NRAS responds to the Work and Pensions Committee report on the role of incapacity benefit in helping claimants into employment

Maidenhead, UK, 26 July 2011 – NRAS welcomes the publication of the Work and Pensions Select Committee’s report on the reassessment of Incapacity Benefit and Work Capacity Assessment and strongly agrees that the process, as it is currently designed, does not accurately assess claimants’ employability and needs in the workplace.  The report, published on 26th July 2011, levies criticism toward the Government with regard its communication to claimants.  It recommends that fitness to work should be communicated positively, and with the appropriate level of support each individual requires in order to make a smooth transition back into the workplace.  NRAS agree that many people who may be found fit to work, require positive support both from the Government and from employers to help them back into employment.

Ailsa Bosworth, Chief Executive of NRAS said: “For quite some time we have been receiving reports from NRAS members about their dissatisfaction with the Work Capability Assessment. Clearly much more needs to be done to reform the test to make it responsive to the needs of people with fluctuating conditions such as Rheumatoid Arthritis. The fact that an estimated £50m per year of public money is being wasted on tribunals for new Employment and Support Allowance claims is a savage indictment of the current system.”

“We also commend the Committee’s report for bringing to light information that a number of vulnerable claimants are also having their benefits stopped as a sanction for non-attendance owing to administrative errors by Atos or JCP, or because a claimant has been too ill to attend, which is clearly outrageous. It is also totally unacceptable that disabled people should be called to attend an assessment at a centre that is inappropriately located, inaccessible to them or insufficiently adapted to their needs.”

NRAS does however object to the Committee’s conclusions regarding the role of representative organisations. NRAS does not believe there is a conflict of interest between patient representative organisations acting as an advocate for the claimant and also playing a responsible part in the redesign of the reassessment process. NRAS is greatly involved in publicising back-to-work support to its members and provides information pamphlets for employers to help overcome workplace discrimination.

Ailsa Bosworth continued: “People often call us because they are in crisis: afraid they will lose their job or that they will be unable to continue working. They want to know what their options are, what the future might hold and whether they can realistically hope to maintain or progress their career.  Not surprisingly, people worry about the financial implications of not working and how that might impact on their pension in older age. We resent the implication that we could not act responsibly in contributing to the redesign of assessment processes.”

“People of working age with Rheumatoid Arthritis plainly want to work, but they also want to know there will be support for them if they are not well enough to work.”

About NRAS:

• The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) was launched in October 2001 and in a relatively short time has become established as the campaigning voice in the UK for people with Rheumatoid Arthritis.

• NRAS provides a total one-stop-shop with support, information and advocacy for all people in the UK with RA, their carers and families.

• NRAS has a national volunteer network, a group of people with the disease who provide peer to peer support and provide additional resource to help NRAS in many different ways.

For more information, please contact:

Ailsa Bosworth, CEO, National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society
Tel: 0845 458 3969

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