Welfare Reform Bill

It is impossible not to understand the strength of feeling on this issue, but I hope that what I have to say will allay some of those fears and satisfy all Members of the Committee who have spoken. This group of amendments deals what the Bill is asking people to do, how we notify them of what they need to do, and how a failure to meet a requirement is dealt with. We recognise that people with particular conditions, including mental health conditions and learning disabilities, may have particular barriers in understanding and meeting requirements. Some specific examples have been outlined today. However, that is not a reason to give up on these customers and not actively engage with them. Instead, it points to the need to build on the flexibilities and safeguards in Pathways to ensure all customers are able to engage fully. That is what we intend to do and I hope I can offer reassurance on that basis. Before turning to the majority of the amendments, which deal with conditionality and how we apply it, I would like to address the specific amendments relating to the PCA under Clause 8 and 9. These clauses are, of course, different in the sense that the PCA deals with eligibility for the benefit and the support group. The subsequent clauses set out what is required of customers in the work-related activity group in return for receiving their full rate of benefit. We have had the opportunity to discuss the personal capability assessment in some detail already in Committee. I am delighted that my noble friend has been able to satisfy noble Lords in such a clear way. But it is worth reiterating that the PCA will be central in the process for claiming employment and support allowance. It is essential that through the PCA we are able to obtain the right information about our customers in order to make a full assessment of their entitlement to benefit. Given the importance of this information to the assessment for limited capability for work, Clause 8 provides a power to treat customers as not having limited capability for work, but only where they have failed, without good cause, to provide the information requested or to attend or participate in the medical examination. We recognise the importance of ensuring that our customers are aware of and understand their PCA appointment. The draft regulations under Clauses 8, 9 and 10 require notification in writing at least seven days before the assessment unless the customer agrees to accept a shorter period of notification in writing or otherwise. That includes the work-focused health-related assessment which we intend to undertake on the same day as the eligibility for benefit assessments in order to make the customer experience as smooth as possible, subject to our previous discussion. In line with current practice we will continue to be flexible in approaching individuals in different ways, tailoring how we contact them according to their needs and what would be most effective for them. So, in addition to written communications, we will try to contact customers about the assessment by telephone if it is appropriate to do so. Customers will not, of course, be penalised if they have good reason for failure to comply with requirements. In particular, we acknowledge the particular difficulties that people with disabilities, especially those affecting their mental health, might face in complying with such requests. Regulation 8 of the draft limited capability for work regulations sets out a deliberately non-exhaustive list of the matters that should be considered when determining whether a customer has shown good cause for a failure to ensure that we can look at each individual's circumstances. The list specifically includes taking into account the nature of the customer's disability and the state of his health at the time, a point on which Members of the Committee have particularly sought assurance. I believe that this route of having the ability to look at individuals’ circumstances, while ensuring their health and disability are taken into account, strikes the right balance. The same approach to good cause is also taken in relation to limited capability for work-related activity. This is set out in Clause 9(4) of the Bill and in Regulation 7 of the draft limited capability for work-related activity regulations, which have been made available to the Committee. On good cause, once on the benefit the principle of conditionality—that the state provides support both financial and otherwise, and in return the customer engages with us—is at the heart of this new benefit. Our successful Pathways to Work pilots have proven that this approach works for people with health conditions or disabilities.