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Employment & Support Allowance: Government Inquiry: April 2011

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Employment & Support Allowance: Government Inquiry: April 2011

 The Work & Pensions Committee launched an inquiry into the migration from Incapacity Benefits to Employment Support Allowance, including the Work Capability Assessment.  

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) replaced incapacity benefits for people making new claims from October 2008. To be eligible for ESA, a person must usually undergo a Work Capability Assessment (WCA).

The introduction of ESA in 2008 was initially limited to new claimants. Existing incapacity benefit claimants are now being reassessed under the Work Capability Assessment. The process will last until 2014 with around 1.5 million people being reassessed.

Reassessment commenced on 11 October 2010 with a trial in Aberdeen and Burnley. At the end of February 2011, Jobcentre Plus began a limited introductory phase, and will move to full national reassessment of incapacity benefit claimants from April 2011.

In particular, the Inquiry focused on the following issues:

The Department’s communications to customers going through the assessment and whether the information, guidance and advice provided by the Department and Jobcentre Plus is effective in supporting customers through the process.

The Work Capability Assessment including: the assessment criteria; the service provided by ATOS staff; the suitability of assessment centres; and customers’ overall experience of the process.

The decision-making process and how it could be improved to ensure that customers are confident that the outcome of their assessment is a fair and transparent reflection of their capacity for work.

The appeals process, including the time taken for the appeals process to be completed; and whether customers who decide to appeal the outcome of their assessment have all the necessary guidance, information and advice to support them through the process.

The outcome of the migration process and the different paths taken by the various client groups: those moved to Jobseeker’s Allowance, including the support provided to find work and the impact of the labour market on employment prospects; those found fit for work who may be entitled to no further benefits; those placed in the Work Related Activity Group of the ESA, including the likely impact of the Department’s decision to time-limit contribution-based ESA to a year; and those placed in the Support Group.

The time-scale for the national roll-out for the migration process, including the Department’s capacity to introduce changes identified as necessary in the Aberdeen and Burnley trials.

To view the original article, please go to: -

http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/work-and-pensions-committee/inquiries/migration-from-incapacity-benefits-to-employment-support-allowance/

 

The following article has been written by Sue Marsh on the Left Foot Forward Website: -

The Harrington report, Citizens Advice Bureau, the government’s own advisory committee (Statutory Social Security Advisory Committee), Compass, and even Professor Gregg, the professor responsible for designing ESA has concluded that ESA is "unfit for purpose” "chaotic” and "a shambles”.

Rather than accepting the advice of the Harrington Report, the roll out of ESA, first introduced under Labour’s James Purnell, has carried on relentlessly. The reassessment of all 1.7 million previous claimants of Incapacity Benefit, started last week. There is little evidence that ESA assessments have changed in any significant way at all or that the Harrington report has in fact been implemented.

40% of claims are going to appeal with up to 80% of those decisions overturned at tribunal, costing the taxpayer nearly £20m alone.

The system of assessment is totally flawed and penalises those with long term (chronic) conditions or mental illnesses including those with terminal cancer, parkinsons, MS, kidney failure, heart disease, bowel disease, autism, schizophrenia and 100s of other conditions are being found fit for work. Some are dying before lengthy appeals can be heard. This alone should shame us all and must be changed immediately.

In the Comprehensive Spending Review, George Osborne has compounded this "shambles” still further by announcing that for those found capable of doing some work with the right training and support, (the Work Capability Group) contributory ESA will now be time-limited to 1 year if the claimant has a working spouse.

At least another full third of claimants will be affected by this policy, resulting in many who are very unwell or seriously disabled being left totally without state support after a year. This will mean a loss of £4,661 for working families who are already struggling to get by on one wage, whilst also coping with the strain of long term illness. It is vital to remember that this is something that will only affect working families. Anyone without a partner or with a partner who doesn’t work will continue to receive the benefit. Only families struggling to go on supporting themselves independently will be affected.

This goes totally against everything Iain Duncan-Smith says he wants to do with Universal Credit – making work pay and tapering benefits. Put simply, working partners will have no choice but to give up work and become full time carers, pushing many of these families into 100% state dependency.

Remember these people have been found to be seriously unwell or disabled, they are just considered capable of doing some work at some time; whether there is work available or not or suitable opportunities can be found or not, their ESA will be stopped totally after 1 year. This is not supporting those in genuine need.  This is cost cutting with a total disregard for the consequences.

The Department of Work and Pensions announced a public enquiry into ESA.

Anyone affected was asked to respond and make their arguments in a short statement. Questions included: - Will you lose ESA after a year? How will it affect your family? Do you currently claim Incapacity Benefit but will soon be transferred across to ESA? Have you already been through an ESA assessment? Was it fair? Do you have a long term condition that will not improve in one year? Do you think the government understands these conditions?

Respondents were asked to tell their story in their own words and send it in with their contact details. The more submissions the enquiry received, the more chance there was of changing the policy. It is hoped that this part of the Welfare Reform Bill will not pass into law. It will cause untold hardship amongst one of the most vulnerable groups in our society.

To raise awareness, The Broken of Britain used the hashtags #fitforwork and #TBofBworklifestory on Twitter and was running until Thursday 14 April 2011.

We will have to wait to find out what the results of the inquiry are?

Please look here to read the original article: -

http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/04/employment-support-allowance-esa/

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