Complex sentence: At first, the WCA was only used to gauge fresh applications for ESA, but the plan to expand the programme to retest long-term recipients whose sickness benefit claims had begun before 2008 had been a key policy from the design stage.
Split into simpler sentences: At first, the WCA was only used to gauge fresh applications for ESA. The plan to expand the programme to retest long-term recipients whose sickness benefit claims had begun before 2008 had been a key policy from the design stage.