Feb
21
Thursday
A Better Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is Possible
Please reserve a place by contacting Doria Pilling: d.s.pilling@city.ac.uk.
Speaker: Ben Baumberg Geiger, Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy, University of Kent
How to reform the WCA
Abstract
The Work Capability Assessment has been such a failure that some people seem to have abandoned hope that a better WCA is possible. The cause of WCA reform has not been helped by the absence of concrete, deliverable proposals for replacing it. Yet it is possible to create an assessment that more accurately assesses people’s capacity for work, using best practice from other countries and adapting them to suit the UK. This talk sets out how such a new assessment works, producing transparent and fair decisions based on the real demands of work in Britain.
About the speaker
Ben has worked extensively on issues around disability and the benefits system, including regular conversations with disabled people’s organisations, disability and social welfare charities, official bodies such as Select Committees, The National Audit Office and the Office for Budget Responsibility, and has had a short period on secondment at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). He wrote the 2018 Demos report A Better WCA is possible.
References
Baumberg Geiger, B. (2018) A Better WCA is Possible, Demos.
Other publications by Ben Baumberg Geiger can be found at: http://www.benbgeiger.co.uk/publications.htm