Incapacity benefit reforms and action on pensions must not fall victim to drift in the wake

Incapacity benefit reforms and action on pensions must not fall victim to drift in the wake of David Blunkettís resignation

The Government must ensure that David Blunkettís departure from the Department for Work and Pensions does not introduce a period of drift in the face of the urgently required reforms of incapacity benefit and pensions and retirement policies, according to John Philpott, Chief Economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Dr Philpott said:
ìThe immediate priority in the wake of David Blunkettís resignation is for the Government to ensure that the necessary reforms of incapacity benefit, pensions and retirement are not allowed to drift.

ìThe green paper on reform of incapacity benefit must not be delayed any longer. Neither must the government allow itself to be distracted from the urgent need to tackle pensions deficits and to address issues surrounding retirement ages that do not reflect the demographics of Britain today.

ìAt a time when employers are finding it extremely difficult to recruit workers with the skills and experience they need, Britain still has over seven million people of working age neither working or looking for work. Of these, 2.7 million are claiming incapacity benefit.

ìDavid Blunkettís resolve to reform incapacity benefit, combined with his personal sensitivity to the issues facing those with genuine limitations on their ability to work will be hard to replace. It is important that his successor is able to combine a firm resolve to take action with the understanding necessary to ensure that barriers that prevent incapacity benefit claimants from filling posts are removed. Reforming benefits must go hand in hand with measures to resolve structural issues such as serious skills mismatches and barriers to recruitment.î