asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the 13-week wait between lodging an application for employment support allowance and the Department for Work and Pensions' decision on eligibility is due to (a) the interval between application and first payment, (b) any back-log within the department, or (c) another reason; and, if the latter, what is that reason. [HL6055]

Claimants to employment and support allowance who are awarded benefit enter a 13-week assessment phase during which the work capability assessment, which determines continued entitlement to benefit, is conducted. We have set the assessment phase at 13 weeks because that is the estimated time taken to complete the assessment process for almost all claimants.

The 13-week period applies to most claimants for reasons of equity. It would be unfair to move some customers onto the higher main phase rate of benefit earlier than others because of circumstances beyond their control. There are exceptions for people who are terminally ill or for people who have previously claimed and returned to the benefit under the linking rules.

During the assessment phase, the benefit is paid at the same level as jobseeker's allowance, which helps reduce perverse incentives to claim employment and support allowance rather than jobseeker's allowance.

Under employment and support allowance, claimants receive an increased rate of benefit at the 14th week, much sooner than under the incapacity benefits system, where higher rates are typically payable after a year of incapacity.