Official figures have revealed that more than one in three people in Plymouth who claim incapacity benefit have been reassessed as fit for work.
The controversial new Work Capability Assessment, launched last April, has been criticised by disability charities who argue that too many people were wrongly classes as fit to work due to the assessment being too restrictive and severe.
Labour MP, for Plymouth Moor View, Alison Seabeck has recognised that a number of constituents have expressed concerns on the review and she has insisted that “what we have to avoid is that people who really can’t work are being asked to go through all sorts of hoops. Those people really shouldn’t have had the distress they have had. That’s down to the sensitivity of the test”.
But according to the Employment Minister Chris Grayling
“These figures show how much of a waste of human life the current system has been. Too many people have been left languishing on benefits for too long”.
DWP has conceded though that “The final proportion who are deemed fit to work is likely to fall as some appeals will be successful“.
Disabled people and those with long term health conditions or those with releatively new dibilitating conditions are being unfairly labelled and dismissed as shirkers by this government. Its shocking to see a minister describe those who have been on disability related benefits as a ‘waste of human life’. Shocking but no surprise to those of us who work in the third sector and are left to focus on damage limitation.