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PIP consultation judicial review starts today

July 9, 2014 By 5 Comments

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Today a judge will consider whether the Department of Work and Pensions carried out a fair consultation when it decided that only people who could walk less than 20 metres would get the full amount of help for mobility.

Where with Disability Living Allowance (DLA) claimants had to be able to walk less than 50 metres to qualify for the higher rate, under Personal Independence Payments (PIP) the cut-off will be just 20 metres. People who fall between those two distances will receive the lower rate of £21.55 a week instead of the higher rate of £56.75. As a result they will no longer qualify to lease a car from the Motability scheme and if they currently have one it will be taken away. Other things that may be affected can include automatic entitlement to bus passes and local taxi or dial-a-ride schemes. The lower rate of £21.55 won’t stretch much beyond one taxi trip to see a doctor or hospital in many areas.

Although three people initially pursued a judicial review, two cases were put on hold and my case was continued as representative of the others. The judicial review will examine the consultation about PIP that took place in early 2012 and the second consultation that focused on just the mobility component which took place in late 2013.

The main case is that the first consultation did not address the change to 20 metres while, by the time it got to the second consultation it was too late because there was no realistic possibility of change. The rest of the scheme had already been put in place and so money had already been allocated elsewhere.

In response to the second consultation the DWP unexpectedly claimed that the budget that in the past helped people with physical disabilities to get out and mobile had been reallocated to help people with learning disabilities and mental health problems. This pitting of one impairment against another is fundamentally unfair.. Rather than address inequality by bringing everyone up to the same mobility level, they have chosen to help one group by seriously disadvantaging another. It would seem that the government has seen the word equality but has not understood what it really means. If they had told us what was in their minds when they were consulting we might have had a chance to put them right.

Equality vs Justice

Equality vs Justice

The judicial review will be heard at the Adminstrative Court in Bull Street, Birmingham starting at 13:00 today and all day tomorrow. We don’t yet know when we will hear the results. There will be a vigil outside the courts in Bull Street, Birmingham today at 13:00 which supporters may wish to attend. Please spread the word and tell your friends to look out for this story in the news.

This news report from Sky News last year includes an interview with me about the impact of the changes.

Related blog posts

PIP 20 metre rule consultation response: “We’re not listening.”

Victory! DWP to launch PIP mobility consultation

PIP Judicial Review given the go ahead

Announcement: legal action against the DWP over the #PIP consultation

Why I am suing the government

If you can only walk twenty metres you’ll get no help

Replacement of disability living allowance headline news for hours

Two weeks until PIP Judicial Review – 20 metre limit in the dock

This blog post was a little less dry but then I ran it past my lawyer. (Don’t tell her I said that.)
Filed Under: Welfare

Two weeks until PIP Judicial Review - 20 metre limit in the dock

June 24, 2014 By 1 Comment

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It seems like forever since our attempt to get a judicial review over PIP and the fraudulent consultation. Well, that attempt has come to fruition at last. The case against the DWP will be heard in Birmingham on the 9th and 10th of July.

20m in the house of commons

This specific case is about the decision to slash support from those who can walk less than fifty metres, to only those who can walk less than twenty. The drastic reduction in the eligible distance means that some 500,000 people will be left without support even though they can walk less than 50m without some kind of assistance. This change has been made purely to cut costs, as was admitted by the DWP in their response when we forced them to re-open their consultation.

It has actually been quite difficult to bring a case against an opponent that can change the rules to suit its own agenda however the court has agreed to hear arguments surrounding the consultation and the fact that the DWP did not mention the slashing of support until after the consultation was complete.

I will provide more details here on the specific arguments we will make as soon as I can clear them with my solicitor.

Related blog posts

PIP 20 metre rule consultation response: “We’re not listening.”

Victory! DWP to launch PIP mobility consultation

PIP Judicial Review given the go ahead

Announcement: legal action against the DWP over the #PIP consultation

Why I am suing the government

If you can only walk twenty metres you’ll get no help

Replacement of disability living allowance headline news for hours

 

Filed Under: Welfare Tagged With: , , , ,

DWP demand access at random to your home and documents

June 17, 2014 By 82 Comments

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DWP signIn today’s scary news, it has emerged that the DWP are claiming the right to enter the home of people in receipt of a variety of benefits, demand to see their ID and financial documents, and interrogate them for an hour or more. All without prior warning.

While the DWP have always had teams that investigate fraud - including spying on people through their windows from parked cars - the idea that they can select you at random and turn up unannounced appears to be new. What happens if you turn the DWP officer away is not stated. While the website says “You can reschedule your appointment if you need to” it also says “You won’t always get a letter in advance telling you about the visit.” Of course this is very likely to be backed up with the usual “you do not have to comply but if you do not then your benefits may be affected.” When confronted with the idea of losing all their income most people will obey against their will.

As many people have pointed out to me, plenty of sick people cannot cope with this intrusion or unpredictability. (Including myself.) Others may not have the ability to find the documents or to think well enough to provide the answers demanded. Carers who know all the details may not be present.

I suspect that the random selection and the entry into the home without warning may breach the human rights act. I’d appreciate if someone knowledgeable could check this for me.

It is notable that the text claims that the DWP will check you if you are on Housing Benefit. That benefit is implemented by the local authority and not the DWP. This leads me to believe that this update is mostly posturing for the tabloids on the part of the SPADs that churn out propaganda for the DWP Press Office.

A page on the gov.uk website carrying a date of 2 June 2014 sets out what the DWP are threatening. The current contents of that page in full:

Home visit to check your benefits payments

You may get a visit from a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) officer to check that your benefits payments are correct. A Performance Measurement review officer may visit you if you’re claiming:

  • Employment and Support Allowance
  • Housing Benefit
  • Income Support
  • Jobseeker’s Allowance
  • Pension Credit
Your name is selected at random to be checked. You won’t always get a letter in advance telling you about the visit.

What to expect

The officer will interview you in your home and will want to see 2 forms of identification. They’ll also ask to see documents about money, savings and rent, eg:

  • payslips
  • bank, building society or Post Office accounts
  • rent book or tenancy agreement
  • benefits and tax credit awards

Visits usually last up to an hour but may be longer. You can reschedule your appointment if you need to.

Check their identity

You can check the identity of the Performance Measurement review officer by:

  • asking to see their photo identity card
  • calling the Business Support Team and giving the review officer’s name
Business Support Team Telephone: 0191 216 8050 Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
Filed Under: Welfare

Please vote, even if you only spoil your ballot

May 21, 2014 By Leave a Comment

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I understand completely why lots of people refuse to vote - that has often been how I have thought too over the last few years. There is a catalogue of reasons: the main parties are all the same, they are all in the pay of big business, the smaller parties and independents don’t stand a chance, the party system is broken, no one represents your views, there’s no option for none of the above, voting doesn’t change anything… and the list goes on.

If you just can’t bring yourself to vote for any of the candidates, I urge you to spoil your ballot instead. You can even have fun with it, draw a picture or write something witty. Just don’t take a photo while you’re in the voting booth because that is illegal. (So as to protect against any compulsion about who you vote for.) It is true that spoiling your ballot won’t directly lead to change but I believe it would at least counter the idea that people don’t vote out of apathy and they just don’t care about politics. I think it’s worth spoiling your ballot paper just so that the politicians and journalists can’t keep saying that no one cares what happens.

That said, I will be voting this time. Part of the reason for this is that elections for the European Parliament use proportional representation and so the less popular parties can still get an MEP. This does of course mean that far-right parties may also get an MEP.

Obviously the far-right BNP, UKIP and nationalists are not even in the running as far as I’m concerned, nor the right-wing or neoliberal parties like Conservatives, Labour or LibDems. There are parties that I could vote for though, and maybe you can too. You could consider the Green Party, the Pirate Party (who are in some ways similar to the Greens) and the National Health Action Party who are standing up for the NHS. Of those I only have the Green Party as a choice so they’ll get my vote this time. There are smaller more local parties in some areas too so check who they are and what they promise before you go to vote.

If you don’t want to go and vote on Thursday I’ll understand why. I don’t think voting should be compulsory and I don’t think refusing to vote is an insult to anyone’s ancestors. But if you don’t want to vote for any of the options available I’d be very pleased if you would spoil your ballot instead.

Filed Under: Politics

Online Friendships: The Problem of Feedback

April 22, 2014 By 2 Comments

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Social media is a great enabler of friendships, particularly for people who for whatever reason cannot interact with other people in person. Where social media falls down is that it can lack feedback. When talking in the physical world humans acknowledge each other in various subtle ways. Sometimes it may not be a complex reply but may just be a look or a nod, a facial expression, or perhaps an audible acknowledgement like “mmmm”, “uh huh” or “oh” or some other noise.

The trouble is we mostly don’t do that when it comes to tweets and comments.

Social media can be used in lots of different ways but what many people post is a mix of news and links alongside personal updates of situations and feelings. People who are reading will see both and will often share what interests them or comment on it. When it comes to more personal updates though, they won’t necessarily reply but they would miss those things if they were not there. The personal updates shape our perception of a person and can increase feelings of connection to that person. Very often though, there is no suitable way to reply. There’s nothing that can easily be said, or we don’t feel the need for a full sentence in reply but have no way to nod our acknowledgement. We read and absorb but say nothing in return.

This leads to a big problem: we can feel ignored because people only interact when we post something funny / awful / outrageous and they seem to skip over the personal stuff. Friendships through social media are real and meaningful, frequently more so than acquaintances in the physical world, and yet they lack a huge chunk of feedback that makes us feel validated as a person.

The “Like” or “Favourite” button has become a proxy for acknowledgement in some cases but that doesn’t work when the situation is negative. A button for “I’ve seen this” or “Dislike” might help but even that wouldn’t solve the problem because social media is more broadcast than one-to-one conversation. It’s like saying something aloud to no-one in particular in a room with hundreds of people in. There’s no telling how many people would see an update and how many of those can stop to acknowledge each one. It would be impossible for someone following more than a few hundred people on Twitter, for example.

There doesn’t seem to be an easy solution to this problem but it is something that we need to work out as more and more of our lives take place through the abstraction of screen and keyboard.

Filed Under: The digital age

The complex issue of looking like a fake when I get up and walk

April 19, 2014 By 15 Comments

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“Perhaps. Not yet but in the future. When I’m ready to face the complex issue of looking like a fake when I get up and walk.”

This was an answer given when I suggested to someone with chronic illness that a mobility scooter would help overcome some of the problems with walking. It’s a sad indication of the judgement by society that affects so many people who could benefit from mobility aids.

Unfortunately what other people think of us is something that keeps many people from accepting that they need help. I myself delayed using a wheelchair for a year or more after I really needed one because I was scared of looking different, scared of being accused of using it only to get sympathy or benefits. In delaying my use of it I no doubt subjected myself more pain and more time stuck in bed recovering than I would otherwise have endured, and prevented myself from doing as much as I might have done.

The problem of being thought of as a fake when standing up from a scooter or wheelchair is a particularly pervasive one. The common assumption amongst the general public is that people are “wheelchair bound” or “confined” to a wheelchair because they cannot walk. Full stop. Of course there are people who cannot walk at all but it is usually not the case. Much of the fuss around the introduction of PIP to replace DLA is that the maximum distance you can walk before help is withdrawn has been reduced from 50 metres to just 20. For those that haven’t thought that through, it should be obvious that you could therefore see someone walk 20 metres or even 50 metres who still gets help to move around. If that seems unfair, think about how you would get through your day if you could only walk 50 metres in one go. For those who are chronically sick they often could walk if they had to but are rewarded with pain, exhaustion and eventual collapse. Because of the stigma around mobility aids they often put up with this until such a time as trying to keep walking ends up confining them to bed in perpetual recovery. In fact, when they finally give in and accept their need for help, far from being “confined” to a wheelchair they are actually freed up by it to go further and to do more. As a result of not wasting energy on trying to walk most of the time they have more energy to stay out and interact with people.

My use of a wheelchair actually means that when I do need to walk I can do so relatively easily as long as I don’t overdo it. The problem is that to an ignorant observer it looks like I was faking my need for help in the first place when instead I can only get up at all because I was using the wheelchair. (Although one of my symptoms is that after prolonged sitting my muscles feel like they seize up and I end up quite wobbly when I try to stand, at least for a few minutes.)

The same judgement affects people who have a Blue Badge entitling them to use a disabled parking space. (I hate that name. Mobility parking space maybe?) The use of a car and a parking space near to their destination may well mean that they can walk the short distance from car to destination without apparent signs of struggling and so passers-by jump on them and accuse them of faking it. If they did not have the car and the parking space they would probably have visibly struggled to walk the greater distances between public transport options and their destination.

If you have read this far then you are probably already convinced but the message I would like people to take away is that you don’t see everything about a sick or disabled person. You don’t see the pain and the recovery time after they have done something that looked normal and you don’t see what they would be like if they did not have the use of mobility aids or help from others. Don’t judge, not least because one day it may well happen to you, and if you see someone else judging, set them straight.

Related blog posts:

Embarrassed to be me

Fear and mobility

Blue Badge Blues

Why I am suing the government

Filed Under: Illness

Atos to be replaced for WCA but nothing will change

March 27, 2014 By Leave a Comment

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The Department for Work and Pensions has announced that they are looking for a new contractor to replace Atos to carry out Work Capability Assessments.

This isn’t unexpected given the recent announcement from Atos. However it is clear that the DWP have no interest in making the process any less traumatic. In fact the DWP press office has said that they intend there to be even more assessments but will not stop inflicting punishment by regularly reassessing people who are unlikely to recover.

The government is of course taking the opportunity to blame the previous government for the whole debacle while glossing over the fact that the coalition took a trial of Employment Support Allowance that was going badly, rolled it out across the country and ramped up assessments against the advice of their own experts. Labour may have hired Atos but the Conservatives and LibDems inflicted this travesty on far more people. In a written ministerial statement Mike Penning talked about “the process we inherited from the previous Government” and claimed that they had listened to experts when in fact they had repeatedly ignored experts.

The fact is that while Atos are complicit in inflicting suffering on sick and disabled people, they were following orders from the DWP. When Atos are replaced by another company the contract will still hold the replacement to “statistical norms” that allow only a tiny number of people to actually receive the help that we expect the government should provide. In reality the replacement of Atos by another brand name is unlikely to change even the staff carrying out the assessments or the buildings in which they take place. (Most of which are rented from the DWP anyway.) In his written statement Mike Penning said

“It is expected that the Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment regulations will apply and most of the Atos employees will transfer to the new provider.”

The replacement for Atos will include the same staff, the same buildings, the same descriptors, the same statistical norms. Nothing will change. Same shit different scapegoat.

It is important to note that Atos will carry on under a separate contract in Northern Ireland and that Atos will still carry out WCAs until a replacement is found, though most repeat assessments will not take place. Do not assume that your WCA is cancelled!

Written Ministerial Statement: Early exit of Atos from WCA contract (PDF)

Doc Hackenbush sums it up well:

How will you differ from Atos? My tie has stripes! Cartoon by @DocHackenbush

How will you differ from Atos? My tie has stripes! Cartoon by @DocHackenbush

Filed Under: Welfare

The Atos name is toxic - Atos spins off OH Assist

February 25, 2014 By 1 Comment

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Keen eyes have spotted that Atos Healthcare has re-branded as OH Assist. However this isn’t quite all of the story. Atos Healthcare - a trading name of Atos IT Services UK Limited - had two main areas of business. One is the notorious DWP contract to carry out Work Capability Assessments and more recently assessments for Personal Independence Payments. The other is providing Occupational Health services to large companies. This led to contradictions such as Atos Healthcare telling someone’s employer that they are not fit for work and then Atos Healthcare telling the DWP that they actually are fit for work.

Since they are at the frontline of implementing savage Tory cuts, the name Atos Healthcare has become toxic. Business customers of Atos Healthcare have been pressured by campaigners to take their business elsewhere, and no doubt Atos has struggled to employ staff for that service.

It appears then, that Atos Healthcare has spun off those occupational health services under a new name, OH Assist. OH Assist has a new website and their customers have been informed of the change. (As noted on the Southern Health Website for example.)

Atos Healthcare is still operating and their DWP contracts are still being carried out under that name.

An Atos customer notifies staff of name change to OH Health

An Atos customer notifies staff of name change to OH Health

Atos Healthcare remains only to carry out the contracts for the WCA and for PIP assessments and that is all that is referenced on their website. I am fairly sure that Atos will not be part of any bidding to take on other social security related contracts. I suspect that once Atos can extract themselves from the contract for the WCA (Which seems to be happening fairly quickly) and if they can get out of the PIP contract too (Which they may as they have huge delays and are struggling to employ doctors) then the company will shut down and the Atos Healthcare name will disappear leaving Atos IT Services and OH Assist.

While I celebrate the downfall of Atos Healthcare it is important to remember that the problems they perpetuated are rooted in the Work Capability Assessment and that won’t be fixed just because Atos are no longer involved.

Filed Under: Welfare

No more repeat Work Capability Assessments until further notice

February 24, 2014 By 1 Comment

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Some huge news has emerged today after a Freedom Of Information request by the Benefits and Work website.

It appears that the DWP have suspended all repeat Work Capability Assessments with Atos. This means that those who currently receive Employment Support Allowance and are in the Support Group or the Work-Related Activity Group will not be called back for repeat assessment unless the DWP are informed that their health has changed. This appears to be a move to clear the backlog of those in the Assessment Phase of ESA who are waiting for Atos to call them in for a WCA. It is unclear how this might affect the migration for those who still receive Incapacity Benefit. According to Benefits and Work the DWP memo states:

“The number of cases currently with Atos Healthcare has grown. A decision has therefore been taken to control the referral of repeat work capability assessments. Therefore, with effect from 20 January 2014, further routine repeat assessments referrals to Atos will be deferred until further notice.

“Controlling the volume of repeat Work Capability Assessments should help us to reduce delays for new claimants and those that have already been referred.”

Benefits and Work also claim that the DWP did not intend to inform either MPs or claimants. The uncertainty over the timing and outcome of the WCA is a huge problem for most people who rely on ESA and the knowledge that they will be left alone in the near future would be a great help so it is a further sign of cruelty that the DWP don’t care enough to inform anyone.

This decision to suspend repeat assessments sheds new light on the recent announcement by Atos that they are seeking to get out of the contract for WCAs early anyway and on the ongoing battle between Atos and the DWP to place the blame for the failure of the entire scheme.

Dr Greg Wood put some speculation into the thinking behind this decision on his blog in the form of a fictional memo - Work Test Whistleblower: A Note For The Minister?

Source: Benefits and Work: All repeat WCA medicals to be stopped

Related:

Atos want to end DWP Work Capability Assessment contract

The problem with the Work Capability Assessment goes far deeper than Atos

Filed Under: Welfare Tagged With: , , , ,

Atos want to end DWP Work Capability Assessment contract

February 21, 2014 By 3 Comments

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According to a report in the Financial Times, (£) Atos are trying to bring an early end to their contract to carry out the Work Capability Assessment.

Atos, if you don’t know, are the French IT company that have the contract to assess every person that claims Employment Support Allowance and determine whether they really need support or should be told to get a job. They are notoriously bad at it, with vast numbers of decision overturned by appeal tribunals and many more who could not face the appeal abandoned without any income.

Crippen - Atos test

The Guardian reported on Monday that the Department of Work and Pensions were looking to commission other providers to take on some of the assessments but in a quote given to the Financial Times Atos said that they were already negotiating to leave the contract early. From the FT article:

The French IT company has been in discussions with the Department for Work and Pensions with a view to exiting the deal since October last year, because it views the tests as “outdated”.

“In its current form it is not working for claimants, for DWP or for Atos Healthcare,” Atos said. “For several months now we have been endeavouring to agree an early exit from the contract, which is due to expire in August 2015.”
“Despite these ongoing discussions, we will not walk away from a front-line service. Our total focus remains on delivering the services we are contracted to provide in a professional and compassionate way, until a new service begins.”

Of particular note is that in the article Atos are cited as saying that “the political environment has become untenable” and that the work capability assessment is “outdated”.

As I wrote earlier this week the replacement of Atos with another outsourcing company will not solve the problems with the Work Capability Assessment as those stem from government policy and the way in which the DWP enforce the contract so as to keep the numbers deemed eligible for help to a minimum. It is, however, satisfying to see a company which has been quite happy to play it’s part in the cruel and unnecessary suffering of thousands finally admit defeat.

Financial Times - Outsource group seeks exit from UK £500m benefits contract after death threats (£ - free registration to read 8 articles.)

Latent Existence - The problem with the Work Capability Assessment goes far deeper than Atos

The Guardian - Atos may lose fit-for-work tests contract as ministers line up rival firms

Filed Under: Welfare Tagged With: ,
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