wrag

valerie wrote: hi i am going for my 1st work program assement today i have just found out that i can only be on the wrag program for 1 year is that right is wot happens then and how can i get on to the support group as my doctor dose not think i am going to get any better as i have sufferd from croinck depresion and anixanty panic attacks for a long time wot do i do thanks

Your time in the WRAG is only limited to a year if you currently receive Contribution Based ESA and you are not eligible to receive Income Related ESA due to income, saving and assets, or the hours that a partner works.

If this is the case, at the end of a the year, payments of your ESA(CB) cease and you will no longer be required to take part in WFIs and Work Related Activity, including the Work Programme.

If you are eligible for ESA(IR), then payments continue and you continue to be required to participate in the WP.

To be placed in the Support Group you need to meet one or more of the SG criteria, see

Qualifying for the Support Group

As your WRAG award was itself the result of a an appeal against a Fit for Work Decision, you can only challenge this, if you can show there has been an Error of Law, however, as I understand it you must begin this process within one month of the Tribunal Decision, and from your previous posts this Decision was made in December of last year, so this option is no longer available to you, however, I would recommend you still getting face to face advice to confirm this.

Your other alternative is to show that there has been a deterioration in your condition since the original Decision, not the Tribunal one. The burden of proof lies with you, and any evidence you collect must clearly show that you meet one of the SG criteria and that the deterioration is recent. Again, you might want to get face to face advice on this.

Gordon