Eight in 10 Britons faking incapacity to work for dole
January 26th, 2012 - 8:19 pm ICT by IANSLondon, Jan 25 (IANS) Eight out of ten Britons tested for new incapacity benefits were found to be fit for work, the official statistics have revealed.
The department for work and pensions decided that 57 percent of claimants were no longer eligible for the hand-outs. A further 21 percent could carry out some sort of work with the right support, the Daily Mail reported.
Just one-fifth of the claimants — 22 percent — were found unable to do any form of employment.
Around 1.5 million people, who have been claiming Incapacity Benefit, are being reassessed for its replacement — the Employment Support Allowance (ESA) — to verify whether they are able to carry out work.
The latest figures show the numbers claiming ESA and Incapacity Benefit have dropped to their lowest level since 1996 following the introduction of the tests.
There are still 2.6 million people claiming the benefits, nearly a million of whom have been availing these for over a decade, the report said.
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