Can't work out what's happening to the LCW group on UC in the news about benefits changes, anyone know?

[ItsaMeMummio]

I am not talking about LCWRA. Just LCW.

Without going into too much detail I've recently supported a relative to be put in the LCW group. They have been self employed for 20+ years in a very physical hard work job, but have always struggled with serious MH problems (multiple suicide attempts in the past), alcohol dependence (which improves when their MH is good but slides backwards when their MH is poor), and over the last 5 years or so worsening physical problems (probably related to the work they do!). They've also been in prison in the past for a violent offence. They're on the NHS waiting list for ASD and ADHD diagnosis. They are absolutely hopeless at basic life management like paperwork and rely heavily on me and another family member to deal with a lot of things for them.

Their health is up and down and their line of work has a seasonal element, hence self employment having worked well for them under the old tax credits/housing benefit system. However their self employment didn't work at all under UC due to the strict conditionality and the minimum income floor. But they were reluctant to claim disability benefits and wanted to continue working.

They would probably meet the criteria for PIP as it currently stands, but I haven't yet been able to persuade them to claim and they almost certainly won't meet the new criteria being talked about anyway! Their problems are multiple but mostly fluctuating and on their own none would qualify them for PIP but when put together the whole picture is of someone who is realistically never going to be capable of holding down full time work, no matter what support is offered.

With my support they've recently managed to be placed in the LCW group which means they don't get any extra money, but their work coach has been able to lower their work requirements to something more sustainable/manageable in their specific circumstances. They've also just been referred to Access To Work but the wait for that is very long locally. Their work coach is actually very supportive and knows they're not a blagger.

With all the news I cannot work out what will happen to the LCW group. All I can find is info on the LCWRA group which they are not in and would not qualify for!

Anyone have any idea? It just is quite worrying for them right now because of the talk of LCWRA being linked to PIP, and the WCA being scrapped, but that leaves LCW in doubt...surely it won't be scrapped? It doesn't actually involve anyone getting extra money as it's not linked to any extra elements. But it's the absolute best way of supporting people who can work and want to work, but need some flexibility in their work commitments due to disabilities that wouldn't necessarily qualify them for LCWRA.

I don't know the answer to that sorry, could they phone the helpline? The government seems to have got people into panic mode

I'm not really sure that the helpline would even be able to answer the question, as there just doesn't seem to be any mention of what will happen to the LCW group in anything I can find online 😬

I don't know the immediate answer, but my suggestion would be to download the green paper regarding all these changes which has now been published on the .gov website. I've had a quick look and literally every change and detail is contained within - you'll find all the answers in there. Good luck to your relative and thank you for offering vital support to someone vulnerable. Society needs more people like you.

Thanks

Just done exactly that! And did a search inside the document for "LCW" - it returned 29 highlighted uses, 27 of which were actually results for LCWRA. The only two mentions of LCW were 1) that it comes with a work allowance and 2) that its currently determined by the WCA (which is being scrapped). Absolutely nothing about whether LCW will still exist under the new plans, or how it will be determined if there's no WCA 😬

I just really feel for my relative, after a lot of stress under the initial move to UC they finally had found a good solution with the support of a genuinely understanding work coach. And now that's all up in the air.

Well that's awful! How can it not be mentioned when it's an existing benefit? So that means one of two things - there's been a complete oversight or there will be no changes. Unfortunately, I'd lean with the first option. If there is no guidance published I can't even see citizens advice etc knowing the answer - how could they?. How concerning. Only thing I can think of is firstly looking on specific benefit advice forums as others will be asking the same question and may have tracked down some info, but if that doesn't prove fruitful, your local mp is the next call.

It's not exactly a benefit, because there's no cash involved. It's a specific group of UC claimants who have been deemed to have a limited capacity for work, but are still expected to take part in work related activity (such as training) and crucially they can work as much or as little as their condition allows. It doesn't give them any extra money as such, just moves them out of the extremely strict conditionality that most UC claimants have, but still expects them to prepare for work or to do some work.

I'd have expected them to announce if it was being scrapped! But there's just no mention of how it will work or even if it will continue to exist

The simple answer is, we don't know

There won't be an lcw group anymore

But we don't know how that will interact with things like minimum income floor and work search requirements

We also don't know what will happen to people who are lcw at the moment

Incidentally, your relative is a good example of people who need to be considered by the government in their changes and I'd encourage you to write to their MP about it

100% agree with this. These announcements haven't be passed yet, so very specific concerns about certain groups need to be flagged with their mp.

So LCW is going 😱

See, this creates even more of a "cliff edge" situation for people! And even more incentive to claim PIP where previously they might not have felt they needed to.

There has to be some flexibility built into the system for people like my relative. These people are never going to be able to hold down a full time job, but they can work and want to work - they just need a bit more flexibility than UC offers. LCW is the perfect halfway house for them between "fully fit for work" and "completely unfit for work".

I can't see how on earth this makes any kind of sense!

I will ask their permission to write to their MP about it, good suggestion thank you.

It feels like this hasn't been considered at all. There's a huge number of people who don't want/need extra money, but do desperately need that bit of extra flexibility in the UC system.