The new employment and support allowance replaced incapacity benefit yesterday, with our Outside Left blogger suggesting it may not be a good thing for disabled people. Do people fully understand the new system? Have you had to deal with it? What impact do you think it will have?
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I am still employed as a welfare rights worker, part-time, and am a member of the professional association for advisers, while I do my social work training. The guidance about the new benefit that advisers have been given is basically the same as that given to the general public by the DWP- ie very little at all. This seems pretty standard however- we received no guidance as to how Tax credits, or pension credit, would work, or their calculation methods, until over 4 months after its introduction... local housing allowance was much the same too....
What I have figured out so far is that the work capability asessment for ESA is very similar to the one for incapacity benefit, therefore if a client with mental health difficulties, or certain disabilities answers the questions as asked with no creativity, they will most likely score no points. The assessments are not designed to take account of mental health disabilities, or learning disabilities. It also apears that being on high rate care component of DLA will no longer entitle people to an automatic status of incapable for work- it appears at present that they will be assessed in the same way as everyone in terms of is there anything they can do at all? (This might or might not change...we do not know as yet).
It's a good move for the government, as jobsekers allowance is cheaper for them than incapacity benefit- but a bad one for disabled people, in my opinion.