Clause 9
Welfare Reform Bill
4:00 pm
Jim Murphy (Minister of State (Work), Department for Work and Pensions; East Renfrewshire, Labour)
We were in the middle of my response to the comments made by Opposition Members. I started by referring to Sarah in the case study in our paperwork and I shall continue from there.
For clarification, the significant point in case study 1 is that Sarah’s condition gradually improved.
I apologise for not greeting you at the start, Mr. Amess. It is great to see you in your place on this sunny afternoon, rather than bleak morning.
For the avoidance of doubt, I remind the Committee that someone is given access to the support group because they have attained the 15 points required and met one of the 46 descriptors. Nevertheless, if that person sought to volunteer for work-focused interviews or work-related activity or, indeed, to enter the world of paid employment, if permitted of course, they would still be treated as a member of the support group in terms of their assessment. Only a medical assessment or a new personal capability assessment can end a person’s membership of the support group. In such circumstances, no member of a support group would be punished for undertaking work-focused interviews or work-related activity. It would not be the volunteering itself that would take someone out ofthe support group, but the new personal capability assessment or, as in Sarah’s case—the case study is very clear—the changing nature of the condition. Some conditions improve gradually over time.