The Welfare Reform Green Paper has recently been published by the Department for Work and Pensions aiming to give local authorities more powers to tackle long-term unemployment. In the proposals, incapacity benefit will be scrapped by 2013 and replaced with an Employment and Support Allowance, for those who have a medical condition that prevents them from working. The long-term unemployed will be expected to participate in "work for benefits" schemes, such as taking part in community work or skills training.

Download the Welfare Reform Green Paper