James Purnell, Dear Mr Purnell
As you may already be aware if people have been signed off sick by their doctor, ie for 4 weeks, they are entitled to Incapacity Benefit, and they would go straight onto "Action 4 Employment", once the person in question has received their first payment from Incapacity Benefit.
However if someone has 4 weeks off, and that person cannot get on to "Action 4 Employment" until they have received their first payment this would mean they would only have a maximum of 2-3 working days, as it takes the jobcentre 2-3 weeks to setup payment, etc...
Shouldn't it therefore be better to let the person in question get access to this specialist support as soon as the paperwork has gone, as long as they can provide proof that they would be applcable for IC Benefit?
I hope you can reply.
Thanks
James Nightingale
Asked by Jamesn27 on Aug 07 2008 12:10:52 AM and supported by 32 members
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What I want to see, and what our recently published proposals set out, is for everyone who is on incapacity benefit now, and those who go onto its successor, the Employment and Support Allowance in October, to have the chance to get the right level of support to help them overcome their health problems and get back into work. Where that means getting people onto the right programme – for example to Pathways to Work, which is now available across the country – I want to see that happen. In the past too many people got written off. I want to see everyone having the chance to make the most of their potential.