HC Deb 14 November 2000 vol 356 cc612-3W
Mr. Willetts

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what the average claim period for Incapacity Benefit has been; and how many people have left the caseload, broken down by destination in each year since 1995; [134586]

(2) what proportion of people who stopped claiming Incapacity Benefit, in the last 12 months for which figures are available, did so because they were returning to work, broken down into those who have claimed Incapacity Benefit for (a) less than a year, (b) between one and two years, (c) between two and three years, (d) between three and four years, (e) between four and five years, and (f) over five years. [134655]

Mr. Bayley

The information is not available in the format requested.

Mr. Willetts

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how long a claimant for Incapacity Benefit has to wait for a medical assessment of their capabilities. [137520]

Mr. Bayley

There is no set time within which the process has to be completed as this will vary according to the individual circumstances of each case. Until the process is complete, the claimant will continue to receive benefit on the basis of their own doctor's certificates.

Mr. Kidney

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what action his Department is taking to devise a system to enable recipients of incapacity benefits to return to work. [138074]

Mr. Bayley

The New Deal for Disabled People, a joint initiative of the Department of Social Security and the Department for Education and Employment, has been testing a range of approaches to help recipients of incapacity benefits return to or take up work. These include a personal adviser service, innovative schemes and pilot benefit changes. By the end of September 2000, over 5,100 people have been helped into work by the New Deal for Disabled People pilots.

On 13 November the two Departments launched a prospectus for the extension of the New Deal for Disabled People. This will involve the establishment of a network of providers, known as job brokers, to offer long-term sick and disabled people on incapacity benefits the support, guidance, and preparation they need to find work; and to match the needs of employers with the skills and potential of long-term sick and disabled people.