This report summarises the final findings of the Welfare Conditionality project (2013-2018) on the effectiveness, impacts and ethics of welfare conditionality, and the sanctions and mandatory support that underpin this approach.
You can view the full report or the findings in relation to disability
Key findings
- Extending welfare conditionality to disabled people in receipt of incapacity benefits does little to facilitate their transitions into paid work.
- Welfare conditionality can exacerbate many disabled people’s existing illnesses and impairments.
- The Work Capability Assessment is intrusive, insensitively administered and regularly leads to inappropriate outcomes in respect of disabled people’s capabilities to undertake, or prepare for, paid employment.
- Benefit sanctions have no tangible positive effects in moving disabled people closer to paid work.
- Personalised, negotiated packages of support can help disabled people to overcome the barriers they face and help facilitate entry into work.
Recommendations with regard to disabled claimants
- No sanctions at all for those in receipt of incapacity benefits
- Replacement of WCA with a new assessment that emphasises a disabled person’s eligibility to access out-of-work benefit based on the experience and level of impairment, illness or health condition.
- Improvement in quality of training support for disabled people
- Recognise the negative role that welfare conditionality plays in exacerbating illness and impairment among incapacity benefit claimants and endorse a more effective and ethical voluntary approach to employment support for disabled people.
The report sees the new Work and Health Programme as an important opportunity to improve the employment support made available to disabled people.
Disability Rights UK's report 'Taking Control of Employment Support' argues that the Government should ‘cut out the middle man' altogether (Work Programmes) and put power in the hands of the people who can really make employment support work - disabled people, and employers - with advice available to them as needed.