ESA / JSA reforms any updates

sunshine1981

Has anyone any idea when we might have an update on the new ESA/JSA unemployment insurance plans?

I'm still not hearing anything on the news about this welfare reform that they are looking at doing

Dav1D

No. But this needs to be challenged.

NS-ESA replaced Incapacity Benefit, and before that Invalidity benefit, in 1971 and going right back to 1948, there has always been access to sickness benefits……based upon National Insurance contributions……!

Our eligibility is based upon national insurance contributions, which serve as a premium, an earned entitlement to certain benefits.

(Serving a different purpose and underpinned by fundamentally different principles than Universal Credit, which takes into account certain financial circumstances and savings etc.)

Many millions of working people have paid into AN (national) INSURANCE SCHEME, for their entire working lives.

Think of the outrage and legal challenges which would occur if an insurance company tried to suddenly cancel a life policy like this?!?!

It could never happen.

So surely it is a breach of contract?

I am entitled to claim NS-ESA alongside a very small monthly income from a payment protection policy, (PPP) designed to allow simultaneous receipt of NS-ESA, along with the PPP until retirement age!

I cannot claim UC along with my PPP, as UC is means-tested and incompatible with my policy.

My PPP does not account for the governments removal of NS-ESA. My PPP does specifically confirm that I can claim NS-ESA, (because of my NI contributions!)

These PPPs have been sold to millions of working people. (Under various names, 'income protection policy, payment protection policy, accident sickness unemployment policy or ASU)

Removing a benefit that many individuals have contributed to and are entitled to, without providing an adequate replacement, surely must be viewed as unlawful and discriminatory disproportionately affecting individuals with long term illness?

(Even by government crooks)

This all seems to be grounds for legal action, and a judicial review of the decision ‘to merge ESA with JSA to make a new ‘unemployment insurance’ benefit, paid for a limited time’ which needs to be challenged.

This mut surely also constitute a breach under the equality act and human rights laws, but like you, beyond posting this message on here, on this forum, I do not know what to do about it or where to turn, or who to contact, or if any disability charities are planning to challenge this aspect of the green paper? Or any law firms?

Like you, I feel like Im being kept in the dark

Whats being done about this? Who should I contact? Can any knowledgable person advise? Any specific Lord, or contact at a law form, or any particular person in any diability organisation to do with benefits?

Does anyone know of a single challenge being prepared by any law firm or charity to challenge the merging of ESA and JSA?

Thankyou!

sunshine1981

I've emailed my MP, maybe you could do the same and say exactly what you just said. I agree that this is outrageous and will affect every working person who becomes unfit for work now and in the future. Would you mind if I used some of comment in another email to my MP?

Dav1D

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1022951#Comment_1022951

Use whatever you want Sunshine. 🙂

I did send a letter to my Labour MP, specifically addressing the proposal to merge ESA with JSA and replace it with a time limited insurance payment.

She completely ignored the points I made, and sent back the following response:

Thank you for your email.

I understand the concerns you have raised regarding changes to disability welfare. People are understandably fearful when they hear about changes to the benefits system, and I want to be clear up front that the reforms announced by the Government will not result in any immediate changes to anyone’s benefits. 

I believe that we need a welfare state that is there for all of us when we need it, now and in the future, that protects those most in need, and that delivers equality and dignity for all. There will always be some people who cannot work, and I assure you that they will be protected. 

The Government is looking at ways to ensure that those who will never be able to work are afforded confidence and dignity by never having to go through reassessments, and it is proposing that those people continue to receive additional support through Universal Credit (UC). 

Around 1 in 10 of those who will be claiming Personal Independence Payments (PIP) at the point when the changes come into force will be affected by 2029/30. This Government is committed to funding our welfare system to protect the people who need it most, which is why spending on health and disability benefits and PIP will still be higher at the end of this Parliament. 

I would also like to reassure you that anyone currently in receipt of the Universal Credit health component will see their benefits remain steady in cash terms while they benefit from a higher standard allowance. The reductions to the UC health top-up will affect new claimants, not existing ones.

I was elected on a pledge to put the voices of disabled people at the heart of policy. A public consultation has been launched on many of the Government’s proposals, including changes to support for under 22s and a new Unemployment Insurance, as well as how those who may be impacted by changes to PIP can be supported. I urge any disabled person or representative organisation to contribute their views to this.

I want to see a social security system that gets decisions right the first time and focuses on what people can do, not just what they cannot. That is why I welcome the Government’s record £1 billion investment in tailored employment support for disabled people. This comes alongside efforts to break down barriers to work and create healthier, more inclusive workplaces. Disabled people deserve the same opportunities as anybody else. 

The plan will also tackle the perverse incentives of our welfare system. It will increase the standard allowance above inflation for the first time ever, with a cash increase of £725 per year, on current forecasts, for a single household aged over 25 by 2030. 

Crucially, the new "Right to Try" guarantee will ensure going back to work itself will never lead to a reassessment, giving people the confidence to take on new opportunities. 

The broken Work Capability Assessment, which many constituents have said they hate, will be scrapped. This will simplify the process for attaining health-related benefits into one single assessment and end binary categorisations of can and cannot work, helping people who can work to access support to do so.

I am confident that these changes will enable disabled people to live with dignity, while making sure the welfare system is sustainable in the long term. This is essential, above all, for the people who depend on it.

Thank you once again for contacting me about this issue.

Yours sincerely,

Dav1D

From now on, every week that goes by without us hearing anything more about this, Im going to post a little gif of a tumbleweed on your thread, in protest, until somebody somewhere gives us real answers. At the present rate this could go on for years.

Holly_Scope

I've read they're intending to merge into unemployed insurance benefit 2028/29 on the disabilityrightsuk website.

sunshine1981

I've emailed my MP again asking why it's not being spoken about and I've asked for another update on their plans...will see what response I get

Dav1D

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1023135#Comment_1023135

Hi Holly.

As I stated above, I do not know what to do about it or where to turn, or who to contact, or if any disability charities are planning to challenge this aspect of the green paper?

Or any law firms? Or whats being done about this? Or who should I contact? Can anyone from Scope advise?

Is there any specific Lord, or contact at a law firm, or any particular person in any disability organisation to do with benefits I should contact?

Does anyone at Scope know of a single challenge being prepared by any law firm or charity to challenge the merging of ESA and JSA?

Thanks again.

Holly_Scope

Hi @Dav1D that's understandable, there's a lot of uncertainty at the minute. But Scope, many other organisations, and our collective community are speaking up and banging on doors (so to speak). I've attached a couple of links below for a few chats you might be interested in. The New Green Paper Discussion is where our members are regularly discussing the current events so it's a great place to keep up to date.

• Get your MP to act against cuts
• New Green Paper Discussion

Best wishes,

Holly_Scope

Hi @Dav1D forgot to add a little note in there about our campaign where you can sign to support here - Tell the Government not to cut benefits 🙂

Dav1D

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😕

😠

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WhatThe

Dav1D, JSA and ESA were aligned from 1st April 2013.

There have been two major periods of change to primary legislation, following general elections in 2010 and 2015. Common threads ran through both. Successive governments have consistently aimed to limit spending on working age benefits, protect pensioners, encourage work wherever possible, and simplify the system. The Coalition Government’s first Budget in June 2010 introduced early measures – which were later reinforced by other legislative measures – to restrict spending growth on certain working age benefits and protect pensioner benefits.

The first two years of the Coalition Government set in train many of the most significant welfare reforms of the last decade. The June 2010 Budget was the first of several fiscal events designed to make the welfare system “fair and affordable.”

1 The Welfare Reform Act 2012 legislated for huge changes such as the introductions of Universal Credit (UC) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP), as well as a range of other high-profile reforms such as the ‘benefit cap.’

The 2012 Act also introduced Personal Independence Payment, a benefit designed to help people with the extra costs of disability or ill health, to replace Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for working age adults

Time-limiting the payment of contributory Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) to twelve months for claimants in the‘ Work-Related Activity Group’.

WhatThe

The 2012 Welfare Reform Bill was seriously flawed and should not have passed into law.

I have no idea how it can be challenged so long after the event. The 2016 reforms were based on lies and these proposals can proceed under those same lies.

DWP hasn't been idle all these years and the conspiratorial MP's who stitched us up need to be called out!

Dav1D

Hi, there is no 'time limit' for people claiming NS-ESA who are in the LCWRA group. There is only a 12 month time limit for people in the work related activity group.

At present people in the LCWRA group receive NS-ESA payments indefinitely.

The terms in my ‘lifestyle and income protection’ policy sold to me by BUPA, are purposefully designed to explicitly allow me to simultaneously claim incapacity benefit/NS-ESA, along with my policy, until I am 65 years old.

The policy in fact, makes certain distinctions, is particular about what i can and cannot claim.

I would argue my payment protection insurance policy, was specifically designed so that I could claim NS-ESA alongside it, and therefore my insurance company may have mis-sold me the policy, as they did not take into account the government deciding to discontinue NS-ESA.

Which was a foreseeable risk.

It might be that the authors of this proposed new unemployment insurance scheme, in the 'pathways to work' green paper have not considering the existing interplay between private insurance and state benefits,and how it could further complicate matters for individuals relying on these systems.

Millions of 'Income protection' policies have been sold and offer flexibility as benefits provided by the policies are co-ordinated with other income sources, such as state benefits like New Style Employment and Support Allowance

This combination helps provide a more stable financial situation when facing serious illness and disability, especially if the policy payments are scaled down, as in my case, but my policy is still able to be combined with NS-ESA, meaning one can still receive meaningful support.

My policy fails to address what happens if Incapacity Benefit/NS-ESA is discontinued, and a time limited payment is introduced, as proposed in consultation question 4 in the pathways to work green paper;

'*Consultation questions: 4. How could we introduce a new Unemployment Insurance, how long should it last for and what support should be provided during this time to support people to adjust to changes in their life and get back into work?'

Therefore the Green paper appears to undermine the expectations on which my/these policies were sold

Removing a benefit, NS-ESA, (which is in itself, a national insurance policy) that I and or, many individuals have contributed to and are entitled to, without providing an adequate replacement, (I cannot claim UC alongside my PPP) surely must be viewed as unlawful and discriminatory disproportionately affecting individuals with long term illness?

So my policy clearly did not meet reasonable expectations and fails to deliver the benefits it was marketed to provide….

(If NS-ESA and JSA are merged, as proposed in the pathways to work green paper)

I think that I need a lawyer or someone from Scope, or a disability charity to write to someone, a decision maker, or one of the authors of this green paper, or Stephen Timms or a particular Lord or the DWP, etc, etc (I dont know who), on my behalf, (preferably anonymously, but I can draft the letter) and take the points I making above into consideration……

Dav1D

I believe I am in the right here……insurance companies could be faced with a representative group action lawsuit……on behalf of policyholders who have been sold policies, which pay up to 50% of your final 12 months earnings, and claim that you can simultaneously claim incapacity benefit/ NS-ESA, which is a benefit based upon NI contributions……creating an expectation…

WhatThe

I explained the origin of time-limited Contribution-Based (incapacity) benefits. The problem is that the WRAG was effectively removed by the 2016 Act leaving LCWRA open to these same measures.

Dav1D

Oh I see, right, Sorry.

I dont think it makes any difference to the points I've made regarding my situation