Welfare Reform Bill

The amendments relate to the assessment phase of ESA. They would affect our ability to set the level of the components which form part of the amount of ESA in the main phase. I believe that some of them may be intended to seek an assurance about a maximum period between customers submitting their claim and their entry into the assessment phase, including receiving payment of their benefit. The amendments would effectively remove the assessment phase from ESA. The assessment phase is key to the structure of the new benefit because we want to avoid making any assumptions about people before there has been an opportunity to carry out the necessary assessments. We also believe that it is right for the assessment phase to be fixed at a standard length. It would be unfair for some people to move on to the higher rate of benefit earlier than others due to circumstances such as delays in acquiring appropriate medical evidence that are beyond any customer’s control. In fact, an assessment phase of 13 weeks means that most customers will move on to the higher, main phase rate of benefit sooner than they would see an increase in their benefit under the current system. The amendments, which I understand may or may not be probing, would also remove very important powers. By removing Clauses 2(4)(c) and 4(6)(c), the powers to set the level of the work-related activity component and the support component would be taken out of the Bill. That would render entitlement to the components meaningless, since no amount of additional benefit would be attached to them. The purpose of proposed paragraph (e) of Amendments Nos. 12 and 26 is not entirely clear. I believe that it may be intended to seek an assurance about the maximum period between customers submitting their claim and their entry into the assessment phase, including receiving payment of their benefit. It may help if I explain how a claim is made. When someone submits a claim for benefit, their date of claim is then established. For ESA, we intend to maintain the alignment recently drawn between IB and IS so that when Jobcentre Plus is notified of an intention to claim—for example, through a telephone call to the contact centre—that date can be treated as the date of the claim if the properly completed claim form is then received within one month. Entitlement to ESA will be dependent on the customer having made a claim for it. Once a claim is made, the first day of entitlement is established, and the assessment phase will start at that first day of entitlement. The relationship between that date and the date a claim is made can vary—for example, because customers can backdate their claim by up to three months. It should also be noted that three waiting days will be served before there is any entitlement to receive ESA after making a claim in a period of limited capability for work. Let us use the example of a customer contacting Jobcentre Plus on 8 February to make a claim for ESA. When he sends in his completed claim form on 11 February—within one month of the original date—his date of claim is confirmed as 8 February because it was the date of first contact with Jobcentre Plus. However, this customer has been sick since3 January, so he wants his entitlement to benefit to be backdated to cover the whole period he has been sick. No entitlement to benefit arises on the first three days of limited capability for work—the waiting days—so his entitlement and his assessment phase start on6 January. This means that he will receive a backdated lump sum for the period since 6 January and he will then be paid as normal. His assessment phase will end on 7 April—13 weeks after 6 January. If his PCA is completed by 7 April and he is assessed as having limited capability for work, he will move on to the main phase and receive the appropriate component. If, however, his PCA takes until 21 April—for example, because he was too ill to attend the first scheduled medical examination—he will stay on the assessment phase rate of benefit until 21 April but then have his main phase rate of benefit backdated until 8 April when the PCA has been satisfied. We are aware that decisions on the detail of the processing of claims by Jobcentre Plus, which in due course will need to be set out in regulations, need to be made. I assure noble Lords that the process will be fair and appropriate, that it will be designed to improve customer service and that it will be streamlined to drive out inefficiency. A number of specific questions were raised, especially about SSP and claims for ESA. Customers can make an advance claim ahead of their SSP ending. However, entitlement to ESA cannot arise until the SSP is exhausted. I hope that that clarifies the point for the noble Lord, Lord Skelmersdale.