Westminster Hall debate on the Work Capability Assessment Tuesday 4 th September, 11:00am

Transcription

1 Westminster Hall debate on the Work Capability Assessment Tuesday 4 th September, 11:00am Our organisations have consistently raised concerns about the suitability of the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) for our homeless clients. Since 2008, all applicants for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) have had to attend a WCA to decide whether they can do some type of work. Additionally, people who are currently receiving an inactive benefit will be required to attend a WCA interview to be reassessed and be migrated onto either ESA or if they are deemed fit to work, JSA. Homeless people often have significant and complex physical and mental health issues. Homelessness is both a cause and a consequence of poor health. The current WCA is not able to adequately record the effect multiple and complex illnesses have; rather only summing each of the scores against different medical conditions. It also does not take into account the exacerbating impact of homelessness on someone s health and their ability to work. The WCA has been widely criticised for mistakenly finding people fit for work. 40% of appeals against decisions are successful. The cost of the appeals process is significant. Deciding ESA appeals cost the Tribunals Service over 42 million in 2010/11 1. The number of new ESA appeals in 2010/11 rose by 56% 2. The Tribunals Service has had to double its staffing levels to cope and as a result costs are now estimated to be running at 50 million something Professor Harrington is staggered and shocked at 3. We believe that the WCA needs to be significantly improved so that it is a fairer and more accurate tool able to measure the needs and fitness for work of claimants. We have serious concerns that the WCA is failing to recognise the needs of homeless people. Our experience shows that single homeless people can experience a range of issues that may affect their ability to work. These include fluctuating mental health, substance misuse, low confidence and self esteem, low levels of skills and education and lack of work experience. This is sometimes combined with a chaotic lifestyle. Additionally, many homeless people have been in receipt of inactive benefits such as ESA and Incapacity Benefit for many years, and are a long way from the labour market. 1 Jonathan Djanogly MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice in Hansard (2011) Written Answers to Questions, Tuesday 6 September Ministry of Justice (2011) Annual Tribunals Statistics, The Guardian (2011) No turning back on fit-to-work test

2 90% of homelessness services work with clients with mental health problems. 4 It is particularly concerning therefore that the WCA has been so regularly criticised for being too focussed on physical capabilities and failing to pick up on serious mental health conditions which can make it difficult for people to work. Homeless people s experience of the WCA In a Crisis survey 5 of just under 200 homeless people about their WCA experience: Overall 80% did not feel positive about their experience of the WCA; Furthermore, 40% felt the healthcare professional did not believe them; 58% felt too nervous to give a good account of their condition(s) and 61% felt resigned to their claim in all likelihood being turned down; Being asked to attend a face-to-face medical assessment made over 97% of individuals stressed, anxious, worried that their claim would be turned down and 85% worried that they would be forced into work; During the assessment, almost 30% felt their claim was not taken seriously by the healthcare professional, 47% felt the professional poorly understood their individual needs and health issues and 46% also felt they had a poor awareness of the impact of homelessness on lives; The survey also asked about WCA outcomes for homeless people Outcomes varied depending on whether clients were accompanied, 86% of those unaccompanied were deemed not to have limited capacity for work whereas the figure for those accompanied was 39%; 76% appealed their decisions; 25% of appeals (at the time of survey) had been successful. Recommendations Whilst some progress has been made over the last two years, the changes made to the WCA since Professor Harrington s reviews have not had the impact that we would have hoped. We believe that the WCA is still not working adequately and needs urgent reform. There is a need for: Homelessness in itself to be considered a support need, one that impacts on, and is caused by mental and physical ill health. HCPs and Jobcentre Plus decision makers to receive improved training to enable them to understand and correctly assess people with fluctuating conditions, including mental ill health; and to develop a better understanding of the barriers that homeless people face to accessing the labour market Greater weight to be given to supporting evidence from claimants GPs and support workers, with an opportunity to provide evidence at a later stage if not produced initially; Learning from how the appeals process considers the evidence to ensure that more decisions are right first time. Please attend the debate and raise our concerns about the problems the WCA causes for people who are homeless and have significant barriers to employment. 4 Homeless Link (2011) Survey of Needs and Provision 5 Crisis (2012) Single homeless people s experiences of the Work Capability Assessment

3 Company Number: Charity Numbers: England and Wales , Scotland SC For further information, please contact: Michael Fothergill Crisis Welfare Network Manager Crisis 66 Commercial Street London E1 6LT Tel:

4 Case Studies Annex 1 Case Study - CH, Crisis CH was living in a high support homeless hostel in central London. CH was awarded zero points at his initial WCA, despite having a crushed spine, osteoporosis, suffering from depression and being a recovering addict on a methadone prescription. CH was awarded 41 points on appeal. Five months later, after being called for a repeat WCA, he was again awarded zero points and again appealed. This time he received an incredible 91 points, was assessed as being unlikely to work in the near future and placed in the ESA Support Group. Despite this, he has been called to a further WCA within three months.. Case Study - AW, ThamesReach In July 2011, AW, a client of ThamesReach and chaotic drug user who was on ESA, was called to a WCA. AW was in prison at the time and so was unable to attend. When he was released in August 2011, he was told that he would not receive any ESA payments until he attended a WCA and that he could not have an appointment until 23 December As a result he was without any income for 4 months. AW survived by relying on his friends and family, crisis loans and ThamesReach project staff, who used welfare funds to purchase food for him, as well as by borrowing money. When AW attended his WCA, his key worker came along with him. The doctor who carried out the assessment did not ask follow up questions and the key worker had to offer up additional information on behalf of AW, including that he lost his last job after stealing, has anger management issues that the project had needed to pay 300 to have his room cleared of hoarded items and used syringes. AW was awarded 12 points and his ESA was disallowed. He is currently appealing this decision and will remain on the assessment phase of ESA. If the appeal is successful, he will receive 4 months worth of back paid benefits. This will be a substantial amount for a former chaotic drug user in recovery and the risk of relapse is present. Case Study - RW, Broadway RW lives in a medium support hostel which is staffed 24 hours a day. He is 48 years old and has spent roughly half of his adult life in prison, usually for violent crimes. When he is not in prison he is usually homeless. He has had tenancies but these have been lost when he returned to prison. RW has been addicted to heroin for over 20 years and is now prescribed methadone. He also takes several benzodiazepines. He also suffers from epilepsy following a violent attack when he was hit on the head with a hammer. RW is frequently confused and disorientated and obsessive about small details. He has an significant management difficulties, high levels of paranoia, and can be

5 unpredictable. He admits that he is a violent man and, when not in prison, cannot deal competently with every day life. RW received zero points at his WCA, and is currently awaiting an appeal date. Case Study - John, St Mungo s John spent over 20 years sleeping rough or staying in temporary accommodation. He has a history of alcoholism, cannabis use and mental health issues, for which he takes medication. After living in a St Mungo s residential project for just over a year, John received an ATOS questionnaire, something he didn t feel able to fill out and that made him fear losing his next payment. With support from a St Mungo s staff member he knew and trusted, John filled in the form and sent it off. He was then asked to attend a medical assessment. John finds it very difficult to go to places he did not know or to use public transport but was accompanied by a St Mungo s member of staff to his assessment. John received zero points. He immediately made a written appeal, once again with the help of St Mungo s staff, and is now receiving regular ESA payments, though at a significantly lower rate than previously. Without the help and support of St Mungo s staff, John would not have filled in the original questionnaire, would not have attended his assessment and would not have appealed the decision. In such circumstances, and given his history, there are concerns that John would struggle with the requirements expected of JSA claimants and may abandon his accommodation and return to the streets. Case Study MS, Shekinah MS, whilst not in prison lives either on the street or in short term accommodation which generally breaks down after a few weeks. He is 37, a former care leaver and has spent most of his adult life in prison. Whilst not diagnosed, it is felt that MS shows a number of traits that would suggest he is on the autistic spectrum. He is highly obsessive and can present as very demanding to those that do not know him and in some cases this has led to violent confrontations. In addition he has a history of alcoholism which he has unsuccessfully tried to address. MS received zero points at his WCA and is currently in the process of appealing.