5th January2011
Changes to Benefits 2011
Incapacity Benefit, Income Support and Severe Disablement Allowance from March 2011 will be merged into one benefit E.S.A. (Employment Support Allowance)
This will take place over a three year period.
Service users will receive a medical questionnaire from Job Centre Plus - ESA50. Anyone who needs support and is not work ready it is important that the ESA50 is signed for the service user by a member of their support team
E.S.A - Employment Support Allowance
This will be split into 2 groups:
1. Work Related Activity Group (WRAG) - they will only be on this for a maximum of 103 weeks, this benefit offers training and support to assist people to return to paid work. If after 103 weeks you still haven’t secured employment you will be put onto Job Seekers Allowance (JSA).
2. Support Group - People on this benefit will maintain their benefit permanently and volunteering is optional. However, everyone will be assessed annually. This benefit will be same it was when it was Income Support, Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance.
This form is already available on line at www.directgov.uk
N.B. If service users are not on Severe Disablement Allowance £30.05 per week, it will be extremely difficult for the person to claim this once they have been transferred to E.S.A - Employment Support Allowance.
It is highly recommended that on any D.W.P. form the service user does not include their land line or mobile number. It is going to be common place for a W.C.A ( Work Capability Assessment) to be conducted telephonically in the future, not just on weekdays but these may occur on the weekends, when there are no other agencies open to support said client.
Appeals
When someone has been called to an ATOS appointment and has been deemed work ready, but is not.
This person needs to collect a GL24 Form from the Job Centre Plus as soon as they receive their letter from ATOS. Once the form is complete, with permission from the service users you can telephone ATOS and ask for a ‘reconsideration’ and explain the circumstances why this person is not work ready, this can sometimes save money as they can made a decision before going to an Appeal. If ATOS will not reconsider you will have to wait for the information to be sent via post this will show the points scored at the ATOS assessment.
After the GL24 Form has been posted first class, you need to contact Job Centre Plus and get their benefits reinstated pending the appeal, sometimes this will be deducted by a third, if the Appeal is successful this money will be backdated. It is important that Job Centre Plus are contacted as their benefits will stop.
D.L.A. (Disability Living Allowance), from March P.I.P. (Personal Independence Payment)
This will change in March 2011, and will consist of two components:
1. Mobility
2. Independent Living Component - was known as the Care Component.
All new claimants will automatically be claiming for P.I.P, All people currently on D.L.A. (with no exceptions) will be called to an assessment/review meeting - this will happen over a period of time and will be in place by March 2013.
N.B. This benefit is just a name change; however, people will be continually assessed for changes in their circumstances.
Universal Credit
It is planned from 2013 onwards, all benefits will be called a Universal Credit, this includes; benefits from:
DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) - Child Benefit, P.I.P, Pension, Carers Allowance
JCP (Job Centre Plus) - E.S.A (Employment Support Allowance) & J.S.A. (Job Seekers Allowance)
Local Authority - Council Tax, Housing Benefit
HM Customs - Child Tax Credits - Working Family Tax Credits
NOTES:
If someone has been receiving Job Seekers Allowance for over 6 months and is over 25 they are entitled to apply for a New Enterprise Allowance - this is £2,000 to start up your own business, a business plan will be needed.
Due to difficulties in getting support from G.P’s with benefit claims, you can request that the relevant benefit agencies or ATOS send the GP a 113 Form; this forces the G.P to respond. Any charges made by a G.P for a supportive letter can be reimbursed with a receipt.
ATOS have a Customer Complaint Form - please contact Claire Williams at ATOS or download it from the ATOS website under Customer Relations Team www.atoshealthcare.com
Useful Websites:
www.directgov.uk (all benefits)
www.bigword (Translation Services - any language)
Mind in the Vale of Glamorgan, 29 Tynewydd Road, Barry, CF63 2AF Registered Charity number 1066411