Clause 8
Welfare Reform Bill
9:45 am
Jeremy Hunt (Shadow Minister (the Disabled), Work & Pensions; South West Surrey, Conservative)
On the face of it, the amendments are relatively simple. They are based on the question of whether it would be possible to combine the assessment for limited capability for work, as described in the clause, with the assessment for limited capability for work-related activity in clause 9. The amendments would make possible not only one single assessment, but the removal of clause 9.
Mr. Hood, I wonder whether you will allow me some latitude in my explanation of why we tabled the amendments. They touch on one of the two most important themes that I wish to draw to the Committee’s attention in all our 16 sittings. It concerns the fundamental thinking behind the Bill, which is that if we are going to make it easy for disabled people to re-engage in the world of work, two things have to be considered.
The first is the welcome provision in the Bill that gives people additional help to deal with their health conditions and to deal with the challenges that they may face in entering or re-entering the labour market. There are lots of excellent things in the Bill, which have been presaged by the successfully piloted pathways programme. I commend the Government not only on presenting the Bill to the House but on the pathways programme, which has given Opposition Members a great deal of confidence that roll-out can occur practically and successfully.
There is a challenge, however, and it is the complexity of the system. The current benefits system for disabled people is extraordinarily complex, and these amendments attempt represent a small step towards simplifying the processes—not just the complexity of different available benefits, but the assessment processes as well. The report that was published last year—“Improving the life chances of disabled people”—gives an example of a hypothetical person called, I think, Kelly, who becomes disabled in her twenties. It lists all the benefit applications that she would have to make. They include applications to the wheelchair service, to the local council for a disabled facilities grant, and to Access to Work for help in modifying her computer and her desk. There would also be applications for help with housing allowance, to social services for help with a personal assistant, and to the independent living fund, if the PA were going to cost more than a certain amount. The report does not mention that, on top of that, she would have to apply for the disability living allowance, or—if she were not in work—incapacity benefit.