Chris Grayling, MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, "This is a depressing demonstration of the failures of the Government’s welfare to work programme. We keep hearing grand announcements about helping people off Incapacity Benefit back into work but when you read the small print in the statistics you find it’s just not happening. Once again, you just can’t trust what this government is saying".

More than half of the people claiming incapacity benefit have been doing so for more than five years. Nearly quarter of a million more people have been receiving incapacity benefit for more than five years.

Year Total claims (000) Claims older than five years (000) Percentage of claims Feb 01 2415 998 41% Feb 03 2493 1121 45% Feb 05 2503 1195 48% Feb 07 2433 1231 51%