Tough Love - best medicine for incapacity benefit claimants capable of work

The Prime Ministerís emphasis on írights and responsibilitiesí in order to help move people off incapacity benefit and into jobs is fully justified, according to Dr John Philpott, Chief Economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Commenting on Mr Blairís speech in Manchester today, and ahead of publication tomorrow of the governmentís five-year plan for work and pensions, Dr Philpott said:

At least 1 in 3 incapacity benefit claimants could be brought back into the workplace if an appropriate mix of support and pressure is applied to them. This would not only ease recruitment difficulties in a tight labour market but also represents a compassionate response to the problem of long-term welfare dependency. Those who suffer most from a life on incapacity benefit are the claimants themselves. Moving those who can work into jobs should not be seen as some kind of ípunishmentí.

Philpott continued:
Many incapacity benefit claimants are understandably anxious at the thought of being required to consider a return to the world of work. It is therefore encouraging that, although the government looks set to announce some changes to benefit rates, ministers appear to have rejected significant cuts in the level of incapacity benefit payments for existing claimants or the withdrawal of benefit once a person has been in receipt of incapacity benefit for a given period of time. This would penalise incapacity benefit recipients regardless of their circumstances and work potential- while doing little to help them into jobs.

Reform should instead build on current welfare-to-work practice by making regular work-focused interviews compulsory for all but the most severely disabled claimants - a proposal likely to form a central plank of what the government will announce tomorrow. By contrast, while the Conservative Party has this week made sensible proposals for enabling private sector and voluntary bodies to play a stronger role in providing work-focused support to incapacity benefit claimants, it is misguided in dismissing compulsion as ineffective.

Ironically, the Conservative position on incapacity benefit runs counter to Mrs Thatcherís approach to tackling joblessness 20 years ago. The kind of ítough loveí approach that underpinned the Restart programme in the 1980s could have a similar effect on the incapacity benefit count especially if linked to new approaches to the payment of in-work benefits to people leaving incapacity benefit for jobs, and if more employers are encouraged to offer short-term work experience to incapacity benefit claimants to help ease their way back into the world of work.