Getting people off long-term sickness benefits and back into work will “recreate lives”, according to Andy Hogarth, chairman and chief executive at industrial recruiter Staffline.

Hogarth’s comments follow reports in The Times claiming that 500,000 people on long-term sickness benefits will have to take up a job or face having their welfare payments cut by a third, following the government’s Comprehensive Spending Review on 20 October.

Hogarth says: “The problem is that people get stuck on benefits. The government is trying to cut the costs of benefits by getting people back into work so they become tax payers rather than a drain on the economy but also they are trying to recreate lives.

“Some people believe they can’t do anything, which means they have a poor quality of life as they feel they cannot contribute. I don’t want to see the government attack people on benefits that can’t work but those that can work or can do another type of work should be encouraged to do so to feel part of society again.”