0:00:02 > 0:00:07Life on sickness benefit is changing.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10They know there is no work around, so what are we going to work at --
0:00:10 > 0:00:14to live on? It will affect more than 180,000
0:00:14 > 0:00:21people here. We are tried to steer them into a
0:00:21 > 0:00:25different direction, and some people will feel uncomfortable.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28Medically, he has been proven unfit to work, but they say he is fit.
0:00:28 > 0:00:35Most are being told to get ready to work.
0:00:35 > 0:00:43You are not good at turning double. It the Catt just take anybody. --
0:00:43 > 0:00:49we just cannot take anybody. Who is too sick to do it?
0:00:49 > 0:00:53Imagine me and a telephone on a bad day. -- on a telephone.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58With unemployment at a 17 year high, what chance of getting a job in
0:00:58 > 0:01:08Wales? If it works, it works. If not, I
0:01:08 > 0:01:20
0:01:20 > 0:01:25Phillips town, home to the Harris family.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28I have got a big family, a lot of them are out of work.
0:01:28 > 0:01:36Joan Harris has spent her life bringing up children and
0:01:36 > 0:01:40grandchildren. I have not worked since I was 17.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42Now they are sending me to job interviews, what chance have I got?
0:01:42 > 0:01:48There is nothing there for youngsters.
0:01:48 > 0:01:57Among them, her son Tommy, he is 20, with two kids, a little education
0:01:57 > 0:02:02and a prison record. I want something in my life. I do
0:02:02 > 0:02:07not want to be in and out of prison all my life.
0:02:07 > 0:02:14Grandson Ricky left school at 13. But there is nothing about, so why
0:02:14 > 0:02:24chill-out and have a drink every day.
0:02:24 > 0:02:31
0:02:31 > 0:02:40Here, four out of 10 on benefits. Half of those on the sick.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45I was honoured for anxiety and depression. The schmuck I was on it.
0:02:45 > 0:02:51Why are so many people on the sick? There is nothing about. I could not
0:02:51 > 0:02:55tell you. The UK government wants to know. It is extending regular
0:02:55 > 0:03:02independent medical assessments to everyone on sickness benefits, so
0:03:02 > 0:03:08it can decide who is fit enough to work. Tommy's mother is worried.
0:03:08 > 0:03:14you are ill, you are AAL. How can they make people work if they are
0:03:14 > 0:03:17not very well? It is totally wrong. Tommy has heard about the
0:03:17 > 0:03:25assessments, and he is due at the JobCentre to date to come off the
0:03:25 > 0:03:30sick. Did you think you would be able to stay on the stick? No. I
0:03:30 > 0:03:36want a job offer stopped more than half the population of working or
0:03:36 > 0:03:41in education. Thomas says he wants to be the same. What were they job
0:03:41 > 0:03:48bring me? Happiness, money, kids, food, everything. If it works, it
0:03:48 > 0:03:54works. Lawrence, mother of his children, hopes he gets the job,
0:03:54 > 0:04:00before unemployment spreads further, to a fourth generation. I am
0:04:00 > 0:04:06worried they will end up on the streets, no money, nothing. Getting
0:04:06 > 0:04:16into trouble. His family believe he can succeed. If he wants to do it,
0:04:16 > 0:04:19
0:04:19 > 0:04:29He can do things when he puts his mind to things. He can do a lot of
0:04:29 > 0:04:33
0:04:33 > 0:04:40A few doors down, at the community has, another sickness benefit
0:04:40 > 0:04:44claimant is being told about the changes to the system. His big
0:04:44 > 0:04:49white, and they are transferring everyone to implement and support
0:04:50 > 0:04:53allowance. This disability charity worker explains how most claimants
0:04:53 > 0:05:00are being made to do work-related activities to prepare them for the
0:05:00 > 0:05:05jobs market. Either the support group, which means your condition
0:05:05 > 0:05:08means you cannot work, the same as incapacity benefit, basically, all
0:05:08 > 0:05:14the work-related activity group, where they say, your condition
0:05:14 > 0:05:18could get better, and you might be able to find work in future. It is
0:05:18 > 0:05:22distressing for some people. The government have got to do it, they
0:05:22 > 0:05:28have got to cut money. Lots of people should not be on the
0:05:28 > 0:05:38benefits. This is what the process is for. We want to make sure you
0:05:38 > 0:05:44
0:05:44 > 0:05:48Among those who have already been assessed, Joan Harris, for her
0:05:48 > 0:05:57diabetes. She has been kept on the funding, but she must get ready for
0:05:57 > 0:06:03work. I have got bad feet. If you had to do something with your upper
0:06:03 > 0:06:07arms, are you mobile? Yes. That is what the Government is trying to do,
0:06:07 > 0:06:14encourage people to work with the right support and help. Is there
0:06:14 > 0:06:20nothing you can do to work? Where are the jobs? The drunks does
0:06:20 > 0:06:30cannot get jobs -- youngsters cannot get jobs. If there were jobs,
0:06:30 > 0:06:38could you work? I do not know. is the reaction of many people
0:06:38 > 0:06:43across Wales, who are being assessed. Just over the hill, a
0:06:43 > 0:06:52group for stroke victims. Asked for a show of hands of everybody
0:06:52 > 0:06:56affected by this process, this is what you get. The last assessment,
0:06:56 > 0:07:05he was supposed to check my eyesight, my nails, my skin, and he
0:07:05 > 0:07:10did nothing. They said to be, what are you doing here? Off their new
0:07:10 > 0:07:13people assessed, few are declared too ill to work. Most are either
0:07:13 > 0:07:22found fully fit for work and transferred to Jobseeker's
0:07:22 > 0:07:27Allowance, or kept on the benefit but made to prepare for work. This
0:07:27 > 0:07:30woman's doctors say she is too ill to do any work, but after an
0:07:30 > 0:07:38assessment, the Department for Work and Pensions decided she should get
0:07:38 > 0:07:42ready for the workplace. Life is too hard. It is too difficult. Some
0:07:42 > 0:07:51days, the pain is so bad, I have to survive for the day. I do not need
0:07:51 > 0:07:56the worry of thinking that I have to go back to work, I could lose by
0:07:56 > 0:08:02benefits. Is there anything you could do, even on a part-time
0:08:02 > 0:08:12basis? Sometimes, my speech is a lot worse than this. Sometimes I
0:08:12 > 0:08:13
0:08:13 > 0:08:18cannot talk at all. Say if they wanted to put me in a call centre.
0:08:18 > 0:08:26Imagine the on a telephone on a bad day. -- imagine me. I would be
0:08:26 > 0:08:32useless. Her doctors wrote letters, and she appealed. She won the
0:08:33 > 0:08:36appeal. She would not be safe to return to work. But the DPP wrote
0:08:36 > 0:08:43again, saying she would have to go through another medical board.
0:08:44 > 0:08:49I opened this letter, I just about went hysterical. People do not
0:08:49 > 0:08:58believe me, by consultants do not believe me. They say, we have
0:08:58 > 0:09:03written letters. 40% of appeals are allowed. A figure which increases
0:09:03 > 0:09:09when they are conducted by advisers like this woman. We are talking
0:09:09 > 0:09:13about people who are very ill, very disabled, and they have to fill in
0:09:13 > 0:09:17long forms that they do not understand, and that is really
0:09:17 > 0:09:22depressing and daunting. I think that the state are hoping people
0:09:22 > 0:09:26will not go through this process because it is so long. One of the
0:09:26 > 0:09:31people she is helping is this man. He went on to sickness benefits
0:09:31 > 0:09:36after injuring his hand in an industrial accident. If the doctor
0:09:37 > 0:09:40does advise that within three months you could be fit for work,
0:09:40 > 0:09:45they would try to get him onto Jobseeker's Allowance, and then you
0:09:45 > 0:09:49would have to start searching for work. Despite being treated by his
0:09:49 > 0:09:57doctor for several limiting medical conditions, his last assessment
0:09:57 > 0:10:03said he could be found fit for work within weeks. Half of the people
0:10:03 > 0:10:09say that I am not fit for work, and the other half are trying to drive
0:10:09 > 0:10:13me out to work. I am between the two stalls, I do not know what is
0:10:13 > 0:10:19happening. Medically, he has been proven unfit, but they say he is
0:10:19 > 0:10:24fit, which I find amazing. A lot of times, of which breaks my heart, at
0:10:24 > 0:10:28the end of the day, they have moved the goalposts, and it is hard to
0:10:28 > 0:10:31get you back again. They have moved them which will kick a lot of
0:10:31 > 0:10:37people off, and it will kick some people off that should not be on
0:10:37 > 0:10:41the benefit, and that is brilliant, but shunned -- but some people
0:10:41 > 0:10:46should be honoured, but it will be hard for us to get them back on the
0:10:46 > 0:10:52benefit that I feel they deserve. Annie is waiting for her next
0:10:52 > 0:10:57assessment. A friend from the club is worried it is making her ill.
0:10:57 > 0:11:03is traumatising her completely, making her so very ell, the anxiety,
0:11:03 > 0:11:08distress, the strain, she does not need it. None of us do. Does it
0:11:08 > 0:11:18make Annie feel like trapping her claim? That is giving in to
0:11:18 > 0:11:22
0:11:22 > 0:11:26something that you are entitled to. If it is going to cause this much
0:11:26 > 0:11:31ill-health, if I have got to go to another board, I do not know how
0:11:31 > 0:11:36long I can stand it. We caught up with the minister responsible for
0:11:36 > 0:11:41the changes. I ask him about the assessment system. It is a
0:11:41 > 0:11:48stressful experience for a lot of people. Is that a price worth
0:11:48 > 0:11:51paying and for reforming the system? Some people will find the
0:11:51 > 0:11:57process of this difficult. My message is, we will do everything
0:11:57 > 0:12:02we can, and we are to wind, to make it a fair process, they thought the
0:12:02 > 0:12:08process. Above all, those who cannot work, those who need long-
0:12:08 > 0:12:12term support, they will get it. If somebody can do something different
0:12:12 > 0:12:16from benefits, surely we should try them -- surely be should try to
0:12:16 > 0:12:23help them. The Government started assessing all long term sickness
0:12:23 > 0:12:28benefit claimants. Transferring them to employment and support
0:12:28 > 0:12:32allowance, ESA. A recent report said tens of thousands of people
0:12:32 > 0:12:36would failed the medical assessments or lose money because
0:12:36 > 0:12:46the new benefits are means-tested. The report's Co author said people
0:12:46 > 0:12:48
0:12:48 > 0:12:52Mabel find their incapacity benefit now disappears. The financial
0:12:52 > 0:12:56cushion the household have had will go. This will mean a loss of up to
0:12:56 > 0:12:59�90 a week to household incomes, which will push people from just a
0:12:59 > 0:13:08little bit above the poverty level right down on to the poverty level
0:13:08 > 0:13:17itself. They are trying to rob us of what he is entitled to, which
0:13:17 > 0:13:21isn't a lot. The injustice. Steve Barker gets �30 a week industrial
0:13:21 > 0:13:26injuries compensation for his hand. When he was on incapacity benefit
0:13:26 > 0:13:29it was paid on top. But when he moved to E s eight was taken off
0:13:29 > 0:13:34his benefit. If he drops down to jobseeker's allowance, the couple
0:13:34 > 0:13:37will lose even more. If they take him off employment and support
0:13:37 > 0:13:42allowance it will go down to �74 a week because they take his hand
0:13:42 > 0:13:47injury money into account and take it off him. Basically, how are we
0:13:47 > 0:13:52going to live on that? But two people to live on that per week is
0:13:52 > 0:13:57impossible. But that's the way the system works. But the government
0:13:57 > 0:14:03denies it's all about saving money. This was always about dealing with
0:14:03 > 0:14:06the problem that we felt was deep rooted, that was wrong. This is not
0:14:06 > 0:14:12about deficit reduction, it has no financial targets attached to it.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15It is all about improving people's lives and saving people's lives.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19The former coal mining communities of the South Wales valleys have
0:14:20 > 0:14:25some of the highest sickness benefit claimant rates in Britain.
0:14:25 > 0:14:30John Higgs is the son of a former Phillipstown miner. They closed the
0:14:30 > 0:14:35pits, a lot of miners went on the sick. They had their redundancy for
0:14:35 > 0:14:42a bit, then their sons came along, they didn't put any work in after.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46Thousands and thousands never got work. The family's just gave up.
0:14:46 > 0:14:51The Phillipstown youth team are trying to break that cycle. Tommy
0:14:51 > 0:14:55Harris comes from a mining family, took. Tommy didn't ask to go on
0:14:55 > 0:15:00incapacity benefit. Nobody sat down and said, you can do this, you can
0:15:00 > 0:15:03do that, we will help you do this and that. They just signed him off.
0:15:03 > 0:15:08Although it's looking like it is Tommy that is sponging off the
0:15:08 > 0:15:10system, I don't agree with that. What do you say to those people who
0:15:10 > 0:15:15say that you shouldn't be on benefits, you should be putting
0:15:15 > 0:15:20into society, paying tax and working? That's what I want to do,
0:15:20 > 0:15:26I want to be part of... I want to be something. I don't want be what
0:15:26 > 0:15:32I used to be like. That's in the past, I'm any boy now. But there is
0:15:32 > 0:15:36something he has to do first. you want to do this? Yes. He has to
0:15:36 > 0:15:45come off it sickness benefits. Weren't you supposed to do this a
0:15:45 > 0:15:48couple of weeks ago? Why didn't you do it? I didn't bother. It takes
0:15:48 > 0:15:58Tommy half-an-hour to get through to the right government department
0:15:58 > 0:15:58
0:15:58 > 0:16:08to come off the sick. I've got to do it, haven't I? All of our agents
0:16:08 > 0:16:09
0:16:10 > 0:16:13Because the phone is here it's easy for you to come in. What if you
0:16:13 > 0:16:23didn't have the help he and the phone at services here, you just
0:16:23 > 0:16:26
0:16:26 > 0:16:30Jobseeker's allowance. eventually Tommy has his new
0:16:30 > 0:16:40appointment to sign on as a job- seeker. That's sorted now, isn't
0:16:40 > 0:16:42
0:16:42 > 0:16:48it? Well done. This job isn't going to come and find you, is it? No.
0:16:48 > 0:16:54what have you got to do? Go out and find a job. It's done now. I know I
0:16:54 > 0:16:59missed the last one but it's done now. But proving you are actively
0:17:00 > 0:17:03looking for work won't be easy for someone with a limited education.
0:17:03 > 0:17:08He's got to write everything he does down. If he's looked in the
0:17:08 > 0:17:12paper, asked about a job, send a CV of - anything. The hard part for
0:17:12 > 0:17:17Tommy is he doesn't like to say, I have trouble reading, I have
0:17:17 > 0:17:23trouble understanding that. They've left him with a load of forms that
0:17:23 > 0:17:27are gobbledegook to him. Without a computer or credit for his phone,
0:17:27 > 0:17:33Tommy will have to rely on John Higgs and the community house for
0:17:34 > 0:17:41help in his search for jobs. Without the internet or without
0:17:41 > 0:17:45this place open, you are up the creek without a paddle. Suz is
0:17:45 > 0:17:49worried Tommy might become disillusioned. He will get other
0:17:49 > 0:17:52people who are his own age that on sickness benefit and are getting
0:17:52 > 0:17:59paid without having to prove they are looking for work, without
0:17:59 > 0:18:02having to go once a fortnight to the JobCentre. He may think, why am
0:18:02 > 0:18:08I putting myself through all this when there's nothing out there for
0:18:08 > 0:18:12me anyway? Because of the time we live in, it is easier to get money
0:18:12 > 0:18:16being on sickness benefit and actually having a job and
0:18:16 > 0:18:21struggling with all of that. With transport costs, child-minding
0:18:21 > 0:18:28costs. It's very convenient for anybody to get on incapacity
0:18:28 > 0:18:33benefit and just stay there. Ricky Harris is also at the community
0:18:33 > 0:18:42house doing his CV with another youth worker. Ricky is on the dole.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46I do want -- I don't want to sign on but I have to get money. Do you
0:18:46 > 0:18:56think the benefits system makes it too easy for people not to work?
0:18:56 > 0:19:00
0:19:00 > 0:19:04Yes. But doing nothing is not going to be an option for long. Come on,
0:19:04 > 0:19:10you know me. The fact is if you are on benefits you are getting money
0:19:10 > 0:19:16for nothing. That is the end of it, isn't it? And people who do work
0:19:16 > 0:19:20present that fact. Who can blame them? So the community team keep on
0:19:20 > 0:19:23pushing a harissa bore his, persuading them to work in elderly
0:19:23 > 0:19:28neighbours gardens in exchange for driving lessons and improving their
0:19:28 > 0:19:34skills set with practical courses, like strumming. You are not very
0:19:34 > 0:19:38good at turning up. Its �600 a time. If I put you in you've got to turn
0:19:38 > 0:19:43up three full days. If I Buckett for you and you don't turn up on
0:19:43 > 0:19:47one of the bays then I will kill you. Getting a strumming
0:19:47 > 0:19:54qualification could help their work for a council. One step closer to
0:19:54 > 0:19:59the jobs market. Steve Parker has been told he could be fit for work
0:19:59 > 0:20:05within weeks. Last time he applied for a part-time job close to his
0:20:05 > 0:20:10home he was turned down on health grounds. The employers are saying
0:20:10 > 0:20:15I'm unfit for work. For the liability through my hand and
0:20:15 > 0:20:22whatever. And yet the government and the medical thing are saying I
0:20:22 > 0:20:26am fit for work. I don't even know where I stand. I'm so frustrated.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30And with unemployment in Wales at by more than 16,000 in the last
0:20:30 > 0:20:34three months, the jobs market doesn't look good for former
0:20:34 > 0:20:39sickness benefit claimants. It's a difficult labour market. Employers
0:20:39 > 0:20:42can afford to be picky. They go for the young, the well-qualified. They
0:20:42 > 0:20:46go for people in good health. Those are precisely the characteristics
0:20:46 > 0:20:51which many of the incapacity benefit claimants are lacking. They
0:20:51 > 0:20:54are the older workers, the ones in poor health, the ones with
0:20:54 > 0:21:00relatively low levels of formal qualifications. They are going to
0:21:00 > 0:21:04be at the back of the queue for the available jobs. This employee or
0:21:04 > 0:21:09close to Phillipstown had more than 100 applicants for his last vacancy.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13We can cherry-pick who we want. We can't just take anybody who comes
0:21:13 > 0:21:18along. I'm looking for people who are proactive, they have to be
0:21:18 > 0:21:21actively looking for work regularly. Somebody that it's not -- that has
0:21:21 > 0:21:25not been chasing work, that wouldn't be the type of person we'd
0:21:25 > 0:21:28want to take on. The government is trying to get people who've been
0:21:28 > 0:21:32out of work for a long time back into the workplace. Do you think
0:21:32 > 0:21:36they can do it in the current climate? I think they can but they
0:21:36 > 0:21:40have to look into it more deeply. The type of channels they can put
0:21:40 > 0:21:44people into, they need to look at these people and look at the niche
0:21:44 > 0:21:54they can fit. Perhaps help them and guide them into areas that would
0:21:54 > 0:21:57
0:21:57 > 0:22:03For Tommy Harris there is a flurry of excitement as he hears of a job
0:22:03 > 0:22:10going locally. A job. They are taking on as well. If I can get a
0:22:10 > 0:22:18lift then I'm going up there. borrows a phone. My name is Tommy
0:22:18 > 0:22:28Harris. I had to leave a number. I phoned them and it was unavailable.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30
0:22:30 > 0:22:39I left a message and they haven't And they never did get back to
0:22:39 > 0:22:44Tommy. His mother is not surprised. There is nothing for us. There is
0:22:44 > 0:22:51no work at all in Phillipstown for nobody. No work at all.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55Phillipstown or Tredegar, there's nothing around at all. They is no
0:22:55 > 0:23:03work around so how can they go to work? Where else are they going to
0:23:03 > 0:23:08get benefit from, many from to keep my family? Any hours, both
0:23:08 > 0:23:12temporary and permanent - or jobs. Search. But Tommy continues to look
0:23:12 > 0:23:18for jobs in the community house with Suz and cousin Paul, who is
0:23:18 > 0:23:25also on benefits. Must have experience in all aspects of
0:23:25 > 0:23:29gardening. You have a. Bricklaying. Full driving licence. I don't know
0:23:29 > 0:23:35what to say, I'm sorry is all I can say. I can see why you get
0:23:35 > 0:23:41disheartened, I really can. didn't the government think of this
0:23:41 > 0:23:45first and create jobs? And the competition for work in the valleys
0:23:45 > 0:23:49will increase as more people are put off the sick. I agree that
0:23:49 > 0:23:54there are people on their that shouldn't be on there. Not just
0:23:54 > 0:23:58round here, everywhere. But they've done it the wrong way round.
0:23:58 > 0:24:06They've done it at a time when there are no jobs to go for. Even
0:24:06 > 0:24:10for the ones that are being made redundant now. Officially there are
0:24:10 > 0:24:1510 people chasing every vacancy within travelling distance of
0:24:15 > 0:24:19Phillipstown. For those that are able to travel, that is. Like many
0:24:19 > 0:24:25valleys communities, Phillipstown is isolated. While there is a
0:24:25 > 0:24:31daytime bus service, only half the households have access to a car.
0:24:31 > 0:24:37people are genuinely sick and AIL and made do go on jobseeker's
0:24:37 > 0:24:41allowance, there are no jobs in a three-mile radius that they can go
0:24:41 > 0:24:46to. So they are either going to have to buy a car, but they can't
0:24:46 > 0:24:50because they haven't got a job, and they can't get a job because they
0:24:50 > 0:24:55haven't got a car. It's difficult. But the government is determined to
0:24:55 > 0:24:59press ahead, concentrating its efforts on helping 135,000 long-
0:24:59 > 0:25:03term unemployed to compete for whatever vacancies they are in
0:25:03 > 0:25:08Wales. We are asking people to go through it challenging period. We
0:25:08 > 0:25:11are asking them to think again about what they can do. We are
0:25:11 > 0:25:14trying to Steer many of them into a different direction in their lives.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18There are some people who will feel uncomfortable about that. But I'm
0:25:18 > 0:25:22also convinced that those people who get into employment will a few
0:25:22 > 0:25:27years down the road look back and say that it was the right thing to
0:25:27 > 0:25:30happen. But what about the rest? What is and yet in place is
0:25:30 > 0:25:34something specifically to help those very large numbers, this
0:25:34 > 0:25:39tidal wave of people who have been pushed off incapacity benefit over
0:25:39 > 0:25:43the next three or four years. That remains a serious problem. Unless
0:25:43 > 0:25:47we can get some sudden miraculous revival of the economy,
0:25:47 > 0:25:53particularly a revival in the places where the incapacity
0:25:53 > 0:25:58claimants benefits are concentrated, we're just going to create more
0:25:58 > 0:26:05distress and hardship. The benefit reform will crush the life out of
0:26:05 > 0:26:15the community of Phillipstown. There is no glimmer of hope for
0:26:15 > 0:26:19
0:26:19 > 0:26:23them. There is no light at the end And what about those people already
0:26:24 > 0:26:27affected by the reforms? Steve Parker believes he will stay on
0:26:27 > 0:26:32benefits, but he thinks he will get less money. He doesn't believe
0:26:32 > 0:26:40anyone will give him a job. rather be out doing something, I've
0:26:40 > 0:26:45got to be truthful. I just need fairplay. I just want to be left
0:26:45 > 0:26:51alone to the best we can to get on with our own devices. That's all we
0:26:51 > 0:27:01can hope for really. And Annie. Her decision letter has arrived. It is
0:27:01 > 0:27:04good news. It gives a little bit up peace of mind now. She will get
0:27:05 > 0:27:08support from the benefits system for the rest of her life. There are
0:27:08 > 0:27:17tears of relief as she learns she won't be regularly assessed in
0:27:17 > 0:27:20And Tommy, he is off the sick and wants to set up his own garden in
0:27:20 > 0:27:26business. But funding for the Phillipstown youth team is ending
0:27:26 > 0:27:32soon and with it vital support. suppose you could say it's dreaming,
0:27:32 > 0:27:39but that's all they've got to hang on to at the moment. It wasn't for
0:27:39 > 0:27:43this project I would probably be back in prison by now. With little
0:27:43 > 0:27:47prospect of getting work, it's a chance he needs to grasp. If he is
0:27:47 > 0:27:53to break out of his family's generations of unemployment.