Labour to call for benefits test move

UK Political Editor

Thursday 27 September 2012

LABOUR will today call for a fundamental overhaul of the test which determines whether or not a person is eligible for sickness benefits.

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MICHAEL SETTLE UK POLITICAL EDITOR

The Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Liam Byrne will launch a consultation in Glasgow with dis-ability campaigners, and will not defend the Work Capabil- ity Assessment (WCA).

It was introduced by the last Labour Government, but Mr Byrne will also admit it is not working. "We have to be brave enough to say that even with initiatives we produced they are not working, we need to change them," he said.

Mr Byrne explained experience had shown the test did not help disabled people but rather set red tape against them. He said that while Atos, the private IT contractor initially brought in to carry out the test, had questions to answer, the focus of Labour's criticism was the UK Government's mismanagement of the scheme. Since WCA was introduced, there have been more than 600,000 appeals, costing £60 million a year.The Department for Work and Pensions last night said the WCA had been reviewed and refined so people were given a "more tailored and personal service" and there had been "an increase in the number of severely disabled people being given long-term unconditional support".Carolyn Roberts, head of policy and campaigns at SAMH (the Scottish Association for Mental Health), said: "Generally speaking, work is good for your mental health, so we support efforts to help people get back into work. But we are worried the WCA doesn't properly assess mental health and is finding people fit for work when they are not."

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Labour to call for benefits test move

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