Sickness benefit reform to continue - Duncan Smith

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Iain Duncan Smith, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, has vowed to press ahead with the previous Labour government's plan to review the work capability of all 2.5 million people claiming incapacity benefit.

It will form part of what the Government is calling, "a radical welfare reform programme designed to tackle entrenched poverty and end the curse of intergenerational worklessness." Boasting the largest departmental budget, the comments suggest the DWP is set for significant cuts as efforts to decrease the public spending black hole are intensified. This could mean more people being declined long-term sickness benefits and instead forced onto jobseekers allowance, as shown by a BBC Scotland report. Its article was highly critical of the stricter employment and support allowance (ESA...

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