Owen Smith MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, commenting on new figures showing the number of ESA claimants in employment after one year has fallen again to 7.7 per cent, said:

“Today’s figures reveal that this Government is failing to support disabled people in their efforts to find work. In their manifesto, the Tories said they wanted to transform the work prospects for disabled people in Britain, yet the Work Programme’s poor results reveal the truth of their failure. These failings are part of the reason the benefit bill continues to rise under this government.

“Last quarter, the numbers showed that just nine per cent of ESA recipients were getting back to work through the Government’s deeply-flawed Work Programme. Now things are getting even worse, with just 7.7 per cent of disabled people accessing work through the programme.  

“The Tories must sharpen up their act in the vital task of helping ill and disabled people back to work.”