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The Role of Incapacity Benefit Reassessment in Helping Claimants Into Employment

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The Role of Incapacity Benefit Reassessment in Helping Claimants Into Employment House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee The role of incapacity benefit reassessment in helping claimants into employment Sixth Report of Session 2010–12 Volume I Volume I: Report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence Additional written evidence is contained in Volume II, available on the Committee website at www.parliament.uk/workpencom Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 13 July 2011 HC 1015 Published on 26 July 2011 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £20.00 The Work and Pensions Committee The Work and Pensions Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Department for Work and Pensions and its associated public bodies. Current membership Dame Anne Begg MP (Labour, Aberdeen South) (Chair) Debbie Abrahams MP (Labour, Oldham East and Saddleworth) Harriett Baldwin MP (Conservative, West Worcestershire) Andrew Bingham MP (Conservative, High Peak) Karen Bradley MP (Conservative, Staffordshire Moorlands) Kate Green MP (Labour, Stretford and Urmston) Mr Oliver Heald MP (Conservative, North East Hertfordshire) Glenda Jackson MP (Labour, Hampstead and Kilburn) Brandon Lewis MP (Conservative, Great Yarmouth) Stephen Lloyd MP (Liberal Democrat, Eastbourne) Teresa Pearce MP (Labour, Erith and Thamesmead) The following Members were also members of the Committee during the Parliament: Ms Karen Buck MP (Labour, Westminster North), Alex Cunningham MP (Labour, Stockton North), Margaret Curran MP (Labour, Glasgow East), Richard Graham MP (Conservative, Gloucester), Sajid Javid MP (Conservative, Bromsgrove) and Shabana Mahmood MP (Labour, Birmingham, Ladywood) Powers The Committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 152. These are available on the Internet via www.parliament.uk Publications The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at www.parliament.uk/workpencom The Reports of the Committee, the formal minutes relating to that report, oral evidence taken and some or all written evidence are available in a printed volume. Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Carol Oxborough (Clerk), Andrew Hudson (Second Clerk), Hanna Haas (Committee Specialist), Jessica Bridges- Palmer (Committee Media Adviser), James Clarke (Inquiry Manager), Emma Sawyer (Senior Committee Assistant), Hannah Beattie (Committee Assistant). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Work and Pensions Committee, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 2839; the Committee's email address is [email protected] 1 Contents Report Page Summary 3 1 Introduction 5 Reassessment of incapacity benefit claimants 5 Outcomes of the reassessment 6 The inquiry 7 Our report 7 2 The Government’s policy objectives for the IB reassessment 9 Government aims 9 Claimant perceptions 10 Improving communication of the Government’s objectives 12 3 The Work Capability Assessment—claimants’ experience and Atos Healthcare18 Design of the process 18 Claimants’ experiences of the process 19 The DWP contract with Atos Healthcare 26 4 The Work Capability Assessment—Reviews 31 The reviews of the WCA process 31 The future of the WCA 35 5 Decision-Making and Appeals 40 Decision-making 40 Reconsideration of decisions 42 Appeals 44 Recalling claimants for WCA after appeals 47 6 Reassessment outcomes 49 Outcomes 49 The impact of the decision to time-limit contribution-based ESA 50 Claims withdrawn before completing the assessment process 54 Tracking of claimants 55 7 Employment support for ESA claimants 57 Support under the Work Programme 57 Back-to-work support for customers moving onto ESA 59 Back-to-work support for customers found fit for work 59 8 Conclusion 64 Conclusions and recommendations 65 2 Formal Minutes 73 Witnesses 74 List of printed written evidence 74 List of additional written evidence 74 List of Reports from the Committee during the current Parliament 76 3 Summary We support the Government’s objectives for the incapacity benefit (IB) reassessment, of helping people with disabilities and long-term health conditions to move back into employment, while continuing to provide adequate support for people who have limited capability for work or are unable to work. It is, however, clear from the evidence we received that the positive messages about the IB reassessment are not getting through to the public. The Government needs to be proactive in explaining its aims for the process and in emphasising the range of support which will be available to claimants. Care should be taken in the language used in all Government communications, and in the contacts Jobcentre Plus and Atos Healthcare have with claimants, to stress that being found fit for work is a positive outcome and should not be interpreted as “failing the test”. Media coverage of the reassessment is often irresponsible and inaccurate and we deprecate the pejorative language which some sections of the press use when referring to benefit claimants. Portraying the reassessment of incapacity benefit claimants as some sort of scheme to “weed out benefit cheats” shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the Government’s objectives. It is widely accepted that the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) as introduced in 2008 was flawed. This has been borne out by the high number of appeals and the high success rate of appellants. It was also reflected in the amount of evidence from individuals which expressed grievances with the way they were treated during the process and the accuracy of the outcome. The service provided by Atos Healthcare, which carries out the WCA, has often fallen below the standard claimants rightly expect. This has contributed significantly to the widely felt mistrust of the whole process. Welcome changes to the WCA have been made, mainly in response to the recommendations in Professor Malcolm Harrington’s independent review, which we fully endorse. Further welcome changes to the process were made as a result of the reassessment trials in Aberdeen and Burnley. These changes have already improved communication between Jobcentre Plus and claimants and the service provided by Atos Healthcare. The decision-making process is also showing signs of improvement, with more decisions on work capability being “got right the first time”. The new measures introduced are likely to be resource-intensive, but it is important that the necessary funding is made available for their implementation nationwide, despite the pressures on DWP budgets, because accurate decisions will save the Government money through fewer appeals and greater efficiency in the process. The Government has acknowledged that the WCA requires further refinements. We look forward to the outcome of Professor Harrington’s second review which will focus on mental, intellectual and cognitive conditions and fluctuating conditions; improving the IT system; tracking outcomes of different claimant groups; and assessing whether the WCA could contribute more to establishing an individual’s employment capability. 4 The ultimate success of this policy will be determined by whether the Government achieves its aim of helping people with disabilities and long-term health conditions into employment. The scale of the challenge should not be underestimated. It is vital that the reassessment process assesses claimants’ employability and needs in the workplace accurately and that information from the assessment is directly linked to the Work Programme to ensure that the level of support provided matches the needs of the claimant. As the WCA is designed at the moment, there are concerns that this may not yet be the case. The Government needs to take steps to strengthen the link between the assessment process and employment support under the Work Programme. 5 1 Introduction Reassessment of incapacity benefit claimants 1. Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) replaced incapacity benefits for people making new claims from October 2008. The introduction of ESA did not initially affect people already in receipt of incapacity benefits, but reassessment of existing claimants began in October 2010 with a trial in Aberdeen and Burnley. At the end of February 2011, Jobcentre Plus began a limited introductory phase, before moving to full national reassessment from April. 1.5 million existing claimants will be reassessed by 2014.1 2. The Government has made clear that its objective in reassessing incapacity benefit claimants is to support long-term benefit claimants back into work, whilst continuing to provide appropriate support for those who are unable to work: There are over 2.5 million people on incapacity benefits and Employment and Support Allowance. This is some 7% of the working age population at a cost to the taxpayer of around £13 billion a year. The Government recognises that many of these people, with the right support, could and indeed do want to work, but the current system does not give them that opportunity.2 We discuss the Government’s objectives for the IB reassessment in the next chapter. The Work Capability Assessment 3. To be eligible for ESA, a person must undergo a Work Capability Assessment (WCA). The assessment is carried out by Atos Healthcare on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) under
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