Work Capability Assessment

Tuesday 10th June 2014 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Mike Penning)]

Today the Government will publish a call for evidence as part of the fifth independent review of the work capability assessment (WCA), carried out by Dr Paul Litchfield.

The first three independent reviews were carried out by Professor Malcolm Harrington, and published in November 2010, November 2011 and November 2012. The fourth independent review was published in December 2013. This was the first independent review of the WCA carried out by Dr Litchfield. In the fourth review Dr Litchfield confirmed that the Government had made good progress in implementing Professor Harrington’s recommendations, and also made a number of recommendations of his own. The Department has accepted, or accepted with caveats, all but one of the recommendations, demonstrating our commitment to improve the WCA even further.

This call for evidence will be one of several methods used to gather information during the review. Evidence submitted will be used to inform Dr Litchfield’s report to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which will be laid before Parliament before the end of 2014.

This is the fifth and final statutory independent review. This year’s call for evidence focuses on the impact of previous reviews, seeks new evidence about the employment and support allowance work-related activity group and support group, and individuals’ experience of the WCA process. There is also a focus on people who have mental health conditions or learning difficulties.

The call for evidence runs until 15 August 2014.

I will place a copy of the call for evidence in the Libraries of both Houses. It will also be available on the Government’s website: www.gov.uk/DWP later today.