INCAPACITY BENEFIT REFORM

That this House notes the report on the Government's Incapacity Benefits Reform published by the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research, based at Sheffield Hallam University, which exposes the likely impact of such changes in different parts of the UK; is alarmed by its findings which showthat the numbers likely to be pushed off benefit entitlements by these measures will be much greater amongst the UK's older industrial areas where jobs are hardest to find; and calls on the Government to desist from the introduction of its benefits changes until such time as additional measures to promote local and regional economic development are firmly established.