The Autumn Statement and ESA claimants - some clarification

When George Osborne said in his Autumn Statement that the government would 'extend the same support and conditionality we currently expect of those on JSA to over 1 million more benefit claimants' , I and others feared that this meant sick and disabled claimants in receipt of Employment Support Allowance (ESA). This now appears not to be the case, but there are still concerns that the pressure on such claimants may be increased.

In the House of Commons George Osborne was asked, (Column 1404) 'Can the Chancellor say whether he will be dragging the sick and disabled to jobcentres every week?' George Osborne replied that  "The additional conditionality that the hon. Gentleman refers to relates to people who are currently on housing benefit but do not face that conditionality. Housing benefit is becoming part of universal credit, so that is one category of people we can extend the conditionality to." So, it is not specifically targeted at ESA claimants. Whether disabled claimants of housing benefit are included or exempt was still not made clear.

Meanwhile, the Department for Work and Pensions released a statement  referring to "a real terms increase in funding to help those with disabilities and health conditions return to, and remain in, work". Yet only two weeks ago it emerged that over the last four years, the number of specialist Disability Employment Advisors in Jobcentres had been cut by over 60 per cent, from 226 to just 90. The government justified this by saying that disabled people would transfer to Universal Credit and be advised by Work Coaches, like all other unemployed people. Charities like Scope, Mencap and Mind pointed out that without specialised help, many people with learning disabilities and mental health problems found it difficult to avoid falling foul of the system and being sanctioned.

The government has also recently cut the level of Access to Work payments, and over one hundred disabled people a week are losing their car due to the introduction of Personal Independence Payments. This all makes it more difficult for people to get jobs.

The DWP also announced "a new Work and Health Programme replacing the Work Programme" and "Work Choice which will provide specialist support for the long-term unemployed and claimants with health conditions and disabilities". The DWP told the Independent that this new Work and Health Programme would replace the Mandatory Work Activity, which required claimants to undertake up to 30 hours per week of unpaid work in return for their benefits, in placements that lasted up to six months. The DWP says details of the Health and Work Programme have not been finalised.

Iain Duncan Smith said, "This Spending Review will see the start of genuine integration between the health and work sectors, with a renewed focus on supporting people with health conditions and disabilities return to and remain in work." This integration of health and work sectors is worrying, as we have seen from the Work Capability Assessment that when healthcare professionals without the appropriate expertise become involved in dealing with very ill or disabled people, tragedies can occur.  

So, this could herald a reversal of policy from the DWP, and an attempt to provide genuine support without punitive pressure for disabled people – but given all that  has gone before, it is difficult not to fear that this is simply the beginning of a new way to harass sick and disabled people.

At the Conservative Party Conference, Iain Duncan Smith told disabled people, "With our help, you'll work your way out of poverty." But surely we want a country in which disabled people, working or not working, don't live in poverty in the first place?  

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  © Bernadette Meaden has written about political, religious and social issues for some years, and is strongly influenced by Christian Socialism, liberation theology and the Catholic Worker movement. She is an Ekklesia associate and regular contributor. You can follow her on Twitter: @BernaMeaden