Trigger warning
Those who might be triggered by stories of suicide, other deaths and distress caused by #UniversalCredit and #DWP should consider not reading any further this week, as there are some particularly distressing reports in this week’s edition
Woman took her own life after trauma caused by daily demands of universal credit
A disabled woman left traumatised by the daily demands of the universal credit system took her own life just four days after being told she would need to attend a face-to-face meeting with a work coach, her family say.
Rebecca*, a former manager, would shake and cry every time she had to log onto her online universal credit “journal”, which she was forced to do every weekday to avoid having her benefits sanctioned.
Although she had been given a six-month “fit note” by her doctor that explained that she was not fit for work, she was still expected to have regular appointments with a work coach until her fitness for work could be assessed by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) contractor Maximus.
DWP had been told of her mental distress, suicidal thoughts and fear of the department and the universal credit system.
Her mother, Debra*, who lived near her daughter’s home, said the idea of always having to be under the surveillance of DWP and its universal credit system left her in despair.
Rebecca told her mother: “They will always want to know where I am going, how much money I have got. They will always be in my life, they will always want to know.”
She was so concerned that she might make an error and be sanctioned by DWP that she did not turn on the central heating in her flat for the last two months of her life, to try to save money.
She wouldn’t even allow her parents to pay the bill in case DWP saw the payment in her bank account and treated it as income.
Debra does not want her daughter to be identified until an inquest into her death takes place, which is likely to be early next year, but she has asked the coroner to investigate the role DWP and the universal credit system played in her daughter’s death.
Disability News Service (DNS) has been speaking to Debra for several months but cannot confirm the details of what happened to her daughter with DWP, although DNS has shared anonymised details of Rebecca’s ordeal with the department.
Further evidence of Rebecca’s treatment by DWP is likely to emerge at the inquest, but DNS has decided to publish her mother’s uncorroborated claims now because they mirror concerns being raised by other disabled people who claim universal credit and have contacted DNS (see other stories).
Debra said she had spoken out now about her daughter’s suicide in the hope that it will force changes to make the universal credit system safer and prevent further deaths.
She said: “I have always been a law-abiding citizen but now I feel like getting my walking stick and going round to the jobcentre and smashing it up, just to get my day in court.”
She believes it is crucial to find out how many people on universal credit have taken their own lives, and she is appalled that no such figures are collected.
Debra also says her daughter’s death has highlighted DWP’s continuing failure to accept that its staff have a duty of care to benefit claimants.
Rebecca’s death came as DWP was preparing to begin its “managed migration” of hundreds of thousands of claimants of old-style benefits such as employment and support allowance onto universal credit, with growing fears of the impact the new system will have on people with mental distress and other impairments.
Rebecca is the latest of countless benefit claimants whose deaths have been linked closely to DWP’s actions over the last decade.
The local mental health service-provider had persuaded DWP to allow Rebecca’s first appointment with a work coach to take place on the phone, with a mental health support worker with her at home.
But during the call, Rebecca was told by the work coach: “We have let you off this time, but you will have to come to the jobcentre next time.”
Just a week later, she took her own life. Her funeral took place early this summer.
The previous time she had visited the jobcentre, in January, she had been accompanied by her brother, who said later that she had been “absolutely terrified” by the ordeal.
By the time she died, she weighed less than five stone.
Rebecca, who also had a long-term health condition, leased a car through the Motability scheme with the mobility support she received through personal independence payment.
She had left her part-time job late last year, started a claim for universal credit on 1 January, and informed DWP she believed she was no longer fit for work.
Before Christmas, she had been so unwell that her brother, who was working from home, would go to his sister’s flat to work so he could look after her during the day because the family were concerned she might take her own life.
Even then Rebecca was concerned that DWP would think she was not living alone, as she had told them, and would accuse her of benefit fraud.
Her mother would take food to her daughter’s flat several times a week, and her partner – who did not live with her – was feeding her in the evenings, but the severe anxiety had caused her to lose weight.
Rebecca was likely to have eventually been declared not fit for work, but she had been waiting for a work capability assessment since completing a questionnaire in January.
Debra told DNS: “When it came to the capability for work, she said, ‘I won’t get it, I won’t get it.’ She was dreading the process.”
A letter eventually arrived several weeks after she took her own life, with details of an appointment for a telephone assessment that would have taken place 23 weeks after she submitted her claim and a fit note from her GP.
Universal credit claimants should normally have their assessment within 13 weeks of submitting their fit note.
Debra said Rebecca would leave her flat only once a week, to attend a local pub quiz that she knew her 17-year-old daughter enjoyed, but even then she needed someone to hold her hand on the walk to the car.
Debra said: “The DWP knew my daughter and they knew she was frightened of the DWP.
“Every time you mentioned the jobcentre and DWP, there were tears.”
Debra says that her daughter was a kind, generous and thoughtful person.
She said: “Through the pandemic she had more money than she needed so she decided to support a local family who were on universal credit and was sending them food parcels every fortnight because she wasn’t going out and was getting maintenance, and her money was building up.”
Debra is clear that it was not universal credit that was the cause of her daughter’s depression, but she is certain that it was the “final straw”.
A previous experience of claiming universal credit three years ago had left her traumatised.
Debra said: “She was just petrified of universal credit, of breaking the rules and going to jail.
“She was just panicking about everything, but universal credit was the thing that was pushing her and pushing her.
“My daughter was about five feet tall, but she weighed less than five stone. What did she need a work coach for?”
DWP this week refused to answer a series of questions about the safety concerns around universal credit.
It refused to say if it needed to make changes to ensure the safety of universal credit, whether it believed claimants were being hounded through their online journals, and if it would collect figures showing how many people on universal credit were taking their own lives.
Instead, a DWP spokesperson claimed in a statement that an “emphasis is placed on protecting vulnerable claimants”.
She added: “Universal credit offers a vital safety net to millions of people, enabling them to support themselves and their families while building towards financial independence through work.”
*Not their real names
17 November 2022
Universal credit: ‘Chaos, fear and preventable deaths’
Disabled activists who have spent years raising concerns about universal credit have warned of its cruelty and how the system “hounds” claimants into complying with strict rules.
They spoke out this week as Disability News Service (DNS) reveals how a disabled woman took her own life after she was left traumatised by the daily demands of universal credit and its online journal.
DNS is also reporting on two other disabled people left in despair by the system.
Only last month, DNS reported how DWP admitted repeatedly breaching the Equality Act, after a disabled man was left needing hospital treatment three times for suicidal thoughts caused by months of failures by universal credit advisers and jobcentres.
Similar concerns were raised in June when DNS reported how the independent case examiner upheld a series of complaints from another universal credit claimant, after DWP failed to communicate clearly with him, and ignored questions he asked through the online journal, even though he was “begging for help”.
Another DNS report, earlier this year, described how a disabled patient was told in January 2020 to leave hospital to visit a jobcentre to confirm his identity as part of a new claim he had made for universal credit, even though he was severely ill with a condition that later killed him.
And in 2018, DNS reported how a man with learning difficulties died a month after attempting to take his own life, following a move onto the “chaotic” universal credit system that left him hundreds of pounds in debt.
Disabled activist Ellen Clifford, author of The War On Disabled People and a member of the national steering group of Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), said her experience of the universal credit online journal “has fully supported the idea that the benefits system is now literally mad-making”.
She said: “Work coaches make demands that you have to jump to meet, but without key information, and then fail to provide that information despite repeated requests.
“The journal seems to work one way only, with the claimant’s communications simply ignored.
“To be fair to the Bolton service centre, my experience is they try their best to answer my questions, but they don’t have the information about why a work coach in Bromley has made a particular demand or arranged an appointment without saying what it is for or what information to take and they can’t get through to the job centre on the phone to find out either.
“So I am frequently left in states of high anxiety even though I am in the limited capability for work-related activity group due to mental distress.
“At some points I have handed over my log-in information to my mum and given her third party permission to manage all communications on my behalf to avoid the journal experience aggravating my distress.
“It needs to be a two-way channel of communication, but for whatever reason – whether lack of resource or deliberate design to push people out of the system – it isn’t.”
Jennifer Jones, co-founder of Sheffield DPAC, said disabled activists, including DPAC, had been campaigning for years on the impact of universal credit.
She said it was vital to continue to highlight the “inadequacy of the online portal and journal” for many disabled claimants.
DWP has now begun the final stages of “managed migration”, where claimants of employment and support allowance and other means-tested “legacy” benefits will be pushed onto universal credit (UC) over the next couple of years.
Jones said she was waiting to be transferred to UC herself, and still remembers a friend, Ivan, who took his own life about five years ago after he became “incredibly overwhelmed” after he started a claim for UC, experiencing increased paranoia, convinced that he was being spied on by the people sending him updates through his journal.
She said Ivan had ended up smashing his computer, surrounded by paperwork he had written on in his distress, and some papers he had burned.
She added: “All that was needed for him to be saved was for the right support to be in place for him, for his needs to be supported, but they weren’t, and we lost him because of it.
“Preventable deaths need to be highlighted, investigated and those in positions of power must be held to account. An online-only format is not accessible to all.”
She added: “We are acutely aware that the process causes terrible anxiety and distress to many claimants and that where there should be support, people are so often left feeling overwhelmed and with no support, which can devastatingly in some cases lead to very serious mental and emotional crisis.
“It is devastating that there are so many people who have struggled with little to no support in order just to get those initial legacy benefits in place, but are now facing those same anxieties all over again.”
She said DWP had a duty to make reasonable adjustments and ensure adequate support was in place for disabled claimants.
She said it was crucial that disabled people faced with the prospect of universal credit knew that outside support was available, either through Citizen’s Advice, their MP’s office, or through other welfare rights or support services.
Earlier this month, the advice website Benefits and Work warned that the “shocking level of service” at DWP call centres could lead to “life-threatening destitution” for some claimants forced through the migration process.
It pointed out that claimants who need extra time to complete their UC claim could lose all their legacy benefits if they were not able to reach DWP on the phone.
It has heard from hundreds of claimants who have described being left waiting on the phone for hours, “not just once, but day after day”.
Activist and journalist Charlotte Hughes, author of the blog The Poor Side of Life, which exposes the impact of universal credit on claimants, said: “Many claimants that I’ve helped have found the online claim process to be unfair, discriminatory and hard to access.
“Various reasons being a lack of access to the internet, access to a device to use to access the internet and the ability to physically do so.
“Once successful in making a claim, many find that their disabilities and concerns about job searching are ignored.
“They’re left to it, being told that they’ve got to comply with job searching requirements that they can’t physically do.
“Many face being sanctioned, leaving them without the ability to feed and even house themselves.
“The whole system is unfair and cruel to those that are most in need of a safe, secure social security system.”
Activist Gail Ward said claimants are often “bombarded” with jobs to apply for, even if they are not remotely suitable candidates, and other messages, which causes mental distress when universal credit was “supposed to take some of this out of the system”.
She said it can take up to two weeks for work coaches to reply to messages left by claimants, which also triggers mental distress, while requests for reasonable adjustments are often ignored.
Ward said she believed that claimants are “genuinely scared of being sanctioned, so feel hounded into compliance, which of course is the idea behind it”.
She said she had “grave concerns” about how many people would cope with the online system, and manage the cost of internet access in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, while some claimants will also have to cope with DWP’s new intensive work search programme.
She also has concerns about how disabled people in the employment and support allowance (ESA) support group will manage with the “fit note” system when they move across to universal credit from ESA.
Mark Harrison, chair of Norfolk Against UC (NAUC) and Scrap UC Alliance (SUCA), and a member of the steering group of Reclaiming Our Futures Alliance, said: “Those on universal credit are being targeted for bullying and sanctions in the most reckless way, with little or no regard for the mental distress caused.
“The benefits system should be there to support people, instead it is being used by this government as an instrument to intimidate and put fear into claimants.”
DWP has this week refused to answer a series of questions about universal credit, the cases reported on by DNS, and the safety concerns they raise.
It refused to say if it needed to make changes to ensure the safety of universal credit, and whether it believed claimants were being hounded through their online journals.
Instead, a DWP spokesperson claimed in a statement that “emphasis is placed on protecting vulnerable claimants”, and she added: “Universal credit offers a vital safety net to millions of people, enabling them to support themselves and their families while building towards financial independence through work.”
17 November 2022
Universal credit: System’s flaws left claimant in despair and mired in debt
A disabled man was left suicidal and without any income because of the serious flaws within the universal credit system set up by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Phillip Manion’s experience of universal credit’s controversial online journal system has left him mired in debt and in despair at DWP’s failure to provide him with the reasonable adjustments he needs to make the process accessible to him.
He is just one of many disabled people who have told Disability News Service (DNS) about the negative impact of the working-age benefit system, which relies heavily on the online journal that provides a record of everything a claimant has done while claiming universal credit.
DNS has this week published details of three claimants whose experiences with universal credit suggest serious flaws within the system, particularly in relation to its heavy reliance on the online journal and the impact it can have on the mental health of claimants.
Manion’s ordeal began when his property maintenance work dried up during the pandemic.
The 54-year-old, from Northwood, northwest London, decided to start a workshop-based carpentry business, but he spent months of wasted effort last year on DWP’s Restart scheme.
He said he received no advice on how to start a business and was eventually told he did not qualify for government funding after all.
He was even told by a DWP adviser to consider starting a crowdfunding page.
Manion was first warned in February this year about the universal credit “minimum income floor”, which means that claimants who are self-employed must earn the equivalent of the minimum wage. If they fail to do so, universal credit will not make up the difference.
He was covering little more than his expenses with his new business, but the discussion around the minimum income floor issue was deferred by his work coach until an appointment on 4 July, which was later rescheduled until the end of July.
After he tested positive for Covid, the meeting was delayed again, until 27 September.
But he was wrongly marked down as having attended the July meeting, which triggered the minimum income floor and saw his monthly universal credit payment fall from £1,260 to just over £500 a month.
And when he turned up for the 27 September meeting, he was told by DWP staff that he would not be allowed into the jobcentre because he was unable to log onto his online journal on his mobile phone, something he has repeatedly tried, and failed, to do.
When he began recording the conversation – unable to believe what he was being told – seven security guards surrounded him and escorted him towards the entrance.
When Manion asked to speak to a manager, he was told that no-one could see him unless he was able to log onto the journal.
He was forced to leave and was then marked on his journal as failing to attend the meeting.
Because he had failed to attend, his universal credit was stopped completely, and DWP has repeatedly refused to call him or respond to messages he has left on his online journal.
For nearly three months, he has received no money from universal credit.
The day after the jobcentre incident, he had a “complete explosion of my mind” and broke down in tears in the middle of a supermarket.
Manion’s long-term mental distress had previously been under control with the help of medication. Now he cannot face leaving his flat.
He said: “I can’t work, I can’t face anyone, and if I’m really honest I don’t want to be around anymore.”
He was originally told that DWP will not allow anyone to accompany him to the jobcentre, although he has been told that will now be possible.
DWP often fails to respond to his online journal messages, and it refuses to allow him to record his meetings, even though he says this should be a reasonable adjustment.
He has repeatedly told DWP that because of his mental distress, he needs time to take in what he is being told, so recording meetings works best for him.
Last week, he was given just one day’s notice of a meeting at the jobcentre, which he was unable to attend because it did not give him enough time to arrange for someone to accompany him.
He lodged a complaint in late July about the way he had been treated, and he was told he would be contacted within 15 days.
After 24 days, having heard nothing, he rang to complain, and was again told he would be contacted within 15 days.
More than three months after his first complaint, he has still not been contacted by DWP.
Financially, he is “really struggling”. He has a close friend who will ensure he does not starve, but he cannot afford to run his work truck, which he has had to take off the road.
His friend has lent him the money to pay his rent for the last two months, so he is now £2,100 in debt to him, and he also has a £1,300 electricity bill to pay.
His heating is permanently switched off because he cannot afford to sink any further into debt. He has lost nearly two stone in weight since August.
He told DNS: “I don’t sleep well and am constantly vomiting due to the stress.
“DWP staff seem to think they are untouchable as there is no-one to complain to and clearly don’t have any knowledge of mental health conditions.
“I feel let down and isolated by a system that is meant to support people.”
A DWP spokesperson this week refused to answer a series of questions about Phillip Manion’s case and the concerns it raises.
She refused to explain why DWP was declining his request to record his jobcentre appointments, why it had refused his request to change to a jobcentre nearer his home, and whether it had any concerns about the way he had been treated.
She also refused to say whether his case raised any concerns about the inflexibility of the universal credit system, its reliance on the online journal, and the failure of DWP staff to make reasonable adjustments for claimants, and whether DWP believed that it needed to do more to support people with mental distress who rely on universal credit.
Instead, she said in a statement: “Universal credit offers a vital safety net to millions of people, enabling them to support themselves and their families while building towards financial independence through work.
“Emphasis is placed on protecting vulnerable claimants and in the case of Mr Manion his jobcentre has offered to facilitate a private interview after his two most recent appointments were missed.”
Manion told DNS this morning (Thursday) that DWP was lying about the private appointment.
He said: “The last message I received was Monday saying they don’t have any rooms available for private meetings.”
He said he has now had no money for nearly 11 weeks.
17 November 2022
Universal credit: ‘Brutal’ system left bereaved woman feeling ‘trapped and worthless’
A disabled former nurse has described how the “brutal” and “biased” universal credit system left her feeling trapped and worthless.
Shirley Rudolph was eventually forced to abandon her universal credit claim and rely on two small pensions and bereavement support to avoid having to cope with the “demoralising” impact of universal credit.
She is just one of many disabled people who have told Disability News Service (DNS) about the impact of the working-age benefit system.
DNS has this week published details of three claimants whose experiences suggest serious flaws within the universal credit system, particularly in relation to its heavy reliance on the online journal and the impact it can have on claimants’ mental health.
Rudolph had been claiming universal credit since 2019, when her anxiety levels became “very acute” after her husband was admitted to a care home.
The former nurse, from Suffolk, had spent 10 years caring for her husband at home after leaving her job in the NHS, and had worked for many years following a diagnosis of generalised anxiety disorder.
After starting her claim three years ago, she was placed in the limited capability for work category (the equivalent of the work-related activity group of employment and support allowance), but in the last year she found the process of coping with universal credit increasingly stressful.
Her work coach was, initially, “relatively kind”, offering to hold meetings on the phone, instead of forcing her to attend the jobcentre.
But about six months ago, Rudolph was waiting for a scheduled phone call, and her work coach reprimanded her for failing to attend a face-to-face appointment.
She had received no notification that she was expected to attend the jobcentre, rather than waiting for the usual phone call.
She said: “I apologised and explained it was an honest mistake. Her tone of voice made me feel like a child being scolded. I became upset and she ended the phone call.”
After the death of her husband on 21 July, Rudolph messaged her work coach and told her that she would not be able to attend her jobcentre appointment as she was preparing for her husband’s funeral and dealing with the other many arrangements that need to be made when a loved one dies.
She said she was “in no fit state” to attend a jobcentre meeting.
She was appalled when the work coach failed to express any sympathy, and delayed the appointment by just a week, while she was sent a link to a job application she had to complete.
As a result, she ended her universal credit claim.
She said: “It doesn’t take much for me to think that I am worthless, due to childhood trauma. This woman in particular made me feel exactly that.
“Needless to say, my depression and anxiety have worsened since these experiences.”
When she complained to DWP about how she had been treated, she received a letter acknowledging that the work coach could have displayed more empathy.
Rudolph is now living on a small NHS pension and sum from her husband’s NHS pension, as well as a bereavement support payment.
She said: “I realise I am in a better position than very many people in this country. I only have myself and the dog to think about.
“However, this system is brutal, and I think it is very biased where disabled people are concerned.
“Many people live in fear and don’t have a voice. From my own perspective, it eroded my self-esteem. To them we are statistics.
“Having said that, I am at least relieved that I no longer feel trapped and beholden to the benefits system.
“Although money is tight, I am pleased not to have to deal with that whole demoralising system anymore. I can live life more on my own terms again.”
A DWP spokesperson refused to say if it had any concerns about the way Shirley Rudolph had been treated, and whether her case suggested changes needed to be made to universal credit.
But she said in a statement: “Universal credit offers a vital safety net to millions of people, enabling them to support themselves and their families while building towards financial independence through work.
“In the case of Ms Rudolph, her jobcentre responded to her complaint acknowledging that it was not appropriate to re-book her work coach appointment so soon after her husband had died, explaining that the link she was then sent to a job advert was automated.
“We would encourage Ms Rudolph to apply for universal credit again.”
17 November 2022
DNS is ‘vexatious’ for seeking secret DWP death reviews, information commissioner rules
A regulator has sided with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) by ruling that an attempt by Disability News Service (DNS) to obtain more than 90 secret reviews into deaths linked to DWP’s actions was “vexatious”.
Information commissioner John Edwards has agreed with DWP that preparing and releasing 99 secret reviews that were carried out between 1 September 2020 and 28 April 2022 would have placed a “grossly oppressive burden” on the department.
DWP has a £6 billion annual budget.
Edwards announced his decision despite ruling last month that DWP had unlawfully blocked the release of an earlier, smaller batch of so-called internal process reviews (IPRs).
DWP has argued that the attempt by DNS editor John Pring to secure the 99 IPRs was vexatious because it either caused “distress or irritation without justification” or was “aimed at disrupting” the department’s work.
Pring confirmed this week that his only intention was to secure redacted copies of the IPRs, so that DWP could be held accountable for its continuing failings and – crucially – so efforts could be made to check if recommendations made in the reviews had been implemented.
DWP appears to have convinced Edwards that the “burden” of preparing the IPRs was “grossly oppressive” by exaggerating the work needed to prepare them for release to DNS.
Each of the IPRs is between four and 10 pages long.
Because most of the content of each IPR needs to be redacted before it can be released, DWP argued that it would have taken a total of 25 working days to prepare the 99 documents for release.
DWP told the commissioner that some of the time needed was to check that none of the recommendations could impact the development of government policy if they were released, an excuse the information commissioner has already dismissed in relation to other IPRs in last month’s ruling.
DWP also argued that each report “would be likely to contain little or no information that could be released and would be out of context and have minimal value to the public”.
Pring said this week that the information would instead be crucially important and would allow journalists and campaigners to ensure that DWP did not ignore the recommendations made in the reviews, and to confirm that it was taking steps to prevent the loss of further lives.
The commissioner himself ruled last month that there was “a strong public interest in understanding DWP’s approach to preventing future errors and safeguarding issues”.
But he has now ruled in favour of DWP even though the information rights tribunal ruled six years ago that DWP acted unlawfully by refusing to release redacted versions of IPRs [previously known as peer reviews] to Pring.
The information commissioner states in this week’s decision notice that the information that could be released by DWP – mainly the recommendations made in each IPR – was “disproportionately small” and so DWP was entitled to view Pring’s request as “vexatious”.
The commissioner stated that Pring could submit a fresh request that seeks only the recommendations, rather than redacted versions of the IPRs.
This new request has already been submitted by DNS, but Pring said he believed the commissioner had made significant errors in his decision notice.
He said: “Because DWP releases so little information about the deaths caused by the systemic flaws in the social security system, it is vital that the government should not be allowed by the regulator to chip away at the scant details we are currently able to access.
“It is of deep concern that the information commissioner has weighed up the vital details about IPR recommendations that have been obtained through freedom of information requests and seems to value that so lightly.”
Dr China Mills, leader of the Deaths by Welfare project* at Healing Justice Ldn, and a senior lecturer at City, University of London, said the IPRs “should be public, without question”.
She said: “If these reviews are, as the DWP claims, ‘learning tools’, then we all need to know what was learned and how that learning is being put into action to change a system that is currently killing people.
“What is publicly known about IPRs (and peer reviews) is almost entirely the result of disabled people’s campaigning and the tireless investigations by DNS.
“Leading the Deaths by Welfare project, at Healing Justice Ldn, we know from the families of some of those who have died that having access to an internal process review can be an essential part of healing – a healing that is being denied to the majority of bereaved families.
“If being vexatious is causing ‘distress or irritation without justification’ then the DWP know a lot about this – evident in the incalculable distress they have caused to people entitled to benefits and to the families of those whose deaths are linked to DWP practices.
“Refusing to release these reviews is yet another example of the DWP’s many tactics to deny their accountability in creating a system that harms and kills people.”
The release of recommendations from peer reviews [which were renamed IPRs in 2015] and IPRs has revealed key safety failings by the department in the years to 2019.
But because DWP has stopped releasing IPRs, it has so far not been possible to check whether it has ignored recommendations made in the last four years.
The first batch of reviews, finally released in 2016 after a lengthy freedom of information battle between DWP and DNS, showed how at least 13 of 49 reports explicitly raised concerns about the way that “vulnerable” benefit claimants were being treated by DWP.
Another review obtained by DNS, in 2018, helped show how DWP had been forced to soften the “threatening” tone of the agreement that claimants of universal credit are forced to sign to receive their benefits.
And in December 2020, DNS was able to show that DWP staff had had to be repeatedly reminded what to do when claimants said they may take their own lives, following reviews into as many as six suicides.
Those reviews suggested that a series of suicides between 2014 and 2019 were linked to the failure of DWP staff to follow basic rules that had been introduced in 2009.
Pring said: “It should be part of standard DWP procedure to prepare a redacted version of every IPR it prepares.
“There is overwhelming public interest in seeing where DWP’s own secret reviews have called for improvements after the death of a benefit claimant, and to see that information in as much context as possible.
“No matter how many times DWP – and the information commissioner – categorise my efforts as vexatious, I will continue to seek the publication of as much detail from these reviews as it is possible to obtain.”
*Pring is co-creator of the Deaths by Welfare timeline
17 November 2022
Three ministers duck parliamentary questions on lifesaving blackout plans
Ministers from three separate government departments have refused to say if they have any plans to protect disabled people who need electricity to run lifesaving medical equipment in their homes if there are power blackouts this winter.
Ministers from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) were all asked, in written parliamentary questions, if they would publish their plans.
But all three ministers ignored that question, with social care minister Helen Whately also refusing to say whether her department had sent out any guidance to help NHS services protect people using medical equipment at home in the event of blackouts.
Government departments, the energy industry, and other public bodies, have repeatedly dodged responsibility for producing plans for this winter.
The written questions had been put to ministers by Vicky Foxcroft, Labour’s shadow minister for disabled people.
When Whately was asked which DHSC minister was responsible for “ensuring the safety of people with long-term health conditions who use lifesaving equipment, including ventilators and dialysis machines, in their own homes in the event of power blackouts this winter”, and if DHSC would publish its plans for protecting them, she said she was the minister responsible for people with long-term condition.
But she then suggested the energy industry was responsible for ensuring the safety of disabled customers, telling Foxcroft: “In a power outage scenario, the Priority Services Register is maintained by electricity network operators to support the most vulnerable.”
Asked what guidance DHSC had sent out to local NHS services, she said: “Care providers and equipment suppliers support those with long term conditions to safely use medical equipment at home and in cases where the equipment is disrupted.”
She again pointed to the register.
When BEIS minister Graham Stuart was asked which minister in his department was responsible for the issue, and to release any plans it had in place, he said it was DHSC that was “responsible for working with the nation’s health and social care sectors to support individuals with electricity dependent medical equipment at home”.
DLUHC minister Felicity Buchan provided a similar answer, but said her department been working with local resilience forums in England “to support local areas in their regular planning for winter across a range of risks, including making sure the most vulnerable are supported”.
But Buchan failed to mention any plans to protect disabled people who need electricity to run lifesaving medical equipment in their homes, and a DLUHC spokesperson refused to comment further.
Government departments have repeatedly referred to priority services registers, which are maintained by individual power companies, but the energy industry has itself been unable to explain what protection the register will offer, other than the usual “extra help, including advance notice of planned power cuts and priority support”.
The industry has made clear that customers on the register will not be exempt from any blackouts, and that those who need a continuous supply of electricity for medical reasons “should seek advice from their local health service provider”.
A spokesperson for the Energy Networks Association said yesterday (Wednesday) that it was the responsibility of individual disabled people to join the register, and to then put their own personal plans in place.
He said: “Network operators are in contact with Priority Services Register customers throughout the year, as unplanned power cuts occur from time-to-time, often for reasons outside operators’ control.
“This is why customers who are reliant on power in this way have plans in place to meet their personal circumstances. If they don’t, they should speak to their medical provider.”
He said that any emergency power cuts this winter would be “controlled” and would last about three hours at a time.
The emergency power cuts are said to be unlikely but possible.
Disability News Service (DNS) is now in its sixth week of attempting to obtain evidence that plans to protect disabled people will be in place in the event of three-hour blackouts this winter.
It has already learned that no guidance has been sent out by DHSC to the NHS in England, and that the Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) is not aware of any “national contingency plans” that have been put in place by the government.
Local resilience forums, the multi-agency networks set up across England and Wales to ensure each area is prepared for emergencies, have been unable to provide evidence that suitable plans are in place.
Charities that represent people with long-term health conditions have told DNS they are concerned about the lack of information coming from the government and other organisations.
This week, a spokesperson for BEIS – which is dealing with all questions about the blackout on behalf of the government – refused to comment on DHSC’s failure to send guidance to local NHS services, the concerns raised by ADPH and the failure of the three ministers to point to any evidence that the government has put plans in place.
Instead, it pointed to a statement issued last month*.
Foxcroft said: “This winter, disabled people need to know that they will be kept safe and won’t be at risk of blackouts.
“After submitting numerous questions to BEIS, DHSC and DLUHC about their plans to ensure that the most vulnerable individuals will be protected, it seems that each department is keen to redirect the responsibility elsewhere with no mention of a plan for the coming winter.
“This government keeps running from one crisis to the next with no serious plan.
“It’s time they take responsibility and get to work protecting the most vulnerable.”
*Last month, BEIS said: “The Priority Services Register is a free support service to ensure vulnerable domestic energy consumers and those with special requirements have access to additional support in the event of a supply disruption. The UK has a secure and diverse energy system. We are confident in our plans to protect households and businesses, including vulnerable households, in the full range of scenarios this winter, in light of Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine. We continue to work closely with Ofgem and National Grid to prepare for the upcoming winter.”
17 November 2022
Labour backs away from DWP deaths inquiry in meeting with families
Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary has refused to promise that his party will order a public inquiry into deaths linked to the actions of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) if it wins power.
Jonathan Ashworth avoided pledging that a Labour government would hold an inquiry when he met on Tuesday with relatives of three disabled people who took their own lives because of DWP failings.
All three of the families are calling for an inquiry into deaths and serious harm linked to the benefits system.
Ashworth had suggested earlier this year that he would want an inquiry if Labour won the next election.
But this week, he backed away from promising that an inquiry would happen under a Labour government.
The meeting in Westminster, organised by the mental health charity Rethink Mental Illness, was attended by relatives of Jodey Whiting, Philippa Day and Kevin Dooley, as well as Ashworth and Labour’s shadow minister for disabled people, Vicky Foxcroft.
Jodey’s brother Jamie told Disability News Service (DNS) yesterday (Wednesday) that Ashworth had failed to say if Labour would hold an inquiry.
He said: “There wasn’t a straightforward yes or no. There was nothing concrete.
“The impression I got was they were trying to avoid the question.”
But he said he was pleased that Ashworth had met the families and asked them what changes they would like to see to the social security system.
Jodey and Jamie’s mother, Joy Dove, whose book about her campaign for justice following her daughter’s death was published last month, said she was pleased to have met Ashworth and Foxcroft, and grateful to Rethink for organising the meeting.
She said: “I said what I needed to say.”
But she said she would continue to push Labour to promise an inquiry.
Imogen Day, whose sister Philippa’s death was found to be caused by systemic flaws in the personal independence payment system, told DNS: “I felt the meeting was productive.
“We were supported to share our stories and make suggestions for change, both in the immediate and longer term.
“I hope that Labour do decide to push for a public inquiry, but I am satisfied that there have been commitments to pressure the DWP to increase its transparency.”
She said she would have preferred Ashworth to have made a commitment to an inquiry at the meeting.
She said: “It would have been my preference, but I do respect that he wants to gather more information before making a commitment.”
Ashworth had failed to state Labour’s position on the call for a public inquiry or comment on the meeting by noon today (Thursday).
But Alex Kennedy, Rethink’s head of campaigns, said: “We’re pleased that Labour has heard first-hand from families how their loved ones were seriously failed by the DWP.
“It is crucial now that Labour builds on this and develops policies for a social security system that treats people as human beings.
“No-one should be harmed by the agencies set up to support them, which is why we need for a public inquiry to uncover the scale of this scandal and learn lessons.
“People living with mental illness and other disabilities deserve a transparent, accountable system that has nothing to hide.
“We thank the families, grassroots campaigners and other organisations who have been campaigning so long for justice and systemic change.”
17 November 2022
Government ‘started planning accessible lying-in-state queue more than 10 years ago’
The government began planning an “accessible queue” for disabled people to pay their respects to the Queen at the lying-in-state more than a decade before she died, it claimed this week, despite the eventual arrangements deteriorating into “a shambles”.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has told Disability News Service (DNS) that planning for both the main queue and the accessible queue began “over 10 years ago”.
In response to a freedom of information request, it also revealed that it issued about 213,000 wristbands to people who joined the main queue in September and 23,000 wristbands to people to join the accessible queue.
As many as 20,000 more people were admitted to the viewing through “separate access arrangements” that did not involve joining the two queues.
DCMS said it began consulting on its plans for an accessible queue in February this year, seven months before the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
It has released documents under the Freedom of Information Act which show that its plans were to provide up to 200 places per hour at the lying-in-state in Westminster Hall for disabled people with particular access needs, with 160 an hour coming from the accessible queue and another 40 disabled people from the main queue who needed step-free access.
But the documents also show that the government had planned to carry out “random checks of documentation” of disabled people in the accessible queue if demand for places threatened to outstrip the number available.
Those checks never happened, even though the arrangements for the accessible queue deteriorated through the weekend as some disabled people were left queuing for hours just to book a place to join the accessible queue.
Disabled people who struggled to queue to pay their respects to the Queen in Westminster Hall told DNS in September how the government had treated them as an “afterthought” and that its “discriminatory” arrangements had been “a shambles”.
Many disabled people travelled from across the country to reach the Tate Britain art gallery in central London, where they queued for hours for a wristband that only allowed them to join the “accessible queue” to view the Queen’s coffin hours later, and sometimes not until the following day.
By the weekend, disabled people were reporting having to queue for up to eight hours just to obtain a wristband.
They then faced another wait before they could join the accessible queue to enter Westminster Hall at the allocated time.
There was also anger and frustration when the accessible queue was closed permanently at 4.30pm on Saturday, more than a day before the main queue was closed to new arrivals on Sunday evening.
The arrangements meant many disabled people had to wait longer than the non-disabled people who were waiting to pay their respects in the main queue that started miles away on the other side of the Thames.
The documents released to DNS show that the government knew disabled people could face discrimination with the queueing arrangements for the lying-in-state, and that DCMS had set out plans to “mitigate” against the possible discrimination and “advance equality of opportunity”.
They also show that the government had consulted the disabled people’s organisation Disability Rights UK (DR UK) and the disability charity Leonard Cheshire.
It also consulted the Cabinet Office Disability Unit, the government’s own disability access ambassadors, the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee, and parliament’s inclusion and diversity team.
An equality impact assessment of the plans states that DR UK and Leonard Cheshire provided advice on what documents would be “appropriate to suggest that people bring, which may deter those who are able to queue from trying to ‘jump’ the process and therefore deny someone with a genuine requirement to have a place”.
But DR UK made it clear this week that it told the government it should not require disabled people to bring such documentary proof.
Instead, it suggested a list of documents that could be considered if the government insisted that it wanted to introduce checks for those in the accessible queue.
Kamran Mallick, DR UK’s chief executive, said: “We don’t think that asking disabled people to prove they have a disability is the right approach, but we provided the list because they wanted to use it as a deterrent.
“The plan to allow individuals to book a space and come back at a later time was a good one, and should have been extended to allow you to do so online.
“This would have helped people not having to remain in the area for extended periods of time.”
He added: “The government with its years of planning should have known that numbers were going to be high and suitable arrangements should have been in place.”
He said the problems that occurred over the weekend showed that not enough provision was made for disabled people but did not show there was misuse of the accessible queue.
He said: “There should have been learning from when the Queen Mother died in terms of numbers and requirements.”
An estimated 200,000 paid their respects to the Queen Mother in Westminster Hall after she died in 2002.
Leonard Cheshire said it had begun engaging with the government on the accessible queue in early summer.
The charity said it was difficult to gain a complete picture of disabled people’s experiences of the accessible queue, but a spokesperson said: “We know that not all of our recommendations were implemented, so it would have been beneficial to have engaged with disability charities and disabled people’s user-led organisations earlier on in order to plan successfully.
“Ultimately, the scale and attendance of the queue was unprecedented, but earlier planning may have helped address some of the accessibility concerns that were raised.”
She said Leonard Cheshire had “actively discouraged” DCMS from asking for any evidence of disability “as this could be challenged legally”.
She said: “Not every disabled person has a blue badge, claims benefits, wears a lanyard, or has other ‘proof’, therefore asking for it and then preventing people from using the accessible queue if they don’t have it, risks discrimination and a failure to make reasonable adjustments.
“Furthermore, any disabled people attending without ‘proof’ would likely have been turned away and prevented from visiting at all.”
17 November 2022
Survey shows rise in negative attitudes that provide barriers to disabled sports fans
Disabled sports fans are increasingly likely to be confronted by negative attitudes when they attend live sport, according to a new survey.
The survey found the proportion of disabled fans who identified the attitudes of others as a barrier to watching live sporting events had nearly doubled in a year (from 15 per cent to 28.5 per cent of respondents).
Level Playing Field (LPF), the disabled-led charity, which represents disabled sports fans in England and Wales, said this figure was “worrying” and “something that we need to address”.
Owain Davies, LPF’s chief executive, said these disabling attitudes could come from club stewards or other staff, other fans, or people on the approach to the ground.
Earlier this year, another Level Playing Field survey found that more than two-fifths (43 per cent) of disabled fans who responded said they had been subjected to verbal abuse, or disability-related offensive songs, chants or gestures at an away game in the last five years.
Level Playing Field’s second annual survey was sent out to disabled supporters through their associations, club contacts and via social media, running from 5 July to 5 August.
Most of the 1,309 respondents were football fans, with 44 per cent supporting a Premier League club, although about seven per cent supported cricket or rugby teams.
The survey found an increase since last year in the proportion of disabled fans experiencing each of 13 barriers, including physical access to stadiums (an increase from 31.5 to 36.5 per cent), difficulty purchasing tickets (up from 17 per cent to 24 per cent) and a lack of information (a rise from 11 to 16 per cent).
Davies said he believed that physical access at stadiums was improving, despite the survey results*.
He said: “The physical access facilities from 10 years ago have definitely improved, but it’s not consistent across all clubs and we believe this is one reason for the survey results.”
He said there were other areas where access appeared to have regressed, including in attitudes, ticket sales and access to information.
He said the move towards online-only ticket sales was likely to be creating barriers for some disabled fans, while the emphasis on digital ticketing was also likely to be causing problems for fans who want to speak to a staff member to obtain access information.
LPF is working with the English Football League – which runs the second, third and fourth tiers of English football, which include a small number of Welsh teams – to ensure online access information is updated more often, particularly by clubs further down the leagues.
More than a third of survey respondents (36.5 per cent) said there was at least one sport or venue that they could not attend because of a lack of access for disabled spectators, an increase from 30.5 per cent in 2021.
One disabled fan said: “I need to be hoisted from my wheelchair and should not have to lay on the floor to have my pad changed.”
Another said: “What I need is patience and understanding from others, including occasionally other fans.
“I should not need to explain that I suffer stress and major anxiety issues and occasionally need a longer time to absorb situations.”
A third respondent told LPF: “Often, non-disabled spectators crowd into areas that are for people with disabilities, making it difficult to manoeuvre one’s wheelchair… and feeling very awkward and embarrassed when wanting people to move.”
Tony Taylor, LPF’s chair, said: “Of course, the results of the survey are concerning, particularly the increased barriers experienced by fans compared to last year.
“The standout being the 36.5 per cent of fans who said that there are sporting venues they are simply unable to attend due to a lack of access (a six-point increase).
“In 2022 this is quite simply unacceptable, and a laser focus must be applied across all sport to ensure that this is addressed.”
He added: “Delivering access and inclusion for disabled sports fans simply cannot rest at the feet of individuals at clubs – there must be a collective mandate for change from the boardroom to customer-facing staff, from fans to governing bodies, and from other stakeholders.
“Together, we must turn the tide on the issues identified and drive higher standards.
“We are fortunate, however, that there is a lot of good work taking place across sport with clubs delivering often innovative work to ensure that disabled fans’ voices are heard, providing clubs with the opportunity to reflect the communities which they serve.”
*A higher proportion of wheelchair-users took part in this year’s survey, a possible explanation for the increase in those concerned about physical access
17 November 2022
WinVisible campaign success eases Taxicard concerns, but problems remain
By Tom McDonough
Disabled people who are waiting for an overdue review of their disability benefits can now continue to use subsidised taxis in London, thanks to a successful challenge by a disabled women’s organisation.
The Taxicard system had been telling members whose personal independence payment (PIP) awards had expired that they were no longer entitled to use the scheme.
Delays within the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) meant that many PIP claimants have had their awards temporarily extended as DWP tries to clear backlogs by concentrating on new PIP claims.
But this was causing huge problems for disabled people who use the Taxicard scheme, who were being told they were no longer eligible if their original PIP award had expired and they could not prove eligibility.
The Taxicard scheme offers subsidised travel in licensed taxis and private hire vehicles to many Londoners with mobility and visual impairments, including those who receive at least eight points for the “moving around” activity of PIP.
WinVisible, which supports and campaigns for disabled women, had been contacted by Ms A, a disabled single mother, who had been told she was no longer eligible to use Taxicard because her PIP award had expired and she could not provide proof of her continued entitlement.
WinVisible suggested she contacted her Conservative MP, Stephen Hammond, who persuaded London Councils – which runs the Taxicard scheme – to make an exception for her.
WinVisible then asked London Councils to change its “punitive” and “discriminatory” approach and extend the exemption to all other Taxicard members facing delays with their PIP reviews.
London Councils has now agreed to offer temporary cards to everyone whose Taxicards have been withdrawn pending their PIP reviews.
Claire Glasman, founding member and co-ordinator at WinVisible, said: “Winning on this does go some way towards getting recognition about the whole benefits stress and cost-of-living situation.
“Everything is all cumulative – the DWP delays, losing your Taxicard, cost-of-living – all those pressures converge.”
She added: “It’s also led to more discussion about problems with the Taxicard scheme generally.
“Unreliability is the biggest problem and disabled women need to feel safe.
“A lot of people get stranded late at night trying to secure their return journey.”
But WinVisible has also been concerned that Ms A encountered “a hostile and unbending attitude” among Taxicard staff when she first tried to overturn their decision.
Glasman said: “Ms A was already extremely anxious about the PIP delay, and this added to her stress.
“Because her Taxicard was cancelled, she spent about £80 extra on fares in addition to her cost-of-living increases.
“She is a disabled single mother of a disabled son. The family has high disability expenses and it is very hard (for them) to economise.
“Ms A was very relieved. All her own efforts to put across her plight just hadn’t been taken seriously.”
Ms A said: “Rather than a hostile, rude, unhelpful person at the other end of the phone, we are all human and deserve to be treated with kindness and dignity – ultimately we should all have the right to access services like everybody else, even with invisible disabilities.”
She added: “I wasted time and energy trying to get my Taxicard back which impacted my health. I really want this to help others now moving forwards.”
London Councils offered to investigate Ms A’s allegations of ill treatment, but she has said she is not well enough to assist with the investigation.
WinVisible now wants to encourage London Councils to tackle concerns about Taxicard’s unreliability, with users complaining about drivers not turning up or turning up late, which has left some disabled women stranded late at night.
There have also been complaints of drivers’ hostile attitudes towards disabled passengers and a failure to record or meet passengers’ access needs.
Glasman said: “We want them to really substantially address the issues of reliability and the other things that we raised, not just by sending an email but by actually laying out what changes are they going to practically make apart from telling staff to be more considerate.”
She added: “Our main recommendation is to make the service open to other minicab and taxi companies so there’s more choice.
“Not everyone needs a wheelchair-accessible taxi anyway.”
London Councils confirmed that it will now issue a temporary card, valid for two months, “in circumstances where customers are having issues providing documentation to support eligibility to the scheme due to circumstances beyond their control… to ensure applicants can have continued use of the scheme until the documentation is supplied”.
A London Councils spokesperson said: “We are proud of the high level of customer service provided by our Taxicard staff and take great steps to ensure quality is consistent.
“All staff calls are recorded and each month calls are randomly audited with feedback provided to staff, taking into account call handling skills and customer service delivery.
“As it stands, we have not received evidence that staff are displaying a negative attitude when dealing with customers.
“However, all staff are consistently reminded of their responsibility to provide customers with a high level of customer service and treat customers with respect, fairly and with dignity.
“Customers are strongly encouraged to let the Taxicard team know if they have experienced any issues so we can take appropriate action.”
Figures provided by London Councils show that its contractor, ComCab London, repeatedly missed its contractual targets on reliability for both advance and “as soon as possible” bookings over the last seven months.
The spokesperson said: “While there is a need to improve, the current service levels do not indicate significant service failure.”
She said London Councils had recognised “service failures in specific areas of the capital and have identified seven postcodes where there are particular issues at certain times of the day”.
She said ComCab was working to bring new private hire operators into the system.
But she said there had been a “downturn in driver numbers across London with a number of drivers leaving the trade and difficulty in recruiting new drivers”, which was “putting pressure on the number of drivers available to undertake taxi work in general including Taxicard”.
This news story is part of an ongoing Disability News Service series that highlights the vital work of the UK’s disabled people’s organisations
17 November 2022
Other disability-related stories covered by mainstream media this week
A coroner has said the death of an “engaging, lively, endearing” two-year-old from prolonged exposure to mould in his family’s flat should be a “defining moment” for the UK’s housing sector. Awaab Ishak died in 2020, eight days after his second birthday, as a direct result of black mould in the flat he lived in. About 450,000 homes in England have problems with condensation and mould and the verdict triggered calls from paediatric doctors for better reporting of air quality problems in homes: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/nov/15/death-of-two-year-old-awaab-ishak-chronic-mould-in-flat-a-defining-moment-says-coroner
Some step-free projects planned for the Tube could be delayed or cancelled due to a lack of funds, Transport for London (TfL) has said. In August, TfL was given a sixth bailout deal after its revenues plummeted during the pandemic. The body said its current “funding situation” had affected progress with step-free schemes and “external funding will be critical” to carry out more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-63649664
A blind woman and her guide dog were thrown out of a London Premier Inn in the night after she was accused of lying about her assistance dog. Angharad Paget-Jones said she was woken up and asked for “proof” her dog Tudor was a registered guide dog. She claimed that after providing a Guide Dogs ID booklet, security staff claimed Tudor was a “fake” guide dog. Premier Inn said it was urgently investigating the allegations: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-63584973
17 November 2022
News provided by John Pring at www.disabilitynewsservice.com
