This was a supporting detail page of the main policy document.
Anyone claiming Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) will have a Work Capability Assessment to assess their capability for work. The assessment:
was developed in consultation with medical and other experts alongside specialist disability groups
looks at an individual’s physical and mental capabilities and concentrates on the functional effects of an individual’s condition rather than the condition itself
looks at an individual’s ability to work, taking into account the modern workplace and developments in healthcare
is based on evidence which shows that work can benefit individuals with health conditions and disabilities and may even help recovery
Independent review of the Work Capability Assessment To make sure that the Work Capability Assessment is as fair and accurate as possible, we have set up a process of ongoing review and improvement. Section 10 of the Welfare Reform Act 2007 commits the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to publish an independent report each year for the first 5 years of operation. Year 5 review – 2014 We announced the re-appointment of Dr Paul Litchfield to carry out the fifth and final independent review of the Work Capability Assessment on 6 March 2014. We published the fifth independent review of the Work Capability Assessment on 27 November 2014. We published the government’s response to the review on 27 February 2015. Dr Litchfield ran a call for evidence to inform the fifth review from 10 June 2014 to 15 August 2014. Year 4 review – 2013 In February 2013 the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions appointed Dr Paul Litchfield to undertake the fourth independent review of the Work Capability Assessment. Dr Litchfield replaced Professor Malcolm Harrington, who carried out the first 3 independent reviews of the Work Capability Assessment. We published the fourth independent review of the Work Capability Assessment on 12 December 2013. The government published its response on 27 March 2014. Dr Litchfield issued a call for evidence to inform the fourth independent review (1 July 2013 to 27 August 2013). Year 3 review – 2012 Professor Harrington’s third independent review of the Work Capability Assessment and the government’s response to the third review were published on 20 November 2012. Professor Harrington issued a call for evidence to inform his third independent review from 12 July 2012 to 7 September 2012. Year 2 review – 2011 We published Professor Harrington’s second independent review of the Work Capability Assessment and the government’s response to the second review on 24 November 2011. Professor Harrington ran a call for evidence to inform his second independent review from 4 July 2011 to 16 September 2011. Year 1 review – 2010 We published Professor Harrington’s first independent review of the Work Capability Assessment and the government’s response to the first review on 23 November 2010. Professor Harrington ran a call for evidence to inform his first independent review from 28 July 2010 to 10 September 2011. Interim report on year 1 recommendations In May 2011 the Minister for Employment asked Professor Harrington to provide an interim report on the implementation of his year 1 recommendations. Audio recording pilot In his year 1 review Professor Harrington recommended that Atos Healthcare pilot the audio recording of face-to-face assessments to see if this approach would be helpful to claimants and improve the quality of assessments. A pilot was undertaken in spring 2011. We published the findings of the audio recording pilot in April 2012. Guidance on the audio recording facility is available in Work Capability Assessment: audio recording of face-to-face assessments FAQs Evidence based review of the Work Capability Assessment On 12 December 2013 we published the Evidence based review of the Work Capability Assessment. This is a study to examine the performance of the assessment criteria for Employment and Support Allowance and alternative criteria that were developed by specialist disability representative groups. The study arose from a recommendation in Professor Harrington’s second independent review of the Work Capability Assessment. It looks at the validity and reliability of the assessment criteria.