Over 400,000 people driven to CAB for help with benefit claims in 2013

If you become sick or disabled and lose your job you need to know that you will be supported.

However, our advisers are helping more and more people who are having problems with the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). We think this needs fixing and want to make sure that ESA is fit for work.                (Article and data from the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, 3rd Feb 2014)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ESA is the benefit designed to help people who have limited ability to work. We have found that the ESA process too often fails to determine who is fit for work and who isn’t. This means that  the right people are not getting the support they are entitled to.

As our chart shows, despite attempts by successive Governments to put this right we are still seeing evidence that the system is not fit for work. We want this to change so today Citizens Advice is launching a campaign to improve ESA and make it fit for work.

The Government is currently in the process of deciding which companies will run the Work Capability Assessments (WCA) so this is a key moment. If the lessons of the past are not learnt now we may be facing another five years of failure.

We want to make sure we can help people like Mark who come to Citizens Advice for help. Mark came to his local Citizens Advice when he was caught between one branch of the DWP who told him he was fit for work and another who told him he wasn’t. This left him stuck in a limbo with no ESA, Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit. Following an assessment by Atos, Mark was told by DWP that he was no longer eligible for ESA and so they had cut off all his benefits. However when he went to a Job Centre they told him that they could not give him Job Seekers Allowance because he had a doctor’s certificate saying he could not work. Mark asked DWP to reconsider his ESA application and was told it would only take two weeks – but was later informed he would have to wait at least a month without funds.

As an economist I spend my days looking at figures, charts and graphs. But listening to stories like Mark’s reminds me that every number on a chart represents a different problem that needs solving. And our chart shows there are lots of people facing similar issues. It’s a sobering thought, but one that motivates us to solve these big problems.

To help us illustrate the impact that ESA is having we are asking you to share your stories about the experience of claiming ESA. If you would like to contribute we have set up a new webpage http://blogs.citizensadvice.org.uk/blog/topics/fit-for-work/ to collect your stories. I hope you will join our campaign  and help us make ESA fit for work. Stories like Mark’s show us that this can happen to any of us and we need to make sure the system works properly when we need it most. http://blogs.citizensadvice.org.uk/blog/launch-of-the-fit-for-work-campaign/