MORE than 4,000 alcoholics are claiming full-time disability benefits in Greater Manchester - landing taxpayers with a £10m annual bill.

The shock figures were obtained by the Manchester Evening News from the government under Freedom of Information laws.

'Disabling condition'

They show a total of 4,220 people were claiming Incapacity Benefit (IB) or Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA), where alcoholism was listed as the main `disabling condition'.

The weekly bill to the taxpayer for benefits paid out across the region is between £250,835 and £373,490. Disability benefits are state handouts aimed at those who can't work because of disability or illness and are worth up to £84.50 a week. They both unlock further benefits, such as support with council tax and housing bills.

Tightened

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said the rules on benefits were being tightened, and claimed alcoholics often had other associated conditions, like mental health problems, that prevented them working.

But Conservative shadow work and pensions minister Mark Harper said the numbers `completely undermined' the government's claim to have `got to grips' with the booze and benefits culture.

Assessed

Government sources said anyone receiving benefits for alcoholism would have had to have been fully assessed by a doctor.

A spokesman for Addaction, Britain's leading addiction charity, said: "Alcoholism is certainly an illness.

"It is hugely debilitating. People who are addicted to alcohol need support and their families need support. No one sets out to become addicted, and most people who do actually want to get back to work."

Emphasis

The DWP said it was in the process of phasing out the existing disability benefitsand replacing them with a new form of state assistance that will put more emphasis on the work people can do.

A spokeswoman said: "It is not the case that someone automatically gets Incapacity Benefit just because they are an alcoholic.

'Ability'

"Entitlement depends on what effect a person's condition has on their ability to work and is based on medical evidence.

"A lot of people who are dependant on alcohol also have other conditions, such as mental illness which affects their ability to work.

"We are replacing Incapacity Benefit with the new Employment and Support Allowance which will put more emphasis on the kinds of work people could do and not want they can't."

'Sham'

Mr Harper said "These figures completely undermine Labour's sham claim to be getting to grips with alcohol and benefit dependency. James Purnell likes to try and spin the public with talk tough about Welfare Reform, but Labour's record over the last ten years shows they have let the public down."

Incapacity Benefit, currently worth between £63.75-£84.50 a week, is paid to those who cannot work because of disability or illness and have contributed sufficient National Insurance contributions. Severe Disablement Allowance is a similar benefit, worth £56.75-£68.80 a week, for those who have not contributed enough. By comparison Job Seeker's Allowance - for those deemed fit and actively seeking work - is currently set at £47.95 a week for under 25s, and £60.50 for everyone else.