SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WORK AND PENSIONS AND WELFARE REFORM

Motion Text

That this House is concerned that the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has begun a debate on incapacity benefit reform in a way that appears designed to court dramatic media headlines that denigrate and stereotype many incapacity benefit recipients instead of proposing effective measures to help those people back into work; believes that a debate conducted in such negative terms will undermine the prospects for reform to be successful in helping people back to work; notes the wealth of evidence that many incapacity benefit recipients want to return to work but face multiple barriers to doing so; and calls on the Government urgently to bring forward costed proposals focused on supporting employers and incapacity benefit recipients to overcome the barriers to re-entering the labour market and gaining sustainable employment.