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Employment and support allowance resource page

You can get employment and support allowance (ESA) if your ability to work is limited by ill health or disability. ESA replaced both incapacity benefit (IB) and income support (IS) paid on the grounds of incapacity for new claims from 27 October 2008.

This page is a resource of information available on ESA.

Disability Alliance Factsheets and guides

1. employment and support allowance guide - Tells you everything you need to know about ESA, including information on making a claim, benefit rates, the new medical tests, work focused interviews and appeals. It has full legal references throughout.
2. employment and support allowance - activities, descriptors and points (pdf) .
3. employment and support allowance guide update (pdf version and word version) - Has 2009/2010 rates.
4. employment and support allowance easy read guide - This16 page guide on ESA has been by produced by Disability Alliance, Mencap and the National Autistic Society.
5. employment and support allowance overview - Factsheet F31
6. employment and support allowance medical tests - Factsheet F32
7. work focused interviews - Factsheet F10
8. work for people who are sick and disabled - Factsheet F35

Disability Alliance policy documents

1. employment and support allowance briefing (ref B19 - revised May 2008)
2. response of disability alliance to the transformation of the personal capability assessment paper. (ref R51 - September 2006)

Department for Work and Pensions resources

1. esa handbook version: 1 final (6 aug 2008) - Official guidance for doctors carrying out medical assessments. Link to CPAG website.
2. esa homepage - Link to guidance and information sheets
3. local authority guidance
4. sample esa1 claim form (pdf format)
5. sample esa50 (pdf format)
6. sample work focused health related assessment form (pdf format)

Law

1. employment and support allowance regulations page
2. welfare reform act 2007

Parliament

1. debate of the ESA regulations - 15 January 2009
2. early day motion 1595 - employment and support allowance
3. house of lords debate - the annulment of employment and support allowance regulations
4. no one written off: reforming welfare to reward responsibility - This welfare reform green paper is a wide ranging consultation on the future of welfare. It proposes the abolition of income support and the streamlining of the benefit system based on two benefits, ESA and JSA. The closing date for responses was 22 October 2008.

Note: for pdf files you will need to download adobe acrobat reader. To convert the pdf to alternative formats or for more information on accessibility go to access adobe.

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