New report on future of work-related disability benefits

Disabled people are being held back from participating in good jobs which is contributing to the rise in caseloads for work-related disability benefits, according to a new report from the Joseph Rowntree Trust.

The report Unlocking benefits: Tackling barriers for disabled people says that there is a need for ‘pressing’ reforms to unlock work for people receiving work-related disability benefits and the Government must focus on objectives around economic growth to ensure everyone has the same opportunities to access work and economic security.

It adds that policymakers should not fall into the trap of narrowly focusing on caseloads and benefit spending. Instead, they should directly address underlying health and structural drivers, which are damaging to economic growth and security in themselves.

Work-related disability benefits include health-related Universal Credit (UC) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and according to Scope people on these benefits face unacceptable levels of hardship. A quarter of adults on health-related UC used a food bank in the last year, and a third were unable to afford to keep their house warm. This compares to 3% and 11%, respectively, for the general working-age population.

Scope’s latest research shows that, on average, disabled households need an additional £1,010 a month to maintain the same standard of living as non-disabled households, although this will vary according to individual circumstances.

Addressing the hardship facing people receiving work-related disability benefits

The report says that there are two main routes to addressing the hardship facing people receiving work-related disability benefits. Firstly, increasing the adequacy of these benefits, which are vital lifelines for disabled people; and secondly, supporting disabled people who can work into the labour market.

It also says that worsening population health and its interaction with structural factors are likely to be key drivers to worsening caseloads for benefits. Examples of structural factors include the condition of health-related public services (like the NHS or social care) and the labour market (such as how adapted jobs are for people with health conditions).

The cost-of-living crisis, combined with factors such as extremely inadequate basic safety net support, could also have increased the take-up of previously underclaimed work-related disability benefits.

Policy must therefore focus on improving population health and healthcare. It needs to ensure that jobs are designed to be much more viable for disabled people and more supportive when employees become ill. This means, for example, increasing job adaptability, flexible working and changing employer attitudes towards disability.

Fear of losing benefits

Almost three-quarters of work-related disability benefits recipients surveyed for the report said that fear of losing benefits was a significant or very significant barrier to work.

This fear has three key aspects:

• fear of trying work or engaging with employment support leading to benefit reassessments, loss of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or extra support in UC, increased conditions, or the risk of sanctions
• insecurity about trying work but then not being able to fall back on the same safety net, with the same conditions, should the job not work out
• concern that wages may not be enough to offset the withdrawal of benefits or the overall financial gain not being enough to outweigh the considerable risks.

This is exacerbated by confusion and a lack of clear communication from Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) about existing benefit rules on work. Around 60% of work-related disability benefit recipients surveyed said either they are not allowed to work, or they are not sure if they are allowed to work. This is despite there being no theoretical limit on the amount of work that health-related UC recipients are allowed to do.

There was also low trust in DWP which added to a culture of fear and negativity. This rests on a series of negative interactions with the system experienced by disabled people, including traumatic experiences of assessments. People feel these are unfair, focus on irrelevant things, and can be incredibly stressful and demeaning.

Report recommendations of work-related disability benefits

The report recommended the following:

• Scrap the plan to make individual work coaches solely responsible for deciding if disabled people can be sanctioned.
• End the proposal to make receipt of PIP the sole determinant of whether extra UC support will be awarded.
• A comprehensive ‘Work Transition Guarantee’ should be put into law.
• The Government should increase UC’s work allowances for disabled people and extend the UC reclaim period to 18 months.
• The Government should introduce an Essentials Guarantee to ensure everyone receiving UC has a protected minimum amount of support to at least afford essentials.
• The Government should offer more employment support through trusted local partners and separate this from the system of claiming benefits.
• Any increased engagement or employment support with disabled people should be offered on a voluntary basis.
• The Government should provide support to both claimants and employers, brokering workplace changes and helping employers to make them.

The report concluded: “The new Government must not repeat the failed approaches of the past. Instead, it should take a fresh approach to benefit system reform, working alongside disabled people to put forward an alternative reform agenda: one that will ultimately be more effective at supporting disabled people into work, tackling hardship and increasing economic security.

“Such an approach would reduce risk for disabled people who engage with employment support, move towards work or into work; it would improve trust in DWP, fix assessments and change the culture of fear and negativity; and it would bring a step-change in early, voluntary-based engagement, and effective employment support.”

Alison Bloomer

Alison Bloomer is Editor of Learning Disability Today. She has over 25 years of experience writing for medical journals and trade publications. Subjects include healthcare, pharmaceuticals, disability, insurance, stock market and emerging technologies. She is also a mother to a gorgeous 13-year-old boy who has a learning disability.

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