§ 37. Mrs. HumbleTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what action his Department is taking to help disabled people into employment. [73074]
§ Mr. BayleyTogether with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Employment we have introduced the New Deal for Disabled People to help disabled people and those with long term illness move into, or remain in, work: piloting a voluntary personal adviser service in 12 areas throughout Great Britain, for claimants of incapacity benefits; and funding a number of innovative schemes to test different approaches. From June we will also be piloting the Single Work Focused Gateway in twelve areas. In these areas, where appropriate, people of working age who claim benefits will be given a Personal Adviser who will be able to access information and the opportunities for employment, training and rehabilitation, and will help them plan a route back to independence.
In October 1998 we introduced a new 52 week linking rule for incapacity benefits and abolished the 16 hour limit for voluntary work. We have increased the therapeutic earnings limit from April 1999 and plan to pilot further changes to benefits from April. In addition the disabled persons tax credit, will be more generous than the Disability Working Allowance it will replace. We will also reform the All Work Test so that, as well as establishing the level of incapacity for benefit purposes, it will also provide information which will be potentially helpful to disabled people and their personal advisers when planning a return to work. The Department for Education and Employment has an extensive range of measures aimed at helping disabled people into employment.