10 October 2006 - PCA review published today – Murphy looks for change in attitude towards mental health
Announcing the publication of the Personal Capability Assessment (PCA) review, Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform, Jim Murphy, stated the need for a change in attitude towards mental health.
He said:
“In terms of mental health we are still lagging behind the progress we have made on entrenching the rights of people with disabilities in the work place. We know through surveys that almost half of employers believe there are difficulties in employing a person with clinical depression and that increases to almost three-quarters as regards schizophrenia.
“These attitudes are decades out of date - people with mental health problems today are facing the same kind of attitude from employers that people with a physical disability too often faced in the 1950s and 1960s. We have made great progress in extending disability rights since then, although discrimination still persists - which is why we introduced the Disability Discrimination Act 2005. But people with mental health conditions face some of the most extreme disadvantage, not least when it comes to the world of work.
“Change is needed if the PCA is to provide the help that incapacity benefits claimants need. We need to be able to help people with mental health illnesses, because the facts are nearly 50% of people with a physical disability are now in work whilst 67% of people who cite mental illness as their main disability are not.
“Attitudes towards mental health in the workplace are changing but not quickly enough. The Welfare Reform bill is about not allowing anyone, including those with a fluctuating mental health condition, to be written off.”
Forty percent of today’s incapacity benefits claimants have a mental health condition and in order to provide the necessary support and help the Department for Work and Pensions announced today that there would be changes to the PCA which include re-focusing its approach to mental health.
Jim Murphy confirmed that following a review of the test that assesses whether an individual is eligible for incapacity benefit, the department was to accept a series of recommendations that include giving mental health the same importance as physical disabilities and therefore ensure it was better able to assess an individual’s mental health condition.
Speaking as he visited mental health charity Rethink’s employment service Rethink Graphics in Essex, Mr Murphy said:
“People must have confidence in the system if our reforms are to work and I think it is essential that we show we understand the nature of what is preventing people from getting into work.
“Projects like this one show that if people are given the help, support and understanding they can get themselves in a position where they can develop their skills and confidence and ultimately get back into the workplace
“I have accepted the recommendations on the PCA because we now know that mental health problems are preventing thousands of people working when they want to. The new PCA will acknowledge this by giving equal weighting to the mental health assessment and thereby helping us identify the help and support that an individual will need to stay in the work place.”
The review was conducted by a technical group made up of experts, stakeholders and consultative groups made up people with direct experience of disabilities or involved in the provision of support.
It recommends expanding the mental health assessment so it is better able to assess people with learning disabilities, autism and their ability to communicate and form relations amongst others.
At present the system is based around assessing inability to work and weighted on physical disabilities rather than mental, but that will change when the new Employment and Support Allowance is introduced. The PCA will include a new assessment, looking at what an individual can do and what interventions would help to break down barriers preventing them from working. It will reflect the changing expectations about what work people can do with a relatively minor level of disability.
It will not be a "snapshot" but will consider an individual's ability over a period of time and the possible effect of conditions that fluctuate over time. The way in which evidence is gathered will be improved.
Ultimately the review will look at the feasibility of moving to a single mental and physical assessment.
The revised descriptors and scores will be evaluated throughout October with further assessment carried out through early 2007.
Notes to Editors
- ‘Transformation of the Personal Capability Assessment – Report of the Physical Function and Mental Health Technical Groups’ was commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions and is now available from: www.dwp.gov.uk/welfarereform/tpca.pdf
- Details of the members of both groups and organisations consulted can be found in the report.
- The Welfare Reform Bill was published on 4th July 2006 and is available from: www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmbills/208/2006208.htm
- Jim Murphy was visiting the mental health charity Rethink’s employment service Rethink Graphics in Essex.
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