BENEFITS CLAMPDOWN ON HEROIN AND CRACK USERS

Nearly 267,000 heroin and crack users are on benefits and will be
required to own up to their drug problems and take treatment - or
lose their money, James Purnell the work and pensions secretary, will
say today.

He will also announce measures that may take as many as 200,000
families out of child poverty.

The radical proposals, contained in a welfare green paper to be
published today were welcomed by David Cameron. The Conservative
leader said he was thrilled with the Purnell green paper and promised
to support it in the Commons, adding he thought it could take a
million people off incapacity benefit.

Cameron will present his own scheme on Wednesday to help an extra
100,000 mainly unskilled males find worthwhile jobs through apprenticeships.

Research from the Department of Work and Pensions shows 66,000 drug
users are accessing job seekers allowance in England, 146,000 are in
receipt of income support and 87,000 receive incapacity benefit. The
figures cover only England in 2006, suggesting the UK-wide figure is
well over 300,000.

In London, 66,000 of 703,000 claimants are either on heroin or crack
cocaine, the DWP research suggests. Purnell plans to make it a
requirement for these drug users to seek treatment.

Problem drug users largely do not own up to their addiction when they
seek benefits, according to the DWP study. Nearly 7% of all benefit
claimants are problem drug users, it finds.

Chris Grayling, the shadow work secretary, described the statistics
as "profoundly depressing, but they also underline the need for a
much more robust approach to our welfare system. Drug addicts should
not be allowed to claim benefits unconditionally."

In the green paper Purnell seeks to strike a balance between imposing
responsibilities and granting new rights to some claimant, especially
those with disabilities.

He will highlight plans to take up to 200,000 households out of child
poverty largely by introducing "a full disregard" in child
maintenance payments from April 2010. Any child maintenance payments
parents receive will not be taken into account when calculating how
much out-of-work benefit they should get.

Purnell is also placing fresh requirements on lone parents with
children as young as five to prepare themselves for work.

He will set out medium-term plans to abolish income support so that
eventually claimants are put on one of two benefits: employment
support allowance for the sick and job seekers allowance for those
capable of working, or temporarily unable to work due to care responsibilities.

One of the most radical proposals, requiring those on JSA for more
than two years as well as benefit cheats to work for their dole, is
estimated to potentially affect only about 5,000 people.

The enthusiastic backing of the Conservatives is likely to ensure the
proposals become law.

David Willetts, the shadow skills and higher education secretary,
will publish a UKP100m plan to offer small and medium size firms a
UKP2,000 bonus for each trainee who completes an apprenticeship.

Willetts said: "Our recommendations are aimed at improving social
mobility. Many of our social problems stem from the disengagement of
young people, and we want to provide more opportunities, particularly
to young men, to get them off the streets and on their way in life."