WIREDGOV

Commenting on figures released yesterday by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) which reveal that only one in fourteen people assessed for the new incapacity benefit will be entitled to claim the payout in the long-term, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

'The new incapacity benefit assessment is a much tougher test than previously and is designed to save the government money by excluding more people.

'It is therefore unsurprising that more disabled people have been declared fit for work. These figures certainly don't suggest that thousands of disabled people are suddenly 'trying it on'.

'The TUC has heard from disabled people all around the UK who feel the tests have been unfair and ineffective, and it is interesting to see that 39 per cent of appeals against initial judgements are successful.

'The government needs to do much more to help disabled people back into jobs, rather than cracking down on the benefits they get when they are unable to work. Access to Work statistics - also released today - show that, in 2010/11 the number of disabled people helped by this scheme fell by just over 1,400 on the previous year.'

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- Today's figures on incapacity benefit are available at http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/index.php?page=esa_wca

- The Access to Work figures are available at http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/atw/atw0711.pdf

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

Contacts:

Media enquiries:
Liz Chinchen T: 020 7467 1248 M: 07778 158175 E: media@tuc.org.uk
Rob Holdsworth T: 020 7467 1372 M: 07717 531150 E: rholdsworth@tuc.org.uk
Elly Gibson T: 020 7467 1337 M: 07900 910624 E: egibson@tuc.org.uk