http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/esa_wca/esa_wca_27042010.pdfhttp://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/esa_wca/esa_wca_27042010.pdf
"This is the official statistics publication of Work Capability Assessment (WCA) figures
relating to Employment and Support Allowance Claims (ESA). It contains figures on
ESA claims to August 2009 and WCAs to February 2010.
The headline figures are:
For all new ESA Claims from 27th October 2008 to 31st August 2009, the result of the
initial WCA is as follows:
o Support Group - 5%
o Work Related Activity Group -13%
o Fit for Work - 39%
o Claim closed before assessment complete - 37%
o Assessment still in progress - 5%"
PDF version
RADAR welcomes the publication of regulations for the new Employment and Support Allowance, including a guaranteed income of £102.10 per week for those on the Support component.
The introduction of ESA must be backed up with transparent monitoring, so that we know that more people are moving into work, and not just moving to JSA and not working. The Government must address the fact that Pathways to Work has not proven effective for all groups of disabled people; those with fluctuating conditions or mental health conditions are still not being given enough, or the right, support to move back into sustained employment.
The Government’s plans to merge existing specialist disability employment programmes such as WORKSTEP, Job Introduction Scheme and Work Preparation must include flexible in work support on an ongoing basis for those who need it. A programme which assumes people will move into completely unsupported employment risks reducing retention and will not reduce the current situation where some Incapacity Benefit claimants continually cycle between short-term work and benefits.
Read the ESA regulations here.
Read the transitional regulations here.
Read RADAR's response to the Improving Specialist Disability Employment Services Consultation here.
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) replaced Incapacity Benefit and Income Support paid on the grounds of incapacity for new claims from 27th October 2008.
The figures relating to Employment Support Allowance have been thoroughly quality assured to National Statistics standards. Figures to the reporting period May 2009 were badged as "provisional" reflecting the fact that ESA was a new benefit using a new data source taking some time to reach steady state in terms of operational processing and retrospection. Following further quality assurance, from the reporting period August 2009 onwards, the provisional status has been removed.
Data is shown as Caseload / On Flows / Off Flows.
Breakdowns are available by geography (Government Office Region, Local Authority, Parliamentary Constituency), age group, gender, duration of claim and benefit payment type.
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/esa.asp