- This topic has 12 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 5 months ago by
.
- Topic
Published: 27 March 2023
When the government announced earlier this month that the work capability assessment was to be abolished, it might have expected there to be general rejoicing that a hated assessment system was coming to an end. Instead, the news has provoked widespread dismay.It has even led the campaigning group, The Spartacus Network, to reform and begin work on a new report, according to the Disability News Service.
So what is it people are so concerned about?
What is replacing the WCA?
In essence, instead of an assessment that decides if you have limited capability for work or work-related activity, the DWP will only look at whether you have an award of any element of PIP. If you do, you will get an additional health element paid in your UC.However, even if you get the health element, that will not make any difference to whether you have to carry out mandatory work-related activities. Instead, that decision will be made by a work coach. They will create a package of activities based on what they think you are capable of doing, some of which may be compulsory and some of which may be voluntary.
No-one automatically incapable of work
So, one of the biggest concerns is that no-one will be automatically protected from having to do work-related activities, including people who were previously in the support group of ESA or the UC LCWRA group and who are transferred onto UC.So, the whole idea of some claimants being automatically protected from work-related activities will be swept way.
632,000 people in support group or LCWRA group don’t get PIP
According to the DWP’s own figures, there are 632,000 claimant who are in the support group or LCWRA group of UC but who do not get PIP or DLA. These are people who are currently judged to not be able to undertake any work-related activities but who would not get the proposed UC health element and would be obliged to look for work and bear the full brunt of an enhanced sanctions regime.Decisions about capability made by non-medically qualified staff
Decisions about what work-related activities you can do and whether they will be voluntary or mandatory will be made by medically unqualified work coaches who may be under pressure to meet targets for job starts and sanctions.Private sector assessors may be bad, but at least they have some medical training. Work coaches will only have the training the DWP give them.
No appeal against work coach decisions
Many more people will run the risk of being sanctioned under the UC health element proposals, because they may be subject to mandatory work-related activities. At present, you can appeal if a WCA decision is that you are capable of work-related activities. Under the new system that decision will be made by a medically unqualified work coach and you will not have the same appeal rights.No substantial risk rule
Many people currently get UC LCWRA because it is decided that there would be a substantial risk if they were found to be able to do work-related activities. Under the new system this exemption doesn’t appear to exist, meaning that people currently protected by this rule will potentially be subject to a more severe sanctions regime.Shorter-term conditions not covered
The qualifying conditions for PIP mean that you need to have had your difficulties with everyday activities or mobility for three months and they must be expected to last at least another nine months unless you are claiming on the grounds of terminal illness). This means that people with short-term but extremely severe illnesses will not be eligible for the UC health element. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies up to 1 million people who have short-term or fluctuating conditions could lose £350 a month as result of abolishing the WCA.New arrivals will not be eligible
Many people who have recently arrived in the UK will not be eligible for the UC health element’ even though they may be eligible for UC itself. This is because the PIP residence and presence rules are more demanding than the habitual residence test for UC.Trying work may seem even more risky
The white paper says that one of the main reasons for making this change is that people will no longer have to worry that if they attempt work they will lose their UC.But, in reality, people also worry that if they attempt work they may lose their PIP.
Claimants know that that huge assumptions are made about their abilities on the flimsiest of evidence. Being able to drive a car, use public transport, keep appointments, talk to people and so on can all be used by assessors as evidence that you can carry out many PIP daily living and mobility activities.
So, by linking your PIP award to the new health element of UC, the DWP may actually make it less likely that claimants with health conditions will be willing to try working.
This is partly because a connection will have been made between your PIP award and an element of your UC award – lose PIP and you also lose your health element. But also because losing the health element will leave you open to the harshest level of sanctions under the proposed new regime.
It’s quite possible then, that the new system will have the opposite effect to the one intended. The fear that trying work may lead to the loss of your PIP, the loss of your UC health element and then a sanction on top may be a very powerful disincentive to taking even the smallest of risks.
Joss
Current car: Peugeot 308 GT Premium 1.2 Pure tech Petrol.
Coming soon...BMW X2 sDrive 20i M Sport 5dr Step Auto In November 2025
- Replies
@joss does this apply to Scotland?
@joss does this apply to Scotland?
As far as I know @Brydo Its England. However I will try and see if that is correct.
Edit it covers Scotland Brydo
Ok Just found this from reading the Policy paper Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper
Updated 16 March 2023Annex B: Across the UK
The UK Government is committed to improving the lives of disabled people and people with health conditions across the whole of the UK. The Green Paper consultation welcomed views from people across the United Kingdom.This section sets out the extent to which these reforms will apply in each part of the UK. The Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work in the UK Government has cross-government responsibility for disabled people across the United Kingdom.
In Northern Ireland, responsibility for policies on employment support and social security sits with the Northern Ireland Executive.
In Scotland, some parts of the social security system remain the responsibility of the UK Government and others are devolved.[footnote 22] The latter includes PIP and DLA. These have been replaced by new Scottish Government benefits for claimants newly claiming benefits.[footnote 23] The proposals in this White Paper will therefore not apply to Scottish benefits. The changes proposed for ESA and UC will apply in Scotland, since these benefits will remain the responsibility of the UK Government. The DWP will work with the Scottish Government to consider the implications of our proposals for claimants in Scotland.
Currently, DWP continues to deliver PIP and DLA on behalf of the Scottish Government under Agency Agreements on the same basis as in England and Wales. This will continue until all existing claimants have been transferred to the new Scottish benefits. We will work with the Scottish Government to ensure that the proposals in this paper are applied to PIP and DLA in Scotland whilst Agency Agreements are in place.
This includes the changes to the Special Rules for End of Life in PIP, DLA and Attendance Allowance, which are outlined in Chapter 3 of this White Paper. The changes that have already been made in ESA and UC apply in Scotland, since these benefits remain the responsibility of the UK Government.
The Scottish Government is already delivering Child Disability Payment, its replacement for DLA for children, and started to deliver Adult Disability Payment, its replacement for PIP, from 29 August 2022. With respect to employment support, the Scottish Government has concurrent powers to set up programmes to help disabled people into work. It has similar powers to support people who are claiming reserved benefits and at risk of long-term unemployment, provided this support lasts for 12 months or longer. The UK Government remains responsible for the support provided by Jobcentre Plus, and for other contracted employment support in Scotland. The proposals in this White Paper apply in Scotland to areas that are reserved to the UK Government.
In Wales, employment support and social security are the responsibility of the UK Government, save for certain functions relating to employment support, which may be exercisable jointly or concurrently with Welsh Ministers in some circumstances. The proposals in this White Paper relating to those areas that are the responsibility of the UK Government apply in Wales and include PIP and DLA.
The Scottish and Welsh Governments are responsible for health, local government, education, skills and social care. Where the proposals set out in this White Paper relate to these areas, they focus on what this means for England.
We remain committed to working with the Scottish and Welsh Governments, and with the Northern Ireland Executive, to consider how best to deliver support for disabled people and people with health conditions.
Joss
Current car: Peugeot 308 GT Premium 1.2 Pure tech Petrol.
Coming soon...BMW X2 sDrive 20i M Sport 5dr Step Auto In November 2025Thanks joss ? on the ball as ever.
in a way me becoming a pensioner has happened at right time i think..
Current Car: Hyundai Kona Premium EV...2 way 40kg hoist
Last Car: Toyota C-HR Excel Hybrid...4 way 80kg hoistIndeed @struth Did anyone claim cares allowance for you Struth? if so do they still get it, or has it been stopped?.
Joss
Current car: Peugeot 308 GT Premium 1.2 Pure tech Petrol.
Coming soon...BMW X2 sDrive 20i M Sport 5dr Step Auto In November 2025@joss are you aware if this is being challenged.
Indeed @struth Did anyone claim cares allowance for you Struth? if so do they still get it, or has it been stopped?.
No, I never had a carer. I have to ‘just manage’ and so far I have.
I usually see daughter for 15 mins on a Friday and son pops down to shop and gets me eggs on a wed or sat on his mobilty scooter with his little Jack Russell. Lol
Current Car: Hyundai Kona Premium EV...2 way 40kg hoist
Last Car: Toyota C-HR Excel Hybrid...4 way 80kg hoist@joss are you aware if this is being challenged.
Yes @kezo I am aware. The Spartacus network has reformed to challenge this. As have many other bodies.
If you are not familiar about The Spartacus Network, then read this from the Disability News service
Joss
Current car: Peugeot 308 GT Premium 1.2 Pure tech Petrol.
Coming soon...BMW X2 sDrive 20i M Sport 5dr Step Auto In November 2025Thanks @joss
@joss Have you the latest Benifits and Work news letter?
@Keso Just a quick glance at it this morning. Why what have you seen?
Joss
Current car: Peugeot 308 GT Premium 1.2 Pure tech Petrol.
Coming soon...BMW X2 sDrive 20i M Sport 5dr Step Auto In November 2025@Keso Just a quick glance at it this morning. Why what have you seen?
Some existing PIP claimants may lose their support group or LCWRA status and be transferred to the universal credit health element, where they may be required to carry out work-related activities, as early as 2026.
The government announced plans last month to axe the work capability assessment (WCA).
Under the new plans, claimants who get any element of PIP and who claim UC will automatically be eligible for an additional health element.
However, the new system will not automatically recognize any claimant as unable to carry out any work-related activities.
Instead, you may be set both voluntary and mandatory work-related requirements by a work coach and you will be subject to sanctions if you don’t meet the mandatory requirements.
When the plans were announced, the government stated that current claimants would not begin being transferred to the new system until 2029 at the earliest.
Only new claimants were said to be affected initially, with the system being rolled out by geographical area between 2026 and 2029.
However, evidence given to the commons work and pensions committee last week by the DWP contradicted this claim.
Conservative MP Nigel Mills asked: “What happens if I get a called for a new PIP assessment every couple of years and I get one of those in 2027? Does that drop me into the new rules or do I stay under the old ones?”
A senior DWP official responded:
“With the way we will roll this out, we start from 2026 with new claims only, but we will do it in a geographical, staged way. It would depend which area you were in in 2027. Yes, some people might come in under the new rules, and that means they would automatically get your UC health payment and would automatically get the support.”
Given that an increasing proportion of England and Wales, at least, will be moved onto the UC health element beginning in 2026, this would suggest that many thousands of existing PIP claimants who have a review of their award will find themselves being forced onto the UC health element earlier than 2029.
So, it looks like campaigning against the new proposals needs to start sooner rather than later, if existing claimants are to be spared the attention of work coaches with targets to meet.
Read More and Comment
NEWLY PUBLISHED SECRET REPORT SHOWS SANCTIONS DON’T WORK
The DWP has finally caved in to pressure and published the secret report into the effectiveness of sanctions, slipping it out hours before the country shut down for the Easter bank holiday.
It shows that sanctioned claimants take longer to move into paid employment and earn less than those who have not been sanctioned. There is no evidence that sanctions are effective in any way at all.
Overall, claimants who have been hit with a sanction have 8% shorter UC claims than claimants who were not sanctioned.
But, very concerningly, the majority of those with shortened claims disappear– they do not move into paid employment.
Claimants who are sanctioned and who eventually move into PAYE work actually take longer to do so than those were not sanctioned and earn an average of £34 a month less.
The DWP argue in a ‘context note’ released with the report that the research cannot be relied upon because it did not take into account the value of the ‘deterrent effect’ of the sanctions regime.
The theory is that claimants in general are more likely to meet their obligations because they fear being sanctioned and so, overall sanctions are an effective tool.
However, in the three years since the draft report was created the DWP have chosen not to commission any independent research to test the truth of their deterrent effect theory.
Instead they intend to introduce a much harsher sanctions regime, when the only hard evidence they have about sanctions proves that they don’t work.
Read More and Comment
GOVERNMENT DENIES BOTS WILL DISH OUT UC SANCTIONS
The DWP has now denied its own claims that it plans to automate the sanctions process and to allow work coaches to apply sanctions.
The DWP’s intentions were set out in a briefing paper which said that there would be “additional training for Jobcentre Work Coaches to ensure they are applying sanctions effectively” and that they would be “automating administrative elements of the sanctions process, including sending automated messages to claimants who fail to meet their Work Coach”.
The news was greeted with dismay by the PCS union, which represents DWP staff, who argued that it represented a “massive attack on claimants” and “a “computer says no culture”.
However, the DWP now claim that the only part of the process that will be automated is the sending out of a referral form to claimants who miss a mandatory appointment and that work coaches will not apply sanctions.
Benefits and Work will keep readers informed about the reality of what is actually happening with sanctions, as the truth unfolds over the coming months.
Read More and Comment
NEW TERMINAL ILLNESS RULES FOR PIP, DLA AND AA
New terminal illness rules for PIP, DLA and AA have now come into force, meaning that the six month rule has been replaced by a twelve month rule, in line with universal credit.
The law now says that a person with a progressive disease is considered to be terminally ill when their death as a consequence of that disease can reasonably be expected within 12 months, as opposed to 6 months.
Form DS1500 has now been replaced with form SR1.
We’ve updated the PIP, DLA and AA guides in the members area of the site to reflect the changes.
Read More and Comment
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.