DLA being replaced by ESA Employment Support Allowance could be regarded as rebranding the issue It is worth nothing that ESA doesnt feature in the Statistics produced monthly unlike JSA.
Neither does Universal Credit featured in todays News So the Cap "It emerged on Thursday that the leaked memos say ESA - which is paid to ill and disabled people who are unable to work or need help to work - is "one of the largest fiscal risks crrently facing the government.
The cost of ESA is projected to rise by nearly £13bn between the current financial year and 2018/19, ". "The main reason for the rising cost of ESA is an increasing number of claimants, caused by people moving off Jobseeker's Allowance and on to ESA."
Is that moving the GoalPosts?
The documents also say the severity of ESA claimants' illnesses and disabilities has been underestimated - meaning people are staying on the benefit longer than expected. The memos reveal a range of options for reducing costs, but conclude there appears to be "not much low-hanging fruit left"
Sanctions are different to Job Seekers Allowance Further more the issue connected to ATOS still remain despite the termination of their contract "Problems with the private firm Atos, which has carried out benefit health assessments for the government, have also increased ESA costs.
Earlier this month ministers said more than 700,000 people were waiting for an assessment for ESA. It blamed the delays on Atos, which has agreed to end its contract early. But the leaked documents say the new contractor - due to be appointed in early 2015 - is expected to cost roughly "three times as much" as the £100m annual deal with Atos."
PIP
"New claims for the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) - which replaces the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) - began in April 2013. They are worth between £21 and £134 a week. Most people applying for PIP have a face-to-face assessment to determine eligibility, which have been carried out by the private contractors Atos Healthcare and Capita Business Services." Again this was highlighted as the future way forward by the Government.
The BBC goes on to say
'Unacceptable' In its report, the cross-party committee accused Atos of providing "incorrect and potentially misleading" information about its capabilities when bidding for the contract to conduct assessments for the government. The company, which has previously agreed to end its contract early, said it completely refuted the claim. The Department for Work and Pensions began processing new claims for PIP in northern England in 2103, but had only made 360 decisions when the scheme was introduced nationwide in June. Reassessment of the existing 1.7 million DLA claimants began in October, but was effectively paused after a backlog of some 780,000 claims built up.
Margaret Hodge comments stand out
Committee chairwoman and Labour MP Margaret Hodge said: "The implementation of the Personal Independence Payment has been nothing short of a fiasco.
"The Department for Work and Pensions has let down some of the most vulnerable people in our society, many of whom have had to wait more than six months for their claims to be decided.
"The department's failure to pilot the scheme meant that the most basic assumptions, such as how long assessments would take and how many would require face-to-face consultations, had not been fully tested and proved to be wrong."
She continued that this had resulted in "significant delays, a backlog of claims and unnecessary distress for claimants who have been unable to access the support they need to live, and in some cases work, independently".
"The personal stories we heard were shocking," Mrs Hodge added.
In one case, a claimant required hospital intervention as a result of the stress caused by the delays.
Elsewhere, claimants had been forced to turn to food banks, loans and charitable donations to support the extra costs of living associated with their disability, the MPs said.
"Claimants had also endured an "unacceptable" standard of service, with assessors failing to turn up at centres or cancelling home visits at the last minute."
One wonders if the Assessors get sanctioned?
Indeed if we add the issues that are on going with Universal Credit reported today -
The government's flagship welfare policy, Universal Credit, is to be introduced in 90 jobcentres in north-west England, Iain Duncan Smith says.
The government's flagship welfare policy, Universal Credit, is to be introduced in 90 jobcentres in north-west England, Iain Duncan Smith says.
The work and pensions secretary told the BBC the change would apply only to single claimants, with couples and families joining at a later stage.
But ministers have not set a target date for that to happen.
The benefit is currently distributed at just 10 jobcentres, having been delayed a number of times since its creation.
Ministers say the changes will get under way next week.
The Universal Credit system merges six working-age benefits - income-based jobseeker's allowance, income-related employment and support allowance, income support, child tax credit, working tax credit and housing benefit - into a single payment in a far-reaching change designed to encourage work and reduce fraud.
'Improve' chances
Mr Duncan Smith said: "What we're planning to do is start rolling out Universal Credit [for] singles, which is the bit that we've been testing, to the whole of the North West.
"That means basically that the North West will, across the board, be engaged with Universal Credit.
"And then coming down the track will be further embellishments, such as couples and families."
He added: "That will improve the quality of service for people, improve their chances of getting back to work."
Asked whether there was the "tiniest percentage chance of universal credit being scrapped", Mr Duncan Smith said simply: "No."
In conclusion
Reforming the Benefit system is a massive task. In many ways there is a strong argument that the Government has taken to much on with the main pr issue being the drop in the JSA
JSA is not the full story and the rebranding of benefits hides the real story with Food Banks becoming a familiar growth throughout the U.K
The Government I.T systems are an issue but the Media and political focus remains the JSA count and the Youth Neet figure
