Michael has been on long-term sickness benefit for two years but is seeking to turn his life around. He's living in a hostel (whose fees are covered as part of his benefits) and says health treatment has helped him manage his mental health issues. He's ready to try work - and has a strategy.

He wants to train as a plasterer: a well-paying trade with a skills shortage. He secured a place on a course and, given that the average plasterer can earn up to £38k, it's a job that could compete effectively with sickness benefit. He has done ad-hoc work in this area before, and feels he can make a crack at it - and escape the homeless hostel. When we met him, we thought he'd be a good-news story for the film.

But when the film crew went to meet him on the first day of the course, he wasn't there. He later said that he was worried about what might happen if the DWP found out he was training, so called up the helpline to ask. In the film, we show him sharing his story with others at the Loaves & Fishes support group. 

"You would lose all of your capability benefits because you're plastering. It’s classed as working. ... If you were in a classroom, doing maths or English, ... you're learning - and so you would be fine. But because you're plastering, you would lose all your benefits."

But is this advice right? We had a hotline to Z2K, a welfare consultancy, and in the film they give their advice over the phone. What Michael was told is not correct, they say: "You can undertake work and training if you're getting the higher rate of sickness benefit." It does not mean automatic suspension of benefits. "But it is true that if you undertake work or training ... the DWP could look to reassess your benefit award." So Michael would run the risk of losing his benefit claim, but it's not automatic - as he seemed to think. 

But then again: how is he (or anyone) supposed to know for sure? The shameful lack of clear advice means that those affected are plunged into a maze of complexity. The system has been tweaked so often over the years that an alphabet soup of acronyms - ESA, LCWRA, UC, SDP - now govern the lives of millions. Even the experts can get confused. Even JobCentre staff can give the wrong advice. 

This has led to a fear, acutely held by almost everyone I spoke to, that they could lose everything if they move from their current situation. There is little faith or trust in the system, and no sense that there is anyone genuinely on their side to help them. There are various charities and campaign groups, but many of them are set up (and, indeed, paid) to help people on to benefits. There are very few groups helping people like Michael trying to walk away from benefits and find their way out. 

At the end I ask him whether - given how much he is getting from long-term sickness benefits - he really does want to come off them and go on to work that might pay less. "I do want to come off it - I want to get a job and be independent, like other people," he replies. "I would rather be successful, like other people. Going to work, getting up in the morning and coming back home with friends and family. That's what I want to do."

The tragedy is that, under our current system, the odds are stacked so heavily against him.