DWP plans could see more than 50,000 disabled people lose access to vital work support

At least 50,000 people with disabilities and health conditions could lose access to financial employment support if the government goes ahead with plans to scrap the work capability assessment (WCA), according to a new report from Citizens Advice. 

The figure is likely to be an undercount, with recent Freedom of Information disclosures suggesting far more people could be affected. 

The Citizens Advice report concerns the “work allowance” for the universal credit (UC) health element, the benefit paid to disabled people who qualify via the WCA.

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The work allowance lets disabled people who are in paid work earn more income before their universal credit starts being cut under the financial means test.  

Most UC claimants lose 55p in benefits for every pound they earn through paid work. However, UC health claimants on housing benefit can earn £411 a month from paid work before their benefits start being cut – a figure that rises to £684 a month for UC health claimants not on housing benefit. 

The work allowance is designed to encouraged disabled people to re-enter the workplace. Although the WCA assesses people’s illness or disability in the context of their ability to work, those who qualify for the universal credit health payment via the WCA are not barred from carrying out paid work.  

However, the Citizens Advice report details how the government’s plans to scrap the WCA could mean large numbers of disabled people no longer qualify for the universal credit health element, thereby losing access to the work allowance as well as cutting their benefits. 

This spring the government outlined its plans to change the eligibility test for the health part of UC, by scrapping the WCA and replacing it with the assessment for the separate personal independence payment (PIP) daily living element. This would mean that one assessment decides eligibility for all working-age disability benefits, none of which would any longer be specifically linked to ability to work. More detailed plans are expected this autumn, with legislation to follow.    

The PIP daily living assessment is based on different criteria to the WCA. Many of those who meet the requirements of the WCA do not meet the PIP criteria. 

“By restricting eligibility to UC health to those receiving the daily living component of PIP, almost 50,000 people […] would lose both UC health support and their work allowance,” the Citizens Advice report said. “Instead of limiting access further, the government should be expanding disabled people’s entitlement to the work allowance.” 

The 50,000 figure is based on published DWP figures showing the number of UC health claimants who receive the PIP mobility element but not the PIP daily living payment. This is the only routinely published official figure showing how many UC health claimants were definitely turned down for the PIP daily living payment, because PIP applicants are assessed for both elements at the same time. 

However, figures disclosed by the DWP under the Freedom of Information Act show that as of last November, 409,000 UC health claimants had been rejected for the PIP daily living payment at their most recent assessment.  

If the WCA is replaced with the PIP daily living assessment without protecting existing claimants against losing their benefits, these 409,000 claimants would potentially lose access to the work allowance as well as losing their UC health payments when they are reassessed. 

A further 175,000 claimants of the employment and support allowance (ESA) – the predecessor to UC health – had been rejected for the PIP daily living payment. ESA has a different work allowance to UC health, but access to this would also be jeopardised if claimants lost their benefits following the switch to the PIP daily living assessment. The WCA is unlikely to be scrapped until near the end of this decade, by which time all ESA claimants are expected to have been moved onto UC.  

“We see every day how the current system fails to make work pay for disabled people. The government’s proposed reforms will make that problem worse,” said Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice. 

“The work allowance exists precisely because disabled people face additional barriers and costs when moving into employment. Restricting access to this support sends entirely the wrong signal about the value we place on disabled people’s contributions to the workforce. 

“Our research shows the real difference these allowances make, often the difference between being able to afford basic necessities or going without. If it’s serious about getting more disabled people into work the government should be expanding work allowances, not making them more difficult to access.” 

Research published by the DWP earlier this year found that 14% of 720 claimants who received either UC health or ESA – but not PIP – were in some form of paid work at the time they were surveyed. Most of this is likely to be part-time work, as full-time work income would be too high to qualify for UC. 

If that 14% figure is applied to the 584,000 people who claim ESA or UC health but were rejected for the PIP daily living payment, that would suggest around 80,000 disabled people who actually benefit from the work allowance might lose it once the WCA is replaced. 

The government has not yet decided what, if any, protections to put in place for existing claimants after the WCA is scrapped. The PIP daily living assessment criteria could also potentially be altered by the forthcoming Timms Review, which is unlikely to report back until after Parliament has voted on replacing the WCA. 

A DWP spokesperson said: “We’re committed to abolishing the work capability assessment and reforming the system that tells people they either can or can’t work. 

“Our reforms will genuinely support those who can work into employment, backed by £3.8bn investment in employment support, while ensuring there is always a safety net for the most vulnerable. 

“We have also announced a ministerial review of the PIP assessment process – which puts disabled people at its heart – to make sure it is fit and fair for the future.” 

The DWP added that it is considering how WCA abolition could affect individuals who may not be eligible for the PIP daily living payment, and therefore the UC health element, in the reformed system. 

The government’s stated aim in scrapping the WCA is to remove the link between additional financial support and ability to work, focusing UC’s health-related financial support on those with long-term conditions and disabilities. The DWP says the post-WCA assessment system would be based on the impact of disability on daily living, not on capacity to work. 

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