Employment and Support Allowance
(asked on 13th March 2026) - View Source
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many and what percentage of new style Employment and Support Allowance applications were successful in (1) 2023, (2) 2024, and (3) 2025.
Initial Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) Work Capability Assessment (WCA) by date of decision and ESA group allocation:
WCA Outcome | Jan 2023 - Dec 2023 | Jan 2024 – Dec 2024 | Jan 2025 - Sept 2025* | |||
| Volume | Percentage | Volume | Percentage | Volume | Percentage |
Support Group or WRAG | 66,030 | 80% | 62,950 | 83% | 39,360 | 81% |
Fit for Work | 16,570 | 20% | 13,100 | 17% | 9,010 | 19% |
Total | 82,600 | 100% | 76,060 | 100% | 48,380 | 100% |
* Data is taken from Stat-Xplore. Volumes have been rounded to the nearest ten. Totals may not sum due to rounding and the disclosure control applied.
* The latest available data is for September 2025. Therefore, the 2025 volumes do not cover the entire year and are not comparable to the 2023 or 2024 volumes.
* New Style ESA applications and Work Capability Assessments (WCAs) are distinct processes, and successful outcomes are centrally collated only once a WCA has been completed. Not all applications proceed to a WCA. The only robust data source for successful outcomes is WCA data.