National statistics

ESA: outcomes of Work Capability Assessments including mandatory reconsiderations and appeals: January 2021

Outcomes of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) Work Capability Assessments, including mandatory reconsiderations and appeals information.

From:
Department for Work and Pensions
Published
14 January 2021

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

Documents

ESA: Work Capability Assessments, Mandatory Reconsiderations and Appeals: January 2021

Ref: ISBN 978-1-78659-285-9

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Data tables: ESA: outcomes of Work Capability Assessments: January 2021

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Details

The latest release of these statistics can be found in the collection of ESA: outcomes of Work Capability Assessments statistics.

This is a summary of the latest National Statistics on the outcomes of completed Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) Work Capability Assessments (WCA). The publication covers information on both initial and repeat ESA assessments in Great Britain. This release of the publication has been delayed from December 2020.

This release consists of a reduced set of tables due to HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) discovering issues with their appeals data which is used to create this release. We are therefore only able to publish data tables which are not based on information from the appeals data. This release includes:

  • WCA outcomes of initial and repeat WCAs to end of June 2020
  • End to end initial ESA claim clearance times to end of June 2020
  • Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) information to end of October 2020: (i) number of MR registrations, (ii) number of MR decisions, (iii) MR outcomes by type of decision, (iv) Median MR clearance time

The information will be published as data tables rather than via Stat-Xplore. Once the issues with the appeals data is resolved future publications will include a complete backseries covering any missing tables.

This release does not include:

  • Outcomes of assessments adjusted for appeal
  • Reasons for assignment into Support Group (SG), Work Related Activity Group (WRAG)
  • Appeal outcomes for Fit for Work (FfW) decisions
  • Numbers from the experimental data which follows customers through the ESA journey, so numbers who complete a WCA, then go through to raise an MR and then go on to appeal
  • Incapacity Benefit (IB) reassessment numbers and outcomes
  • Outcome of assessment by International Classification of Diseases (ICD) group: Functional impairment reasons for WRAG outcomes

Universal Credit (UC) was rolled out to every Jobcentre across Great Britain by December 2018 and has now replaced income-related ESA for most new claimants. This has greatly changed the volume and composition of new claims to ESA.

Note: Information is only available for claims that began at least 6 months following the assessment date, or 9 months following the date of claim. This is because of the time required for the customer journey to end and for the information recorded to be as complete as possible.

More information

Read background information on these statistics in ESA: outcomes of Work Capability Assessment policies and statements.

Find more about DWP statistics and contact details on the Statistics at DWP page.

Find details of future DWP statistics releases in the statistics release calendar.

Published 14 January 2021

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