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Yet another well researched & well reasoned article.
Firstly, no-one can deny that there is some abuse & mal-administration of the current system which means that some people claiming incapacity benefit are currently capable of working. This is unjust to the taxpayer & to those genuinely entitled to incapacity benefit. However, as a decision on the capability to work or not work properly requires an individual assessment, with reference to the claimant's medical history, any speculation on the proportion of the 2.7 million claimants capable of working is merely that - speculation.
Picking up a few points from the Daily Mail article :
"Despite a crackdown on sickness handouts at home, the Government send up to £54.6million abroad to over 12,000 claimants last year"
The implication here is that claimants abroad are treated differently from those in the UK - This is incorrect
"They require only to send Department for Work & Pensions officials confirmation from a GP that they are still too sick to take a job."
Incorrect again. All those claiming long term Incapacity Benefit will have been assessed by a DWP doctor who will have determined their entitlement to the benefit & when that entitlement should be reviewed.
"Claimants who live abroad do not even take regular medical checks to find out if they are still entitled to the cash"
Incorrect - yes they do.
"It means the sick-note culture is increasingly becoming a key political battleground - with hard-working Britons becoming fed up with paying 2.7 million claimants"
This appears to be the heart of the issue - personal resentment. I was a hard-working Briton until I found I was no longer able to work. I currently receive, through Incapacity Benefit, around one tenth of what I used to pay in income tax. In fact I still pay UK income tax in excess of what I receive from Incapacity Benefit. I don't recall carping at paying to support the unemployed, child benefit, fertility treatment, housing benefit, income support etc and the myriad other things that I didn't personally need. It would however have been nice is the Government had spent some of my money on research into M.E. & I might then have been able to lead a normal productive life.
"Mr Plaskett said: "People in Great Britain who qualify for contributory incapacity benefit because they have made sufficient National Insurance contributions can continue to receive their benefit if they take up permanent residence in another EU country" - "Under European law benefits acquired in one member state must be paid to those who move to another country."
Exactly! Their previous NI contributions entitle them to IB & they are entitled to receive the benefits abroad. Does anyone complain that the State Retirement pension is exportable? Or Child Benefit for that matter?
"Danny Alexander, the Liberal Democrat work & pensions spokesman said; "Issues such as this leave hard-working people feeling the whole benefit system is unjust. It completely goes against people's sense of fairness that UK benefits are paid to those who move abroad & profit from lower living costs at the expense of taxpayers."
As above - what is unfair about it? Incapacity Benefit is an entitlement paid to those previously hard-working people who are unable to work. Under EU law it is exportable just like the state pension. If a person is found on review to be capable of working the entitlement is withdrawn. As for profiting from the lower living costs - what relevance has this? Should benefits be reduced for those living in the North of England because the cost of living is less? If the issue is moving somewhere with cheaper housing to release capital - this strikes me as a responsible attitude. Anyone previously working & now receiving IB will have had a substantial loss of income. If I use my capital, which I worked hard to accumulate, to subsidise our income isn't this better than resorting to other benefits back in the UK such as income support or housing allowance?
"After ten years of neglect & inaction by the Government, it's time we had a proper independent assessments for every single IB claimant to find out exactly who can & who can't work."
"Claimants will have to take a medical test to divide them into those deemed unable to work & others judged able to work of some sort."
At present individuals are assessed by a DWP doctor on their capability to work. If this assessment allows some to claim IB when they are perfectly capable of working then the system is flawed & this is an issue for the DWP & the Government to address. However, replacing it with a system whereby commercial companies are paid bonuses for declaring individuals capable of working, against a policy background of radically reducing the number of claimants, will not deliver a fair system.
By all means the Government should root all the benefit cheats but please bear in mind those genuine claimants who through no fault of their own are unable to work. No doubt some would distinguish between the principle of exporting Incapacity Benefit & exporting the state retirement pension. Maybe those who would deny incapacity benefit to anyone moving outside the UK - usually for health reasons - should also consider themselves lucky that they were able to have a full working life rather than whinging about "hard-working taxpayers".
Mr Cat.
Many years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this.
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