Three-quarters of people claiming Universal Credit for health or disability reasons in Cornwall are unable to work, new figures show.

Disability equity charity Scope said the Government's work capability assessment system, which determines whether a claimant should be looking for employment, "causes unnecessary anxiety and does not address the real barriers to work".

New figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show there were 25,889 people receiving Universal Credit for health-related reasons in Cornwall as of June – a 35% increase on the 19,123 a year earlier.

Across Britain, this figure rose from 2.1 to 2.9 million people over the same period.

In Cornwall, 76% of those receiving the benefit for health reasons had been assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity, meaning they were not required to undertake any interviews or jobhunting.

This was slightly higher than a year before, when this figure stood at 72%.

Nationally, this accounted for 2.2 million people, 75% of all health-related UC claimants. This was up from 1.5 million (71%) a year earlier.

James Taylor, director of strategy at Scope, said the uplift is driven by migration from Employment and Support Allowance to Universal Credit, and by expected changes in the success rate.

However, he added: "What has remained constant is a difficult to navigate welfare system beset with backlogs, lengthy delays, and a complicated application process."

The figures also show 14% of claimants in Cornwall were assessed to have 'limited capability for work', meaning they were expected to "participate in work related activity to help them move towards the labour market".

This was down from 18% a year earlier.

Tom Marsland, head of policy at disability charity Sense, said: "Universal Credit is a lifeline for disabled people with complex needs.

"Not all disabled people are able to work – but those who could work with the right support, and want to work, are often frozen out of the labour market by unacceptable barriers.

"Unfair recruitment practices, a lack of support from employers and a complete absence of specialist assistive technology in job centres all stand in the way."

He added: "We want to see measures urgently put in place that will give disabled people who want to work the specialist support and equipment they need to find work.

"Screen readers and braille displays must be rolled out in job centres across the country so disabled people can find roles to apply for, while employers should also do more to help disabled job seekers into the workforce."

Mikey Erhardt, policy lead at Disability Rights UK, said: "These figures demonstrate how wrong the Government's approach to the benefits system has been.

"The Government needs to focus on tackling the underlying causes of sickness and disability and ensuring that those unable to work can lead dignified lives, not cutting the meagre support that disabled people are forced to live on."

He also criticised the decision to cut disability benefits, which he said "already leave disabled people in poverty, unable to buy food, afford energy or rent".

A DWP spokesperson said: "For too long, too many sick or disabled people across the country have been left on benefits without the support they need to get back to health and into work.

"That’s why we’re shifting our focus from welfare to work, skills, and opportunities – backed by £3.8 billion of employment support.

"We’re also reforming the system by rebalancing the rates of Universal Credit to reduce the perverse incentives that encourage ill health, as part our Plan for Change."