When a benefits system switches from one that sees things in black and white terms - you are either fit for work or you are not - to one with grey areas, there is a risk that the wrong people will end up with the wrong outcomes.

The employment and support allowance, which yesterday replaced incapacity benefit for new claimants, has more grey than an accountant's wardrobe.

And it is people with disabilities who have most to lose.

The government rightly dismisses incapacity benefit as a way of "writing people off" - 2.6 million in this case.

A side-effect of its introduction in the 1990s was to conveniently exclude a huge band of people from the jobless figures, something the Tories were desperate to do. The employment support allowance would mean more help for sick and disabled people to find work, according to work and pensions secretary James Purnell.

However, anyone perceived to be failing to engage with the new system could have their benefit cut. Claimants will have to be assessed by Department for Work and Pensions doctors who will be aware of the government's targets. In addition, the rules pay scant regard to medical conditions that can fluctuate, such as those relating to mental health.

Leonard Cheshire Disability has serious misgivings about the punitive nature of EAS, as it is known.

The charity's Guy Parker explained on Radio 4's Today programme that disabled people face discrimination even in a buoyant jobs market. As jobs become more difficult to find, as they inevitably will, employers may be less likely to hire disabled applicants.

Leonard Cheshire's Disability Review 2008 is worth a read to discover the extent of job discrimination against disabled people and the poverty in which many find themselves. It makes uncomfortable reading when set against the EAS sanctions.

Those who do move into jobs often fill low-paid vacancies and others may not be able to work enough hours to gain tax credits.

Community Care columnist Simon Heng, a wheelchair user, wrote before EAS was introduced of his desire to work and escape poverty. He suggested letting disabled people work but continue to receive benefits. Adjustments could be made later through the tax system.

That is a sensible and logical way forward but it lacks a certain punitive element that is seemingly obligatory in any benefits reform - and that, sadly, is what the populace at large wants.

source:http://www.communitycare.co.uk