Only 7% sickness benefit claimants unable to do any sort of work

[brianthedog]

I do work voluntarily for SYP but not as a Special Constable, I've applied 3 times for that and failed the interview stage last August

 

This just reinforces the fact that you could - and should - be gainfully employed.

[Mr Gobby]

Hard to believe, but I had to be classed as "unfit to work" in order to get disability benefits to which I am entitled, yet I've been doing voluntary work for nigh on 20 years!

 

So that mean's you can work then.

[Jason Bourne]

Cool, people think it's weird i don't have one.

I suppose once all the brain tumours start to show I'll be laughing.

 

Do you think that's why Mr Steve Jobs has been, you know, unwell these past few months?

[Bulgarian]

Do you think that's why Mr Steve Jobs has been, you know, unwell these past few months?

 

I think he dislocated something laughing at everyone who traded in their Iphone 3 for an Iphone 4 and their Ipad 1 for an Ipad 2.

[HeadingNorth]

unless they are actually doctors how can they do the job ?

 

If you're required to take a medical examination, it is a fully qualified doctor who undertakes it.

 

However, the assessing of forms and information is most probably done by non-doctoral staff. Certainly, it is not the doctor who gives you a medical, who also decides whether you qualify for benefits; he reports back to the DWP whose decision-makers make the decision. (I don't know what the formal job title for those decision-makers is...)

[Tony]

People, can we relax a bit? There's more to this topic than Rich.

[brianthedog]

People, can we relax a bit? There's more to this topic than Rich.

 

But isn't what he was saying a perfect example of why people sit on disability allowance? Not to mention why tax payers get so annoyed.

[Tony]

Yes it is, which means that we can validly discuss the topic, not the man.

[Mr Gobby]

Bottom line is there are to many people on benifits who sit back and take the <REMOVED>, while hard working people pay for them to do so.

[TeaFan]

People, can we relax a bit? There's more to this topic than Rich.

 

Indeed there is and I have to say that most people are very ill-informed about how ESA 'works' and the consequences that it has for a lot of people.

 

One important distinction that I'd like to point out is that ESA is not about benefit fraud. Lots of people seem to think that they new test is about identifying people defrauding the system - it's not. The Work Capability Assessment is essentially about assessing existing genuine, non-fraudulent incapacity benefit claimants who were classified as not fit for work, and then reclassifying most of them as fit for work. In some cases this is perfectly justified, I believe that under the old system if you were registered blind you were automatically assumed to be unfit for work which is clearly false, particularly with the advent of new technology such as screen readers to assist people with visual impairments.

 

But what is happening in my experience is that large numbers of people with mental health problems and learning disabilities who are clearly not yet ready for the rigours of paid work are being classified as fit for work. Nothing is changing in regard to their work circumstances; they are still unemployed and likely to be so for the foreseeable future - what has changed is that they get less money. This is a dishonesty because it's pretending that people are able to do something they are not so that we can give them less money to live on.

 

Tony, your thread title should really read 'tests find only 7% of sickness benefit claimants unable to do any sort of work'. It does not follow that the test is correct.