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27 May 2010
Today’s welfare reform statement by the incoming Secretary of State includes the positive commitment to put DWP at the forefront of improving the quality of life for worst off citizens, to ensure work pays, and to hold a Cabinet Committee on Social Justice which DA hopes to inform.
But overall, the new coalition Government’s plans have sparked widespread fear amongst many disabled people and their representative organisations. The proposals announced to date could amount to a triple-jeopardy for disabled people of:
Changes to move people from Incapacity Benefit (IB) to Employment Support Allowance (ESA; the benefit which replaced IB from 2008) will require every current IB recipient to undergo a Work Capability Assessment (WCA). The previous Government only proposed that 1.5 million people would undergo the WCA . The new Government is also proposing to do this faster than the previous plans (which would have meant 10,000 assessments per week to 2014). This will require additional cost – recruiting extra Jobcentre Plus and medical assessment staff to handle the 2.6 million assessments .
The WCA determines who gets what benefits but has been shown to be seriously flawed and unable to effectively ascertain the impact impairments/health conditions have on some disabled people’s ability to work . Cases have already come to light of people assessed as being fully fit for work appealing the decision and being put on the ESA support component (which is the modern equivalent of IB).
The number of appeals against WCA decisions is already incredibly high – and 40% of the people who appeal are having initial DWP decisions overruled. This is very expensive for the taxpayer – and will mean considerable additional Tribunals service expenditure .
Disabled people face additional barriers to work – including the need for appropriate support in work and accessible transport. The previous Government provided tailored support for many disabled people through initiatives like Pathways to Work (which was open to disabled ESA recipients for example). The new Government is scrapping all previous work programmes like Pathways in favour of a single, overarching scheme: the ‘Work Programme’.
It is unclear if/how the Work Programme will meet disabled people’s additional support needs in the way previous initiatives attempted. Disability Alliance believes that a ‘one size fits all’ approach does not always work for disabled people and may mean additional barriers to work are generated. This is very worrying at a time of higher unemployment and greater competition for available jobs, as well as ongoing employer discrimination issues (eg unwillingness to employ people with impairments/health conditions ).
The previous Government proposed a £40 per week better off in work ‘guarantee’ for many people moving off benefits . This has not been progressed in today’s announcements, although making work pay has been a consisted theme of previous statements from the Conservatives and broader coalition Government.
Disabled people earn less when in work compared to other citizens . But disabled people have higher living costs (for specialist equipment, transport and prescription bills for example) . Today’s proposals may contribute to higher rates of in-work poverty for disabled people, as they come alongside broader announcements under the new Government to cut access to tax credits. The crude threshold of income to be used to cut access to tax credits may not reflect disabled people (or parents of disabled children’s) higher living costs .
The new Government has also committed to a review of employment law . Disabled people fear this may result in a watering down of employer’s obligations to improve working practices through ‘reasonable adjustments’ which help level the playing field at work for disabled people . This could put disabled people’s jobs at risk.
Triple jeopardy and the risk of poverty
Vanessa Stanislas, Disability Alliance Chief Executive, says:
“The commitment to improving the living standards of people living in unacceptable poverty is welcome, but much of the impact of the new Government’s welfare proposals will be hardest felt by disabled people who already face multiple disadvantage. Disabled people now face the triple-jeopardy of inappropriate and inaccurate assessments of work ability; cuts to programmes to help find work; and reduced support in work which may leave many more families at risk of poverty.”
Vanessa Stanislas, Chief Executive, Disability Alliance 020 7247 8776 vstanislas@disabilityalliance.org
Neil Coyle, Director of Policy, Disability Alliance 020 7247 8776 ncoyle@disabilityalliance.org
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