samedifference1, August 6, 2011
A bit of good news from yesterday’s Guardian:
The Liberal Democrats are to demand sweeping changes to the much-criticised employment support allowance (ESA), the chief benefit for Britain’s 2.5 million sick and disabled people, providing a potential breakthrough for disability campaigners.
The Lib Dems are expected to back a motion at their annual conference next month calling for fundamental changes to the system, including the work capability assessment (WCA), a test that sick and disabled people are required to take before being deemed eligible for the benefit.
The test, run by a French company, Atos Healthcare, has been described as impersonal and ill-equipped to deal with the subtleties of medical conditions.
Campaigners have argued that as many as 70% of claims initially turned down are subsequently upheld on appeal, although the Department for Work and Pensions says the true percentage is 40%.
The scheme went nationwide in April.
The Lib Dem motion, to be proposed by Liberal Youth, will make five key demands at conference:
• A clearer assessment criteria and descriptors, to make it more apparent under what circumstances ESA is paid.
• Greater accuracy in assessment, particularly for those with fluctuating conditions.
• A less stressful assessment process.
• People with disabilities getting the support they need.
• All ESA claimants on appeal to be given access to adequate representation.
Ministers have admitted that the test at the outset was poorly designed and, following a review by Professor Malcolm Harrington, made changes. Professor Harrington has now been asked to conduct a second review.
Tom Wood, chair of Liberal Youth, said any assessment process that gets so many decisions wrong at the first attempt is not a true public service. "If the Royal Mail put 40% or 70% of its letters into the wrong mail box, and then said it would get it right second time, you would not have any confidence in the Royal Mail. The difficulty is that Atos are being paid to reject people that distorts the meaning of a public service. It is also clear that unless you have legal representation, the chances of an appeal being successful are a lot smaller. The changes we are seeking are not on the edges, they are fundamental.
"If this motion is passed, as I fully expect, then the government will have to listen. We have already shown with the health service that the Liberal Democrats can force changes onto the government and that is what we want here.”
It is also likely that if the motion is passed, political cover will be given to Lib Dem peers to press for changes to the welfare reform bill still before the Lords. The motion also calls for an end to the planned one-year limit on the payment of contributory ESA that is paid to those claimants satisfying national insurance contributions. The change is expected to save the government £1.1bn by 2014-15 and will affect 700,000 people by 2014-15.
Wood said he recognised the need to bring the deficit down, but claimed the one-year limit was arbitrary.
The DWP said: "The number of people winning appeals for the WCA is much lower compared to the old test, but we are determined to get this right. That’s why we are working closely with Professor Harrington to make the medical test as fair and effective as possible, and help more people to take the first steps towards sustainable employment.”
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DPAC, 13 August 2011
Disabled People against Cuts are writing to all Lib Dem MPs to urge you to vote in favour of a motion at the Lib Dem annual conference in September calling for fundamental changes to the Employment and Support Allowance assessment system.
The Lib Dem motion, to be proposed by Liberal Youth, will make five key demands including calling for a clearer and less stressful assessment process, greater accuracy in assessment, particularly for those with fluctuating conditions, ensuring disabled people get the support they need and all claimants on appeal to be given access to adequate representation.
It is essential for the rights and welfare of disabled people that this motion is passed. The current system causes undue distress and trauma for those going through it while wasting resources through an inefficient and inaccurate process.
Ministers have admitted that the Work Capability Assessment was poorly designed at the outset and in July the Work and Pensions Select Committee issued a report which cited serious failings in the service provided by Atos Healthcare, the company who hold the contract for carrying out the assessments.
40% of decisions where a claimant has been found fit for work are over-turned on appeal, and for appeals with representation, that figure rises to 70%.
This is a highly inefficient system which removes income from genuine claimants placing it instead in the hands of the profit-making company paid by the government in return for getting sick and disabled people off benefits.
It also has critical consequences for people in genuine need including those who require 24 hour personal assistance, people with terminal illness, soldiers returning from war with severe mental illness. Disabled People against Cuts have examples of disabled people who have taken their own lives in despair after being assessed as ineligible for Employment and Support Allowance yet knowing they were realistically unable to work.
At the same time as forcing disabled people off benefits, the government has cut funds to Access to Work, the programme designed to help meet the support needs of disabled people going into employment. Without income, ill and disabled people are being forced into increasing levels of poverty.
We would also like to ask you to support George Potter’s amendment to the motion as disabled people placed in the Work Related Activity Group many of whom have fluctuating conditions which may vary widely from day to day further face the ongoing threat of having their benefits sanctioned if they fail to fully comply with conditions imposed on them regardless of how difficult this may be for them.
We therfore urge you to support the removal of this terrifying threat of sanctions and instead simply provide disabled people with adequate support to try to enter the labour market if and when they feel able to. It is wrong to take the view that disabled people prefer a life on benefits and that this is in some way a life-style choice.
Disabled people should be entitled to live in society as equal citizens and with the same life chances as other people. In calling for this motion on Employment and Support Allowance to be passed we are merely asking to be allowed to survive without having to live in constant fear.
We would be very willing to discuss these matters further with you either before or at your forthcoming conference.