Sickness, disability and carers' benefits

This page highlights some of the current parliamentary material available on sickness, disability and carers' benefits. This includes select committee reports, briefing papers on current legislation and other subjects produced by the parliamentary research services, and the latest Early Day Motions put down by MPs.

Standard Notes

Date	Description
16.05.2012	ESA and incapacity benefits - constituency statistics for Great Britain
	Statistics on working-age claimants of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and its predecessor incapacity-related benefits in each constituency in Great Britain. In November 2011 there were 2.57 million claimants of these benefits in Great Britain.
30.04.2012	The Work Capability Assessment for Employment and Support Allowance
	The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) was introduced in October 2008 to assess entitlement to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). Between now and 2014, 1.5 million incapacity benefits claimants will also undergo the WCA. The WCA has however proved controversial and remains so, depsite changes to the test itself and how it is applied as a result of Government an independent reviews.
27.04.2012	ESA assessments and reassessments: Social Indicators article
	A summary of the latest figures on outcomes of ESA Work Capability Assessments - published as part of the April 2012 edition of Social Indicators.
25.04.2012	Time limiting of contributory Employment and Support Allowance from 30 April 2012
	The 2010 Spending Review announced that contributory Employment and Support Allowance for claimants in the Work-Related Activity Group would be limited to 12 months. The time limit takes effect on 30 April 2012. For some claimants, benefit will stop immediately. All recipients of contributory ESA in the WRAG, including Incapacity Benefit claimants 'migrated' to ESA on reassessment, will be affected by the time limit. Savings of almost £1.5 billion a year are expected by 2015-16.
27.01.2012	Welfare Reform Bill 2010-12: amendments at the Lords Committee and Report stages
	The Welfare Reform Bill has its Third Reading in the House of Lords on 31 January 2012. At Report Stage in the Lords, the government suffered defeats on amendments relating to under-occupation of social housing, the Employment and Support Allowance, the proposed benefit cap, and child support maintenance

Research Papers

Date	Description
27.04.2012	Social Indicators
	A compendium of the latest social statistics. This edition includes articles: Constituency-level crime data, ESA assessments and reassessments and Measuring well-being
04.03.2011	Welfare Reform Bill: reform of disability benefits, Housing Benefit, and other measures
	This paper has been prepared for the Second Reading debate in the House of Commons. For information on the provision in the Bill relating to the introduction of Universal Credit, please see the complementary Library Research Paper, 11/24. Besides Universal Credit, the Bill proposes a number of other significant welfare reforms, including replacement of the current Disability Living Allowance, restriction of Housing Benefit entitlement to social housing tenants whose accommodation is larger than they need, time-limiting the payment of contributory Employment and Support Allowance to twelve months, and capping the total amount of benefit that can be claimed.
13.03.2009	Welfare Reform Bill: Committee Stage report
	This is a report on the Committee Stage of the Welfare Reform Bill. It complements Research Papers 09/08 and 09/09 prepared for Commons Second Reading.
23.01.2009	Welfare Reform Bill: social security provisions
	This paper is one of two which examine the main proposals of the Welfare Reform Bill 2008-09. It deals with Part 1 of the Bill, which includes provisions to establish a 'work for your benefit' scheme for the long-term unemployed, to allow piloting of the 'personalised conditionality' regime, and to enable the future abolition of income support. See also Research Paper 09/09.
19.07.2006	The Welfare Reform Bill [Bill 208 of 2005-06]

Select Committee Reports

Date	Description
08.12.2010	The community care grant.
	Public Accounts Committee report [Commons]
08.09.2010	Support to incapacity benefits claimants through Pathways.
	Public Accounts Committee report [Commons]
29.06.2009	Supporting carers to care.
	Public Accounts Committee report [Commons]
21.04.2009	Legislative scrutiny: Welfare Reform Bill;
	Human Rights Joint Select Committee report [Commons and Lords]
17.12.2008	Valuing and supporting carers.
	Government response. Department for Work and Pensions; Work and Pensions Select Committee report [Commons]

Early Day Motions

Date	Description
08.12.2011	CHILDREN'S ACCESS TO DISABILITY LIVING ALLOWANCE
	That this House notes that the parents of ill children often need to live in hospital wards with their children; further notes that living expenses such as meals are not paid for by ...
29.11.2011	INCAPACITY BENEFIT REFORM
	That this House notes the report on the Government's Incapacity Benefits Reform published by the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research, based at Sheffield Hallam University, ...
27.10.2011	SOCIAL SECURITY (S.I., 2011, No. 1736)
	That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, praying that the Housing Benefit (Amendment) Regulations 2011 (S.I., 2011, No. 1736), dated 14 July 2011, a copy of which was laid ...
29.06.2011	DISABILITY LIVING ALLOWANCE - MOBILITY COMPONENT
	That this House is aware that the disability living allowance mobility component helps meet the extra costs many disabled people face in their everyday lives; notes that for disabled ...
04.04.2011	GOVERNMENT REVIEW OF THE REMOVAL OF THE MOBILITY COMPONENT OF DISABILITY LIVING ALLOWANCE/PERSONAL INDEPENDENCE PAYMENT
	That this House notes the importance of the disability living allowance (DLA)/personal independent payment (PIP) mobility component in helping disabled people to be independent and ...