UK- Thousands of addicts receive benefits

There are more than 80,000 people in Britainwho claim incapacity benefit because they are alcoholics, drug addicts or obese. The Department of Work and Pensions said more than a quarter of those had not worked for a decade. PM David Cameron said many taxpayers would object because they felt recipients should be “people who are incapacitated through no fault of their own”. BBC

But there are those sdvocates who say there are too few treatment facilities for addicts. The figures released by the DWP show snapshots of incapacity benefit claimants in August 2010. The government wants to re-assess all current incapacity benefit claimants by 2014. And there have been pilot projects to determine whether people are fit to work immediately, whether they can begin the process of looking for work with support or whether they need constant care and cannot work.

The government has released details of the 81,670 people it says are claiming incapacity benefit – and its successor, employment and support allowance – as a direct result of alcohol, drug and obesity problems. And as of last August, there were 42,360 claimants with alcohol addiction, 37,480 with drug dependency and 1,800 who were obese.

According to estimates in the DWP figures, about 12,800 alcoholics and 9,200 drug addicts have been claiming the benefit for more than a decade, as well as about 600 people considered obese.

In an interview with BBC Scotland, the prime minister said: “It is interesting as we go through all these cases [we’re finding] people who were just frankly left for dead by the last government. “We are finding a large number of people who are on incapacity benefit because of drink problems, alcohol problems or problems with weight and diet. “And I think a lot of people who pay their taxes and work hard will think: ‘That’s not what I pay my taxes for. I pay my taxes for people who are incapacitated through no fault of their own.'” BBC

Meanwhile, Employment minister Chris Grayling said private and voluntary organisations had agreed to invest £580m in treating addicts and preparing them for employment. Alcohol awareness campaigners welcomed the aim of helping people to give up drink and get back to work but warned removing benefits from vulnerable people risked making their situation worse. But there are concerns that the government isn’t committing enough funds to tackle a shortage of treatment facilities for those with addictions.

Labour said the government’s economic policy was self-defeating because spending cuts would increase unemployment levels and push up the benefits bill by £12bn. Ministers launched what they said was the largest back-to-work programme in modern history earlier this month as part of reforms designed to make work pay and simplify the benefits system. BBC