Incapacity benefit reforms need medical support, warns CBI

GPs and the Health and Safety Executive must work with employers to get more people off benefits and back into work, according to the CBI.

The response comes after the work and pensions secretary, David Blunkett, launched his “eight principles of welfare reform” to get many of the 2.7 million people living on incapacity benefit back into work, yesterday.

He pledged “a whole range of medical, social, therapeutic interventions to help people get off benefit and back into work”.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required)

OptOut

From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today and OHW+ - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.

Name

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

Susan Anderson, director of human resource policy at the CBI, said working with health providers would help employers to judge when, and if, people can return to work.

But, she added, “Employers are already doing their bit – 60% of all firms offer rehabilitation programmes – and more regulation will not solve the problem.”