24/01/06  -  SDEF Comments on Green Paper on Welfare Reform

SDEF notes the launch of the Green Paper on Welfare Reform by the Department for Work and Pensions.

Changes proposed to the present system involve the creation of a new benefit entitled “Employment and Support Allowance”. Claimants will be split into two groups, those judged to be permanently incapable of work and those capable of work with support. They will be encouraged to undertake work-focused interviews, or face benefit cuts. Central monitoring of sick notes by GPs is a feature of the new reforms, with incentives being offered to local authorities and other organisations to lift people off this benefit.

SDEF welcomes initiatives that provide help and support for people with disabilities to take up and maintain employment. However, SDEF has a number of concerns regarding the implementation of the proposed changes. Care will have have to be taken to ensure that: 

• People with disabilities are not persuaded into inappropriate employment.

• Adequate support is provided to disabled employees to continue in employment.

• There is clarity on the circumstances of people with disabilities who leave employment as a result of poor health or a worsening medical condition. There must be transparency on: the ease with which benefits can be resumed; the potential loss of certain benefits in the interim period; and any additional procedures required of people with failing health to maintain entitlement.

• Job interviews are conducted by personnel with an understanding of disability issues, including  mental health issues, to avoid  stress and hardship. The early signs are not encouraging that this will be the case.

• There is not a perverse incentive for local authorities or employment services to push people into work. Any attempt to persuade people with disabilities into unsuitable employment may create churning, with people forced into a never ending cycle of training schemes and low paid work experience.

• The doctor-patient relationship is not compromised by incentives to GPs to remove people from benefit entitlement. Particular care should be taken not to deter people from seeking help for health problems.