Welfare reform must listen to those with mental health problems, says Mind
Paul Farmer, Chief Executive of mental health charity Mind has joined a group which aims to advise and challenge the independent review which was set up to look into fairness and accuracy of the Work Capacity Assessment (WCA). This process will allow those suffering from a mental health problem to have representation and a voice.
Recently the Department for Work and Pensions released the latest Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) applications statistics, which show that 39 per cent of applicants are fit for work following their assessment.
Paul Farmer has expressed a positive view on the Governments decision to review the WCA as he currently believes it is falling short of being able to measure how an individuals mental health issues affect their ability to work.
The review and the new scrutiny panel will now mean that those who have been struggling with the benefits system for years will have their views and concerns represented and will hopefully be the first step towards removing the negative stigma around benefits, which can have a huge impact on the mentally ill who find themselves labelled as ‘benefits scroungers’ despite a genuine need for help.
