800,000 claim decade of incapacity

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Government figures showed 806,630 claimants - nearly a third of all those who claim incapacity benefits - have received the allowance for more than 10 years.

The North West was worst affected, with more than 130,000 long-term claimants.

Of the top 10 constituencies for the highest percentage of people claiming incapacity benefit for more than a decade, five were from the North West.

But the worst-hit constituency was Easington in the North East, with 42% of its incapacity benefit claimants receiving payments for more than 10 years.

Welsh constituency Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney and the North West's Wirral South were also badly affected, with 41% and 40% respectively.

The latest figures revealed that a total of 2,643,290 people across the UK claimed the Incapacity Benefit/Severe Disablement Allowance in May 2007.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Chris Grayling, who obtained the figures in Parliament, said it was time for change.

"Sometimes you have to wonder what the point of a Labour Government has been," he said.

"Despite all the grandiose promises and the billions of pounds that have been spent, they've delivered virtually no improvement for the most vulnerable in our society. Something really has to change."