Disability benefits

ESA and abolition of the ‘six month rule’

Issue 245 (April 2015)

Simon Osborne describes important new rules which affect repeat claims for employment and support allowance (ESA) following failure of the work capability assessment, and entitlement to ESA pending appeal.

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Putting PIP to the test

Issue 244 (February 2015)

Paul Treloar reviews the first of the official independent reviews of personal independence payment (PIP).

Article Disability benefits PIP UK Welfare Rights Bulletin

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Waiting days for JSA and ESA

Issue 243 (December 2014)

New regulations, which came into force on 27 October, extend from three to seven the number of waiting days at the start of a claim for jobseekers allowance (JSA) or employment support allowance (ESA), during which the claimant has no entitlement.Dan Norris explains.

Article Benefit delivery Disability benefits ESA Jobseeker's allowance UK Welfare Rights Bulletin

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Repeat WCAs following appeal: new guidance

Issue 243 (December 2014)

The DWP has issued new guidance (Memo DMG 27/14) about repeat referrals for the work capability assessment (WCA), where the claimant has been successful in an appeal. As before, when a repeat WCA is to be applied is not a matter of law, and so is not in itself a potential subject of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal. However, the guidance, described here by Simon Osborne, provides some very useful pointers in advising claimants as to what they can expect.

Article Disability benefits ESA Mandatory reconsideration and appeals UK Welfare Rights Bulletin

Report

The road to the food bank is paved by failures in the safety net

19 November 2014

Visiting a food bank should be a last resort: we all hope that if times get hard, the safety net is there to make sure we aren’t left without the means to buy food for ourselves or our family. Yet new research from the Child Poverty Action Group, Oxfam, Church of England and the Trussell Trust has found that failures in the social safety net itself are often the trigger for food bank referrals.

Bedroom tax Benefit cap Benefit delivery Children’s benefits Costs and spending Disability benefits Report Sanctions and conditionality UK

Press release

CPAG responds to ESA report

30 October 2014

Commenting on a BBC report today suggesting Government is considering cutting Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Alison Garnham Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group said: “The proportion of people in absolute poverty in families living with disability has gone up each year since 2009 and now stands at a shocking 22%...

Child poverty statistics Costs and spending Disability benefits Ending child poverty Press release UK

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