ONE in four of the county’s incapacity benefit claimants have been told they are fit for work under benefit reforms.

Some 4,100 Oxfordshire claimants were reviewed from October 2010 to August last year as part of the Government’s bid to reform benefits, get more people working and save cash.

About 1,100 were told they were not entitled to further payments through the new employment and support allowance (ESA).

A further 1,430 – some 35 per cent – were told they will get the benefit. But the other 1,570 – some 38 per cent – were told to attend “work-focused interviews” with a view to taking on future jobs.

Those who don’t “take part fully” can lose cash but those who attend get extra under Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) reforms. Claimants first fill out a 21-page form about their condition and medical history with questions posed as to whether they can see to cross a road or feel “anxious or scared” meeting others.

Some are asked to attend a medical assessment to ascertain whether they can walk, sit and stand up and their mental health.

Decisions can be appealed and Oxfordshire Welfare Rights has said it won 150 of 166 cases between January 2012 and March this year.

Barton’s Oxfordshire Welfare Rights’ Peter Turville said the “fundamental problem” is that medical evidence is not sought from health professionals about each case as a matter of routine.

He said: “What we do is to assist claimants to gather that evidence, that is why we win nine out of ten appeal hearings.”

Bicester’s Angelina Parker, 48, last month won an appeal after being told she was fit for work and would no longer get £200 a fortnight.

The mum-of-two has Raynaud’s phenomenon – which blocks the flow of blood – in her hands and said her knees are “crumbling” from osteoarthritis.

Oxford East Labour MP Andrew Smith said he receives “regular complaints” about the “weak” system of assessment.

But Matthew Stocks, spokesman for the DWP, said: “If we require further medical evidence it will be requested.”

He said it now encourages people more to provide medical evidence at an early stage and those set to lose cash get a call to ask if further information is available.

He said: “The old incapacity benefits system condemned too many people to a life on benefits with little hope of moving back to work.”

Have you been effected by the changes? Write to Oliver Evans, Oxford Mail, Osney Mead, Oxford OX2 0EJ or email oevans@oxfordmail.co.uk

The changes in benefits

What claimants will receive weekly under the employment and support allowance, replacing incapacity benefit:

First 13 weeks: £56.80 (under 25s), £71.70 (25 and over):

From 14 weeks: up to £100.15 (work-related activity group)

From 14 weeks: up to £106.50 (support group)

Those qualifying for full support are in the support group while those told to attend interviews are in the work-related activity group.

Those who got more on incapacity benefit than standard ESA rates get a top-up payment.

Payments vary according to previous National Insurance contributions.