The government has launched a pilot scheme aimed at getting disabled people into the workplace.

Under the scheme, new claimants aged between 16 and 60 will face an interview to assess their work prospects "as soon as reasonably practicable after the claim is made" before any benefits are paid. If an interview is not attended the claim will not be processed, although dying and severely disabled claimants will be exempt from the scheme.

The work and pensions secretary, Alistair Darling, defended the scheme, claiming: "These regulations will mean for the first time everyone of a working age gets the help and support they are entitled to because our objective is to get as many people into work as possible."

Forum Response: Disability Rights Commission

Bert Massie, chairman of the Disability Rights Commission told ePolitix.com: "Changing the law to stamp out discrimination in the workplace is vital if disabled people who can and want to work want are to get into the job market.

"Work-focused interviews for disabled people on incapacity benefit, may help some disabled people back into jobs. However, there is a danger that the process will fail if the barriers that the majority of disabled people face getting back into work are not taken into account - such as negative attitudes and discrimination by employers, inaccessible public transport systems and lack of support services.

"Eighty per cent of employers are exempt from giving disabled people basic employment rights in the workplace. We have called for a new law to tackle this glaring anomaly which, we believe, must be before parliament by the end of 2002. The government agreed to amend the law but has given no indication of when this will happen.

"One third of disabled people who move into work are out of work again by the following year. This indicates that disabled people are not getting the right support to do their job and more efforts should be targeted at employers about the sources and resources available to support disabled people in work."

Forum Response: Royal National Institute for the Blind

A spokeswoman for the RNIB told ePolitix.com: "The problem we have with the new regulations is the compulsory nature of the work-focussed interview and the way the government has gone about it. We do not believe compulsion is appropriate given that the Office for National Statistics has given Incapacity Benefit a clean bill of health with fraud virtually non-existent.

"Making interviews compulsory for new claimants sends out the wrong messages to disabled people. What could have been designed as an opportunity to help people who may want to work to do so will now be perceived as a threat."

"Ironically there are many registered blind people whose diagnosis is not going to change and who will therefore not be called in for interviews - yet many of them could potentially benefit from exploring employability and employment opportunities."

Forum Response: Royal National Institute for Deaf People

James Strachan, chief executive of the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, told ePolitix.com: "We strongly support government initiatives which lead to more disabled people being in work. But the department for work and pensions has itself admitted that there is no evidence that "work-focused" interviews produce that result.

"Discrimination against disabled people by potential employers remains a major problem. Past research shows that some employers consider deafness a greater impediment to getting a job than a criminal record as a history of drug abuse.

"Instead of focusing so much on reducing benefits, the government needs to tackle head on the barriers facing disabled people seeking work. There are shining exceptions but too many employers have negative attitudes about disability. The government needs to create a properly funded joint New Deal and Access to Work scheme which finally matches the scale and complexity of the problem."

Forum Response: Leonard Cheshire

A spokesman for Leonard Cheshire told ePolitix.com: "We are very concerned that the scheme to compel those on incapacity benefits to attend regular interviews concerning their work prospects will, in fact, be very counterproductive.

"The scheme, which is being introduced even before it is debated by parliament, may result in claimants stopping work searches and training, because of fears of lost benefit. Far from being seen as supportive and helpful to those who are seeking work, the fear of lost benefit as a direct consequence may lead disabled people to giving up altogether."

Forum Response: The Shaw Trust

Ian Charlesworth, managing director of the Shaw Trust, told ePolitix.com: "The Shaw Trust has found through work in the Personal Adviser Service, now the Job Broker scheme that clients respond well to the option of participating in non-compulsory services. Experience from the United States and the European Union has shown that compulsion does not work and can have a negative effect, resulting in demotivation of clients who might otherwise seek work. We would prefer that employment-related services for disabled people continue to be provided on a voluntary basis.

"It is estimated that one and a half million disabled people currently without work and on incapacity benefit, could and want to work. However, they face many barriers including disincentives in the benefits system, discrimination by employees and limited funding by government.

"Of measures to help disabled people overcome these barriers, we would like to see a concerted effort from central government to increase the incentives for employment, prevent discrimination by employers and substantially increase their investment in programmes such as Job Broking, Workstep and Work Preparation designed to help disabled people access the labour market."