Welfare Reform Bill

These amendments focus on access to the support group and specifically on ensuring support group status for those undergoing treatment for cancer and those suffering from fluctuating conditions. While I am on the subject of the support group, I should take the opportunity to clarify a statement I made at Second Reading in response to a point raised about people undergoing cancer therapy. I said that there would be no automatic process on to the support group because we do not want to write anyone off, so the criteria for entitlement to the support group are based on the functional limitation that the individual has as a result of the condition. As the Committee knows from the draft regulations, we have made provision for a limited group of people, including those who are terminally ill and people undergoing parenteral chemotherapy for cancer, to be treated as having limited capability for work-related activity. Amendment No. 14 is concerned with those undergoing treatment for cancer. An individual who is found to have limited capability for work-related activity will be placed in the support group. People in this group will not have to participate in work-focused interviews or undertake work-related activity as a condition of receiving all of their employment and support allowance. The criteria for determining limited capability for work-related activity will not be based on specific health conditions or disabilities, but will focus on how severely these conditions impact on an individual’s ability to function. We believe that this will be a fairer way, as conditions can affect different individuals in very different ways. It also means that we will look at what each individual can do and at what it is reasonable to require him to do. These criteria will be detailed in regulations under Clause 9, and the Committee has seen draft copies. However, we do accept that there are circumstances where it would be sensible to allow entry to the support group even if the individual does not have limited capability for work-related activity. Paragraph 9(a) of Schedule 2 allows us to make provision in regulations to treat certain groups of people as automatically having limited capability for work-related activity. Our draft regulations include provision for people who are terminally ill and for those who are undergoing certain forms of chemotherapy that we know to have disabling side effects in all people receiving them. It would clearly be unreasonable to require people to take part in work-related activity in the final few months of their lives. Equally, it would be wrong to require people undergoing treatment which in and of itself is likely to cause severely debilitating effects on all people undergoing it, to do so. This does not mean that people receiving other forms of treatment will not be placed in the support group. We recognise that other forms of treatment can be equally disabling for many customers, although not necessarily for all of them. That is why we will consider each individual’s circumstances and the way in which his treatment is affecting his functional ability when looking at whether he meets one of the descriptors in the schedule to the regulations under Clause 9 in order to determine whether he should be placed in the support group. Regulation 3(2)(c) of the draft regulations also makes provision to treat people as having limited capability for work-related activity if engaging in such activity would pose a substantial risk to their physical or mental health, even if they do not meet any of the descriptors. We will consider this factor on the basis of the circumstances of each individual and because we want to treat each person as an individual there will be additional flexibility for personal advisersto defer interviews where appropriate. The draft regulations set out that an interview can be deferred where it would not be of assistance to the customer or appropriate in the circumstances. This is likely to be the case where someone is undertaking treatment for cancer. I am also aware of the concern that has been voiced about people whose condition fluctuates in severity over time, and I know that there are concerns about whether the current or revised PCAs will accurately assess the overall capability of such people. It is important to take account of a person’s condition over a period of time, not just on the day of the assessment, otherwise we would not have a full and clear picture of the person’s functional abilities and limitations. I assure the Committee that the PCA is not a snapshot of a customer’s condition on the day of the assessment. It already takes into account the effects of a person’s condition over a period of time when assessing whether he is able to carry out any of the activities set down in regulations. Using their medical skills and knowledge of the course of illnesses or disabling conditions, healthcare professionals carrying out the PCA will consider how the person has been during past periods, how he is on the day of the assessment and how he is likely to be in future periods. So in assessing a person’s entitlement to the support component, the healthcare professional will take account of whether a customer satisfies any one of the criteria, bearing in mind the customer’s condition not just on the day of assessment, but how he is likely to be affected over a period of time. It is therefore unnecessary to include a new clause making provision for reassessment of whether a customer has limited capability for work-related activity. As I have mentioned, we have also taken powers in the Bill allowing us to defer conditionality for a customer where it is appropriate to do so. We intend to use them to deal with circumstances in which a work-focused interview would not be appropriate at a given time. We anticipate that this will be used where there are short-term fluctuations in a customer’s condition. The noble Lord, Lord Kirkwood, asked about the cost of the amendment. This is an issue not of cost but of principle. The noble Lord smiles, but the purpose is to try and deal with individuals, to understand the limitations that their disability and health condition have on them, and help them through it into work-related activity. If we add blanket exemptions into the support group, we are at risk of repeating the mistakes of the past. We must ensure that the system is resourced so that those involved can take the time to ensure that the discretion in the regulations can be properly applied. The noble Countess, Lady Mar, again raised the issue of those suffering from ME. I think that I have dealt with that to a certain extent, but it is an important issue. People with any condition will be assessed on its effect, not on the condition itself. That is an important point that we must make.