24 January 2006 - A new deal for welfare: empowering people to work
The Government today announced a radical reform of the welfare state with the publication of the welfare reform green paper - A new deal for welfare: Empowering people to work.
The paper seeks to end the legacy of benefit dependency and deprivation that can damage communities across Britain.
Our proposals provide a once in a generation opportunity to transform the welfare state. They build upon our principles for reform; rights and responsibilities providing the individual with the support they need to transform their own life-chances, and those of their family.
They include detailed proposals for:
- reforming incapacity benefits;
- a £360 million roll out of Pathways to Work across the country by 2008
- extending support to lone parents and older workers;
- reforming housing benefit;
- transforming support for people living in our cities; and
- delivering support to meet the needs of everyone
It sets out our proposals for achieving an 80% employment rate for people of working age.
Achieving this rate will give the UK the highest employment rate of any major country (building further upon the 2.3 million more people in work today than in 1997) but more importantly it will mean that we have delivered the opportunity of work to everyone in our society and have risen to the ageing challenge.
An 80% employment rate probably means:
- Reducing the number of people on incapacity benefits by 1 million;
- Helping 1 million older workers into employment;
- Helping over 300,000 lone parents into work
Launching the Green Paper John Hutton said:
“We have made great progress in tackling unemployment – touching areas that previous reforms couldn’t reach. We now have to apply these reforms across the board. This Green Paper will set a new direction enabling and empowering people to fulfil their potential and ambitions not consigning them to a lifetime on benefit.
“Our plans will redefine the role of the welfare state. The fundamental emphasis will be on what people can do not what they cannot. 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.
"Since 1997, the Government has embarked on a programme of reform that has resulted in more than 2.3 million people getting into work since 1997 and lifting over 2 million children and 1.9 million pensioners out of poverty. Today represents the next important step along the creation of a new welfare settlement that meets the needs of 21st century Britain.”
Notes to Editors
Proposals for Incapacity Benefit would:
- introduce a new gateway to benefits for people with illness and disabilities
- change rules for JSA and increase contact with lone parents to address the flow of people from other benefits to incapacity benefits
- revise the medical assessment (Personal Capability Assessment) focussing upon ability and support needs rather than incapacity , completed within 12 weeks in the majority of cases
- introduce mandatory work focused interviews supported by a mandatory action plan of return to work activity for new and existing claimants
- introduce a new Employment and Support Allowance paid to eligible claimants, with an enhanced employment support component for the majority of claimants who will be undertaking mandatory Work Focused Interviews and later activity and an enhanced support component for those individuals who are unable to engage in any activity because of the severity of their condition
- provide in work support to ensure people continue working - with a return to Work Credit to ensure people really are better off in work
- simplify Statutory Sick Pay to enable employers to better manage sickness and to address the flow of people from SSP to incapacity benefits
- take steps to increase their awareness of the opportunities we offer, for example through providing information at medical examination centres when claimants attend a review
Proposals for Lone Parents include:
- piloting a new Work Related Activity Premium for Lone Parents on IS whose youngest child is aged at least 11 (and consulting on a younger age)
- increasing the frequency of Work Focused Interviews from once a year (now) to quarterly for those with a youngest child aged at least 11 to support work related activity
- increasing the frequency of Work Focused Interviews for all lone parents who have been on benefit for at least a year (and who are not already required to have them more frequently) to every 6 months from annually now
- piloting additional Work Focused Interviews in the first year of a claim to Income Support
- working with employers to develop work taster programmes for lone parents;
- exploring new ways of increasing the support that Jobcentre Plus can give to lone parents who are moving into, or who are already in work
Proposals for Older People include:
- aligning employment support for those long-term unemployed aged 50-59 with those in their 30s and 40s
- improving back to work support for jobseekers over 50 and their partners
- piloting providing information to help people to make decisions about work, training and retirement
- working with employers to extend flexible working arrangements
Proposals for Housing benefit include:
- Rolling out an adjusted version of the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) to the deregulated private rented sector
Media enquiries: Jessica Bates, Kathy Barlow and Gemmaine Walsh: 020 7238
0762, 020 7238 0766, 020 7238 0723
Press office: 020 7238 0866
Out of hours: 07659 108 883
Textphone: 020 7238 0788
Public enquiries: 020 7712 2171
Website: Welfare Reform Green Paper