UK: Disability benefits (UC, ESA and PIP) - news and updates 2023 (including government plans to scrap the work capability assessment)

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JemPD said:
So it seems clear to me that someone is looking at it end jan/beg feb & deciding whether to go through with the planned reassessment or not.
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Do you have the indefinite 10 year 1ight touch PIP award? I do and I think that's why I've not been getting the ESA award reviewed. They may have been doing the same with me regards changing review dates, I've just never asked. So I've on1y ever had one face to face ESA assessment, that was when I first app1ied. I got awarded 30 points at the time but put in the WRAG, I didn't have my ASD and ADHD NHS diagnosis at that point in time, was expecting to have a major op (which in the end I didn't go through with) and didn't have that much medica1 evidence apart from my ME history (I actua11y have a 1ot of other medica1 prob1ems/conditions). So I didn't get the 15 points for mobi1ity, just 1esser points spread across other criteria. She said I cou1d mobi1ise 100 metres as I wa1ked the 10 metres from the waiting area to her room!

At that time the WRAG money was on1y £5 a week 1ess than the support group so I didn't cha11enge the resu1t. She gave me a 2 year review date.

I then app1ied for Disabi1ity 1iving a11owance, they gave me zero points for both care and mobi1ity without seeing me face to face. My GP agreed I shou1d have been entit1ed to it but I was too i11 to appea1. So I app1ied for PIP 2 years 1ater by which time I had a Rethink support worker who came with me to the assessment centre. I sti11 had a me1tdown during it.

I got the enhanced PIP award for both mobi1ity and care but on1y for 2 years. They'd been sitting on my comp1eted ESA50 for my 2 year review for 8 months at that point but a few weeks 1ater wrote to me to say they'd put me in the support group. This was without a face to face so I assume they had 1ooked at my PIP award and points and decided that I'd actua11y meet the support group criteria. I didn't ask for a copy of the ESA report so I sti11 don't know. At some point I need to do a fu11 subject access request to see everything they have on me.

On the PIP review I had a home assessment with support from an advocate and my Rethink support worker (who I no 1onger have). I then got the indefinite award with the 10 year 1ight touch review date. I've never had another ESA review since then (2013).
 
JemPD said:
We are all making ourselves sicker trying to read up & understand it all, & the added terror & distress. Its so very wrong.
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Simbindi said:
Yes. I see this in the Benefits and Work comments. So many peop1e now seeing the on1y way out wi11 be suicide if the Conservatives go through with a11 these changes. It's so sickening.
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And very deliberate.

They know exactly what they are doing, and how nasty and cruel it is. That is the point.

Expect a flood of crocodile tears at the suffering and deaths that will result.
 
Simbindi said:
Do you have the indefinite 10 year 1ight touch PIP award? I do and I think that's why I've not been getting the ESA award reviewed.
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I don't, but I've been on ESA for almost 10 years and haven't been reviewed. It doesn't necessarily make life any more comfortable; I've spent the entire time expecting a letter demanding I go through a WCA, as they haven't done one yet.

My PIP award's under review at the moment (form returned in September, outcome not expected till next summer), so there's still plenty of time for it all to go pear shaped before I hit retirement age in 2025. :rolleyes:
 
Kitty said:
I don't, but I've been on ESA for almost 10 years and haven't been reviewed. It doesn't necessarily make life any more comfortable; I've spent the entire time expecting a letter demanding I go through a WCA, as they haven't done one yet.

My PIP award's under review at the moment (form returned in September, outcome not expected till next summer), so there's still plenty of time for it all to go pear shaped before I hit retirement age in 2025. :rolleyes:
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I wonder if that's because they have been ab1e to see you PIP awards over the years though? It does seem random to an extent. I don't know if they've been doing 1ight touch paper reviews on me, apparant1y these can be done before they trigger the ESA50 form. I think the DWP decision maker can see a11 other awards to make this decision.
 
Kitty said:
My PIP award's under review at the moment (form returned in September, outcome not expected till next summer), so there's still plenty of time for it all to go pear shaped before I hit retirement age in 2025. :rolleyes:
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ugh.. i feel for you.

Hoping & praying it goes well for you.

Kitty said:
It doesn't necessarily make life any more comfortable; I've spent the entire time expecting a letter demanding I go through a WCA, as they haven't done one yet.
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Should you want to you can ring them to find out when the next schedued review is due - as i shared in my post earlier, it doesnt mean they will def do it then, but it helped me to know when it wasnt due/planned at least
 
Simbindi said:
I wonder if that's because they have been ab1e to see you PIP awards over the years though? It does seem random to an extent. I don't know if they've been doing 1ight touch paper reviews on me, apparant1y these can be done before they trigger the ESA50 form. I think the DWP decision maker can see a11 other awards to make this decision.
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JemPD said:
Hoping & praying it goes well for you.
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Thank you.

First one went okay; the assessment was gruelling and far too long, but I got a higher award than I'd realistically expected. There's more hanging on this one, though, as I'll be less than a year from state retirement age by the time I know the outcome. You can't claim PIP after that, so even if I were in a bad way, I daren't let the claim lapse and make a fresh one later. I'd have to go through the whole appeal palaver straight away. :confused:

JemPD said:
Should you want to you can ring them to find out when the next schedued review is due - as i shared in my post earlier, it doesnt mean they will def do it then, but it helped me to know when it wasnt due/planned at least
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Indeed, but after nearly 10 years of quiet, I don't want to poke the bear! I've no idea whether they can see the full claim history on the screen when you call up, but it's possible they can't. I'm not volunteering to remind them I've never had a WCA... :laugh:
 
Simbindi said:
I wonder if that's because they have been ab1e to see you PIP awards over the years though?
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I was only on DLA mobility for the first few years of the claim, but as Jem says, they probably would have been able to see that.

In some ways it's odd that they put me in the support group just on those grounds, as I'd worked full-time for 12 years while receiving DLA mobility. I had to stop working after a big ME relapse, but at the time I claimed ESA I hadn't been awarded anything that recognised I'd become much more disabled.

Who knows, really! It seems very arbitrary at times.
 
An article from Benefits & Work today:

Has the DWP already stopped reassessing support group and LCWRA claimants?

The government’s response document gives contradictory messages about whether reassessments for this group, who we will call the LCWRA group to include both ESA and UC, have already ended or whether they will not end until 2025.

The government’s proposals introduce something called the Chance to Work Guarantee.

The Chance to Work Guarantee “is for existing claimants on UC and ESA with LCWRA. This change will be effective from 2025, at the same time as WCA changes are introduced. This change will in effect abolish the WCA for the vast majority of this group, bringing forward a key element of our White Paper proposals and giving people the confidence to try work.”

The meaning of this paragraph seems clear: the abolition of the WCA for existing LCWRA claimants will take place in 2025.
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However, in the next paragraph the government states:

“These changes will mean that almost all people who are currently assessed as having LCWRA will never face a WCA reassessment again. Reassessments will only take place under very limited circumstances, which are:

  • When a claimant reports a change of circumstances in their health condition;
  • If a claimant has been awarded LCWRA for pregnancy risk, or cancer treatment where the prognosis for recovery is expected to be short-term;
  • If a claimant has been declared as having LCWRA under the new risk provisions; and
  • In cases of suspected fraud.”
The phrase “currently assessed as having LCWRA” suggests that almost all current claimants are now safe from reassessment.
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https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/n...reassessing-support-group-and-lcwra-claimants
 
Thanks @Kitty

Also from that news article

Stay safe
The reality is that if this change comes about, whether it applies now or in 2025, the vast majority of current LCWRA claimants will never have another reassessment because so few are being carried out.

But that does nothing to take away the fear for individual claimants who might be one of the unlucky ones if reassessments are continuing.

We will continue to try to get clarification.

But, in the meantime, we would advise readers to assume that reassessments are to continue until 2025 and that trying out work whilst in the LCWRA group could have serious consequences for your future benefit entitlement.

And if anyone who currently has LCWRA is selected for reassessment over the coming weeks, please let us know.
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my bolding
 
So.....as a person in the support group, on UC, who in the normal course of events is due for reassessment (my first assessment whilst on UC, my SG status having been awarded whilst on ESA and migrated to UC when I moved and was forced to claim UC) in August 2023, would it now be reasonable for me to proceed as if I will not be assessed until 2025?

At which point I am very likely to get &^%#@ and lose approximately £400pm?

Over half my 'award' not including housing, and below the minimum needed to survive, assuming my bills don't drop considerably - something that seems 'unlikely'.

Thus giving me a minimum of an extra 16 months before things get unsustainably 'iffy'.
 
Trish said:
Given that there may be a change of government before that, I would not make any assumptions about what happens in 2025
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There's also the fact that, even if these changes go ahead, the substantial risk category appears to be retained. And if it is, benefits advisors will be able to work out how claimants can engage it.

Bizarrely, though, it mainly applies to people with physical illnesses and disabilities. It may be much more limited for mental illnesses, and they appear in particular to be trying to exclude most people with anxiety and depression.
 
More news from Benefits & Work on the surveillance plans being put to Parliament:

Initially the DWP say that they will use their powers to oblige the UK’s top 15 banks to monitor the accounts of all means-tested benefits claimants and report every time an account goes over the capital limit or is used abroad for more than four weeks.
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The new surveillance powers for the DWP appear to enjoy cross party support. Only 51 MPs voted against the amendment, with 30 of those being SNP and just 7 each from Labour and the Lib Dems.
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Capital and abroad fraud account for less than 15% of benefits fraud and error. The DWP will want to delve into many other aspects of claimants lives in order to identify the other 85%. This is, beyond doubt, the thin end of a very thick wedge.
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https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/n...ounts-to-be-put-under-continuous-surveillance
 
Disability News Service

Devastating’ dossier shows DWP is in ‘state of crisis’

"The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is a failing organisation in a “state of crisis” and faces a “near collapse” of its benefits systems, according to a “devastating” dossier of evidence from its own staff.

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) this week accused DWP of “deliberate neglect”, after its members said they believed benefit claimants in vulnerable situations were “falling through the gaps” in the system.

The union’s dossier details multiple concerns about universal credit (UC), with one manager describing staff facing “completely overwhelming” workloads."

More at: https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/devastating-dossier-shows-dwp-is-in-state-of-crisis/
 
Official Statistics
Universal Credit Work Capability Assessment, April 2019 to September 2023
Published 14 December 2023

This is a quarterly release of Official Statistics on the number of people on UC with a health condition or disability restricting their ability to work, the number of WCA decisions made for UC, and the outcomes of these WCAs.

The next release will be on 14 March 2024.

This release covers:

  • the number of people on UC health from April 2019 to September 2023 – by stage of process and personal characteristics such as age and gender
  • more granular information by region and local authority
  • proportions of Universal Credit claimants on UC health
  • monthly WCA decisions and outcomes from April 2019 to August 2023
Universal Credit has replaced income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) for new claimants. The legacy ESA scheme closed to new claimants in January 2021. New Style ESA is a contributory benefit open to eligible claimants.

In some circumstances, Universal Credit can be claimed alongside New Style ESA. When both benefits are claimed together, Work Capability Assessments are led through the UC claim and outcomes then applied to both benefits.

https://www.gov.uk/government/stati...ility-assessment-april-2019-to-september-2023
 
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