Commentary on Sections Conditionality Section 12: Work-focused interviews
78.This section provides for work-focused interviews, which are intended to assist claimants in moving closer to the labour market. Claimants, other than those who are members of the support group, may be made subject to a requirement to attend and participate in work-focused interviews by regulations.
79.Regulations under section 12(1) would provide for certain claimants who are entitled to the work-related activity component to be required to participate in work-focused interviews. Subsection (5) sets out that regulations must provide that requirements to participate in work-focused interviews will cease if the claimant becomes a member of the support group.
80.It is intended that there would also be a work-focused interview during the assessment phase which would be for the first 13 weeks of entitlement to an employment and support allowance. This interview would have the purpose of, where appropriate, explaining the benefit and conditionality regime to the claimant and helping them think about what activities they may want to do to help them to return to work. It is intended that regulations will allow interviews to be deferred for those with serious health conditions who may be in the support group after medical assessment.
81.Claimants would be provided with the date and time of their work-focused interview. Regulations would provide that if the claimant cannot attend the work-focused interview, then in certain circumstances it would be able to be moved and take place at another date or time.
82.Subsections (2)(f), (2)(g), (2)(h) and (2)(i) enable regulations to deal with situations where a claimant has not attended or not fully participated in a work-focused interview. Anyone failing to take part in a work-focused interview would have an opportunity to show they had good cause for their failure to take part in the work-focused interview, in a similar way as provided under the current legislation relating to incapacity benefit and work-focused interviews (the Social Security (Incapacity Benefit Work-focused Interviews) Regulations 2003 (S.I 2003/2439). A non-exhaustive list of the matters to be taken into account in deciding if a claimant can show good cause will be set out in regulations under subsections (2)(h) and (2)(i).
83.As well as attending a work-focused interview, claimants would normally be expected to participate fully in the interview. Regulations are likely to provide that claimants are required to provide certain relevant information (such as about their existing skills) and to participate in discussions about their employability and the steps that could be taken to help them move into work or closer to the labour market. Additionally it is intended that where work-related activity becomes mandatory for certain claimants in receipt of the work-related activity component, regulations would require a claimant to discuss the relevant work-related activity that they had undertaken.
84.If the claimant fails to participate fully in a work-focused interview as required in regulations and cannot show good cause for that failure within the permitted time, then the amount of employment and support allowance that they are entitled to would be reduced. Regulations under subsection (4) would set out the amounts of the reductions.
85.Regulations under subsection (6) would provide for waivers and deferrals of work-focused interviews. The circumstances in which a deferral may be granted will be related to a claimant’s health condition or other circumstances, such as transport difficulties (there will be some similarities to the Social Security (Incapacity Benefit Work-focused Interviews) Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/2439)). A waiver would mean that the requirement on a claimant to take part in a work-focused interview would be considered as not having applied and therefore a sanction could not be imposed.