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Employment and Support Allowance reviewed.

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) was introduced in 2008 in order to replace Incapacity Benefit (IB). From October of this year it is the intention of the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to start 'migrating' all IB claimants to ESA and putting them through the new Work Capability Assessment (WCA) which judges whether or not they are fit for work. Along with many others, I have argued that the WCA is far too stringent and concentrates on the wrong issues. I also feel that the sanctions regime (a key component of ESA is unfair on disabled people and may push some families deeper into poverty.

This week the DWP has published a small-scale evaluation of ESA which was undertaken by researchers from the Institute for Employment Studies. The aim of the study was to look at the experiences of ESA claimants and related staff groups. The researchers carried out the study between May and July last year, seven months after ESA was introduced.

The study found that:

provider advisers (those who work for private sector agencies helping claimants find work) were concerned about the stringency of the WCA and the 'unexpectedly severe health problems' of those who were deemed to be fit for work;
provider advisers reported that they were having to target resources at those who were younger and had fewer or less severe health problems;
delays in the WCA process meant that some applicants were not getting a decision until after their second or third work-focused interview;
the large number of people appealing against the WCA decision means that appellants are reluctant to engage in work-focused interviews as this may prejudice the outcome of their appeal;
some DWP staff felt that ESA sanctions were more streamlined whilst others felt that they didn't exert as much influence over claimants as the IB regime. Provider advisers reported that they were avoiding using sanctions wherever possible because of the negative effect this would have on their relationship with claimants;
many applicants did not understand the purpose of the WCA (which is to decide whether people are unlikely to get work, are capable of doing work even though they have a health impairment or don't qualify for ESA and should therefore apply for Jobseeker's Allowance);
all applicants reported that they had not received any information about the nature and purpose of the work-focused interview prior to actually attending;
claimants over the age of 50 with long-standing health problems viewed the work-focused interviews as 'inconsequential' because their health conditions were unlikely to improve and that they had worked with their condition for as long as they could.

This would seem to verify the concerns that many of us have about ESA. I am not at all surprised to learn that advisers have been surprised by the severity of some applicants' health problems nor is it unexpected that those with the highest needs should receive the poorest service. I am delighted that advisers are not applying sanctions when they should but this does highlight a major problem with the system. Is the claimant likely to have any confidence of faith in a person who has just stopped his or her benefit? It is also unforgivably inept to fail to inform claimants what work-focused interviews are about before they get to the interview. The DWP spent millions on preparing staff and systems prior to the launch of ESA, to overlook this fundamental aspect of the process suggests that this big spending government department can't even get the basics right. With regard to delays in the system, these will get much worse when the 1.5 million IB claimants start to 'migrate' and many more people with severe health problems will be coerced into finding jobs that don't exist.

ESA is one of the major 'planks' of the Government's 'work is good' agenda. This study (which the DWP commissioned) shows that it isn't working and won't get more people with disabilities back into the job market. This was obvious to some of us before it was introduced- it's a pity that we weren't listened to then and it will be interesting to see what action (if any) the DWP takes to address these fundamental problems.

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