Clause 2
Welfare Reform Bill
4:45 pm
Jim Murphy (Minister of State (Work), Department for Work and Pensions; East Renfrewshire, Labour)
We have announced our intention that the ESA rate will be above the current long-term IB rate. The hon. Gentleman would not expect me to go further than that today but I shall make a couple of points on the comments made by the hon. Member for South-West Surrey. There remain three different rates in the assessment phase: one for customers aged under 18; another for those aged 18 to 24; and another for those of 25 and over. The reason for the assessment phase is to ensure that the rates line up with jobseeker’s allowance rates.
We do not want to make any assumptions during the assessment phase about a person’s capability, which is why we deliberately sought to align benefit rates with the JSA rate in the three-month assessment phase. That means that the customers who are not entitled to the employment and support allowance can move back on to JSA at the existing rate.
As the new age discrimination legislation shows, the Government are committed to combating unfair treatment on the grounds of age; in the case of benefit levels there are differentials because in general younger people are likely to have fewer demands on their income. For example, they are less likely to have dependants and more likely still to be supported by their family. I acknowledge that those are generalisations, but they have permeated the benefit system for many years.
We have said that no young people on incapacity benefit now will be worse off under the employment and support allowance. I go further: we will continue to make special provisions so that many young people can access the contributory allowance even without meeting the national insurance contribution conditions. That is a small measure in the Bill but it is very important as it removes any unforeseen penalisation of young people on the basis that they are unable to qualify for the contributory allowance because of their age.
We are introducing an entirely new structure for the ESA which moves away from a system where benefit rises with the length of incapacity, which we believe undermines incentives to return to work. We have made it clear that existing customers’ benefit will be fully protected and the new structure ensures that new customers will gain after the end of the assessment phase. The allowance has a two-tier structure because it is important to distinguish between those whom we would reasonably expect to participate in work-related activity and those whom it would not be reasonable to encourage to do so.
I assure my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, North-West that we are determined not to write anyone off but we recognise that some people on ESA will have severe health conditions and disabilities, and they will need our support. The existence of the support component will enable us to provide extra financial support to those who suffer the most severe conditions.