NAWRA has responded to the DWP’s consultation on proposed changes to the work capability assessment.

Read our response.

Our final paragraph concludes –

‘In summary, NAWRA completely opposes all these proposals. The government should focus on genuine support which will take time, resources, and skill. If it goes ahead with any of these proposals that cut financial support to, and increase conditionality on, vulnerable claimants, then there is an extremely high risk of claimants’ health deteriorating with the associated risks of self-harm and, in some cases, death. Those deaths may be held directly attributable to the Department.’

We have also sent a copy to the Work and Pensions Committee.

Many thanks to all those who responded to our survey – we had more than 150 responses. And thanks to Daphne Hall (rightsnet) for collating all the results of the survey and drafting our submission.

 

NAWRA is holding a one-day ‘Benefits and Pensions‘ training course free to NAWRA members.

About the training course
Pensions can have a complex relationship with benefits and, at this time of increasing financial pressure, we are seeing more people making use of them as a resource outside a regular retirement income.

This session looks at a number of issues which are often poorly understood. The options which are available after the introduction of the pension freedoms in 2016 give lower income pension savers choices for the first time and the results of those changes can be very different in terms of real income, especially for benefit claimants.

The session will look at:

• The state pension
• Deferral
• Occupational and private pensions – Defined Contribution, Defined Benefit and why the difference matters
• Types of pensions and the ways in which they can be used
• The relationship with benefits for working age and for retirement age clients
• Notional income from untaken pension savings
• Where does tax come into play
• Cliff edges and flat lines – how to find them

Presented by Gareth Morgan who (he says) has been boring people about pensions for far too long.

Dates and locations
The course will take place from 10am to 4pm with breaks for coffee and lunch.

• Manchester: Tuesday 14 November 2023 at Garden Court North Chambers, 3rd Floor Blackfriars House, Parsonage, Manchester M3 2JA.
• London: Monday 20 November 2023 at The Woolwich Centre, 35 Wellington St, London SE18 6HQ.
• Bristol: Tuesday 12 December 2023 at 100 Temple St, Bristol BS1 6AG.
• Swansea: Wednesday 17 January 2024 at Civic Centre, Oystermouth Road, Swansea, SA1 3SN.
• Your venue?: Gareth is happy to travel to your venue. If your organisation can provide a free training room please email kelly@nawra.org.uk. We will advertise the course to NAWRA members locally.

How to book
To book a place email kelly@nawra.org.uk with the following information:

•     your name
•     the name of the organisation you represent
•     the date/location of the event you wish to attend

Cost
The training courses are free for NAWRA members to attend.

Accessibility
Do you have any accessibility needs? If so, please email kelly@nawra.org.uk so that arrangements can be made at the venue.

Any questions?
If you have any questions please email kelly@nawra.org.uk

Many thanks to Gareth Morgan for writing and teaching the course and offering it to NAWRA members at no charge.

 

NAWRA has responded to the Work and Pensions Committee inquiry into safeguarding vulnerable claimants.

Thanks very much to all members who contributed and to Daphne Hall (rightsnet) for drafting the submission.

Since our last update in April 2023, NAWRA has met with officials again to look at how the process for issuing UC50s can be improved and be made more reliable.

DWP advise us that it transpires that when a claimant submits a fitnote a ‘to-do’ is autmatically created for them. Currently this to-do is not populated but they realise that this is the ideal place to put information about what a UC50 is, the WCA process, when to expect the UC50 and what to do if it doesn’t arrive – in effect what we initially asked for 18 months ago.

DWP tell us that they hope to work on the wording of this communication over the summer with a view to it hopefully going live early autumn.

Hopefully, this will bring some improvements.

NAWRA is holding a free to NAWRA members, one-day ‘Attendance Allowance: The Case Law’ training course which is designed to examine the case law which has developed surrounding the disability-related qualifying conditions for this benefit.

Dates and locations
The event will be held at the following venues in England in an attempt to give our members the best opportunity of attending.

• Manchester: Thursday 20th July 2023 at Garden Court North Chambers, 3rd Floor Blackfriars House, Parsonage, Manchester M3 2JA.
• Wolverhampton: Monday 14th August 2023 at University of Wolverhampton, Millennium City Building, Wulfruna Street, Wolverhampton WV1 1LY.
• London: Tuesday 22nd August 2023 at The Gallery, The Woolwich Centre, 2nd Floor, 35 Wellington Street, Woolwich, London SE18 6HQ

Each course will start at 9.30 am and finish at 4.00 pm. There will be 1 hour for lunch and, as you would expect, a mid-morning and mid-afternoon refreshments break.

About the training course
The course will be delivered by Mark Perlic from the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Welfare Rights Service. Mark has developed the course to increase awareness of Attendance Allowance entitlement as part of a take-up campaign surrounding this benefit and Pension Credit in Wolverhampton. It is Mark’s view that some of the detail of the case law surrounding Attendance Allowance has been lost over time by advisers, decision-makers and tribunals. This is in part due to the introduction of Personal Independence Payment and in consequence the demise in the number of Disability Living Allowance appeals which has aspects of entitlement that mirror those of Attendance Allowance. It is Mark’s belief that the legal principles of many of the key case law decisions surrounding Attendance Allowance have been lost in time or in some situations become misconstrued. It is hoped that this course will help revive the case law emphasis surrounding Attendance Allowance entitlement and thereby re-establish what should be the correct legal approach to claims and entitlements.

Who should attend
All NAWRA members are welcome to attend. The course is suited to both new and seasoned advisers. New advisers will benefit by exploring the case law view on how some of the more ambiguous aspects of the statutory language relating to Attendance Allowance should be interpreted. Seasoned advisers may, at the very least, benefit from reaffirming their understanding of the correct legal line that should be adopted in the assessment of a person’s qualifying care needs.

How to book
If you would like to book a place on one of the courses, then please email wrs@wolverhampton.gov.uk confirming the following:

• your name
• the name of the organisation you represent
• your email address
• your contact telephone number
• the date of the event which you would like to attend

In doing so, should you be seeking to book a place for a colleague(s) then can you please supply, in addition to the above information, their name and email address. We ask this so that arrangements can be made to email a copy of the training materials to you / your colleague(s) which will support the event. No hard copies of the materials will be made available.

Cost
The training courses are free for NAWRA members to attend. Not a NAWRA member?  Find out more about joining.

Accessibility
Do you have any accessibility needs? If so, please email wrs@wolverhampton.gov.uk so that arrangements can be made at the venue.

Any questions?
If you have any questions about the course please email wrs@wolverhampton.gov.uk

Many thanks to Mark Perlic for writing and teaching the course and offering it to NAWRA members at no charge.