Work and Pensions written question – answered at on 20 January 2011.
Lisa Nandy
Labour, Wigan
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will defer implementation of the Employment and Support Allowance (Limited Capability for Work and Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity) Amendment Regulations 2011 until he has received recommendations from (a) Mind, (b) Mencap and (c) the National Autistic Society on the mental, intellectual and cognitive descriptors for the work capability assessment.
Chris Grayling
The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions
We believe that the principles of the work capability assessment (WCA) are right, but that the system which we inherited contained some flaws that risked undermining its effectiveness. We have therefore moved swiftly to put those right.
We welcome the first independent review of the WCA, led by Professor Malcolm Harrington. We are committed to taking forward the review's recommendations so that we can make the system fairer and more effective. The Government response to Professor Harrington's review sets out how and when we will implement the recommendations of the review, the Majority of which will be in place in time for the national roll-out of the incapacity benefits reassessment programme.
We are grateful to Professor Harrington who has agreed to take forward the next annual review of the WCA. He will start work immediately on the programme of work he has identified, to look in detail at the descriptors for mental health and other fluctuating conditions. We look forward to receiving the results of this work. We are committed to a process of ongoing review and improvement of the WCA and believe that it would be inappropriate to delay implementation of other pertinent recommendations while we await additional recommendations.
Yes0 people think so
No23 people think not
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