The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has released statistics that suggest that 516,000 claimants across England and Wales would have seen their benefits gradually eroded if its proposals to scrap the work capability assessment had been introduced last November. The plans, that were outlined in the March 2023 Health and Disability White Paper, will not be introduced until after the next general election.
They will see eligibility for the extra payment for those currently assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA) awarded instead to anyone who receives both universal credit and personal independence payment (PIP). This would mean eligibility for the new “health element” of universal credit being decided through the PIP assessment. Those found not eligible for PIP would not receive the health element.
The DWP says that those who see their benefits cut will receive “transitional protection”, but this is likely to be eaten away by inflation, and will not apply to new claimants, who will lose out on nearly £400 a month at current benefit rates. The new figures show that, as of November 2022, there were 516,000 people who were receiving about £390 extra a month because of their LCWRA – either through universal credit or income-related employment and support allowance (ESA) – but were not receiving PIP.
Ken Butler Welfare Rights and Policy Adviser for DR UK said: “A scrapping of the work capability assessment that leads to Disabled people losing nearly £5,000 per year is totally unacceptable. Nearly half of poverty in the UK is already directly associated with disability. While the DWP maintain that existing claimants will reive transitional protection, this is by its nature temporary and will inevitably reduce. If the reforms are introduced, new claimants will feel their effects immediately.”
He added: “Using PIP as a passport to the health component of UC is extremely problematic. All the issues relating to the lack of accuracy of WCA assessments apply equally to PIP – perhaps unsurprisingly, given five weeks of online virtual training for [the healthcare professionals who carry them out]. Many Disabled people have shorter-term debilitating health conditions and may not be eligible to receive PIP. Others will have claimed PIP but been wrongly refused it. In addition, the PIP assessment isn’t intended to assess a Disabled claimant’s capability to work, it’s meant to capture the extra costs Disabled people face in life (although it doesn’t do this very well).”
He also pointed to the “major concern” that scrapping the WCA would mean no Disabled person would be exempt from work-related conditionality on the grounds of disability: “It would be left to individual jobcentre work coaches to decide what should be required of the claimant and the extent to which sanctions would be imposed. It’s a move from a system based on rights, to one based on discretion.”
For more information see Half a million set to lose out when DWP scraps ‘fit for work’ test, figures show available from disabilitynewsservice.com
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