Disabled mum took her own life after actions of DWP and Capita ‘magnified’ anxiety
A young disabled mother who took her own life had been left with stress and “debilitating anxiety” by the actions of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and its contractor Capita, an inquiry has found.
A safeguarding adults review into the death of Philippa Day in October 2019 describes today (Thursday) how the actions of DWP and Capita had a “profound impact” on the 27-year-old, from Nottingham.
She received a high level of support from her family, and from local agencies, but the “stress” she experienced over her finances became “magnified” when she voluntarily applied for personal independence payment (PIP), the disability benefit introduced in 2013 to gradually replace working-age disability living allowance (DLA).
The review builds on evidence heard at an inquest into Philippa’s death, which found in January 2021 that flaws in the disability benefits system were “the predominant factor and the only acute factor” that led to her taking her own life, and highlighted 28 separate “problems” with the administration of the PIP system.
Philippa was described by her family as a “vibrant, bubbly person who once met, would not be forgotten”, and someone who was caring and had a “deep love” for her child.
She had a diagnosis of emotionally unstable personality disorder, as well as type one diabetes, had a long history of self-harm and suicidal behaviours, and used substances and alcohol as an unsuccessful coping mechanism.
She had high levels of anxiety and agoraphobia, and could become quickly overwhelmed by day-to-day stresses of life.
The safeguarding review, commissioned by Nottingham City Safeguarding Adults Board, says that the interactions that Philippa – referred to as “Valentina” in the report – had with DWP and Capita as she tried to move from DLA to PIP had had a “profound impact” on her.
It highlights the stress caused by the high interest loans she had to take out when DWP stopped her DLA claim because the completed PIP form she posted went missing, and says it “significantly increased her episodes of self-harm and the risk of suicide”.
After her DLA award was eventually reinstated and backdated, Capita then insisted that Philippa had to attend a face-to-face appointment at one of its PIP assessment centres, even though it had access to substantial evidence of her mental distress and her need to be assessed at her home in Nottingham.
The review points to Philippa’s “sense of impotency that she could not affect change and that her mental distress was not recognised” and the “debilitating anxiety at the prospect of leaving her house to be assessed by unfamiliar professionals but untenable consequences if she declined”.
DWP recognised that it “may not have considered the impact of [Philippa’s] disability on her ability to engage with the assessment process”, says the review, which was delayed by legal action and the pandemic.
Her family told the review that some DWP staff “were flexible and compassionate in their responses, trying to work round systems and find ways to help”, but that “this was the exception”.
Philippa had “experienced a DWP system that felt rigid and dismissive of her” and “felt powerless and had no way of proving that she had returned her claim forms and the supporting medical evidence”, the review says.
There is praise in the review for Philippa’s community psychiatric nurse (CPN), who tried to convey to DWP and Capita staff a “wealth of knowledge” about Philippa’s “needs and risks”, and who was “tenacious” in her attempts to advocate for her.
The CPN told the review that navigating through the DWP benefits system had been “a daunting and exhausting process”.
The review also describes how Philippa had been subjected to “unrelenting” abuse at the hands of her former partner, referred to as “Dave”, and how she felt let down by the criminal justice system for its failure to stop the stalking, harassment and threats he inflicted on her.
This continuing abuse and harassment – which also included physical and sexual assaults in her home – had a significant impact on Philippa’s mental health, says the review.
The review details the “significant missed opportunity” for different agencies to build a picture of all the known incidents of abuse, which might have led to Dave facing more serious criminal offences and longer prison sentences.
It is the second time in a fortnight that DWP has been criticised by a Nottingham safeguarding adults review following the death of a disabled person linked to DWP’s actions.
Last week, DWP was accused by a relative of “absolutely disgraceful” behaviour after confirmation that it hid vital evidence from a safeguarding review published earlier this month into the death of Errol Graham, who starved to death in 2018 after his benefits were wrongly stopped.
Today’s review – written by the same consultant, Sylvia Manson – repeats a key recommendation from the Errol Graham review, calling on DWP to work with the national network of safeguarding adults boards to produce a “protocol” that would ensure they alert each other to relevant cases.
The recommendations also include calls for local and national action on domestic abuse, including a plea to improve the effectiveness of multi-agency protection.
The review claims that DWP has made “many improvements” since Philippa’s death, including to staff mental health training.
DWP claims it has worked to build “a culture of care and compassion”, through strengthening its “vulnerable customer champions” role and introducing “advanced customer support senior leaders” to “provide escalation routes for cases involving customers requiring advanced support”.
DWP also told the review it has improved the way its staff gather evidence for PIP claims, has ensured that its records are now permanently “watermarked” for claimants who need additional support with their claim, and now takes extra steps if a claimant fails to respond during a PIP application.
But the review also repeats DWP’s insistence that it “does not have a statutory safeguarding duty or legal duty of care”, although Manson makes no comment or recommendation on this statement.
Capita told the review that it has improved its PIP processes, including making it easier to review the assessment location.
25 May 2023
Public inquiry on inaccessible footbridge will be ‘line in the sand’, say activists
A “hugely important” public inquiry into Network Rail’s plan to build an inaccessible footbridge will be a “line in the sand” for disabled activists who are determined to fight further such proposals.
They believe Network Rail plans to build other inaccessible footbridges across the country as a cost-saving measure, and in breach of its duties under the Equality Act.
They hope the government’s decision to hold a public inquiry into the proposed bridge at Copmanthorpe, near York, will persuade Network Rail to reconsider plans for other inaccessible bridges.
Accessible transport campaigners have a played a significant part in persuading the government to hold the inquiry into the Copmanthorpe proposals, which will see a stepped footbridge built as a replacement for a dangerous but accessible level crossing.
Network Rail had appealed against City of York Council’s decision to refuse permission to divert a footpath by closing the level crossing and building the footbridge.
Network Rail has argued that the crossing is not currently used by people with reduced mobility because of rough terrain on either side and that an accessible bridge would cost millions more pounds to build, while the ramps needed would be “visually intrusive”.
But local campaigners eventually hope to secure funding for an accessible “active travel” route between Copmanthorpe and the neighbouring village of Bishopthorpe along the course of the footpath.
Flick Williams, a powerchair-user from York, who first passed on concerns about the footbridge plans to other access campaigners, said she was “delighted” by the decision to hold a public inquiry.
She said: “If this is allowed to go ahead in its current form, it ends forever the possibility of an active travel route between the two villages.”
Williams said she fears that – if it is successful in the public inquiry – Network Rail will use that victory to argue for the right to build other inaccessible footbridges, and it will be “much, much harder for disabled people in other parts of the country to object because they will hold this up as a precedent”.
She told Disability News Service (DNS): “We are in the 21st century, we should be going forwards and not backwards, not building in inaccessibility for hundreds of years to come.
“It’s just discrimination against the many people who are not yet disabled.”
Fellow accessible transport campaigner Doug Paulley, who also lives near Copmanthorpe, has tested the footpath on either side of the crossing and believes it could easily be made accessible for wheelchair-users, pushchair-users, cyclists, and others.
Paulley, also a wheelchair-user, told DNS that the Copmanthorpe case had become “a line in the sand”.
He said he and other activists were fighting hard to defeat Network Rail’s plans for Copmanthorpe because they hope to force it to think again on other plans for inaccessible footbridges.
He said: “We have this ageing infrastructure and it is very difficult to make it all accessible, but now they are building new inaccessible infrastructure where previously it was level.
“It just shows their attitude and their true contempt for disabled people. It would be locking in inaccessibility.”
The city council has said (PDF) the new footbridge would be expected to remain in place and “as is” for 120 years.
Paulley said the plans are particularly concerning because it is believed to be one of the first times – if not the first – that Network Rail is replacing an accessible crossing with one that is inaccessible.
He said: “I think it really is important. Even if they win [the public inquiry] they know they are potentially going to have to go through this process every time.”
He has already submitted written evidence outlining his concerns, and he hopes to give oral evidence to the inquiry.
Network Rail believes that adding ramps to the footbridge at a later stage could be achieved if funding was provided by another organisation, but that about 200 metres of extra land would be required.
Network Rail declined to say if it planned to build other inaccessible footbridges and if this was the first time it was replacing accessible infrastructure with an inaccessible bridge, suggesting that Disability News Service submit a freedom of information request as these were “detailed questions which will require a bit of digging”.
But a Network Rail spokesperson said: “We received confirmation yesterday (Monday 23 May) from the Transport Infrastructure Planning Unit that a public inquiry will take place later this year.
“We’ve done a great deal of work to look at who uses the level crossing and believe that we have designed a solution that meets their needs, makes the best use of taxpayers’ money and makes sense for this location with poor current accessibility, and this will be presented at the inquiry.”
25 May 2023
Thousands of disabled people tell MPs: Cost-of-living crisis is affecting our health
Thousands of disabled people have told MPs how the cost-of-living crisis is affecting both their physical and mental health and forcing them to restrict their use of heating and hot water.
More than 7,000 disabled people responded to a survey (PDF) launched by the House of Commons petitions committee.
Many of them spoke of their anger and frustration and accused the government and wider society of “leaving them behind”, “ignoring them”, and “abandoning them”.
They said successive governments had always “ignored” their need for financial support with the additional costs they face as disabled people, but particularly through the Covid pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.
Some wrote of their feelings of despair, saying they were not sure they could “survive much longer”, with some saying they had considered suicide.
The petitions committee published the results of the survey ahead of a debate on Monday that discussed two parliamentary petitions* (see separate story) that called for the government to provide more financial support for disabled people to cope with increases in the cost-of-living.
There were nearly 11,000 responses to the survey, two-thirds of them from disabled people and those with long-term health conditions.
Nearly all (97 per cent) of the respondents said they were concerned about the impact of the crisis on their physical health, or that of the disabled person they knew or cared for, and a similar proportion (94 per cent) were concerned about the impact on their mental health.
One respondent said: “I’m freezing, I’m hungry and I don’t receive the amount of care I need to live a dignified equitable life.
“A shower is a treat for me now; that’s the stage I have got to.”
They added: “I survived childhood cancer to become a disabled adult. I had so many hopes for my life but now each day I regret not dying of cancer. My life is not dignified.”
More than nine in 10 respondents (93 per cent) said they or the disabled person they knew or cared for had had to restrict their energy use, while 44 per cent had had to restrict their use of therapies.
One respondent said they slept fully clothed to keep warm, or sat in a chair with three double-folded blankets around them, which restricted their movement around their home and prevented them doing their physiotherapy exercises, which had led to their health deteriorating.
They said they were eating less healthy foods and had had to cut out fruit and vegetables, and added: “Life has gone from tolerable to just existing… I’m just existing and it’s endless and miserable.”
A former district nurse said they had been forced to cut down on their oxygen use because of the cost of electricity, while they could not afford to have the heating on, which increased their pain levels.
They are now more than £800 in arrears because they cannot afford the energy they use.
They said: “During my work as a district nurse I witnessed older, sick and disabled people freezing and starving in their homes because of low income.
“I never dreamed that my reward for helping them would be to end up living in the same poverty.”
One powerchair-user, from Scotland, told the committee: “I have had to reduce how much I use my electric wheelchair – it is the only way I can access my home and the outside world so I rarely get to go out now.
“This has caused profound loneliness and very poor mental health.”
They have also had to ration their use of their electric bed, which “has had a bad effect on my physical health”.
A disabled person who lives alone said they could not afford new clothes, basic medical essentials, haircuts, carpets and hygiene products, and had cut back on heating, electricity and washing, and were just eating half a meal or a snack every day.
They told the committee they were even resorting to “bum shuffling upstairs” rather than using their stairlift.
*One of the petitions – which secured more than 16,000 signatures and was started by disabled mum and carer Rachel Curtis – called for an energy grant to support those who rely on heating or equipment such as feeding pumps and ventilators that they need to stay alive, or need to pay for electricity to charge their mobility equipment. The other petition – which secured nearly 25,000 signatures and was drawn up by disabled student Abigail Broomfield – called for disabled people and carers who did not qualify for the government’s means-tested cost-of-living payments to be included in that package of support, and warned that without such help “many more disabled people could die”.
25 May 2023
Cost-of-living debate sparked by petitions ‘provides campaigning momentum’
Government support for disabled people in dealing with the extra costs they face has “barely scratched the surface” of their needs, a disabled MP has told a House of Commons debate.
Labour’s Marsha de Cordova told fellow MPs on Monday that she blamed the “hostile environment for disabled people” created by successive Conservative governments, which had been “compounded by the pandemic and the current cost-of-living crisis”.
She said the support provided by the government was “woefully insufficient and the very definition of what we would call sticking-plaster politics”.
De Cordova – who met disabled people’s organisations Inclusion London and Disability Rights UK for a briefing last week – criticised the government for failing to provide targeted support for disabled households who face high energy costs.
And she highlighted those who need to run equipment such as dialysis machines and oxygen concentrators.
She said: “Many disabled people have told me that it is pointless to prescribe medicine if a person cannot afford to run the equipment they need to stay alive.”
The debate was considering two parliamentary petitions that were set up by disabled campaigners to call for government action.
One of the petitions – which secured nearly 25,000 signatures and was drawn up by disabled student Abigail Broomfield – called for disabled people and carers who did not qualify for last year’s £650 means-tested cost-of-living payment to be included in that package of support, and warned that without such support “many more disabled people could die”.
This year there will be a further means-tested payment of £900.
The other petition – which secured more than 16,000 signatures and was started by disabled mum and carer Rachel Curtis – called for an energy grant for those who rely on heating or equipment such as feeding pumps and ventilators that they need to stay alive, or who need to pay for electricity to charge their mobility equipment.
As a result of their campaigning, the Commons petitions committee launched a survey which produced nearly 11,000 responses, with 93 per cent of those responding saying that they or the disabled person they knew or cared for had had to cut back on things that were essential for their health and wellbeing (see separate story).
De Cordova said that these and other survey results were “shocking”.
She told fellow MPs that “changes need to be made to the social security system to make it less cruel, unfair and hostile, and to restore it to its original purpose, which was to provide a safety net for those in need.
“Disabled people are not asking for more; they are asking for equity.”
The Conservative disabled MP Paul Maynard focused in his speech on how to support disabled people with higher energy costs.
He backed work carried out by the Retail Energy Code Company (RECC) to examine how to deal with disabled people’s rising energy costs.
He said this work had exposed the postcode lottery in NHS schemes for those who rely on equipment such as oxygen concentrators and dialysis machines, and how such subsidies do not rise when energy prices rise and are paid in arrears.
Maynard suggested that he – like RECC – supported an approach that would “tailor support to the needs of each eligible consumer, rather than a policy targeted at a wider range of vulnerable consumers, so that they can have full confidence that the costs of the relevant equipment are being met”.
Several opposition MPs criticised government changes to the warm home discount scheme in England and Wales, which meant that disabled people not on means-tested benefits were no longer eligible, as were many living in homes that do not meet the scheme’s “pretty crude” high energy cost threshold.
Several opposition MPs also criticised the level of the £150 cost-of-living payment for those on disability benefits – less than £3 a week – with many disabled people not eligible for the more generous £900 payment for those on means-tested benefits that will be paid during 2023-24.
Vicky Foxcroft, Labour’s shadow minister for disabled people, said: “Disability Rights UK and many others have said that the lack of meaningful increases in disability benefits over recent years means that the extra support given to disabled people has barely touched the sides.”
And she said that figures from the Trussell Trust showed that, three years ago, nearly two-thirds (62 per cent) of working-age people referred to food banks were disabled.
She said: “I ask the minister to commit to work closely with disabled people and disabled people’s organisations to find a solution to this crisis.”
In a speech that lasted three-quarters of an hour, the minister for disabled people, Tom Pursglove, admitted that the cost-of-living difficulties disabled people were facing were “pressing” and he insisted that ministers were “not complacent”.
He said the government had provided more than £94 billion in cost-of-living support over the last two years.
He defended the size of the £150 payment for those on disability benefits by arguing that the government “believe it is right that the highest amount goes to those on means-tested benefits”.
Pursglove said government estimates suggested that nearly three-fifths of those on personal independence payment and other extra costs disability benefits would receive the £900 means-tested payment.
He said ministers were “absolutely committed to ensuring that disabled people and people with health conditions receive the support that they need”.
Although he confirmed that the government was planning an evaluation of its cost-of-living payments later this year, he declined to promise Foxcroft that it would be published.
He also said there was “ongoing” work within the government’s Disability Unit that was “seeking to understand and evidence the full impact of the current cost of living on disabled people across a range of sectors”, and that this included “good dialogue and engagement with disabled people and their representative groups”.
He said this would allow the government to “look at the situation in its totality, understand the interventions that we have made to date and understand the needs that exist”.
Pursglove also said the government intended to “move away from universal energy bill support and towards better targeted support for those most in need”, including those who use energy-intensive medical equipment in the home, and that it was also engaging with disabled people’s organisations and representative groups on this issue.
He said the reform of the warm home discount scheme meant that 160,000 more households where a person is disabled or has a long-term health condition would receive a rebate.
After the debate, Broomfield praised de Cordova’s speech, and said she was happy that so many contributions had been made by MPs, and that the debate had provided “momentum to keep fighting for this campaign”.
But she said Pursglove appeared to have spent some of his speech discussing “irrelevant” topics “to either distract or to try and portray his department and government as being successful in helping disabled people and carers” when the reality was “they have not helped us enough”.
She said the months of campaigning had been “absolutely worth it, despite it taking a personal and physical toll on me.
“It has been worth it just to get disabled people heard by the government.
“I want this work to inspire other people to challenge this government.
“This isn’t the end of the campaign, and it will continue on until disabled people and carers get the help they so desperately need.”
Curtis thanked de Cordova for “holding the government to account and raising so many vital points”.
She said: “I think the evidence from the survey demonstrated the sheer desperation of disabled people, and the MPs at the debate really did push for change.
“I am disappointed in the response from Tom Pursglove as there was nothing of substance that the government intend to do to help.
“It was, yet again, a lot of words and no actual action.”
Katy Styles, a carer and founder of the We Care Campaign, which supported Curtis and promoted her petition, said there had been “an overall consensus amongst all the speakers that something needs to be done”.
She said: “Now it’s just what, how and when. The minister’s answer failed to address the urgency of the issue, but we hope he will work hard to address issues highlighted in the debate.
“We will seek a meeting with him to discuss what action he will be taking.”
25 May 2023
MPs raise concerns over DWP death evidence ‘cover-up’
MPs have raised concerns over the actions of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), after it hid vital evidence from a statutory safeguarding review into a disabled man who starved to death after his benefits were wrongly stopped.
Nottingham City Safeguarding Adults Board confirmed last week that DWP failed to share key documents with the independent consultant who carried out the review into the death of Errol Graham.
The documents would have shown that DWP knew Errol had been experiencing significant mental distress just three years before his employment and support allowance (ESA) was suddenly withdrawn by the department when he failed to attend an assessment in the autumn of 2017.
Alison Burton, Errol’s daughter-in-law, who has fought for years for justice in the wake of his death, said last week that DWP’s behaviour was “absolutely disgraceful” and “a cover-up”.
Now the Commons work and pensions select committee has told Disability News Service (DNS) it is considering taking action.
But it also raised concerns about DWP’s continuing failure to sign a legal agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) that would force the department to improve its treatment of disabled claimants.
It is more than a year since the commission said it expected DWP to sign a section 23 legal agreement – under the Equality Act 2006 – by the summer of 2022.
Such an agreement would commit DWP to addressing the discrimination faced by disabled benefit claimants, particularly those with mental distress and ill-health, and learning difficulties.
It follows more than a decade of deaths that have been closely linked to DWP’s actions and policies.
Asked about the Errol Graham allegations, Labour’s Stephen Timms, chair of the work and pensions committee, told DNS: “The committee is concerned about this.
“It gives rise to clear questions the department should answer.”
He added: “We welcome the signs of greater openness from the new secretary of state [Mel Stride], which we hope will lead on to a sustained improvement.
“At the same time, we are very puzzled why the negotiation with the Equality and Human Rights Commission, originally expected to be completed last summer, has still not been concluded. No explanation has been provided for the delay.”
The committee met yesterday (Wednesday) to discuss its plans for future work, and Timms said ahead of the meeting that both these concerns would be raised.
An EHRC spokesperson told DNS the information about DWP hiding evidence from the safeguarding review had been “flagged” to its “enforcement team”.
But he said the commission had nothing further to add to a statement it issued about the section 23 agreement in March.
In March, an EHRC spokesperson had said: “We are working with the Department for Work and Pensions and have recently entered a phase of advanced discussions.
“We are meeting regularly to progress the matter and work through details that are being considered for the section 23 agreement and activities within it.
“The DWP has committed to working collaboratively with the EHRC and has restated that their intention is to do everything they can to make sure they support the most vulnerable people they are responsible for.”
This week, the commission declined to say if it was now time for action to be taken against a department that has repeatedly tried to cover up links between its actions and the deaths of claimants.
DWP has repeatedly misled and hid evidence from public bodies and those investigating its activities, including coroners, judges, the National Audit Office and its own independent reviewers.
The Nottingham revelations add fuel to calls for an independent inquiry into the links between DWP and countless deaths of claimants.
Disabled people’s grassroots groups, bereaved relatives and charities, as well as Labour MPs such as Debbie Abrahams, Marsha de Cordova and John McDonnell, have been calling for an inquiry since 2019, following countless avoidable deaths linked to the department’s actions.
Last week, Abrahams, a member of the work and pensions committee, said it was “truly shocking that the government tries to evade being held to account, seemingly acting with impunity” and that DWP appeared to have a “blatant disregard for the safety and wellbeing” of disabled claimants.
DWP has refused to comment on the Errol Graham evidence.
25 May 2023
Watchdog holds back verdict on latest care sector concerns
The care watchdog has declined to raise concerns about the state of adult social care services in England, despite releasing a new batch of inspection reports that show nearly half of them failed to meet acceptable standards.
In just a week, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) published 165 reports on adult social care inspections.
Of the 163 that produced overall ratings, 60 services were found to require improvement and 13 were rated as “inadequate”*, which meant 45 per cent were seen as failing to reach an acceptable standard.
Just four out of 163 were said to be “outstanding”.
Nine years ago, CQC introduced a new method of regulation, based on “ratings and risk”, which means it is more likely to inspect those services where concerns have been raised by whistleblowers, service-users and relatives.
It also paused routine inspections during the pandemic, and now appears mainly to inspect services it considers “very high risk”.
Last autumn, CQC published its annual State of Care report, which showed a slow, steady deterioration in the standard of social care services in England.
That report revealed a small but significant increase in the proportion of adult social care services that were rated as inadequate, with a rise from 1.22 per cent in 2021 to 1.30 per cent in 2022, and a similar increase in those rated as requiring improvement, from 14.10 per cent to 15.36 per cent.
CQC said this week that it would not be able to draw wider conclusions about the state of the sector until it published its next State of Care report later this year.
But a CQC spokesperson said: “We are continuing to prioritise risk-based inspections to ensure our inspection activity is focused where the quality of care is of concern.
“We expect all adult care services to be providing the very best care to people.
“The majority of care homes in England are good or outstanding and this reflects the incredible efforts of carers and providers who have gone above and beyond to provide high quality care.
“However, where concerns are brought to our attention we will not hesitate to act.
“We will always follow up on information of concern, and where there is risk we will inspect to ensure that people are safe and receiving high quality care.
“Where we find people are at risk we will take further regulatory action to ensure people’s safety and human rights are upheld.”
*An “inadequate” rating means the service is “performing badly” and CQC has taken enforcement action against its provider, while “requires improvement” means the service is “not performing as well as it should” and the watchdog has told it how to improve
25 May 2023
Fresh doubts over impact of government’s ‘scrap the WCA’ plans
Fresh doubts have been raised about the impact on disabled people of government plans to scrap the work capability assessment as part of a controversial package of welfare reforms.
As part of their Transforming Support white paper, ministers plan to abolish the assessment and introduce a new “health element” of universal credit, with eligibility linked to receipt of personal independence payment (PIP) or disability living allowance (DLA).
But among concerns raised about the plans – which would see DWP work coaches deciding if a disabled person could carry out work-related activity – are fears that they will lead to a sharp drop in the number of disabled people eligible for extra financial support because they are not able to work.
Last month, Disability News Service asked the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in a freedom of information request to explain its insistence that the changes would be “broadly cash neutral”.
It continues to refuse to release the figures on which it bases this conclusion because it says the policy is “still in development”.
But, in its response, it also said its internal costings show that “broadly the same number would be eligible for the new [universal credit] health element as the number of those who would no longer receive an additional element”.
When asked to clarify this response, a DWP spokesperson said this meant that “the total number of recipients of a work/health element will be broadly the same after the reform as before”.
DWP has previously confirmed that any legislation to scrap the work capability assessment would not be introduced until after the next general election.
Ken Butler, welfare and benefits policy adviser at Disability Rights UK, said: “The health element proposals will mean that around 632,000 disabled people who receive the employment and support allowance or universal credit support component will lose this as they do not receive PIP or DLA.
“Are the DWP really saying that around 632,000 disabled people who receive PIP but not currently the support component will then replace them?
“This seems very difficult to believe, and impossible to check given the sparse content of official DWP universal credit statistics.
“As ever, instead of increasing trust and transparency, the DWP plays at smoke and mirrors.
“Whatever, there is no justification for reducing some disabled people’s benefit entitlement by the equivalent of around £4,700 a year*.”
Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, told disability minister Tom Pursglove in parliament last month that his proposal to “essentially collapse the work capability assessment into the PIP assessment” would mean up to one million people with fluctuating health conditions, or those recovering from treatment, could lose out on up to £350 a month, which he said was “causing considerable distress”.
Ashworth declined to comment this week on the latest information released by DWP.
A DWP spokesperson said: “The health and disability white paper commits to removing the financial disincentives that exist within the current system by scrapping the work capability assessment, improving support and the experience for people when applying for and receiving benefits.
“These are the biggest reforms in a decade.
“That’s why we will take time to carefully consider how best to implement the changes – and give security and certainty to claimants, continuing to engage with disabled people and people with health conditions, and our stakeholders, as our proposals develop, before the reforms are rolled out on a staged basis.
“We will put protections in place to ensure that no one experiences financial loss at the point at which the reform is enacted, while improving our offer of tailored support to help people find and stay in sustainable work.”
*The annual equivalent of the universal credit support component rate
25 May 2023
Other disability-related stories covered by mainstream media this week
A safety investigation has warned that young people with complex mental health needs are being put at significant risk, by being placed on general children’s wards in England. The findings come from the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch – a government-funded body – which says paediatric wards are designed to care for patients who only have physical health needs and not those with mental health needs. It describes the situation in 18 hospitals it visited as “challenging”, while 13 were described as “not safe” for children who were suicidal or at risk of harming themselves to be on their paediatric wards: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-65695400
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been criticised for misusing alt text on social media – weeks after big brands were called out for doing it. His official Twitter account posted a four-picture photo grid showing cabinet members having a meeting. The alt text fields – which are supposed to describe what is in the images for blind users – simply read: “We’re growing the economy.”: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-65644575
Charities have criticised the government over its cost-of-living payment for disabled people, calling it “woefully inadequate”. The government has announced that more than six million disabled people will receive the one-off payment of £150 from 20 June. But disability charities say the £150 is not enough and the government should be doing more to help disabled people: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/charities-hit-out-at-woefully-inadequate-%C2%A3150-cost-of-living-payment-for-disabled-people-145124211.html
25 May 2023
News provided by John Pring at www.disabilitynewsservice.com
