Blunkett announces welfare reform principles

Work and Pensions Secretary David Blunkett has urged thousands of people on incapacity benefit to return to work, as he launched his ‘principles of welfare reform’ on Monday.

Mr Blunkett said that for many of the 2.7 million in the UK on incapacity benefit, returning to work “will overcome depression and stress a lot more than people sitting at home watching daytime television.”

In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme, Mr Blunkett pledged to reduce the number of people claiming incapacity benefit, which now stands at four times the number of claimants than there were 25 to 30 years ago. He said: “Health has got better, medical science is improving by the day, technology has changed the nature of work so that people can work part-time.

“We have a situation where we can offer people liberation from dependence in a way that was never possible before.”

During the interview, Mr Blunkett revealed that Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt would announce a new occupational health programme later in the year.

However, he also stressed that the seriously ill and disabled who needed long-term care would still be supported. He said: “You will be entitled to disability living allowance, which people mix up with incapacity benefit and we need to clarify that.”

Mr Blunkett’s eight principles of welfare reform are:

• help people to help themselves by offering a ladder to self-reliance and self-determination, not merely a safety net in time of need;
• see work as the best route out of welfare;
• promote understanding and enable people to make informed choices for themselves;
• balance rights with responsibilities, while recognising the need for support and care where appropriate;
• recognise our mutual interdependence and obligation to each other, promoting solidarity between generations and the importance of using the resources of government to help people cope with rapid economic and social change;
• ensure the role of the state is active, liberating and enabling;
• address the root causes of poverty and overcome intergenerational disadvantage and exclusion;
• contribute to a stable and growing economy through investment in the potential of every individual and flexibility of support in and out of work;

Mr Blunkett said that the principles were “about liberating; about empowering; about balancing rights and responsibilities so that we transform the welfare state from being a safety net to a ladder out of poverty.

“We want people to face the future with confidence, not apprehension. With hope, not fear.

“We will provide support, nationally and locally to help everyone fulfil their potential. Work for those who can, care for those who can’t.”

However, the Liberal Democrats dismissed the principles as a “vague and nebulous set of principles”. The party’s work and pensions spokesperson David Laws said: “This jumble of statements avoids any recognition of the damage to work and savings incentives caused by Labour policies. It lacks a clear direction and must not be a substitute for action.”

(KMcA/SP)