WiredGov Newswire (news from other organisations)
 Printable version
|
 E-mail this to a friend
|
Incapacity benefit tests are failing disabled people, says TUC
Commenting on the latest results of the government's incapacity benefit re-assessment tests for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) published recently (Thursday), TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
'It's hardly surprising that a test specifically designed to make fewer people qualify for disability benefits is passing more people as 'fit to work'.
'These tests have deemed terminally ill patients and people with severe disabilities as 'fit to work', are costing taxpayers a small fortune in successful legal appeals and serve no clear benefit to the very people they are supposed to help.
'The point of a fitness test should be to identify whether someone is really fit to work, not to kick people off benefits whatever the cost.'
NOTES TO EDITORS:
- The incapacity benefit re-assessment test results, published by the Department for Work and Pensions, are available at http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/esa_ibr/esa_ibr_mar12.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
