The Government’s procedure to decide whether people are eligible for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) places those with mental-health problems and learning disabilities at a disadvantage, a tribunal has ruled.
The judgement follows a judicial review brought by two anonymous claimants with mental-health problems. The charities Rethink Mental Illness, Mind and the National Autistic Society intervened in the case to provide evidence based on the experiences of their members and supporters.
The case focused on the specific issue of gathering evidence to inform the process used to determine whether someone is fit for work. Under the current system, medical evidence used in reaching such a decision is expected to be provided by the claimants themselves.
However, according to the charities, collating evidence can be very challenging for people with mental-health problems, learning disabilities, or autism, whose health or condition can make it hard for them to understand, or navigate the complex processes involved in being assessed. As a result, those who need support most are frequently being assessed without this important evidence being taken into account.
The Upper Tribunal ruled that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) must do more to ensure that this sort of evidence is collected and taken into account. The DWP has vowed to appeal the ruling.
Commenting after the ruling, Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind, said: “The judgement is a victory, not only for the two individuals involved in this case but for thousands of people who have experienced additional distress and anxiety because they have struggled through an assessment process that does not adequately consider the needs of people with mental-health problems.”
Paul Jenkins, CEO of Rethink Mental Illness, said: “Now that the court has ruled that these tests are unfair it would be completely irresponsible to carry on using them. The Government must halt the mass reassessment of people receiving incapacity benefit immediately, until the process is fixed. €ﾨ€ﾨ”This ruling will help improve one aspect of the Work Capability Assessment, but there are still many other problems with it. We will keep campaigning on behalf of everyone we represent until the whole process is fair for everyone.”
Announcing its intention to appeal, a DWP spokesperson said: “We believe we have made — and continue to make — significant improvements to the WCA process for people with mental-health conditions. The percentage of people with mental-health conditions who go into the support group for ESA has more than tripled since 2010.
“We are pleased, however, that the tribunal made clear that there are safeguards built in to the WCA process to help ESA claimants. We are also pleased the tribunal stated that the department is not in breach of its duties under the Equality Act.”
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady commented: “Rather than waste time appealing against the decision and causing individuals yet more distress and anxiety, the DWP should instead concentrate on improving its procedures.”
In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, ‘Burnout, stress and being human’, Heather Beach is joined by Stacy Thomson to discuss burnout, perfectionism and how to deal with burnout as an individual, as management and as an organisation.
We provide an insight on how to tackle burnout and why mental health is such a taboo subject, particularly in the workplace.
