Few tears were shed when Atos Origen decided to take an early exit from their Employment and Support Allowance contract with HM Government. While we all knew that this didn't address the fundamental flaws of the Work Capability Assessment - the bizarrely strict test to determine who has 'limited capability for work' and who does not - it was still good to see the back of a spectacularly incompetent contractor. Atos are now effectively - or ineffectively - working out their notice and, while we wait for their successors to be appointed, the process of assessing and reassessing claimants grinds all the more slowly.
If you are an existing ESA recipient, already receiving benefit at the longer-term 'Work-Related Activity Group' (WRAG) rate or 'Support Group' rate, this may very well be - in 1066 and All That terms - a GOOD THING. For the time being, you are relatively safe. Ditto if you are part of the last cohort of Incapacity Benefit and Income Support recipients who might not pass the hated WCA and thus are better off where you are.
But the imminent demise of Atos isn't joyous news for all. It's certainly a mixed blessing for new claimants. Those likely to fall short of the magic 15 point threshold for ESA entitlement may be quite happy to settle for the 'assessment rate' indefinitely - in effect, getting Jobseeker's Allowance without the hassle of jobseeking and hazard of sanctions.
Less happy the claimant with a sound case for one of the higher rates. They'll be stuck on the assessment rate, £28 per week or more short of their proper entitlement long after the start of the 14th week of their claim, when they should have started to receive whichever additional component suits their circumstances. When they are eventually assessed they'll get their arrears but in the meanwhile, they might very well suffer severe financial hardship. Here in Stoke-on-Trent, they could incur Court costs and bailiffs fees being chased for 30% of their Council Tax, when a timely award of the WRAG rate would give them the money to pay it; an award at the Support Group rate would exempt them.
One group of new claimants may never receive their full entitlement. Consider this example:
Jack is a self-employed window-cleaner. He breaks a leg and wrist in an unlucky fall from his ladder one day; both are quite complex fractures and it will be some months before he's able to return to work. He makes a claim for ESA and starts to receive the 'assessment rate' of £72.40 per week. 13 weeks on, he's still in plaster. During this time he should have his face-to-face assessment and if this is done properly (humour me...) should comfortably score 15 points plus. His benefit should then increase by £28 per week, or possibly more.
Instead, there's no sign of an assessment by week 14, so he stays on the 'assessment rate' until he can be seen by a medical services (Atos) 'health care professional'. His appointment eventually comes through more than eight months into his claim. At this point Jack is out of plaster at last and, apart from a few follow-up physio appintments, is almost ready to climb his ladder again.
The HCP does an examination of the claimant as he presents on the day, as the law requires, and finds no descriptors apply. A Decision Maker at the DWP considers the report, awards no points and finds Jack fit for work. Jack's ESA ceases. As no account can be taken of the months when he was incapacitated, he misses out on several hundred pounds due to an administrative and procedural glitch completely beyond his control. Because most people don't understand these arcane bits of Social Security law, he probably doesn't even know he's missed out, so won't complain or take advice.
The same problem arises for anyone who recovers, or stops claiming ESA, for another reason between the end of week 14 and the date set for their face-to-face assessment. There is no mechanism to consider their health retrospectively because, when the regulations were drafted, there was every expectation that claimants would have their WCA well within the 13 week assessment period.
If this sounds like you or someone you know, perhaps now would be a good time to contact your MP and ask when this broken system is going to be fixed, because it will get worse before it gets better. I don't really think we'll be saying 'bring back Atos!', but at least you could appeal a bad decision based on a poor medical assessment. I don't know how we fix this.
