Welfare Reform Bill: Victory on ESA time limits

13 January 2012

This week the House of Lords voted against 3 issues on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) in the Welfare Reform Bill. This included a key victory for people with Parkinson's.

Peers voted for those who are now placed in the Work-Related Activity Group (WRAG) to receive contributory Employment and Support Allowance for 2 years (rather than the 1 year in the bill) before being means tested for the benefit to continue.

Means testing would mean anyone with a partner earning £149 a week or modest savings or more would lose all financial support.

What does this mean?

This does not affect people who are in the Support Group (those who are assessed as unfit to work).

But many people with Parkinson's are in the Work-Related Activity Group. This group is meant to support people to get back to work even though they may be too ill at present.

The proposal to lose the benefit after a year before being means tested would put huge pressure on people in this group to find work, in spite of the impact of their Parkinson's on them.

What's more, people in this group have been contributing national insurance, in the expectation of a financial safety net if they find themselves too ill to work.

In powerful speeches, Peer after Peer stood up to object to the arbitrary time limit.

More work to be done

We've been lobbying the Lords, as part of the Disability Benefits Consortium, to make the Welfare Reform Bill fairer for people with Parkinson's.

There are still some elements of the bill that we think need to be changed.

But this week's vote is a significant victory as bills are rarely amended by the House of Lords. 

Steve Ford, our Chief Executive, comments:

"The Government say they will press ahead with their original bill when it returns to the Commons, despite this week's vote from the Lords.

"We're determined to see this callous provision defeated by MPs, as well as their colleagues in the Lords, so we'll be fighting this every step of the way.

Reapplying despite medical evidence - ridiculous and costly

Steve Ford continues:

"There are other ludicrous things that need to be taken out of the Welfare Reform Bill too.

"Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is to end and become Personal Independence Payment (PIP). This reform will cost a staggering £675 million mainly because it involves face to face reassessments of working age people on DLA.

"Forcing people with Parkinson's and other long-term conditions to constantly reapply for benefits, despite what the medical evidence is, is clearly ridiculous and costly.

"It is hard enough battling debilitating illnesses like this over years without worrying all the time about having your benefits taken away."

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