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I've come across the article below which seems a bit surprising. Are these actually the kind of rates that people are finding?
"More than two-thirds of applicants for sickness benefits are being rejected under a new testing regime, casting doubt on the validity of 2.6m existing claimants deemed unfit for work.
According to data seen by several welfare industry figures, up to 90 per cent of applicants are being judged able to work in some regions and placed on unemployment rolls rather than long-term ill-health benefits.
The results, yet to be officially confirmed, offer an incoming government next year the chance to cut a £175bn budget deficit by forcing the long-term sick to seek work. A three-year programme starting in 2010 will subject 2.6m incapacity benefit claimants to the new work capability assessment.
Every person returning to work would reduce the £12.5bn total bill of incapacity benefit and start to pay some income tax and national insurance.
“These are remarkable figures,” said Lord Freud, Conservative welfare reform spokesman. “The tragedy is that it has taken so long to tighten the system, with the effect that hundreds of thousands of people have been locked
into long-term dependency.”
Initial results from the new test imply the bar for sickness benefits is at its highest level for decades. About 65 per cent of applications for incapacity benefit were approved until it was replaced last autumn – suggesting the
chances of passing and failing have been reversed under the new ill-health benefit, the “employment and support allowance”. "
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