What MPs need to know before voting on the Welfare Bill

This morning, before filing through the lobbies for the final stage of the Welfare Bill, I urge MPs to stop and consider why there is discontent on all benches in both Houses about cutting the ESA work related activity group (WRAG) component by a third.

The Government believes that the £102.15 people currently receive serves as a disincentive from seeking work and removing it is part of wider efforts to halve the disability employment gap.

People only qualify to be in WRAG if they are not yet fit to work. Their main barrier to securing employment is the impact of the life changing conditions they contend with on a daily basis, such as Parkinson’s, cancer or mental ill-health.

Reducing this group’s support by £30 a week will not make a progressive condition like Parkinson’s abate, a cancer go into remission or alleviate the suffering caused by a mental health crisis.

The supporters of the policy may misunderstand how quickly people’s health will improve. It is suggested that people in WRAG are able to recover and return to work relatively quickly – and so living on the equivalent of Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) (without the £30 a week WRAG component) will be a temporary loss.

Unfortunately we know this is not the case. Since ESA began in 2008, hundreds of people with Parkinson’s in WRAG have been told they will be unlikely to work for 2 years or more.

In future, people in this category who remain in WRAG could lose over £3000 during that time because of a policy intended to ‘incentivise’ them to do what the DWP know they cannot.

This policy will be harmful to your constituents in the WRAG, as well as their families, for whom this money could represent an entire household income and will stretch health and social care resources.

Many people with Parkinson’s already struggle to walk, talk and sleep. Stress and anxiety can only exacerbate their symptoms.  A survey of our supporters found that living on the equivalent of JSA would mean they’d struggle to make ends meet and would have a significant impact on their health.

We all want disabled people to be supported back into work if they are fit and well and I am certain that no one intends the cut to the ESA WRAG component and the equivalent in Universal Credit (clauses 13 and 14 of the Welfare Bill) to cause harm. 

The proposal’s problem is that it will not only fail to achieve its objective of halving the disability employment gap, but it will be counter-productive, cutting payments will not change a person’s medical prognosis, or make them any more capable of working when they aren’t physically able to do so. Politicians on all sides in both houses have recognised this.

Today, please support the Lords’ amendment to delete these proposals and let's work together to find an effective way to support people with complex conditions like Parkinson’s to return to work.