Think tank to develop alternative to ‘failed’ welfare test

THE Christian think tank Ekklesia is backing research to find an alternative to what it says is the flawed sickness benefit test used by the Government to assess claimants, writes Paul Wilkinson.

Ekklesia said that the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) was “beyond fixing and needs to be abolished”. The research, which will be conducted with the independent researcher, Stef Benstead, will look for a new system, providing what is described as a “real world test” driven by the views of sick and disabled people.

It comes at a time when a recent coroner’s verdict found the WCA directly responsible for a claimant’s suicide, stressing the urgent need to abandon the current system.

The research will survey people with long-term illness about their views on what support they need and what a proper assessment process should look like. The results will be analysed in a report presenting an alternative to the WCA and Employment and Support Allowance.

Virginia Moffatt, Ekklesia’s chief operating officer, said: “The WCA has failed and the work commissioned will result in a completely new system designed by the people affected by it.

“Earlier this year, we published correspondence between leading Catholics and Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith.

“He has yet to take us up on our offer of a meeting to discuss alternative approaches. We believe this project provides an ideal opportunity for him to engage with sick and disabled people who are calling for an end to the failed WCA.”