Work Capability Reassessments

Ian Swales Excerpts

Wednesday 5th December 2012 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Esther McVey)]

I thank the hon. Member for Edinburgh East (Sheila Gilmore) for calling this debate, and thank all hon. Members who contributed so constructively. The matter is of great importance to the hon. Lady, who has raised the concerns on many occasions.

The Minister for Employment, the lead Minister responsible for the work capability assessment policy, is on Government business in Brussels today and has asked me to pass on his apologies. I will answer questions as fully as I can, but if I do not answer in as much depth as hon. Members would like, a full written response will follow.

I understand the concerns for people who are claiming and who appear to be called back for reassessment soon after a successful appeal. First, I want to make clear why it is important to call people on ESA back for reassessments at appropriate intervals. People are entitled to ESA for as long as they satisfy the entitlement conditions. To ensure that people receive benefit correctly, it is important that they are called for reassessment from time to time, to ensure that they still meet the entitlement conditions. People’s health conditions can change and we need to ensure that they remain in the correct group, for example, the work-related activity group or support group. This is a normal part of receiving ESA and is important to ensure that people continue to receive the right support. This active approach to the benefit is crucial and is having an impact.

[Ian Swales (Redcar) (LD)]

The Minister talks about the need for reassessments. Can she confirm whether the Government have provided any instructions about whether face-to-face or physical assessments are needed? People being assessed at a distance—the so-called “under scrutiny” method—is a growing problem in my constituency. Can she confirm whether that is a policy, because it is certainly giving rise to a greater number of wrong assessments?

[Esther McVey]

I will come to that point a little later.

The number of working-age people on ESA and incapacity benefits as of February 2012 was 2.56 million, which is the lowest level since the introduction of IB in 1995. Early estimates to September 2012 suggest that overall the numbers on these benefits are further decreasing and for the first time the data have gone below 2.5 million.