Employment and Support Allowance

98 Pages·2010·0.29 MB·English

Department for Work and Pensions
Research Report No 631
Employment and
Support Allowance:
Early implementation
experiences of customers
and staff
Helen Barnes, Paul Sissons, Jane Aston, Sara Dewson, Helen Stevens,
Ceri Williams and Ruth Francis
A report of research carried out by the Institute for Employment Studies on
behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions
© Crown Copyright 2010. Published for the Department for Work and Pensions
under licence from the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.
Application for reproduction should be made in writing to The Copyright Unit,
Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, St Clements House, 2-16 Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BQ.
First Published 2010.
ISBN 978 1 84712 706 8
Views expressed in this report are not necessarily those of the Department for
Work and Pensions or any other Government Department.
Contents iii
Contents
Acknowledgements .........................................................................................vii
The Authors .....................................................................................................viii
Abbreviations ....................................................................................................ix
Glossary of terms ..............................................................................................xi
Summary ...........................................................................................................1
1 Introduction .................................................................................................7
1.1 The introduction of Employment and Support Allowance ...................7
1.2 The evaluation of ESA ........................................................................9
1.3 The scope of this study ......................................................................9
1.3.1 Research with staff ............................................................10
1.3.2 Research with customers ...................................................11
1.3.3 Analysis .............................................................................12
1.4 Characteristics of the sample ...........................................................13
1.4.1 The staff sample ................................................................13
1.4.2 The customer sample ........................................................13
2 Staff experiences of delivering ESA .............................................................15
2.1 Introduction .....................................................................................15
2.2 Training ...........................................................................................15
2.2.1 Training prior to the introduction of ESA............................15
2.2.2 Ongoing training and support ...........................................17
2.3 Dealing with the claim process .........................................................20
iv Contents
2.3.1 Experiences of taking claims by phone ...............................20
2.3.2 IT systems and process issues .............................................22
2.4 Work Capability Assessment and Work-Focused Health-Related
Assessment ......................................................................................24
2.4.1 Process and practice ..........................................................24
2.4.2 Failing the WCA, and appeals ............................................25
2.4.3 Use of the WFHRA ............................................................28
2.5 WFIs and Pathways to Work ............................................................29
2.5.1 The first WFI ......................................................................29
2.5.2 Subsequent WFIs ...............................................................30
2.5.3 Action Plans ......................................................................33
2.5.4 Provision and referrals .......................................................34
2.5.5 The ESA customer group ...................................................35
2.6 ‘Fail to attend’ and sanctions ...........................................................37
2.7 Conclusions ....................................................................................38
3 Customer experiences of claiming ESA .......................................................41
3.1 Existing awareness of ESA ................................................................41
3.2 Customer claim process ...................................................................42
3.2.1 Method of claim ................................................................42
3.2.2 Contact Centre – initial claim .............................................42
3.2.3 The ESA50 medical questionnaire .....................................43
3.2.4 Claim processing and communication at the Benefit
Delivery Centre ..................................................................44
3.3 The medical process – the Work Capability Assessment and
Work-Focused Health-Related Assessment .......................................44
3.3.1 Work Capability Assessment expectations ..........................44
3.3.2 Work Capability Assessment experiences ...........................45
3.3.3 Work Capability Assessment delays ...................................46
3.3.4 The Work-Focused Health-Related Assessment ..................46
3.4 Reactions to the WCA decision ........................................................46
Contents v
3.4.1 Work-Related Activity Group .............................................46
3.4.2 Support Group ..................................................................47
3.4.3 Fit For Work group ............................................................47
3.5 Work-Focused Interviews and Pathways to Work .............................47
3.5.1 The Work-Related Activity Group ......................................47
3.5.2 The Support Group ...........................................................48
3.6 Employment aspirations and future plans .........................................49
3.6.1 The Work-Related Activity Group ......................................49
3.6.2 The Support Group ...........................................................51
3.6.3 Work-Focused Interviews ...................................................52
3.6.4 Work Focused Health-Related Assessment .........................54
3.7 Overall views of ESA ........................................................................55
3.7.1 Implementation .................................................................55
3.7.2 Policy ................................................................................56
4 Conclusions and implications .....................................................................57
4.1 Staff views and experiences .............................................................57
4.1.1 Work volumes and IT issues ...............................................57
4.1.2 Publicity and customer communications ............................58
4.1.3 Process issues ....................................................................58
4.1.4 Composition of Support Group and WRAG .......................58
4.2 Customer views and experiences .....................................................59
4.3 Next steps ........................................................................................59
Appendix A ESA process timings ....................................................................61
Appendix B ESA simplified customer journey map .........................................63
Appendix C Discussion guide – ESA Jobcentre Plus and provider pathways
adviser interviews ......................................................................65
Appendix D Opt-out letter .............................................................................71
Appendix E ESA customer interviews – Work-Related Activity Group ............73
Appendix F Coding frame .............................................................................79
vi Contents
Appendix G Customer sample........................................................................81
Appendix H WFI letter....................................................................................83
List of tables
Table 1.1 Staff sample by district and role ..................................................13
Table G.1 Customer sample: age, gender and claim outcome .....................81
Table G.2 Customer sample: claim outcome group and health condition ....81
Table G.3 Customer sample – routes onto ESA and claim outcome group ..82
Acknowledgements vii
Acknowledgements
The research team would like to thank Tanya Saunders and Michael Kelly, the
research managers for this study, and Antony Billinghurst, at the Department for
Work and Pensions (DWP), for all their support and assistance throughout. We
would also like to thank our colleague Karen Patient for her efficient and good-
humoured administrative assistance at all stages of the project.
Institute for Employment Studies (IES) would especially like to thank all those who
gave up their time to be interviewed for the research, including staff with heavy
workloads and customers who were willing to discuss often difficult issues in their
lives. Without your help, we would be unable to carry out studies of this kind.
viii The Authors
The Authors
Jane Aston is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Employment Studies.
Helen Barnes is a Principal Research Fellow at the Institute for Employment
Studies.
Sara Dewson is a Associate Director at the Institute for Employment Studies.
Ruth Francis is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Employment Studies.
Paul Sissons is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Employment Studies.
Helen Stevens is a Research Officer at the Institute for Employment Studies.
Ceri Williams is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Employment Studies.
Abbreviations ix
Abbreviations
BDC Benefit Delivery Centre
CAB Citizens Advice Bureau
CAM Customer Account Management
CC Contact Centre
CMS Customer Management System
DLA Disability Living Allowance
DM Decision Makers
DNA Did not attend
DWP Department for Work and Pensions
ECDL European Computer Driving Licence
ESA Employment and Support Allowance
FTA Fail to attend
GP General Practitioner
IB Incapacity Benefit
IS Income Support
IES Institute for Employment Studies
JCP Jobcentre Plus
JSA Jobseeker’s Allowance
JSAPS Jobseeker’s Allowance Payment System
MS Multiple Sclerosis
PCA Personal Capability Assessment
x Abbreviations
SSP Statutory Sick Pay
WCA Work Capability Assessment
WFHRA Work-Focused Health-Related Assessment
WFI Work-Focused Interview
WRAG Work-Related Activity Group