Incapacity Exclusions

EDM number 861 in 1994-95, proposed by Alan Simpson on 21/03/1995.

That this House deplores the introduction of incapacity benefit which will exclude thousands of chronically sick and disabled people by a new functional test of incapacity; notes that even people who pass that test will have to live on a lower level of benefit than that payable under invalidity benefit; believes that the abolition of age allowances for people over 45 years will discriminate against older people who are more likely to develop a disability; believes that the abolition of the additional pension will result in a massive drop in living standards for newly disabled people and that taxation of incapacity benefit will further reduce their income; and calls on Her Majesty's Government to revise the incapacity test to include other factors relevant to incapacity, such as age and work skills, to raise benefit levels substantially and to introduce a tax allowance to mitigate the effects of incapacity benefit.

This motion has been signed by a total of 74 MPs.