Clause 9
Welfare Reform Bill
11:45 am
Jim Murphy (Minister of State (Work), Department for Work and Pensions; East Renfrewshire, Labour)
I shall respond to the hon. Gentleman’s point; as he said, we might have a stand part debate—with your permission, Mr. Amess. As he knows, clause 9 provides that the question whether a person’s capability for work-related activity is limited by his physical or mental condition, and if so, whether the limitation would make it unreasonable to require him to undertake such activity, is to be determined in regulations. As the Committee knows, I published a draft of those regulations two weeks ago on the day when the Committee of Selection met.
Our belief that work is a right underpins much of the Committee’s deliberations and was behind the genesis of the Bill. However, we recognise that for some, work is simply not possible. The support group has been created for individuals whose functional limitation is such that it would be unreasonable to require them to engage in work-related activity. As I have said, and as hon. Members have mentioned, that will be based on falling under one of the 46 listed descriptors provided to the Committee in regulation 3 of the draft regulations. Other non-medical circumstances such as caring responsibilities might make it difficult for ESA customers to engage in work-focused interviews or undertake work-related activity, but it would not be appropriate to place such factors on a prescriptive list in the way that the hon. Gentleman suggests.
The Committee has been provided with a copy of the draft regulations on work-focused interviews, which will allow a personal adviser to defer an interview if he or she considers that it would not assist the person in question or be appropriate in the circumstances. Personal advisers will be able to take into account non-medical issues such as transport difficulties, caring responsibilities or bereavement when making a decision on deferrals. So although I could not give the hon. Gentleman much comfort in our earlier debate on what he described as a social model of assessment, I hope that the additional paperwork that has been provided reassures him that deferrals can take place on the bases that I have mentioned.