Updated 19 March 2013

Number of Incapacity Benefit recipients reassessed and those moving from Incapacity Benefit to Employment and Support Allowance nationally technical description

Short title	Number of people completing or leaving the Incapacity Benefit (IB) reassessment process
Technical definition	This indicator records the number of IB claimants that have started the IB to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) reassessment process and their outcomes. The total will include claimants who start the process but leave benefit before it is completed. Starting the reassessment process is defined as the point at which an IB claimant is referred for a Work Capability Assessment. An outcome is defined as: (a) IB recipients who go on to receive ESA (either in the Work Related Activity Group or the Support Group); (b) IB recipients who are found fit for work and so do not qualify for ESA (c) IB recipients who start the assessment process but who then leave benefit before completing their assessment.
Rationale	The reassessment of existing incapacity benefits claimants will ensure people receive an appropriate amount of support for their needs. The policy intent is to ensure that all claimants on incapacity benefits are, over time, receiving the same level of financial support and support to return to work if appropriate. The indicator will show the progress of this process. SRP 1 – deliver welfare reform
Formula	Indicator results calculated as follows: Monthly cohorts of existing incapacity benefits claims which have begun the reassessment process will be monitored so we know what happens at the assessment including numbers who leave before completing assessment and the outcomes from the Work Capability Assessment. The indicator will be the total number who have completed this process and of these the total who go on to receive ESA.
Start date	The rollout of IB reassessment started in October 2010, with a small trial in Aberdeen and Burnley and was extended nationwide from April 2011. It is estimated that around 1.5 million people will be subject to the process and that DWP Operations will take three years to complete the exercise.
Good performance	The main phase1 of incapacity benefit reassessments is expected to take three years, from April 2011 to the end of March 2014. It is expected that 1.5 million people will be subject to the process and will consist of those claimants on Incapacity Benefit who do not reach State Pension age during the three year period or leave the benefit for other reasons before beginning the reassessment process2. A good performance is that the number of cases going through the process is in line with this target, and 603,600 claimants – around 40% of 1.5 million – had started the Incapacity Benefit Reassessment process by the end of May 2012. Prior to the start of the reassessment programme it was forecast that 23% of IB claimants undergoing IB Reassessment would be found fit for work but there is no target for the proportion found fit for work. To date, 32% of those completing an assessment have been found fit for work
Behavioural impact	No, collecting the data should not have any behavioural impact – the indicator is not a target.
Comparability	Unaware of a similar measure in other countries.
Collection frequency	Quarterly
Time lag	The published data will be approximately 7 months after the claimants began the assessment process, but will include outcomes up to approximately one month before publication. Appeals information will be included where available but an appeal may take a year or more from the assessment date to be heard.
Data source (which data collection it comes from)	Data collected from: Internal benefit administration data held by the DWP and assessment data supplied by Atos Healthcare. DWP analysts then collate this data into a larger dataset.
Type of data (Whether it is an official statistic, national statistic, survey, MI )	Official Statistics
Robustness and data limitations	Data has undergone internal quality assurance procedures to verify quality including comparison with other available data sources, separate running of data and output computer code and sensitivity analysis to look at changes in outturns for periods (on previous runs of the data) to see if movement fits historic profiles. The publication uses the final DWP Decision Maker’s decision, or the recommendation made by the Atos Healthcare Professional, when the Decision Maker’s decision is not available. This provides a more complete analysis. The raw data used to identify benefit claimants Work Capability Assessment process outcomes and statuses, and establish appeals results are: DWP’s benefit administration datasets covering all claims to ESA (including those going through IB Reassessment) – this is cleaned, checked for error, by the internal data owner. This cleansing means that the base data available at any release is 5 months lagged; Atos Healthcare’s face to face assessment, ESA85, data and limited capability for work questionnaire, ESA50, data – this will cover those cases where the assessment phase is completed. The indicator gives the current status of claims. The relationship between the number of claims processed and the number moving to ESA is likely to change as in progress claims are completed, appeals are heard, and because the claims entering the process so far may not be representative of all IB claims due to be reassessed.
Collecting organisation	DWP and ATOS Healthcare – DWP analysts then collate this data into a larger dataset covering the whole process. Data then published by DWP
Return format	Unit and format of measurement is: Volumes
Geographical coverage	National - Great Britain
How indicator can be broken down	Breakdowns by local authority areas are currently available. Further breakdown by health condition, age gender etc may also be available but would require additional resource to develop.
Further guidance	Prior to the start of the IB Reassessment programme the Department released an Impact Assessment which details the anticipated costs, benefits and forecast outcomes of IB Reassessment. This can be found at the link below: Explanatory Memo and Impact Assessment for the ESA Regulations 2010 (121KB)

¹That is, excluding the pilot carried out in Autumn 2010.

² From Impact Assessment of Employment and Support Allowance (Transitional Provisions, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit) (Existing Awards) Regulations 2010, http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/875/pdfs/uksiem_20100875_en.pdf, p11