those who can work into work. That is the purpose behind our welfare reform.”

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