Tests for long-term sick to be abolished
Multiple fit-for-work tests for the chronically disabled are to be scrapped.
The Tor ies’ wel fare reforms have been linked to suicide and claimants being plunged into poverty after having their benefits cut.
But Work and Pensions Secretary Damian Green admitted it was “pointless” to regulary reassess people with severe conditions and no hope of getting better.
He said: “We’re building a country that works for everyone – not just the privileged few.
“A key part of that is making sure that all those who are able to work are given the support and the opportunity to do so.
“But it also means ensuring we give full and proper support to those who can’t.
“If someone has a disease which can only get worse then it doesn’t make sense to ask them to turn up for repeated appointments.”
More than two million people get Employment and Support Allowance, worth up to £109 a week.
Claimants have to be reassessed every six months but in future, those with “ser ious and chron ic conditions” will be exempt.
SNP MP Neil Gray said the move was a “welcome first step in the right direction”.
Debbie Abr a hams , Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said: “While the end to repeated assessments will be a relief to those af fected, this announcement falls far short of the fundamental shift to a more holistic, personcentred approach we so desperately need.”