“Severe criteria”

jamrumples
jamrumples Online Community Member Posts: 121 Contributor
in Universal Credit (UC)

can somebody please help me understand, the changes to the benefits system. Explain like you would to a 5 year old please. What’s happening, when it’s happening, how… etc.

and could you please tell me what they are classing as the severe group? Is it just 12 months left to live or other conditions. I keep reading that the Labour Party have failed to cut public spending I.e the benefits. That the Tory party will make them, is it or is it not happening? I’m very confused. Not the most clued up at the best of times. Thankyou.

Comments

  • Nightcity
    Nightcity Online Community Member Posts: 377 Empowering
    edited November 18

    The Tories can't make anyone do anything they are irrelevant.

    at the moment to my knowledge the only change/law that's actually passed is new claimants for UC from April in the lcwra will get a 48% decrease in the amount.

    The following are planned but ARE NOT law yet and possibly never will be (hopefully)

    PIP changes (a year away at least)

    New style JSA and ESA CB merged as unemployment insurance (unsure if existing claimants would be included, controversial)

    scrapping WCA

    Duty to engage support conversations, hopefully this will fail because huge subsets of claimants can't do this for numerous reasons, again controversial and possibly discriminate if those subsets are not permanently excluded.

    remember the last 3 may not happen and would require legislation primary legislation certainly re esa. But they haven't dropped them and been going on about them since February.

  • Nightcity
    Nightcity Online Community Member Posts: 377 Empowering

    severe criteria is a group of claimants who are judged as never going to improve with daily limitations being constant not fluctuating, in reality many people should qualify if it was decided by sensible qualified medical professionals however of course it's not. I know 4; people who meet their full criteria including myself but none of us are under it.

  • luvpink
    luvpink Online Community Member Posts: 3,211 Championing
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1084005#Comment_1084005

    I wonder if severe criteria applies to claimants granted "ongoing" awards.

  • Kimi87
    Kimi87 Online Community Member Posts: 7,773 Championing

    They had severe criteria under ESA too, DWP are very secretive about who qualifies and how they decide who goes into that group.

    Very little information exists publicly, there might be something here:

    https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/body/dwp

  • Catherine21
    Catherine21 Posts: 8,452 Championing
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1084026#Comment_1084026

    What i been reading thier changing substantial risk also read conditions need to be constant not fluctuating

  • Catherine21
    Catherine21 Posts: 8,452 Championing

    Im really not understanding new style esa is that all of us migrated from support group to uc ? Been reading if you qualified for esa because of substantial risk you won't qualify for health element on uc when wca scrapped this really was out protection ??

  • Kimi87
    Kimi87 Online Community Member Posts: 7,773 Championing
    edited November 18

    New Style ESA eligibility after UC migration stems from having a previous award of Contributions Based ESA with an Income Related top up.

    CB ESA is earned through previous NI Contributions usually from working, occasionally (like me) from special rules under the old Incapacity Benefit.

    It's nothing to do with health.

    If someone didn't have CB ESA pre migration then they don't get NS ESA after migration, all their money comes from UC.

    I only advise on the system as it is currently.

  • jamrumples
    jamrumples Online Community Member Posts: 121 Contributor
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1084005#Comment_1084005

    Thankyou for your reply, just to clarify the severe criteria, what disability are they actually saying though? I don’t understand. Is it progressive ones, what happens to the ones of us that struggle 80% of the time but 20% we are “coping”

  • Nightcity
    Nightcity Online Community Member Posts: 377 Empowering
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1084060#Comment_1084060

    It's a combination of terminal, progressive and lifelong where no improvements are going to happen or/and a decline is certain.

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