From 27 October 2008 Employment and Support Allowance replaces Incapacity Benefit and Income Support paid on incapacity grounds for new customers.
The principle of Employment and Support Allowance is that everyone should have the opportunity to work and that people with an illness or disability should get the support they need to engage in appropriate work, if they are able.
In Great Britain, over 2.6 million people depend on incapacity benefits, and yet nine out of ten new customers say that they want to return to work.
There is a body of evidence that people are better off in work – not only financially, but in terms of their health and well-being, their self-esteem and the future prospects for themselves and their family.
For new customers, Employment and Support Allowance will replace Incapacity Benefit and Income Support paid on incapacity grounds. Existing Incapacity Benefit or Income Support customers will continue to receive their existing benefits, so long as they satisfy the entitlement conditions.
Employment and Support Allowance offers personalised support and financial help if people are not working due to an illness or disability. It gives people access to a specially trained personal adviser and a wide range of further services.
Central to Employment and Support Allowance are the new medical assessments which examine what people can do, rather than what they can’t, and identify what personal support they might need.
Most people claiming Employment and Support Allowance will be expected to take appropriate steps to help prepare for work, including attending a series of work-focused interviews with a personal adviser.
Under Employment and Support Allowance people with an illness or disability that severely affects their ability to work will get increased financial support and will not be expected to prepare for a return to work.
Employment and Support Allowance is designed to enable customers to achieve their full potential through work. The Department for Work and Pensions wants to help you understand what the introduction of Employment and Support Allowance will mean for our shared customers so that you can help us to support them.
Employment and Support Allowance will not mean big changes to your dealings with patients or the paperwork you need to complete. The Department for Work and Pensions already asks you to fill in forms to provide us with information about your patients, and some of the forms are changing.
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