Government’s advisers fail to act over guidance that proves ‘right to try’ work reforms are ‘worthless’

The government’s social security advisers have refused to criticise ministers or take any action after official documents proved that “right to try” reforms at the heart of Labour’s “landmark” plans to push more disabled people into employment were “worthless”.

Disability News Service and others reported last month how new guidance uncovered by the Benefits and Work website showed the reforms were meaningless.

Labour pledged in its 2024 manifesto that it would “give disabled people the confidence to start working without the fear of an immediate benefit reassessment if it does not work out”.

It did this through “landmark” regulations that enshrined existing “right to try work” rules into legislation and which came into force on 30 April.

The new regulations were supposed to mean that claimants of new-style employment and support allowance (ESA), the health element of universal credit, and personal independence payment (PIP), would not automatically trigger a new assessment of their eligibility if they told DWP they were going to try work or volunteering.

But new guidance for DWP decision-makers (DMs), spotted by Benefits and Work, made it clear that if a decision-maker decided that the type of work being tried suggested the claimant’s “functional ability” had improved, they would be able to order – immediately – a new work capability assessment or PIP assessment.

Benefits and Work said the DWP guidance meant the department had “hammered the final nail in the coffin” of Labour’s legislation.

The grassroots, user-led mental health group Recovery in the Bin (RiTB) said the guidance “confirms ministers’ promises are as worthless and empty as their souls”.

The government’s own benefits advisers – the social security advisory committee – had already warned, earlier this year, that a draft version of the regulations failed to provide the “clarity or assurance needed to achieve their intended purpose” and risked undermining the back-to-work confidence of disabled claimants of universal credit, ESA and PIP.

Following discussions with DWP, the committee eventually concluded that the proposals were “a cautious starting point rather than the comprehensive package likely to be required to secure claimant trust”, and it called for “updated and strengthened guidance” which “should be kept under review”.

Following this conclusion, Disability News Service (DNS) drew the committee’s attention to the new DWP guidance, pointing out that it ensured the opposite of what the regulations were supposedly intended to achieve.

DNS also pointed out that the committee had said claimants should be given six months of freedom from a reassessment under the right to try regulations, whereas the guidance appeared to set the timeframe at just three months.

DNS asked if the committee’s chair, Dr Stephen Brien, was concerned about these two points, and what action the committee would take.

But a spokesperson for the committee refused to say if Brien was concerned and whether the committee would take any action.

Instead, a statement from Brien said the committee would only ask DWP to “report back to us on progress as the policy develops in practice”.

In a statement, which failed to address the concerns raised by DNS, Brien said: “Our report was clear that the ‘right to try’ regulations remove only one part of the risk faced by claimants – that starting work might automatically trigger reassessment – and do not address the concern that evidence from work activity may still be used in a reassessment.

“That is why we recommended additional safeguards, including a six-month period of protection from the point at which a claimant starts work, alongside clearer guidance for operational staff.

“We regard these regulations as an initial step, and have asked the department to report back to us on progress as the policy develops in practice.”

When asked again if the committee was concerned, the SSAC spokesperson said the committee had “nothing to add to its earlier advice”, which was presented to work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden on 19 March – a month before the new guidance was released to DWP decision-makers on 23 April – and would “continue to engage with the department as the policy develops”.