DWP strikes again... 77,000 drink and drugs addicts on disability benefits

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9436799/77000-drink-and-drugs-addicts-on-disability-benefits.html

as per usual the DWP have released damming figures attempting to justify the need for reform, and yet again, they have spectacularly failed to do so. In the above link a set of statistics have been cobbled together to claim that over 77,000 people claiming disability benefits because of drugs or alcohol.

Well, actually daily telegraph, i think you added up 2 and 2 and got 77,000. These are the stats they used, released by the DWP.

"34,410 people were receiving Incapacity Benefit because of drug or alcohol problems and another 21,890 are getting Employment Support Allowance, the new form of the same benefit"

"Another 21,350 received Disability Living Allowance."

These are 2 completely seperate benefits, payable for different things, and can be paid at the same time. DLA is non means tested, and payable whether a person is in work or not. Incapacity and ESA is an out of work benefit.

Further down the article they state that these figures are based on people whose primary conditions are drug or alcohol dependency, implying that the rest of us scroungers are downing drugs and drink to cope with our lives.

However, the DWP have seemingly made a number of errors with the release of these stats. 21,890 people are claiming ESA because of drink or drug dependency.That is to say that the new 'tougher' benefit tests, as administered by ATOS and shrouded in controversy are still classing drink and drug dependancy as serious enough for benefits. I say that carefully, not wanting to use deserving, but erring on the entitled to side.

So, either the DWP are stating that their own reforms are flawed because they have allowed these people with these impairments on to the benefit, or they are stating that drug and alchol dependancy IS serious enough to warrant entitlement to sickness benefit. Either way, its not really getting the message across they want is it?

my favourte bit of the article is this though...

"Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, has said that lax checks have allowed many undeserving people to claim the benefit, and promised to overhaul it"

Last time I checked, benefits were not based on who deserved it, and who didnt, but on who actually needed it, and could prove they were entitled to it, via a set of stringent tests and evidence gathering.