Steve Winyard, Head of Policy and Campaigns at RNIB, said:
"RNIB is disappointed by Professor Harrington's latest review of the Work Capability Assessment (WCA), and the Government's response to it. The recommendations are not specific enough to deal with the crux of the problems the assessment creates, not just for the people going through it but even for those who operate it. They also fail to address the flaws in the descriptors that determine whether someone with sight loss is deemed capable to work.
"RNIB is concerned the recommendations do not consider the potential barriers to a person obtaining medical evidence which is essential for decision makers to fairly treat people with complex needs, such as those with sight loss.
"Finally, RNIB is extremely concerned about the statistics on what happens to people going through the WCA assessment (1). It surely cannot be right that more people in the support group are finding work than those in the work related activity group? This disturbing statistic in itself raises doubts concerning whether the right people are being placed in the right group."
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Notes to Editors:
(1) annex 3 of the review team's report
(2) The cost to the Tribunals Service of ESA appeals in 2010-11 was approximately £42.2 million (for 176,600 ESA appeals decided in 2010-11).
RNIB is concerned about several aspects of the assessment. Firstly, the software to record what happens at the assessment appears to give the assessor the option of recording one observation. Secondly, there is at present no commitment by the Government to cover the cost experienced by a claimant in obtaining a medical opinion from their GP or specialist consultant on their suitability for work.
ESA is supposed to provide disabled people with the extra support they need to find employment. Yet the Work Capability Assessments (WCAS) are flawed.
Blind and partially sighted people, like everyone else, want to work and support their families. They're not looking for hand-outs. The reality is that people with sight loss face real barriers and prejudice in the job market. At RNIB we are left asking just how this demonstrates a commitment to 'protect the most vulnerable'?"
The Hardest Hit, a coalition of over 90 disabled people's organisations and charities, recently carried out several surveys with both disabled people and welfare advisors and found the following:
• More than three quarters (78 per cent) of disabled people said their health had got worse as a result of the stress caused by their WCA for ESA.
• Two thirds (65 per cent) of disabled people felt that ESA assessors did not understand their condition.
• Nearly 9 in 10 (87 per cent) of welfare advisors said the frequency of reassessments for ESA is having a negative impact on disabled claimants' health.