MORE than 6,000 people on sickness benefits in the south face losing their payments under Government plans to slash public spending.
Ministers yesterday revealed that plans to force incapacity benefit (IB) claimants to undergo tough medical tests to make sure they are not faking their illnesses will begin nationwide next spring.
Chancellor George Osborne has signalled that the £12.5bn spent annually on sickness benefits for more than 2.5m people will be targeted to help cut the public deficit.
The Government wants every UK claimant of IB, currently worth £91 per week to long-term recipients, to be reassessed, at a rate of 10,000 a week.
Those who pass a Work Capability Assessment will be shifted on to the tougher Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), which all new claimants have received since its introduction by Labour as a replacement to IB in 2008.
Those who fail the test completely are moved on to the lower Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), worth £65 per week.
A source from the Department for Work and Pensions suggested that one fifth of claimants were likely to be shifted on to JSA.
Across south Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, where on the latest count 31,010 people claim IB – including more than 8,000 in Southampton – this would mean some 6,202 losing their sickness benefits and being told to look for work.
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