DWP didn’t listen – a missed opportunity to make Employment and Support Allowance fit for work

Yesterday should have been a big day for claimants of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). It offered two clear opportunities for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to commit to clear steps to improve this vital benefit, which supports people who are too ill or disabled to work. But yesterday was a chance missed.

Yesterday DWP published its response to calls by the Work and Pensions Select Committee for a fundamental rethink of the deeply flawed work capability assessment (WCA) process that determines who is able to claim ESA. Claimants should have been able to celebrate a frank acknowledgement of the existing barriers to quick, correct decisions on benefit entitlement. They should have been able to read a set of commitments from the DWP to deal with the issues raised and make ESA fit for work. They should have heard that if they challenged a decision that they were not eligible for ESA, they could continue to claim the £71 per week they live on while they wait for a second opinion. They couldn't.

There was some positive news. The DWP committed to 'investigating' how DWP decision-makers could proactively seek additional evidence, from health and social care professionals, instead of placing the onus to do this on claimants. Better use of medical evidence is vital to get more decisions right first time. The report also suggested that the new WCA provider contract, recently awarded to Maximus, would be more robust, and include additional investment in staff and buildings, to help clear the backlog of people waiting - often in harrowing circumstances and financial hardship - to be assessed.

Also published yesterday was the fifth and final independent review of the WCA. The Review looked back over the past five years, and the progress made so far in making ESA fit for work. This makes for depressing reading. Only 9 of the total 83 recommendations have been fully implemented. In this final review there was little mention of medical evidence, and a suggestion that it would be enough to 'be clear' on the reasons behind removing claimants' benefit as they await a second opinion on their claim - not a recommendation that DWP simply continue paying people at 'assessment rate' during that time.

This wouldn't have made a difference if the DWP had committed to implement these changes anyway, in their response to the Select Committee. Instead, the response took on board the points made but did not formally commit the department to specific action as a result of any of the Committee's 29 recommendations.

Both the Work and Pensions Committee and the 15,000 people who have signed our petition had called on the Government to continue paying people ESA at the assessment rate during mandatory reconsideration (MR), because many people in this situation face all sorts of problems trying to claim JSA and are often left with no money at all coming in. The Government did not listen to our concerns. Their response was ' When claimants are found fit for work, unless the decision is overturned, that decision is in law a final decision and there is no legal basis on which to continue to make any ESA payments.' We don't think this recognises the hardship that MR causes for many claimants, the administrative cost of maintaining this policy or obvious opportunities to link MR to the appeal stage (where claimants currently continue to receive payment).

As we head towards the General Election we call on MPs to make an election pledge that all ill and disabled people will receive financial support when challenging a fit for work decision. All political parties need to step up to the challenge and commit to a robust course of action which will make ESA fit for work.