11,760 long-term sick to be tested

MORE than 3,000 people across Oldham have been on incapacity benefits for more than a decade.

Government figures showed that 3,430 claimants — nearly a third of all those who claim incapacity benefits across the area — have received the allowance for more than 10 years.

In Oldham East and Saddleworth there are 1,620 claimants and a further 1,810 in Oldham West and Royton, who have all been claiming the benefits since Tony Blair’s New Labour came to power.

Latest figures show in total there are 11,760 people receiving the payment across the area.

The Government has announced that, as of the autumn, people will be forced to undergo tough new tests to stop the growing “sick-note” culture in Britain.

Instead of proving why they cannot work, claimants will now carry out at series of tests aimed at proving why they can.

One test will include whether a person is capable of using a mouse and keyboard — skills needed in many workplaces.

They say the reforms will return hundreds of thousands of claimants back to work.

Nationally there are more than 806,000 long-term claimants with the North-West of England — the worst-affected area with more than 130,000 people claiming for more than a decade.

The figures were released to the Tories in parliament. Shadow work and pensions secretary Chris Grayling said: “Sometimes you have to wonder what the point of a Labour Government has been.

“Despite all the grandiose promises and the billions of pounds that have been spent, they’ve delivered virtually no improvement for the most vulnerable in our society.”

But Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Phil Woolas hit out and Tories and defended the claimants.

He said: “This is smearing the disabled. . . the idea that people are shirking is unfair.

“I have helped hundreds of incapacity benefit cases, some of the people’s injuries and illnesses make me wonder how they cope with daily life.”

The Tories have promised to cut the number of incapacity benefit claimants in Britain by 200,000.