1.5 million on sickness benefit for five years
MILLIONS are languishing on state hand-outs for years as a result of Labour’s benefits culture, shocking figures show.
Research by the Conservatives has revealed that 56 per cent of people on Incapacity Benefit have been claiming the allowance for more than five years.
Out of a total of 2.59million claimants, 1.45million have been “on the sick” for more than 60 months.
In six parliamentary constituencies held by Labour, more than 5,000 residents have been claiming for over five years.
Labour has promised many times to get a grip on the problem of doctors signing people of working age on to the benefit which is supposed to keep the chronically ill out of poverty but has become a “lifestyle option”.
Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Chris Grayling said the figures proved the Government was incapable of getting people back to work.
He said: “This Government has been in power for 11 years and has spent billions of pounds on social programmes.
“Yet they’ve made virtually no difference, leaving millions of people stranded on benefits and even now, after a wasted decade, their plans to have another go are years away from fruition.”
Once people spend two years on Incapacity Benefit, they are more likely to retire or die than find a job.
The benefit is attractive to claimants because it pays more than Jobseeker’s Allowance and there is less pressure to find training. However, the cost to taxpayers is enormous. Added to other benefits that claimants can take, the annual bill is about £16billion – almost twice the cost of the London Olympics.
A breakdown shows that claims are highest in areas where heavy industry was once common.
The parliamentary constituencies with the highest number of long-term Incapacity Benefit claimants are Liverpool Riverside (5,780 claims over 60 months old), Easington in County Durham (5,480), Liverpool Walton (5,120), Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney (5,100), Manchester Central (5,080) and Manchester Blackley (5,010).
There are also high numbers in popular retirement centres such as Torbay, Devon, and the Isle of Wight, despite claimants no longer being eligible beyond working age. A spokeswoman for the Department for Work and Pensions said plans by Secretary of State James Purnell would see numbers start to fall.
She added: “Our radical welfare reforms will see virtually everyone expected to do something in return for their benefits, to help more people move off benefits and into work.
“The new Employment and Support Allowance, which replaces Incapacity Benefit, gives more support in return for higher expectations on people to take up the help on offer and return to work. The reforms we announced in December will go still further and help even more people move off benefits.”
