UK: Disability benefits (UC, ESA and PIP) - news and updates 2024 and 2025

This thread has been split from the 2023 thread

For the green paper and PIP consultation go to #post 44


Not sure if there is anything new in this news item but it may clarify some points.

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/n...sues-will-be-largest-group-hit-by-wca-changes


New claimants with mobilising issues will be largest group hit by WCA changes
PUBLISHED: 29 JANUARY 2024
New claimants with mobilising issues will be the largest group hit by the proposed changes to the work capability assessment (WCA) planned for 2025, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has predicted. However, hundreds of thousands of claimants who may be a risk to themselves or others will also be caught by the changes.

Background
The government revealed last year that it is proposing to make changes to the work capability assessment to make it tougher for new claimants.

The proposed changes are:

Mobilising: the points will be unchanged, but the highest scoring descriptor will no longer give claimants limited capability for work-related activity (LCWRA).

Getting about: the highest scoring descriptor will still give limited capability for work (LCW), but the scores for the other descriptors will be reduced.

Substantial risk for LCWRA: this will be unchanged for physical health. But for mental health the criteria will be made much stricter. We don’t have details yet, but it may only apply to people with specified mental health conditions who are experiencing an acute episode for which there is medical evidence.

There’s more details on the changes here.

Projected numbers
The OBR have now produced a supplementary forecast to the November 2023 Economic and fiscal outlook giving estimates of how many people will be affected by the changes.

It should be noted that these changes, according to the DWP, will only affect new claimants, not existing ones.

The OBR estimate that by 2028-29:

371,000 additional claimants will be placed in LCW group rather the LCWRA group because of changes to the mobilising descriptors;

230,000 additional claimants will be placed in LCW group rather the LCWRA group because of changes to the substantial risk regulations;

29,000 claimants will be placed in the intensive work search group rather than the LCW group.

This means that 59% of the new claimants affected will have mobilising issues, 36% will be those who would currently be deemed to be at risk and 5% will be those with problems ‘getting about’.

Still going ahead
In evidence to the Commons Work and Pensions Committee earlier this month, the DWP confirmed both that it is still intending to introduce the changes to the WCA in 2025 and that they will only affect new claims:

Our plan with the changes to the work capability assessment is to introduce them from 2025, and then we have said that we will roll out the White Paper reforms. Really importantly, the WCA change is for new claims only.

The “White Paper reforms” relate to the complete abolition of the WCA. The DWP confirmed in the same meeting that it still plans to introduce the White Paper reforms from 2026 for new claims and from 2029 for existing claimants:

“The White Paper changes, beginning with new claims, will happen on a staged geographical basis from 2026, and then will move across the stock of existing claims from 2029.”

If there is a change of government this year, then none of the proposed changes may go ahead.

Vicky Foxcroft, shadow minister for disabled people, told the Disability News Service in October 2023 that Labour would not introduce the changes to the WCA. However, there has been no official policy announcement on this topic or the White Paper changes by Labour.

Full details of the OBR’s estimates of the effects of changes to the WCA are available here.

 

There's also an update on the page about the migration of claimants from income-related ESA to Universal Credit:

Four years is a long time away, and given the DWP's history of serial postponements and the possibility of a change of government before then as well, it offers a bit of respite. (Personally, I'm quite relieved to have a date for it, as I now know I'll reach pension age before then.)

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/updated-esa-to-uc-migration-materials

 

From Benefits and Work on the Severe Disability Group -

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/n...and-work&utm_content=13+March+2024+Newsletter

There is a specific section for ME/CFS -

ME/CFS

Syndromes characterised by chronic pain and fatigue where symptoms are longstanding, affect multiple activities of daily living (ADLs) and confirmation that all treatment options provided by specialist pain and fatigue services have been exhausted

Problematic in so many ways, but I'm not up to commenting at the moment.

 

To clarify for readers who not aware, the 'Severe Disability group' is a new thing, whereby for the people who qualify wont have to go through the usual process of applying for ESA/UC/PIP.

To be honest i was pretty shocked that they included ME/CFS at all! I was expecting it to be excluded. Not saying its not problematic just that its a surprise they think anyone with ME is incapable of getting better - the BPS ideologues wont like that!

You can read more about the SDG & criteria for it here Shambolic Severe Disability Group assessment system revealed (benefitsandwork.co.uk)

 

I just looked, and plenty of people have already.

 

I have some worries about conditions being named, to be honest.

DWP assessments have always been about how impairments and disabling illnesses affect people, not what they're called. Although it's often implemented very badly, it is arguably the fairest approach. For instance, it recognises that a person trying to manage four different chronic conditions can be severely impaired, even though someone with only one of them might be able to live a reasonably full life and not qualify for benefits.

This recognition of a compounding effect is so important, but it could be seriously undermined by prioritising specific conditions.

 

I agree @Kitty

 

ESA Work Capability Assessments

Quarterly volumes of completed assessments by type of assessment, December 2008 to September 2023


A lot more information here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/stati...atory-reconsiderations-and-appeals-march-2024

 

I agree @JemPD, I was shocked too, and ME/CFS rather than cfsing us. I don't like the description though - syndromes (plural) which seems to be a bps thing, to make it more vague. Yes it may end up being several different illnesses, but we don't know that. Plus the emphasis on pain, which isn't a required symptom, and "fatigue", of course. The main worry is

Since most clinics are offering the same old under new names that's very dangerous. Implies forced treatment.

The general problem with this SDG category is that evidence has to come from a specialist. That's obviously a problem for us, but a quick look at the comments suggests people with many conditions don't have any ongoing secondary care.

I've edited my previous post, where the link was originally back to this thread. I suppose I could pretend it was some sort of postmodern thing.

 

I've re-edited incorrectly 3 times. Over and out.

 

I had a look at the webpage on which the Benefits and Work article is based, and it doesn't actually mention ME/CFS as such. That seems to have been added by Benefits and Work. The original web page refers to 'Syndromes characterised by chronic pain and fatigue', which obviously includes ME/CFS and ME-type Long Covid, but may also refer to other conditions.

The original webpage is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...ability-group-test-information-for-clinicians

 

Thanks, @Tao Fogger, that helps a lot.

It looks as if B&W hadn't picked up the most relevant part of the guideline for pwME, which is the second bullet point. This would be more straightforward to meet (or demonstrate at a tribunal) than stuff about exhausting treatments for fatigue and pain.

 

i seem to think that its ALL of the bullets have to be met though... not just 1? too ill to check today

 

I think so, yes, but many people won't meet all of them exactly.

There are conditions for which there aren't any specialists, for instance, but on balance there would be enough evidence for DWP to conclude that the person is severely disabled. That's how most of the rules and guidelines work in practice; it's fairly common to rely more on one definition than another.

 

I'm going to report something that happened to me, because it may happen to others and because it's weird.

My esa payments stopped being paid. When I phoned the DWP they said because their software is old it can only hold so much data. When claims become overloaded they stop issuing payments. The claim has then to be rebuilt manually.

My claim seems to be OK now, but why aren't warnings that this is about to happen built into the system? Why don't they check proactively those claims where it may happen?

 

A very nice chap at one of the call centres (always cheers me up if I'm switched through to Preston, they seem to have some particularly helpful staff) explained that it's because it's decades old and doesn't really work.

My PIP award has had to be extended twice—it expired in early 2022, and they still haven't processed the review forms I submitted last September—and both times, the enhancements on my ESA were stopped. The PIP dept apparently can't prevent an interruption in a claim, even if it's only a millisecond while the computer resets the end date, from communicating with the ESA system. The ESA computer interprets 'interruption' as 'cancellation', and it can't be changed. As someone who's had to operate hideously out of date computer systems, I'm prepared to believe them.

What they could do, of course, is let people know. As I pointed out to him, the fact that people are in receipt of these enhancements indicates they should be considered vulnerable, so why can't they be warned about it when their awards are extended? I was hoping he'd say "That would be an ecumenical matter"; he didn't, but there was a long pause.

 

National statistics
ESA: outcomes of Work Capability Assessments including mandatory reconsiderations and appeals: March 2024
Published 14 March 2024

https://www.gov.uk/government/stati...atory-reconsiderations-and-appeals-march-2024

 

This is an outrageous denial of basic human rights and is in direct contravention on the UN Convention on the rights of disabled persons!

from the government page on severe disabiity group test information for clinicians:

"Syndromes characterised by chronic pain and fatigue

• syndromes characterised by chronic pain and fatigue where symptoms are longstanding, affect multiple activities of daily living (ADLs) and confirmation that all treatment options provided by specialist pain and fatigue services have been exhausted"

​

This denies the patient's fundamental human right to consent to treatment. It is illegal and unethical.

"Clinician led

Clinicians will identify suitable patients. This is currently being tested in conjunction with Blackpool NHS Trust and the British Society of Physical Rehabilitation Medicine (BSPRM)."
​

This means that patients who are now severe ME/CFS as a direct result of consenting to clinic treatment, will now be forced to engage with treatment again - this time called rehabilitation as defined the BSPRM

The British Society of Physical & Rehabilitation Medicine | Home (bsprm.org.uk)

If they refuse to consent on the grounds that the treatment is the same as that which caused the increased severity of the illness in the first place, they will no longer qualify for this benefit.


This speech delivered yesterday by the Prime Minister Prime Minister’s speech on welfare: 19 April 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) at the Centre for Social Justice is likely to have as much to do with the IMF visit planned shortly!

Is Britain workshy or in a post-Covid health crisis? IMF to grill UK on record 2.8m signed off sick (msn.com) Washington report.

"Britain will face harsh questions on rising levels of labour inactivity and cuts in national insurance contributions when inspectors from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) arrive next month.

It comes as concerns grow at the number of those signed off work due to long-term sickness – which has hit a record 2.8m.

'One area we need to look at is the quality of health care and another is the way disability is reported,' Helge Berger, a top IMF official for Europe said.

His comments came in the wake of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's pledge to crack down on the surging health benefit bill in the UK.

A full delegation from the IMF will spend up to two weeks in Britain in what is known as an 'Article 4' inspection and will meet with the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and the Treasury, the Office for Budget Responsibility as well as other officials and think-tanks as they go about their work. It might also be expected to meet with the Opposition leadership.​