The government has published its Welfare Reform Bill which aims to help one million sick or disabled people back into work.

The Bill contains plans to replace incapacity benefit with a new Employment Support Allowance and a new Personal Capability Assessment, which aims to provide individuals with more relevant support and get them into appropriate work.

The Bill also provides more power to tackle benefit fraud, which will strengthen the "two strikes" rules so that people who commit a second benefit offence within five years of their first one can have their benefit withdrawn.

There will also be a framework to reform and improve the design and administration of Housing Benefit. It will provide the for the roll-out of the Local Housing Allowance - a simplified Housing Benefit scheme that is currently being tested in 18 Local Authority areas - across the private sector and measures to tackle anti-social behaviour.

Further steps to increase employment opportunity - such as providing more support to lone parents and breaking down the barriers to work experienced by older people - are also planned to be implemented through secondary legislation.

Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton said: "For too long people have been written off by the system. This will change. We are putting in place more tailored help and support for individuals to help them get back into work. In exchange for this additional help we will be asking for people to engage with us and take the necessary steps to get back into the work place."

However, Mr Hutton stressed that the reforms were not about forcing people back into work where it was not appropriate. He said: "We know that some need the extra help and assistance that only the welfare state can provide and they will continue to receive their benefits without conditionality."

However, Liberal Democrats welfare reform spokesperson Danny Alexander warned the government not to "ride roughshod" over Parliamentary scrutiny with the Welfare Reform Bill. He said that the Bill "fails to give any detail over the most important welfare reforms for a generation".

He said: "The lack of clarity on incapacity benefit reform means great uncertainty for sick and disabled. People deserve to know what they will be asked to do and what rights they will have in return to guarantee their security and the support they need in finding work.

"This Bill presented a great opportunity to get millions off incapacity benefit and back into work. As it stands, this Bill sidesteps many of the most difficult issues and gives the government licence to make major changes without the full Parliamentary scrutiny system for years to come."

(KMcA/SP)