Lord Grayling corrected the Commons record on Employment and Support Allowance
Lord Grayling made the correction and printed in Hansard's Written Corrections on 21 June 2011. The correction replaced 3 figures (150, 80,000, £200 million) with 2 figures (10,000, £60 million). Altogether 28 words differ between the two versions.
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the number of recipients of employment and support allowance there would be in the (a) work related activity group and (b) assessment phase (i) with and (ii) without time-limiting in place for each financial year from 2011-12 to 2015-16. Letter of correction from Mr Chris Grayling: An error has been identified in the written answer given to the right hon. Member for East Ham (Stephen Timms) on 16 May 2011. The full answer given was as follows:
Original and corrected words
Struck through: original only. Bold: correction only.
| Original | Corrected |
|---|---|
| As part of the Welfare Reform Bill we have set out our intention to introduce a time limit of one year for those claiming contributory employment and support allowance (ESA) and who are placed in the Work Related Activity Group (WRAG). The intention is that time spent in the assessment phase will count towards the 365 day period of the time limit. In total the policy is expected to generate annual benefit savings of £400 million in 2012-13 rising to £1.1 billion by 2014-15. If the proposal were to change so that the time limit period is extended by the length of time it takes for each person to undergo a work capability assessment to determine entitlement to ESA, this would reduce the expected benefit savings. The following table shows the expected change in the annual savings if the time spent in the assessment phase were excluded from the period of the time limit. It shows estimated overall costs to the Exchequer of around | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 Estimated savings from current policy (£ million) | 420 | 780 | 1,090 | 1,330 | 1,380 Change to estimated savings (£ million) | | -20 | -20 | -20 | % change from current policy | | -2 | -1 | -1 | -1 Change in the total numbers affected by time limiting | | -10,000 | -10,000 | -10,000 | -10,000 Note : Figures are in cash terms, and are for Great Britain. They are rounded to the nearest £10 million or 10,000 claimants. | The correct answer should have been as follows. Changes are identified in bold font. | As part of the Welfare Reform Bill we have set out our intention to introduce a time limit of one year for those claiming contributory employment and support allowance (ESA) and who are placed in the Work Related Activity Group (WRAG). The intention is that time spent in the assessment phase will count towards the 365 day period of the time limit. In total the policy is expected to generate annual benefit savings of £400 million in 2012-13 rising to £1.1 billion by 2014-15. If the proposal were to change so that the time limit period is extended by the length of time it takes for each person to undergo a work capability assessment to determine entitlement to ESA, this would reduce the expected benefit savings. The following table shows the expected change in the annual savings if the time spent in the assessment phase were excluded from the period of the time limit. It shows estimated overall costs to the Exchequer of around £60 million by 2014-15. | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 Estimated savings from current policy (£ million) | 420 | 780 | 1,090 | 1,330 | 1,380 Change to estimated savings (£ million) | -20 | -20 | -20 | -20 | -20 % change from current policy | -4 | -3 | -2 | -1 | -1 Change in the total numbers affected by time limiting | -10,000 | -10,000 | -10,000 | -10,000 | -10,000 Note : Figures are in cash terms, and are for Great Britain. They are rounded to the nearest £10 million or 10,000 claimants. | |
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Receipt
| Read from | https://hansard-api.parliament.uk/debates/debate/11062134000003.json |
|---|---|
| Date read | 15 October 2026 |
| SHA-256 | 8f65bb48adc6f5515d1c8232a15c108e55a42483f590c9bfb8658ab8a00ad4ed |