OXFORD, England, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- The British government wants to reduce the welfare rolls by getting the able-bodied and able-minded back to work. But that may not be so simple: Already, the idea has reignited old debates on work vs. welfare and Britain's unemployment culture.
Sparking the discussion: a recent government-issued green paper that sets out a plan to reduce the number of people on incapacity benefit, or welfare, for the long-term sick and disabled, by replacing the current system with an Employment and Support Allowance. The allowance system would reward work-related activity and training.
Figures from the British government show that the 2.7 million people claiming incapacity benefit, at an annual cost of $22.2 billion, are more likely to give up looking for a job or die after claiming the benefit for two years than they are to work again.
The green paper, published by the Department of Work and Pensions, introduces proposals that aim to reduce the number of incapacity claimants by 1 million over a 10-year period by introducing compulsory work-focused -- as opposed to health-focused -- interviews, extending flexible working arrangements and organizing work-shadowing programs for single parents nervous about returning to work.
A green paper is a document put together by the government for the purpose of widespread discussion of suggested reforms, solutions or proposed law changes. It is not legally binding, but more a vehicle for debate and feedback.
Under the old incapacity benefit system, long-term claimants received higher welfare payments than those who had recently been assigned incapacity benefit -- and sometimes received more in benefits than they could from working -- leading to "perverse incentives" to stay on benefits that Welfare Secretary John Hutton has called "one of the greatest barriers to social justice in Britain."
Under the new Employment and Support Allowance, however, the government will be "set(ting) a new direction, enabling and empowering people to fulfill their potential and ambitions, not consigning them to a lifetime on benefit," Hutton says.
"Essentially we want to return to fundamental principles where the welfare state is able to respond to people's abilities and help them into the work place -- not one that condemns them to a life on benefits."
Published Jan. 24, the green paper has already come under fire from several quarters.
"The reforms should recognize that employer prejudice is a key obstacle in the way of many claimants moving back to work," said Brendan Barber, general secretary of Britain's Trades Union Congress.
A study done by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found one in three of the 750 companies surveyed deliberately excluded incapacity benefit claimants as part of their recruitment strategy. And the study, published in Personnel Today magazine, showed only 3 percent of those questioned actively targeted incapacity benefit claimants. More than 50 percent of firms surveyed thought that incapacity benefit claimants would be more prone to absence, and 45 percent viewed them as less reliable.
"Such low expectations may or may not be unfair," said John Philpott, chief economist at the Institute. "But either way, they pose a problem for the government."
Rethink, a British mental-health charity, estimates that 80 percent of people with severe mental illnesses are long-term unemployed.
"The government package will go a little way to addressing some of these barriers, but it is only half the story," Rethink Chief Executive Cliff Prior told Personnel Today. "These plans would be greatly strengthened by government action to end labor market discrimination by employers."
John Cridland, director of the Confederation for British Industry, thinks that regional skills shortages mean that "employers strongly support the government's goal of helping more people back into work. ... (But) the government must support companies in reskilling those who have been out of work for some time, and by contributing to the consequential costs of special equipment, transport or mentoring."
The paper has also come under fire from the tabloid media amid reports that doctors could receive financial incentives for reducing the number of "sick notes" they write, signing people off work as incapable.
But Hutton stated firmly that the United Kingdom is in need of a "culture change" away from a system where doctors are willing to sign people off work for extended periods, so that "people don't just end up on benefit when there are other options."
Others have expressed concern that the new proposals could lead to circumstances whereby those with conditions that render them genuinely incapable of work could find themselves seeking employment for fear of losing their benefits.
But in the paper's forward Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Andrew Smith wrote, "This is not, and never will be, about pressurizing sick people back to work against their will. We recognize that for those with the most severe conditions, work is often unlikely to be an option. For this group we need to ensure that incapacity benefits continue to provide vital support."
Whether or not the government manages to address the concerns of employers and claimants alike, there is a far larger task at hand -- that of getting news of the reforms to those for whom they are intended.
Rose Matthews, an incapacity benefit claimant from the south of England, has not received any information from the Department of Work and Pensions concerning the proposed changes, despite the significant impact they will have on her life, and on the lives of the 2.7 million others like her across the country.
