Summary
The Government's vision for the welfare state, based on the reforms proposed by David Freud in his 2007 report 'Reducing Dependency, Increasing Opportunity: Options for the Future of Welfare to Work', is one where no one is written off and everyone is required to fulfil their responsibilities to prepare for, look for, and take up work - with support provided at all stages.
The reforms set out in this Green Paper, 'No One Written Off: Reforming Welfare to Reward Responsibility - Public Consultation' (Cm. 7363), are designed to achieve an active and personalised welfare state, boosting employment and tackling long-term benefit dependency.
Disabled persons or people with long-term health conditions will be targeted in a bid to reduce the number of people on incapacity benefits by one million. A new Work Capability Assessment will re-assess all existing incapacity benefit claimants for eligibility to the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) to ensure that they are receiving the right benefit and that their personal needs are identified. ESA will be a temporary benefit for most, as people recover from or adapt to their condition and prepare for a return to work.
Other reforms set out in the paper include:
- Private and voluntary sector providers will be eligible to undertake support work.
- The medical assessment procedure will be reviewed.
- The reforms also tackle child poverty by providing additional support while strengthening parents' responsibilities to contribute financially and emotionally to their children's upbringing.
- The benefits system will be streamlined. A long term goal is the abolition of Income Support and the creation of a system based on Jobseeker's Allowance and the ESA.
- The Government also wishes to devolve more power to individual customers, local partnerships, and providers to improve the quality and effectiveness of services. Providers will have greater freedom to innovate and deliver services through a new 'Right to Bid' process.
The public consultation period for this Green Paper ends on 22 October 2008.
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