Totting up bill for illness and disability

How many people get it? 4.3 million get the general sickness and disability benefits. On top of that some people can claim disability premium on top of income support.

How much does it cost? The disability bill has trebled since the early 1980s from pounds 4.1bn (pounds 7bn in today's prices) to pounds 23.5bn. It is now one-quarter of the Social Security Budget.

What types of benefit are there? The main benefits are Incapacity benefits (a means tested benefit for short-/ long-term people who are unable to work), Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance, Severe Disablement Allowance, Invalid Care Allowance, industrial injuries allowance, war pensions.

Who gets what? 1.9 million get Disability Living Allowance, which is split into two components: mobility (pounds 13.50-pounds 34.60 per week) and care (pounds 13.50-pounds 49.50).

How about paying for care? Attendance Allowance is a tax-free benefit for help with care ranging from pounds 32.40 to pounds 48.50.

What if I'm disabled through work? You are eligible for Industrial Injuries Benefit, claimed by a quarter of a million people.

Who pays? The Government, if there is no blame attached to the company for your disablement.

What if I can't work? You may be eligible for Incapacity Benefit - 2.4 million get it. Short-term is pounds 47.10 a week, long-term pounds 55.70. To get this benefit people have to take the All Work Test - which involves a doctor assessing your ability to work, looking at your ability to walk, sit, lift and stand in addition to any injuries or ailments you may have. The scoring system means anyone with 15 points or more on a 0-30 scale remains in benefit.

What if I haven't paid enough National Insurance to qualify for incapacity benefit? You get Severe Disablement Allowance, which is tax free. Again you have to take the All Work Test.

What if I am working? 12,500 get Disability Working Allowance - those working for low wages or short hours get pounds 49.55 single pounds 77.55 for a couple.

Why has the bill gone up so much? A combination of factors:

1. A push in the early 1990s to alert people that they could claim such benefits.

2. An ageing population needs more care.

3. There were suggestions that some people may have been shunted on to incapacity benefit rather than stay on the unemployment count, and that some GPs were sympathetic to putting people on benefit. Incapacity Benefit. with its All Work Test, was introduced in April 1995 to try to stop this.