employment support allowance

The government has announced pilot schemes to get more disabled people and people with long term medical conditions into employment.

Flaws in the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) are so grave that simply re-branding the the Work Capability Assessment (WCA)) by appointing a new contractor will not solve the problem, the Work and Pensions Committee has said.

People on sickness benefits will be required to have regular meetings with healthcare professionals or face losing benefits - in a two-year pilot scheme in central England, beginning in November.

Judges have ruled that work capability assessments (WCA) conducted to decide eligibility for certain disability benefits discriminate against those with mental illness.

Income replacement is the most important protection product available, Defaqto has said in light of today's Office for National Statistics unemployment data.

Thousands on sickness benefits have been found fit to work and will receive no further support under welfare system reforms.

Government figures for the quarter to August 2011 reveal that 54% of people who go through the Work Capability Assessment are found fit for some form of work.

From 30 April people who are able to get back into the workplace will get contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance (ESA (C)) for a maximum of 12 months.

The government's controversial welfare reforms have received Royal Ascent and so been adopted into law.

More than a quarter of a million people are claiming Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) because of mental and behavioural disorders, research has revealed.