ESA - WCA Assessments to be scrapped in future?!

More here
https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/welfare-rights/news/item/government-expected-to-publish-health-and-disability-white-paper-before-the-spring-budget-setting-out-ambitious-and-extensive-reforms
and from labour yesterday
https://labour.org.uk/press/jonathan-ashworth-speech-at-the-centre-for-social-justice/

firstly I think the below link could be viewed as a preview for the disability white paper coming soon:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/out-of-work-disability-benefit-reform/out-of-work-disability-benefit-reform

second, if the dwp do rid of the current wca assessments (which are designed to trip people up and assessors at times pretty much lie or spin on the orders of above to wrongly fail people to save money) what would their guide in determining whether a person is ill or has a lifelong condition/disability? - surely an official diagnosis from professionals would be the fair thing to do (but as we are talking about the tories and the dwp I imagine it will be something worse than the current wca assessment systems - ie the new and ‘improved’ warm home discount criteria!)

third - way is Jonathan ashworth complaining that the tories are stealing his idea? - if the tories like your idea then it’s probably a bad and/or cruel idea (nothing to boost about) - first time I’ve wondered if there is some truth in those saying labour is no different than the tories (think tagline of AVP - “whoever wins we lose” - the ‘we’ being the sick and disabled)


Lastly as I doubt a person with real life experience of the current system is helping writing the nitty gritty - why don’t disability charities like scope compile their own white paper? 

apple85 said:

.. why don’t disability charities like scope compile their own white paper? 

There has been no shortage of suggestions for reform made by charities and others over the years.

apple85 said:

firstly I think the below link could be viewed as a preview for the disability white paper coming soon:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/out-of-work-disability-benefit-reform/out-of-work-disability-benefit-reform

Sadly there is a long history of the government ignoring/rejecting suggestions put forward by SSAC.

When you have decisions being overturned at the Appeal stage, then you know things aren't quite right with the process, you have the DWP potentially looking at the same claim three times.  That has a lot of consequences for everyone. Add the wasted resources to everything else.   

apple85 said: Also there are several uk disability charities in the uk, have they ever joined forces (not dissimilar to unions joining together for a general strike) - one united booming voice is going to be more effective than several whispers if you catch my meaning

Agreed. They do sometimes make joint submissions but, in my pinion, there is an unnecessary amount of duplication between charities (take for example every charity trying o explain the benefits system on their websites).

apple85 said: Another thing is politicians the past few years have been very effective in using the media to smear anyone on the benefits system and giving us all the stereotype of a lazy sponger. 

Agreed - but a large portion of the media appear to need no encouragement from the politicians to do this. Sadly much of the media will ignore information that contradicts their stand point.

I think it's probably fair to say that having bits and pieces of the possible changes leaking out to the press in this way isn't particularly helpful because it's only giving parts of the story. 

There was news a month or two back that they were thinking of scrapping the £152 limit on earnings from permitted work, I think (from what I read) because not everyone works at the minimum wage, and that permitted work should perhaps focus on a set number of hours rather than pay.  This makes sense.  For example, if I was tutoring at university, I couldn't even do four hours of teaching a week and manage to keep it under £152.  I don't say that to show off, but just saying that the £152 limit (16 hours at minimum wage) just reinforces the idea that everyone ill or disabled doesn't have much to offer and are going to work at minimum wage and not aim for anything higher. 

And that, I guess, is where the WCA is extremely problematic.  It's based around whether you can lift a cardboard box above your head and pick up a pound coin (probably while doing the hokey cokey) among other things.  It doesn't ask if you can type, for example, or if you can use your English degree (if you have one) and work as a proof-reader.  The assumption it makes is that everyone's going to aspire to work in Poundland or, if you're really lucky, Greggs. 

I'm pretty sure everyone agrees that the current system is pretty awful, but there are dangers to us with regards to changing the WCA to take into account the things I mention, because you may be able to type some days and not others, making you unsuitable for regular work.  And you might only be able to do that proofreading if your mental health is in a good enough place for you to concentrate.  I use those instances just as examples, I might add, obviously everyone has their own individual skill sets.  The other issues is that you might be able to go to work for three hours one day, but then have to stay at home to recover for the two days that follow.  It's all very well concentrating on what you CAN do rather than what you can't, but it's not anything like as simple as that.  

Sadly, I fear the likelihood is that everything will continue to try and pigeon hole us rather than view us as individuals.  Certainly, though, ESA doesn't really work with regards to work.  If you're not on permitted work, you can't work at all.  And if you go £1 over your permitted work, your ESA stops.  That's a ludicrous ruling that makes no sense whatsoever.  Meanwhile, it's not encouraging someone on ESA to try work for a month or two to see how they get on (maybe that semester of teaching I mentioned), when they then have to go on Universal Credit if it doesn't work out, where they'll get considerably less money than they had before they tried work in the first place.  Where's the incentive to work in that?

The system is a mess, and considering the govt has only managed to screw things up over the last twelve years, I don't have much faith in their attempts to change things for the better.  I fear this will be much more an exercise in making the govt look good (if such a thing is humanly possible_ rather than an exercise in helping those who are ill and disabled.  I'd like to be proven wrong, though.