Incapacity benefit reforms will require resources and 'quantum leap' in quality of decision-making - Citizens Advice
2nd February 2005
Reforms intended to help more people on incapacity benefits get back to work and to provide more support for sick and disabled people who are unable to work will only succeed if they are properly resourced, Citizens Advice warned today.
The charity also stressed that there would need to be a ‘quantum leap’ in the quality of decision-making in a system where currently more than half of all refusals of incapacity benefit are overturned on appeal.
Commenting on the plans set out by Work and Pensions Secretary Alan Johnson in his Department’s five-year plan announced today, Citizens Advice Senior Policy Officer John Wheatley said:
“It will be important that the new arrangements avoid unwitting discrimination against very vulnerable disabled people, for example by making unreasonable demands for co-operation from people with cancer or mental health problems and then penalising them for “completely refusing to engage”. There is a real danger that junior Job Centre Plus staff will be pressuring people to look for work when they are too ill to do so.
“Under the current arrangements, most people on incapacity benefits get no support from the Department of Work & Pensions to return to work. Rigid rules mean that those who do seek to do some work whilst receiving benefits are faced with the choice of stopping part time work that is important to building their confidence, or losing all their benefits.
“Regular medical assessments result in immediate withdrawal of benefits from those deemed capable of work. This plunges the individuals concerned and their families into great stress and hardship, yet more than half of these decisions are incorrect and are overturned at appeal.
“The Government needs to do much better than this. The Pathways to Work scheme that is being piloted in seven districts, and will be extended to a further 14 districts next year, provides a much more positive approach, involving interviews with specially trained personal advisers, NHS rehabilitation support, and a £40 a week return to work credit. All this is welcome, but it is resource intensive.
“The new proposals will be more resource intensive than Pathways to Work, and will place even more importance on the quality and promptness of the initial assessments made while the holding benefit is being paid. We are concerned that, with 30,000 jobs being lost from the Department of Work & Pensions, it will be impossible to provide the level of advice, training and support that many people with disabilities and long-term illnesses will need in order to get back into work.
“It is also hard to see how the resources will be found to improve the quality of decision making about these benefits, or to work with employers who are currently often unwilling to employ people with health problems. Many areas with high rates of people receiving incapacity benefits are also areas where jobs are scarce.
“We are particularly concerned that an under-resourced initiative will result in adverse decisions and hardship for people with mental health problems, since the Department of Work & Pensions has a very poor record in tailoring its services and training its staff to meet the needs of this group, who make up a large percentage of those on incapacity benefit.
“It is essential that measures aimed at getting people off incapacity benefits and into work are also linked to ensuring suitable jobs are actually available, and that these jobs are on fair terms. Successfully assimilating people back into the workforce also requires flexibility and a positive attitude towards disability from employers, for example in accommodating the needs of workers who may suffer from a fluctuating health condition that requires them to take periods of time off work.”
Last year Citizens Advice Bureaux in England, Wales and Northern Ireland dealt with 1,723,000 problems relating to welfare benefits and tax credits. Of these, 315,000 (18%) concerned disability benefits and a further 156,000 (9%) related to sickness benefits.
Last updated: February 23, 2007