[WiLT] Helping disabled people into work - will ESA work?

[WiL Admin]

Helping disabled people into work - will ESA work?

Press release - 27 October 2008

Disability Alliance hopes that the introduction of employment and
support allowance (ESA) will bring about positive improvements in the
employment rates, as well as a reduction in the poverty experienced by
disabled working age adults.

The need for personalised, tailored employment support that actively
assists disabled people to overcome barriers to work, will be key and
we will be closely monitoring the effectiveness of this provision.

We feel that the ESA rates must be set at levels that provide
financial security for all disabled people who claim ESA and we
welcome the pledge to provide increased levels of benefit for the most
severely disabled people. However, we are worried that for the
majority of ESA claimants, the rates of payment are effectively lower
than current incapacity benefit rates and we are very concerned that a
freeze of ESA rates as proposed in the recent Green Paper: No one
written off may increase the poverty experienced by many disabled
people.

We have concerns over the administration of the new test of
entitlement for ESA, the work capability assessment. Its predecessor
test, the personal capability assessment, has more than 60,000 appeals
against incorrect decisions every year, with 50% of these appeals
being successful. Jobcentre Plus must improve its decision making
standards, including consideration of medical evidence and the
standard of medical examinations carried out by Atos Origin health
care professionals.

Notes for editors

Disability Alliance is a national registered charity with the
principal aim of relieving the poverty and improving the living
standards of disabled people. Our eventual aim is to break the link
between poverty and disability. Our policy work is informed by our
contact with disabled people and those who provide services for them.

We are a membership organisation with almost 400 members ranging from
small self-help groups to major national disability charities. We are
controlled by disabled people who form a majority of our Board of
Trustees.

The Alliance provides information on social security benefits, tax
credits and related services, to disabled people, their families,
carers and professional advisers; undertakes research into the needs
of disabled people - with a particular emphasis on income needs, and
promotes a wider understanding of the views and circumstances of all
people with disabilities.

We are best known as the authors of the Disability Rights Handbook, an
annual publication with a print-run of 25,000. We run a members'
helpline for advice and information as well as delivering training to
professionals working in both the statutory and voluntary sectors. We
have published a guide to ESA, which is available for purchase - see
http://www.disabilityalliance.org/esaguide.htm for order details.

For more information, contact Disability Alliance on 020 7247 8776.
For information resources on ESA, see
http://www.disabilityalliance.org/esa.htm.