The government intends to eliminate Universal Credit fitness for work evaluations when granting PIP and replace them with an updated Universal Credit health element.
DWP Unveils Proposal to Revamp Disability Assessment for Employment Support
In a newly released green paper, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) outlines the change. The Department for Work and Pensions asserts this is “to help more disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in work.” It continues: “We think an assessment based on condition would require a greater emphasis on the provision of medical evidence of a diagnosis, and we would need to consider the requirement this would place on the NHS and health professionals.”
In March 2023, the government released Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper, which set out our vision to help more disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in work.
DWP Proposes Unified Disability Assessment and UC Health Element Replacement
The White Paper outlined the government's intention to phase down the existing Work Capability Assessment, resulting in a single health and disability functional assessment, the PIP assessment. The existing Universal Credit (UC) limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA) element will be removed and replaced by a new UC health element.
The survey will look at the impact of PIP changes on the gateway to the UC health component. MP Mel Strideclarified: “My priority as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is to make sure our welfare system is fair and compassionate. Fair on the taxpayer by ensuring people of working age who can work, do work, and fair on those who are in most need of the state’s help. Welfare at its best is about more than just benefit payments; it is about changing lives for the better.
“That’s why this government has introduced a series of reforms that have brought greater fairness to the welfare system whilst supporting the most vulnerable. We have overhauled an outdated and complex legacy benefit system and introduced Universal Credit, a new modern benefit that ensures people are better off in work than on benefits.”