joint strategic needs assessment foundation profile - JSNA

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6.4.2 Employment and Support Allowance (Incapacity Benefit) Claimants
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) replaced Incapacity Benefit and Income
Support paid on the grounds of incapacity for new claims from 27th October 2008. The
introduction of ESA for new claimants in October 2008 was accompanied by a new
assessment, the Work Capability Assessment (WCA). The WCA is based on medical
advice delivered by the DWP‟s medical services contractor, ATOS Healthcare. ESA
claimants‟ longer term entitlement to claim the benefit is dependent on the outcome of
the WCA. The possible outcomes of the WCA are that claimants can be assessed as:
a) suitable for the ESA Support Group, b) suitable for the ESA Work Related Activity
Group or c) fit for work and therefore not entitled to continue claiming, although there is
a right of appeal.
For sickness and disabilities which commenced prior to the 27 th October 2008,
Incapacity Benefit (IB) is the benefit which is paid to people who are too sick or disabled
to work. It was available for people who are over 16 and under State Pension age, who
had made enough National Insurance contributions, and who were not able to work.
People in receipt of IB will continue to receive IB, and between 2010 and 2013, this
benefit will be replaced by the ESA. There are three different rates of IB payable
depending on the duration of the illness: 3 days to 28 weeks, 29 weeks to 52 weeks and
over 52 weeks. Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) is no longer available for new
claims as at April 2001, but people who were previously in receipt of SDA have
continued to receive it, and they were paid this benefit if they had not been able to work
for at least 28 weeks in a row because of ill health or disability. Table 41 gives the
number of claimants as well as the rate of claimants per 100 resident population of
working-age 12 as at May 2009. The DWP also gives the main reason for the claim for
the five diseases and medical conditions where there are sufficient numbers to
categorise (Table 42).
Overall, for May 2009, there were 13,290 people in Hull claiming IB or SDA which
represents 7.8% of Hull‟s working-age population (this differs slightly from the figure
quoted in Table 39 and Table 40, and the reason for this is unclear, it could be related
to definitions relating to „main reason for the claim‟). Men have a higher claimant rate
(8.5%) compared to women (7.0%). The commonest disease group given as the reason
for claiming is mental illness (3.0% of the working-age population and 39% of
claimants). Myton ward has the highest rate of male (14.9%) and female (12.3%)
claimants as well as the highest rate of claimants for mental illness (7.2%) with Orchard
Park and Greenwood ward having only a marginally lower percentage of claimants.
Orchard Park and Greenwood ward had this highest claimant rate where the main
reason for the claim was muscoskeletal (2.7%). Claimant rates within the wards vary
from 3.3% (both Kings Park and Holderness) to 13.9% (Myton) and further analysis
revealed a strong association between the rate of claimants and the Index of Multiple
Deprivation 2007 (see page 131). The total number of claimants decreased between
August 2008 and May 2009 from 14,785 persons to 13,290 persons in Hull, falling from
12 Resident population aged 16-64 years for men and 16-59 years for women estimated from the GP
registration file.
Joint Strategic Needs Assessment Foundation Profile – Hull Health Profile: Release 3. March 2011. 117