Proposed changes to contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance

DWP has issued a new adviser update about the Welfare Reform Bill currently going through Parliament, about two key changes to contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) which will:

* limit the amount of time that people in the Work Related Activity Group can receive contribution-based ESA to 12 months; and
* remove the special contribution criteria for ESA “youth”.

If passed by Parliament these changes will be introduced in Spring 2012.

Although these proposed changes are not yet passed in law, Jobcentre Plus will be writing to claimants to prepare them to this possible change. Starting on 19 September 2011 and running over a 4 week period, they say they will write to all claimants receiving contribution-based ESA to advise them that their contribution-based benefit may be limited to 12 months.

People who have already received contribution-based ESA for 12 months or more in the Work Related Activity Group will have their benefit stopped as soon as the change is introduced.

Proposed changes to contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance

What makes even more interesting reading Paul is the Comprehensive Spending Review detail, especially the bit about how they envisage £2 Billion, of their estimated £7 Billion by 2015;- will come from time limiting ESA to 12 months. 

Hence the big rush to get everyone off contribution based IB and onto ESA. Once they are, they at least they know the claimant’s days are numbered.  Although, I rather doubt they’ve considered how many will be able to claim IB ESA by virtue of insufficient income and exhausted capital.

They have considered this – it’s in the equality impact assessment at http://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA11-022AF.pdf.

Basically they estimate that, out of 900,00 affected, 30% will have unchanged payments because IRESA will be the same rate as CESA, 30% will qualify for some IRESA but less than CESA, and 40% will get nothing.

The key point is that after April 2012 400,000 people or so, who, ex hypothesi, have passed the new WCA and who have paid NIC’s during their working life, will get no state support in their incapacity. This at the same time they might be abolishing the 50% tax rate for the rich.

Outrage at this robbery should start to mount when the letters go out. I am hoping for a large contingent of disabled claimants at the TUC protest outside the Tory Party conference in Manchester on October 2nd.

Richard Atkinson

So, what happens to those on CB-ESA who are under appeal for longer that 12 months? Technically, they are not yet in a group, but does their benefit stop?

And also is there a provision for re-claiming, will there be a linking period where you will be unable to re claim contributary rate ESA ?

Is anyone else having the following problem?  Over the last few weeks we have started to see more ESA appeals lapsed quite early on due to revision by the DWP.  The letter sent to the claimant simply says that it has now been accepted that they are entitled to ESA and in the work-related activity group - no details of the decriptors awarded.  On contacting the DWP for more information it became apparent that in at least 3 of those cases the Schedule 2 descriptor accepted by the DM would also have met the Scedule 3 criteria, but the claimant hadn’t been put in the support group. It wasn’t a case of the DM needing to make a decision about whether the Schedule 3 descriptors were met, the wording in the two schedules was identical so it should have been automatic. When we contacted the DWP by phone to clarify why the claimants weren’t in the support group, the response was along the lines of ‘she’ll have to appeal’ or ‘i don’t think he should be in the support group, there’ll be some work activities he can do’.  The claimants had just been happy to be back on ‘full’ ESA and would have accepted the revised decision without question.  This may of course not be a move to usher people into the WRAG so payment ends next April, but it does make you wonder…