New regulations, which change the work capability assessment test for both existing employment and support allowance claimants (ESA) and those being migrated onto ESA from incapacity benefit (IB), severe disablement allowance (SDA) and income support (IS), have now been published.

The Employment and Support Allowance (Limited Capability for Work and Limited Capability for Work- Related Activity) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 (2011/228) amend Schedules 1 and 2 of the Employment and Support Regulations 2008. These schedules respectively contain the rules for the limited capability for work test and the limited capability for work related activity test.

The regulations come into force on 28 March 2011 and will apply to all assessments made from that date except where a claimant has been sent a questionnaire (esa 50) which is asks questions based on the previous rules. In these cases the old (pre 28 March 2011) rules apply. This exception will only apply for six months.

More information

• si 2011/228 - legislation. gov.uk website
• ssac consultation on wca regs
• da's response to the ssac consultation

http://www.disabilityalliance.org/wcanew.htm