Catherine Hale

The Chancellor’s plans to cut the rate of benefits to people in the Work Related Activity Group (WRAG) of ESA by £30 a week is based on widespread myths and misinformation about people in this group. The assumption behind the plans is that people placed in the WRAG are nearly fit for work. The Work Capability Assessment is supposed to sort people who cannot be expected to work and are therefore placed in the Support Group where their benefits are unconditional, from those who have temporary or relatively minor health conditions or impairments and are therefore placed in the WRAG where their benefits are conditional upon preparing for a return to work. It’s time to dispel this myth and tell the truth about people in the WRAG. The discredited Work Capability Assessment is neither a rational nor a fair way of distinguishing those who could work from those who can’t. Here are 3 profiles of hypothetical claimants illustrating how their health or impairment would be asse