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Employment and Support Allowance Mark Maddison . 5 th June 2008. Why are we introducing the Employment and Support Allowance?.
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Employment and Support Allowance Mark Maddison 5th June 2008
Why are we introducing the Employment and Support Allowance? • The Employment and Support Allowance plays a pivotal role in delivering the Government’s vision of a modern active welfare state, as a replacement for incapacity benefits. • Focus on helping individuals realise their full potential and a better life through the world of work. • The Employment and Support Allowance will provide a gateway to work, assessing people’s capability to work and not just their entitlement to benefit; whilst ensuring that people who are unable to work receive the support they need.
What is the Employment and Support Allowance? • The Employment and Support Allowance will be introduced from October 2008 and will bring a more active system of support for people who have a health condition or disability. • The Employment and Support Allowance regime will be delivered through our existing Jobcentre Plus network of Contact Centres, Benefit Delivery Centres and Jobcentre Plus offices. • It will bring together Incapacity Benefit and Income Support into a single benefit for those people with health problems or disabilities, combined with a work focused support regime for those who can benefit from work, and condition management support. • Pathways to Work will underpin the new Employment and Support Allowance, by providing work focused interviews and work related activity.
What is Pathways to Work? • Pathways to Work provides an enhanced package of extra support and opportunities for new and repeat incapacity benefits customers with health problems and disabilities that: • Is provided in the early weeks of their claim to benefit • Delivers support that will help them to return to work, or move closer to it now or at some point in the future • Targets support on an individual basis to help address health-related, personal and external barriers to work – it is not “a one size fits all”.
What has Pathways to Work achieved so far? • Almost 32,000 recorded job entries for Incapacity Benefit (IB) customers. • A significant increase in the number of customers leaving IB in the first 6 months of their claim compared to non-Pathways Districts. • Research shows that after 10.5 months, 32% of new IB customers in Pathways districts were in employment compared to an expectation of only 22.5% without Pathways. • 25,380 people have been awarded the Return to Work Credit. • 15% of Pathways customers attending a Work Focused Interview join New Deal for Disabled People compared to 4% of IB customers elsewhere. • 14,520 people were referred to the Condition Management Programme. ( National Figures for period Oct 2003 – March 2006)
Employment and Support Allowance will… • Provide a gateway to work; assessing people’s capability for work and not just their entitlement to benefit, while ensuring that people who are unable to work receive support. • Quickly and sensitively identify those eligible for enhanced support. • Provide an improved customer experience by making it easier and simpler to apply for benefits, with quick and sensitive handling to confirm eligibility, rights and responsibilities.
Support component Work related activity component The Employment and Support Allowance Process Extra premiums where appropriate First contact by customer Assessment Phase where a Work Capability Assessment will be undertaken Allowance set at JSA level 13 weeks Main Phase
The Work Capability Assessment will… • Include updated mental and physical health assessments, including the interaction between physical and mental health. • Incorporate a Work Focused Health Related Assessment to look at what the customer can do, not just what they cannot do, and identify any health barriers to work. The health assessment report will be sent to the customer and their Personal Adviser and will be used to support the Work Focused Interviews
What does the Employment and Support Allowance mean for customers? • We will offer customers the choice on how to claim the Employment and Support Allowance. For most, a single telephone call, with no forms to complete will be all that is needed to start the process. • We will of course see customers who satisfy the relevant criteria at a Jobcentre if they wish to have a face to face interview. • We will ask customers to attend a Work Focused Interview at the Jobcentre around 9 weeks after they have claimed. • A Personal Adviser will discuss with the customer their entitlement, their aspirations for work, the steps they might take to help them take up a job and the support that is available to them. • Most customers in the work-related activity group will have a further series of five interviews with a Personal Adviser from Jobcentre Plus or one of our contracted partners focused on helping them back to work. • The customer will be provided with an action plan, which will reflect the discussion at each interview, including the steps a customer could take to help them take up a job or prepare to return to work.
What about existing customers? • Existing customers on incapacity benefits will continue to receive Incapacity Benefit after October 2008 and will have their benefit levels protected. • Anyone on incapacity benefits will be able to volunteer for appropriate support through Pathways to Work (fully rolled out nationally by April 2008). • At some point in the future existing incapacity benefits customers will move to the Employment and Support Allowance, as resources allow.
The new claims process starts in the ESA Contact Centre but links to the WCA examination and Work-Focused Interview New Claims Process Weeks from initial claim ~ 1.5 weeks ~ 2.5 weeks ~ 9 weeks 0 weeks • Customer Contact • Identify customer, reason for contact and claim type. • Data gather. • Issue evidence request, Customer Statement. • Initial WFI • Subsequent WFIs WFI Evidence Handling and Verification Decision Making, Payment and Notification. WFHRA • Work Capability Assessment • Medical Services activities. • Capability Assessment. Handle Limited Capability for Work Outcome LCW Report Weeks from initial claim ~ 13 weeks From 4 weeks
Customers’ Rights and Responsibilities • Ensure personal details are accurate at first contact and correctly answer three security questions to confirm own identity. • Agree the next steps and responsibilities as described by the Contact Centre in the ‘wrap-up’ to the telephone call. • Ensure Customer Statement is correct, notifying changes to the Benefit Delivery Centre. • Provide appropriate evidence to support their claim to benefit within one calendar month. • Return form ESA50 to Medical Services within agreed time limit. • Attend Work Capability Assessment where appropriate. • Attend and participatein 1st and subsequent Work Focused Interviews where appropriate. • Ensure all further changes of circumstances are notified to the Benefit Delivery Centre/ Jobcentre or Provider as they occur.
What information can you expect in the future? More detail on the: • Employment and Support Allowance Regulations (including rates of benefit). • The Appeal process. • Work Capability Assessment (WCA) detailed process. • Work Focused Health Related Assessment (WFHRA) detailed process. • Planned communications with customers / key stakeholders.
