PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
PROGRESSIVE ILLNESSES AND ESA (11 November 2013)

That this House supports the call by Parkinsons UK, the MS Society, the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society and the Cystic Fibrosis Trust for the improvement of the work capability assessment as outlined in their submission to the assessment's fourth independent review; notes their evidence that 45 per cent of people with progressive illnesses who have applied for employment and support allowance have been told that they could recover enough to return to work; recognises the pain and suffering that many people with progressive illnesses face on a daily basis and that the work capability assessment currently adds to this; further notes that many people with progressive illnesses have been valuable contributors to the UK economy and society and will only submit a claim for the benefit as a last resort; calls on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to ensure that anyone with a prognosis of being unlikely to return to work in the longer term is placed into the support group, rather than allocated to the work-related activity group; further calls on the DWP to oblige Atos healthcare professionals to seek further evidence to clinically justify their recommendations on likely return to work before being able to place anyone with a progressive condition in the work-related activity group; and further calls on the DWP to abandon prognosis statements, which advise that a return to work could be considered in a certain timeframe, if that person has a debilitating progressive condition.

Sponsored by:
Stephen Lloyd (Liberal Democrat)