‘Toxic’ DWP ‘caused mental health collapse’ in one third of jobcentre team in a year
More than a third of the work coaches on a single floor of a jobcentre experienced a mental health crisis in less than a year, due to the “dysfunctional” Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and its “toxic” policies, whistleblowers have revealed.
Written and oral evidence seen by Disability News Service (DNS) shows that conditions for work coaches at the Oxford jobcentre became so stressful that 15 of those in one team of 23 quit within a 12-month period.
There have been years of concerns that DWP is institutionally disablist, not fit for purpose and unsafe for disabled people claiming benefits.
But the latest concerns suggest that the department is also unsafe for the work coaches employed to support benefit claimants into work.
Of the 15 who resigned from the team of 23 on the first floor of the Oxford jobcentre, it is believed that at least eight work coaches experienced a significant collapse in their mental health due to a huge, sudden increase in workload.
All the resignations and episodes of mental distress followed preparations that began in November 2021 for DWP’s Way to Work Initiative, which was launched publicly in January 2022 by the then work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey.
The scheme was aimed at significantly increasing the number of universal credit claimants returning to employment after losing their jobs during the pandemic.
At the Oxford jobcentre, DNS has been told that work coaches instantly had to deal with 27 appointments a day, when they had previously had between 17 and 19, an increase of more than 40 per cent.
But at the same time there was also a significant increase in administrative tasks, and a decrease in the time work coaches had available to do that work.
This was ordered despite the local PCS union branch having warned two months earlier – in September 2021 – that it had been receiving reports of members “under so much stress of an impossible workload that they are logging on in the evening and weekends to catch up with admin”.
The union even organised two online meetings to discuss the concerns, two months before the workload was increased even further ahead of the Way to Work launch.
The increased workload meant that nearly all their appointments could last just 10 minutes – and often even less – with work coaches having to cope with back-to-back meetings throughout the day, and working through their breaks to catch up on administrative tasks.
When approached by DNS this week, DWP did not deny that so many work coaches had resigned, or that so many of them had experienced a work-related mental health crisis following the increase in their workload.
But it insisted that it was committed to supporting staff wellbeing and that it takes “staff concerns very seriously and are committed to tackling any issues that are raised”.
DNS has now heard from four former DWP employees who worked in the jobcentre, and has also seen multiple pieces of written evidence that corroborate the allegations.
One work coach said: “I saw (and felt) the effect of this first hand, as myself and other work coaches were immediately overwhelmed and stressed by the increased workload.”
He said work coaches had been taught to take a “compassionate” approach in their training, but this was then dismissed by managers “in pursuit of numbers and statistics”.
He added: “It became quickly apparent that the only way to get an eased diary from management seemed to be by having a mental breakdown on-site.”
Nearly all the 23 members of the team, who worked on the first floor of the jobcentre in Oxford city centre with claimants aged 24 to 50, had been recruited at the same time during the pandemic.
There are believed to be as few as three of that team still working as work coaches at the jobcentre.
Another work coach, Jake Baker*, was particularly affected by the increased workload as he worked with violent and sexual offenders who had been released from prison on licence.
His significantly higher workload made it increasingly difficult to manage “very serious and critical safeguarding concerns” that he said “directly compromised staff and public safety”.
He made repeated attempts to alert his managers, district managers and even DWP permanent secretary Peter Schofield to concerns about the number of work coaches being forced to leave their roles because of extreme mental distress caused by the increased workload.
He also raised “a catalogue of very serious DWP safeguarding failings, unfolding on a daily basis” in the jobcentre “as a result of the chaotic and highly dysfunctional working environment”.
He twice alerted the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to the concerns about the impact on the mental health of work coaches, but on both occasions the DWP agency refused to investigate, despite being told that multiple current and former staff members were willing to provide evidence (see separate story).
Baker told DNS: “People are terrified to speak out and that’s how they continue to get away with it.
“Whistleblowers and their concerns are tightly wrapped up in confidentiality clauses. Without transparency, there can be no accountability.
“The expectations forced on the workforce were unreasonable and dangerous for both claimants and staff.”
He has described watching one colleague, whose mental health had gradually deteriorated after her workload increased, and had repeatedly had her requests for support ignored, “just screaming at the top of her voice” as she attempted to log into her computer one morning.
She collapsed at her desk, and she resigned soon afterwards.
Baker himself experienced a severe mental health crisis in April 2022, caused he says by a lack of adequate and specialist support and a hugely-increased workload, despite making several attempts to persuade DWP to implement “critical and reasonable changes”.
He later attempted a phased return to work with lighter duties but soon realised that he would have to resign after – he says – multiple failings by DWP to recognise and support his needs, and he resigned in October last year.
He said: “We were doing 27 appointments a day. I can’t describe the pressure. You could see people breaking overnight.”
DNS has seen a private message sent by an experienced female colleague, who told him: “I know you’ve been unwell for some time but I’m glad to see that you are making a phased return to work.
“I thought to myself, when you were off, ‘well it looks as though the department has broken [Jake]’ as they do with so many others due to workplace stress.”
He had multiple grievances rejected by DWP, although one – of bullying and excessive workload – was partially upheld.
This was confirmed by DWP this week, which said it acted on the grievance that was partially upheld.
One supportive statement from a colleague submitted as part of one of Baker’s grievances described the atmosphere at the jobcentre as “bizarre and toxic”.
Baker says he is aware of four other work coaches who raised concerns about workloads and working practices and were “driven out” of the department.
He took his case to the employment tribunal but eventually withdrew the case due to the seriousness of his mental health condition.
A DWP spokesperson said in a statement last night (Wednesday): “We are committed to supporting the wellbeing of our staff, and provide access to a comprehensive range of assistance for their physical and mental health and financial wellbeing.
“This includes the department’s employee assistance programme, a community of mental health first aiders and ambassadors for fair treatment.
“We take any staff concerns very seriously and are committed to tackling any issues that are raised.”
DWP also said that it was legally required to provide information and cooperate with any investigation when requested by HSE.
HSE insisted that all its decisions are made independently.
Asked why it twice rejected the opportunity to investigate the allegations about the safety of the working environment on the first floor of the Oxford jobcentre when so many people were willing to provide evidence, it said in a statement: “Concerns were made to us and after looking into the matters raised we felt they did not meet our criteria to investigate further.
“All employers need to recognise their legal duty to prevent work-related stress and to support good mental health in the workplace.”
Jake told DNS this week: “What’s at the core of all the problems is the department’s absolute obsession with productivity stats: can local managers demonstrate to the regional managers how many claimants have been seen face-to-face, regardless of how successful or supportive the engagement was.
“Truly meaningful metrics were not tracked or analysed.
“They don’t see claimants as people, they are literally seen as statistics. Claimants are regarded and managed as commodities.”
*Not his real name. He has asked for his name not to be used, although both DWP and HSE are aware of his identity
2 November 2023
Health and safety regulator twice refused to probe multiple jobcentre ‘breakdowns’
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) twice refused to launch an investigation into serious concerns that multiple work coaches on the same floor of a city centre jobcentre had experienced “mental breakdowns” because of work-related stress.
The agency was told in April this year, and again two months later, that more than a third of the work coaches on a single floor of Oxford jobcentre had experienced a mental health crisis in just one year (see separate story).
HSE is the national regulator for workplace health and safety, but it is “sponsored” as a government agency by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the department responsible for running jobcentres.
The minister responsible for HSE is a DWP minister, Mims Davies, and HSE’s chair is a former minister for disabled people, Sarah Newton.
HSE this week denied suggestions that it refused to investigate the concerns at Oxford jobcentre because of its close links with DWP.
The concerns were raised with HSE by former work coach Jake Baker*, who told the agency that 10 current and former DWP staff were willing to provide evidence about those concerns.
Seven of those willing to give evidence had themselves experienced a significant collapse in their mental health after having to deal with 27 appointments a day with claimants, when they previously had between 17 and 19, an increase of more than 40 per cent.
Some of the appointments were “extremely complex” claimants and seen as “very vulnerable” and requiring intensive support.
Baker first informed HSE about the concerns in April, when he warned the regulator that six work coaches and one administrative officer in the team – who worked with claimants aged 24 to 50 – had taken time off with stress-related conditions because of the workload.
He said that 11 team members had quit due to working conditions.
All the resignations and episodes of mental distress followed preparations that began in November 2021 for a DWP initiative that aimed to increase the number of universal credit claimants returning to employment after losing their jobs during the pandemic.
But despite Baker emphasising that multiple employees had been affected, HSE told him that it does “not investigate individual cases because stress and its impact, is subjective”.
It also said it could not investigate the concerns because Baker was currently involved in an employment tribunal case against DWP over his treatment.
Two months later, after he had withdrawn his tribunal claim because of his own deteriorating mental health – triggered by the increase in his workload and lack of adequate and specialist support from managers – he approached HSE again.
He told the regulator that he and nine former colleagues were prepared to testify, at least six of whom had experienced work-related “mental health breakdowns” while working at the jobcentre.
This time, HSE told him: “Unfortunately because you are no longer employed you cannot provide evidence to demonstrate that stress is an ongoing problem in the Jobcentre or that people are still being adversely affected.
“Consequently, this case would not meet our criteria and HSE will not be able to undertake further investigation.”
When approached by Disability News Service (DNS) this week, HSE insisted that all its decisions are made independently.
But it failed to explain why it twice rejected the opportunity to investigate the allegations about the safety of the working environment on the first floor of Oxford jobcentre when so many people were willing to provide evidence.
Instead, it said in a statement: “Concerns were made to us and after looking into the matters raised we felt they did not meet our criteria to investigate further.
“All employers need to recognise their legal duty to prevent work-related stress and to support good mental health in the workplace.”
It provided a link to its criteria for investigating work-related stress, which appears to show that the concerns passed on by Jake Baker met those criteria.
The document states: “HSE will only consider investigating potential issues of work-related stress where it is evident that several employees are experiencing work-related stress or related ill health.”
DWP did not deny this week that so many work coaches had resigned, or that many of them had experienced a work-related mental health crisis following their increased workload.
But it insisted that it was committed to supporting staff wellbeing and that it takes “staff concerns very seriously and are committed to tackling any issues that are raised”.
A DWP spokesperson said in a statement: “We are committed to supporting the wellbeing of our staff, and provide access to a comprehensive range of assistance for their physical and mental health and financial wellbeing.
“This includes the department’s employee assistance programme, a community of mental health first aiders and ambassadors for fair treatment.
“We take any staff concerns very seriously and are committed to tackling any issues that are raised.”
It also insisted that it was legally required to provide information and cooperate with any investigation when requested by HSE.
Baker told DNS this week: “The Health and Safety Executive has failed the very people it is supposed to protect. The system appears to be dysfunctional by design.
“It is not reasonable to expect the state to investigate itself. Where is the impartiality?
“As with the DWP, when raising concerns, the whistleblower is met with fierce resistance and is worn down by a series of bureaucratic closed loops.
“Extremely disappointing and equally concerning.”
*Not his real name. He has asked for his name not to be used, although both DWP and HSE are aware of his identity
2 November 2023
Ministers and train firms refuse to rule out future ticket office closures, despite climbdown
The government and train operating companies have refused to rule out further attempts to close rail ticket offices across the country, despite ministers scrapping proposals to shut nearly 1,000 of them across England.
Transport secretary Mark Harper this week reversed the government’s previous position supporting the closures, announcing on Tuesday that ministers had “asked train operators to withdraw their proposals”.
That decision came after two passenger watchdogs – Transport Focus and London TravelWatch – objected to all the proposed closures, following public consultations that saw about 750,000 responses.
But both the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Rail Delivery Group – which represents the companies which run Britain’s railways – refused to rule out further closure proposals when asked to do so yesterday (Wednesday) by Disability News Service (DNS).
Sarah Leadbetter, national campaigns officer for The National Federation of the Blind of the UK (NFBUK), said the victory over the government and the rail companies was “bittersweet” because she expected further reforms to follow, which could include new proposals on ticket office closures.
She attended an online meeting with rail minister Huw Merriman on Tuesday morning – having been alerted to the meeting late the previous evening – shortly before the government climbdown was announced.
And she said she came away with the impression that further worrying reforms were being planned, including the possibility of ticket office closures and job losses.
She said: “We just got the impression that something else is brewing.
“He came in and said, ‘We still need reform.’”
After listening to his comments to others at the meeting, and his answers to questions asked by NFBUK, she told DNS: “Reading between the lines, something else is going to come.”
She suspects some of these reforms will relate to the use of technology.
But she said: “Technology is a wonderful thing, but we need people to speak to, to do tickets, to put ramps out and guide you to seats… some of us don’t want to use [technology] or can’t use it.”
Doug Paulley, who took a legal action alongside Leadbetter that helped lead to the train companies extending the consultation period this summer, said disabled people and their allies should celebrate the victory over “ill-conceived and ableist” government plans that “caused so much distress, and treated disabled people’s access needs with such contempt”.
But he said campaigners “shouldn’t kid ourselves that the prospect of destaffing the railway is gone, nor the ableist mindsets that allowed such a hateful initiative to be proposed in the first place”.
He said he expected new proposals to expand driver-only operated trains would follow the decision to withdraw the ticket office closure plans.
Tony Jennings, co-chair of a rail accessibility panel and co-founder of the Campaign for Level Boarding, said the government U-turn “demonstrates the collective power of campaigners, activists, the RMT union and disabled people’s organisations”.
But he said he feared the victory was “just the beginning and not the end” of proposals for damaging reforms, with the Rail Delivery Group now looking for savings elsewhere.
He said: “Campaigners and the RMT need to remain vigilant that it does not result in a recruitment ban and destaffing by stealth and the DfT pushing for more driver-only operated trains, which would have equally disastrous consequences for disabled people.”
The ticket office closure plans sparked widespread opposition from disabled campaigners, disabled people’s organisations, unions and allies, when they were first revealed in June by the Association of British Commuters.
Public consultations into the proposed closures saw 750,000 responses to TransportFocus – a government agency – and London TravelWatch, which is sponsored and funded by the London Assembly.
Of the statements issued by the two watchdogs this week, London TravelWatch’s raised more concerns about accessibility.
Michael Roberts, chief executive of London TravelWatch, said in a statement: “The three big issues for the public arising from the consultation were how to buy tickets in future, how to get travel advice and information at stations, and how disabled passengers can get assistance when they need it.
“London TravelWatch has heard these views loud and clear, and would like to thank all those who took the time to take part.
“Despite improving on their original proposals, we don’t think the train companies have gone far enough to meet our concerns and those of the public.
“We cannot say with confidence that these proposals would improve things for passengers and that is why we have objected to all 269 ticket office closures [in London].”
Transport Focus particularly highlighted concerns over plans for train operators to introduce new “welcome points” at stations, which would provide a “focal point on entering a station that provides any customer who needs support and/or advice a place to start their journey and get help from staff”.
It said: “The welcome point concept is a fundamental change for passengers, especially disabled passengers, so it is important that they work in practice and that passengers have confidence in them.
“These proposals must be piloted to establish what works best at different types of stations and how passengers react to them.
“Proposals on ticket offices would need to await the outcome of these pilots.”
It also said it was “supportive of the principle of redeploying staff from ticket offices to improve the overall offer to the passenger”.
The Rail Delivery Group said a statement: “While these plans won’t now be taken forward, we will continue to look at other ways to improve passenger experience while delivering value for the taxpayer.”
But it refused to rule out future proposals for ticket office closures.
Harper said the proposals “do not meet the high thresholds set by ministers, and so the government has asked train operators to withdraw their proposals”.
But DfT also refused to rule out future proposals for ticket office closures.
2 November 2023
Disabled campaigners celebrate ‘bittersweet’ ticket office victory
Disabled activists and disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) have been celebrating this week after a four-month campaign forced the government to abandon plans it had previously backed to close nearly 1,000 rail ticket offices across England.
Transport secretary Mark Harper announced on Tuesday that ministers had “asked train operators to withdraw their proposals”, reversing the government’s previous position supporting the closures.
That decision came after two passenger watchdogs – Transport Focus and London TravelWatch – objected to all the proposed closures.
The government climbdown followed months of protests, lobbying, rallies, legal action and research by disabled people, DPOs and allies, with 750,000 people responding to public consultations on the proposed closures.
One of the DPOs that has played a significant part in the campaign is The National Federation of the Blind of the UK (NFBUK).
Sarah Leadbetter, NFBUK’s national campaigns officer, said the government’s announcement was “really good news” and had been a “very big surprise” when it was announced.
But she said the victory was “bittersweet” because she expected further worrying reforms to follow, which could include new proposals on ticket office closures (see separate story).
Leadbetter had herself – along with fellow accessible transport campaigner Doug Paulley – taken a legal case against four publicly-owned train companies and Harper.
Days after starting their legal action – which is now likely to be withdrawn – train operating companies had extended the 21-day consultation period.
Paulley said yesterday (Wednesday): “It is a great relief that the government have given up these ill-conceived and ableist plans, for which they disingenuously blamed the train operating companies.
“This caused so much distress, and treated disabled people’s access needs with such contempt.
“So many fought so hard, in so many ways, to prevent this from occurring, and we should be proud.
“But we shouldn’t have had to, and imagine what positive things our energy, emotions and commitment could have achieved if they were not forced to be occupied fighting this iniquitous disgraceful proposal borne out of this hateful government and complacent industry.
“So I think we should celebrate our achievement.
“But we shouldn’t kid ourselves that the prospect of destaffing the railway is gone, nor the ableist mindsets that allowed such a hateful initiative to be proposed in the first place.”
And he said he expected new proposals to expand “driver only operation” of trains would follow the decision to withdraw the ticket office closure plans.
Sam Jennings, one of the disabled activists who campaigned against the closures, said support for the campaign had been “unprecedented” and that disabled people had been treated with “contempt” and as an “inconvenience”.
She said: “I am relieved and also somewhat emboldened.
“Now let’s see real commitment to improving accessibility and making ‘turn up and go’ work for everyone so that no-one is left behind or ever #DisabledByTheRailway again.”
She called for the Rail Delivery Group – which represents the companies that run Britain’s railways – to be disbanded as “they are the barrier to a functioning, accessible railway”.
Another disabled activist who contributed to the campaign was Tony Jennings, co-chair of a rail accessibility panel and co-founder of the Campaign for Level Boarding.
He said the government U-turn was “an important moment in history for disability rights and demonstrates the collective power of campaigners, activists, the RMT union and DPOs”.
But he added: “History will remember those who remained silent, who will be on the wrong side of disability rights.”
He said DfT had forced the train companies to push through the proposals and then “threw them under the bus” when an overwhelming majority of responses to the consultations opposed the plans, including 99 per cent of those received by London TravelWatch.
The proposals would have seen staffed hours at Jennings’ local station, Ulverston – where wheelchair- and mobility scooter-users depend on staff to assist them across the tracks to one of the platforms – cut from 13 to just two hours a day, with no staffing on Sundays.
He said this would have caused “an end to spontaneous travel and would have eroded the legal right to turn up and go travel”.
He praised local MPs Tim Farron – who led a parliamentary debate objecting to ticket office closures – and Simon Fell, who lobbied ministers and toured stations with the rail regulator.
But Jennings said he feared the victory was “just the beginning and not the end” of proposals for damaging reforms, with the Rail Delivery Group now looking for savings elsewhere.
He said: “Campaigners and the RMT need to remain vigilant that it does not result in a recruitment ban and destaffing by stealth and the DfT pushing for more driver-only operated trains, which would have equally disastrous consequences for disabled people.”
Transport for All (TfA), which played a key part in the campaign to oppose the closures, this week celebrated the “major victory”, which it said was “down to the tenacity of disabled people and our community”.
Katie Pennick, TfA’s campaigns manager, said: “Today represents the best possible outcome – but it’s not a step forward, instead we have resisted things getting worse.”
She added: “The disastrous and discriminatory proposals should never have been put forward.
“It took multiple legal challenges, public uproar, cross-party opposition, and ultimately a watchdog decision for the Department for Transport to finally withdraw its support for the closures.”
She said the government had been insisting “until the eleventh hour” that the plans would improve accessibility.
The Association of British Commuters, which first raised the alarm in June about the imminent announcement of plans for widespread ticket office closures, said on Twitter that the government’s defeat was an “absolutely historic victory”.
The Rail Delivery Group said its proposals “were about adapting the railway to the changing needs of customers in the smartphone era, balanced against the significant financial challenge faced by the industry as it recovers from the pandemic”.
It added: “While these plans won’t now be taken forward, we will continue to look at other ways to improve passenger experience while delivering value for the taxpayer.”
But it has refused to rule out bringing back further proposals for ticket office closures (see separate story).
Harper said the proposals “do not meet the high thresholds set by ministers, and so the government has asked train operators to withdraw their proposals”.
The Department for Transport (DfT) also refused to rule out future proposals for ticket office closures.
DfT said it aimed to consult on a draft national rail accessibility strategy next year, and had provided £350 million to improve accessibility at up to 100 stations through the Network North plans, which were announced after the prime minister pulled the plug on extending the HS2 high-speed railway north of Birmingham.
2 November 2023
DWP was wrong to stop benefits of man who starved to death, inquiry finds
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) should not have stopped the benefits of a disabled man who later starved to death, an updated safeguarding review has found after being shown information DWP hid from its original inquiry.
It is the first time that any official inquiry has made it clear that DWP was wrong to stop the benefits of Errol Graham after he failed to turn up to a work capability assessment (WCA).
His employment and support allowance (ESA) was stopped in October 2017 when he failed to respond to attempts to contact him about his claim, which led to his housing benefit being stopped and his rent no longer being paid.
The following June, his body was found by bailiffs sent to evict him for non-payment of rent.
He was 57 years old and weighed just four-and-a-half stone.
A coroner subsequently found he had starved to death.
But only three years before his 2017 WCA, another DWP assessment had reported his “active suicidal thoughts”, “very low mood” and how he was “hearing voices all the time”.
He had explained that he could not cope with “unexpected changes” which left him feeling “under threat and upset”, and he told DWP that he felt “anxiety and panic in new situations”.
But when a safeguarding review into the circumstances surrounding his death was launched by Nottingham City Safeguarding Adults Board, DWP failed to share the documents from his 2014 assessment, despite sharing earlier reports and being asked for “information of relevance” to his death.
This led the review’s author to be only mildly critical of DWP’s failures and to conclude that the department was “unaware of [Errol’s] significant risk factors when acutely unwell”.
But after Disability News Service (DNS) shared the 2014 documents with the Nottingham safeguarding team – with the family’s permission – the author reviewed her original conclusions.
The report’s author, Sylvia Manson, has now produced a new – much more critical – “addendum”, which is due to be published today (Thursday).
Manson now says, of the 2014 report: “This information should have raised sufficient flags about whether there may have been ‘good cause’ for why [Errol] had not responded to requests for a review and triggered making further enquiries with other agencies.”
She adds: “There was historic information that [Errol’s] depression may impact on his ability to engage in a DWP assessment.
“There were missed opportunities to use this knowledge and exercise discretionary criteria to gather further information from other agencies.”
Errol Graham’s daughter-in-law, Alison Burton, who has fought for justice for her father-in-law since his death, welcomed the addendum to the report.
She told DNS that the documents from his 2014 assessment should have led the DWP civil servant who decided to stop his benefits to grant him “good cause” for missing the assessment, which would have meant his money was not stopped.
She said the 2014 information “throws the DWP story out of the window”.
Burton said she was not surprised by DWP’s “deceitful” behaviour, because it had done the same thing at the inquest and only provided the 2014 documents to the high court a few days before a judicial review hearing in January 2021, which was too late for them to be taken properly into account.
She said: “If it is committed to improving its services and protecting its claimants, as it claims every time, why be deceitful?
“All it says to me is they have no interest in improving their services.”
It is just the latest example of DWP misleading public bodies and those investigating its activities – including coroners, judges, the National Audit Office and its own independent reviewers – about links between its policies and failings and the deaths of disabled people claiming benefits, as detailed on the Deaths by Welfare timeline.
DWP refused this week to say if it agreed with the additions to the safeguarding review; refused to apologise for withholding the 2014 report from the review; and refused to apologise for the actions it took that led Errol Graham to starve to death.
Instead, a DWP spokesperson said: “This was an incredibly tragic case and our condolences remain with this family.”
Nottingham City Safeguarding Adults Board refused to comment on DWP’s attempted cover-up.
It also tried to argue that the “original findings and recommendations” of the review “remain unchanged”.
It was only when DNS pointed out that Manson had changed the findings of the report to make it clear that DWP should not have stopped Errol Graham’s benefits that it amended its statement.
Lesley Hutchinson, the board’s chair, said in the amended statement: “Earlier in the year, the Nottingham City Safeguarding Adults Board published a safeguarding adults review which looked at the shocking circumstances of a man’s death where the intervention of agencies exacerbated his problems rather than providing support.
“Since publication, the board has received additional information.
“Following a robust process, the review independent author presented an addendum to the report which takes account of this information and the board has approved this and is now publishing it.
“The original recommendations remain unchanged, and we will continue to focus on taking these forward.
“I would like to again offer my heartfelt condolences to [Errol’s] family and all who knew him.”
2 November 2023
Social enterprise ‘will transform’ workplace support for disabled people
A disabled people’s organisation (DPO) has launched a pioneering new social enterprise that will make it easier for disabled people to secure personal assistants to support them at work.
Breakthrough UK – one of the UK’s longest-established DPOs – said EqualEdge was the UK’s first workplace personal assistant recruitment agency and would fill a “significant gap” in the market.
James Gasarah, a business development and partnership lead for Breakthrough, said EqualEdge would bring “transformation” and “solve real issues in the lives of disabled people”.
The agency will target people who rely on funding for a personal assistant (PA) from the government’s Access to Work (AtW) scheme – although it is open to those with funding from other sources – and will allow them to recruit vetted and trained PAs who can provide administrative or professional support.
The latest figures (see table seven) published by the Department for Work and Pensions show that more than 12,000 disabled people received funding through AtW to pay for a workplace support worker in 2022-23.
As well as offering a website that allows disabled people to find a workplace PA, EqualEdge will also provide training to PAs, manage payroll services, and offer a new tool that allows disabled people to check their eligibility for AtW.
Gasarah said they had also been in discussions with AtW about how to secure quicker access to funding for disabled people who use EqualEdge, which would allow them to offer their customers an “expedited service”.
Breakthrough’s chair, David Coulter, told an online launch event on Tuesday: “What’s really exciting is that this social enterprise isn’t just about filling a void in the market, it’s an extension of Breakthrough UK’s mission to support disabled people in finding meaningful work [and] it creates a new source of income for Breakthrough.”
EqualEdge is initially available only to disabled people in Manchester and London, although Breakthrough hopes to expand across the UK.
Richard Currie, a former Breakthrough trustee, told the launch event how important workplace PAs have been in supporting him in his work as a PhD research student, including by supporting him to navigate the public transport system.
He said this has enabled him “to focus on important issues such as delivering on a presentation” or carrying out library research.
He said: “I think also that what the work-based personal assistant has allowed me to do is be effective with my time during a work day.”
He added: “The right PA with the right values really can make a difference.
“That’s one of the key aspects that really attracted me to the idea of EqualEdge.
“It’s the idea of matching people with the right skills to the right needs around supporting people to help survive and thrive in the workplace.
“Because from my experience thus far, gaining the right PA with the right skillset has been more through luck than judgement.”
Asked by Disability News Service why this was the first time such a project had been launched, Brian Burgon, another business development and partnership lead for Breakthrough, said it had been “daunting” and suggested it had been difficult to offer such a service “at scale” but that Breakthrough had seen “the vision”.
He said EqualEdge’s target customers would include disabled people entering the workforce for the first time, those already employed who are now seeking additional support, those who are unemployed and not yet receiving Access to Work, disabled people “actively searching for employment opportunities”, self-employed disabled people, apprentices, and those who need “additional support while starting a new job, in the form of a job coach”.
2 November 2023
Protesters highlight DWP’s ‘terrifying’ plans for work capability assessment
Disabled activists were outside the Westminster offices of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) this week to oppose a “farcical” public consultation into proposed changes to the work capability assessment that they believe would cause further deaths of claimants.
The protest was led by Disabled People Against Cuts, but also attended by the disabled women’s organisation WinVisible, the Scottish-based grassroots group Black Triangle, and members of Unite Community union and Waltham Forest Stand Up For Your Rights.
After protesting outside DWP’s Caxton House offices, activists moved to block the street from traffic for about half an hour.
The protest was peaceful, and police at the scene made no attempt to prevent the action or arrest any activists.
The action took place on the final day of a consultation into the proposals to tighten the work capability assessment (WCA).
Disabled researcher and campaigner Catherine Hale told Disability News Service (DNS) that the proposals would make the “terrible” harm and injustice already caused by the WCA and the government’s sanctions policy “a hundred times worse”.
She said: “I have got personal experience as well as research experience of the terrible, terrible harms, terrible injustice being caused by the WCA and the policy of sanctions and this latest move they are proposing would make everything a hundred times worse than it already is… and it’s terrifying.”
She said one in four people with ME are either housebound or bedbound and “for them the support group is the only form of safety from compulsion to attend job centres and work preparation job schemes”.
Hale spoke out nine years ago about the “sanction first, ask questions later” approach to benefit claimants taken by DWP decision-makers, after she had more than £70 a week of her employment and support allowance (ESA) stripped from her for three months because she could not attend a back-to-work workshop that a government assessment had already concluded would be inaccessible to her.
She said this week that the government’s new proposals would “cause destitution and death” on an “unprecedented” scale, and she added: “I don’t have much hope that the Tories are listening to us, but I hope the Labour party are listening to us and taking heed.”
Andy Greene, a member of DPAC’s national steering group, said the direct action had shown that it was still safe for disabled people to take part in such protests, despite the government bringing in “draconian” new anti-protest laws through its Public Order Act earlier this year.
He told DNS: “I would say that despite its draconian measures to prevent people from turning out on the streets to defend their rights, we have shown once again that it doesn’t matter what laws are in place, our rights are intrinsic and we will defend them, defend services, defend our community consistently.
“We have shown today that you can protest on the streets safely and securely and have a collective voice if you have faith in each other.”
Claire Glasman, co-founder of WinVisible, said the government wanted to “take away the disability benefits that make the difference between putting the heating on and staying in the cold”.
She pointed to the death of Elaine Morrall, a disabled mother of four who died in her freezing flat in November 2017 – she was found indoors wearing her coat, hat and scarf – after having her ESA stopped by DWP.
Glasman told fellow activists: “This is what the government has in mind for us, and we are here to refuse. We are not expendable. Our lives matter.”
DPAC’s Paula Peters told protesters the consultation was “farcical” and called on them to contact their MPs to express their opposition to the “heinous, evil next steps with the work capability assessment”.
She said: “We need to let them know about how we feel about what they are doing.
“We need to put a stop to the deaths. What the government are doing to disabled people is deliberate. Today we say loud and we say it clearly: no more benefit deaths.”
She added later: “This government has blood on its hands from the deaths of disabled people. It’s fact, it’s truth, it’s reality.”
John McArdle, co-founder of Black Triangle, who had travelled from Edinburgh for the protest, told activists: “This is one of the biggest human rights issues in this country today.
“This is a time when the whole of the country needs to unite behind the struggles of disabled people and reject the narrative of the government that it is sick and disabled people who are responsible for bankrupting the country.”
He said society needed to “wake up” and realise that “one day, unless they unite with us, they may find themselves destitute and homeless, begging on the streets, simply because they have fallen sick or become disabled”.
In his response to the WCA consultation, McArdle has told ministers that the proposed changes would “jeopardise the safety and well-being of claimants”, and he added: “Pushing individuals into activities they are not ready for may lead to increased stress, exacerbation of mental health conditions, and, in some cases, tragic outcomes like suicide.”
Carole Vincent, from East London Unite Community and Waltham Forest Stand Up For Your Rights, told the protest: “It will kill more people if we don’t stand up and tell them no more benefit cuts.
“They will cut again if we don’t stop them. What’s about to come will cause more deaths, more destitution.”
One of the disabled activists who took part in the protest, Emma Gordon, from WinVisible, told DNS that the proposed changes were “absolutely horrific” and would affect her and have a “very wide impact” on disabled people.
A key concern about the WCA plans is the proposal to remove a safety net that for decades has protected disabled people seen as being at “substantial risk” of harm if found fit for work or work-related activity.
This measure has particularly protected those sectioned under the Mental Health Act, with active thoughts of suicide, or who have had a recent episode of self-harm that needed medical attention.
But the proposals announced by work and pensions secretary Mel Stride in September also suggest removing the absence of bowel or bladder control, the inability to cope with social interaction, and the inability to access a location outside the claimant’s home, from the list of activities and “descriptors” used in the WCA.
Meanwhile, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has written to Stride expressing concerns about the consultation.
The commission said it believed the eight-week consultation period was “insufficient to enable disabled people and their representative organisations to respond meaningfully”.
But it also said it was concerned that the consultation documents failed to include any “analysis of the potential impacts of the proposals on disabled people and other protected characteristic groups”.
Baroness Falkner, EHRC’s chair, said in the letter that concerns had been raised that the proposed changes, particularly the proposal to amend the “substantial risk” criteria, “could place disabled people at increased risk of both financial and psychological harm, with potentially serious equality and human rights implications”.
A commission spokesperson said: “It is vital that disabled people are granted the proper opportunity to engage meaningfully with this consultation process.
“We have urged DWP to extend the consultation deadline and to publish detailed analysis of the potential impact of proposals on different groups as a matter of urgency.”
2 November 2023
Survey finds ‘troubling’ rise in abuse of disabled supporters
A new survey has uncovered “concerning” increases in the impact of verbal abuse, inaccessible public transport and lack of support from staff on the ability of disabled supporters to enjoy live sport.
The annual survey by the disabled-led charity Level Playing Field (LPF) received nearly 1,800 responses, the highest number yet.
Among the findings, the survey shows the percentage of disabled fans saying that inaccessible public transport has been a barrier to them attending live sport has increased year-on-year from 16 per cent in 2021 to 17.5 per cent in 2022 and now to 20 per cent in 2023.
There was also an increase in the proportion of disabled fans who said that “disability abuse” was a barrier, rising from 5.5 per cent in 2021 to 6.5 per cent last year and seven per cent this year.
LPF – which campaigns for disabled fans attending live sport in England and Wales – described the rise in barriers caused by abuse and inaccessible transport as “troubling”.
The survey also found an increase in the proportion of disabled fans saying that a lack of support from club staff had caused a barrier, from seven per cent in 2021 to 10 per cent in 2022 and now to 11 per cent in 2023.
One survey respondent said: “Every week, we get challenged on where we access the stadium [the accessible entrance] as my son’s disability is not visible.
“Every week this causes unwanted distress. [We] have also been shouted at numerous times.”
Another said: “I may want to take medication while I’m at the ground and find that difficult if I’m not allowed to bring in a bag.”
LPF called on clubs to act on inaccessible transport, disability abuse and the lack of support from club staff, and said these trends were “particularly concerning”.
Most of the survey responses related to football (with 90 per cent of responses relating to the top four English football leagues), but there were also some relating to cricket (0.6 per cent), rugby league (7.4 per cent) and rugby union (0.5 per cent) and, for the first time, women’s football (0.9 per cent).
The charity also asked in the survey about the impact of smoke bombs and flares, following incidents involving disabled supporters.
LPF chair Tony Taylor has previously highlighted how fumes released by smoke bombs can affect respiratory conditions, trigger panic attacks and seizures and cause sensory overload, while also creating danger for disabled supporters who may find it difficult to evacuate an area.
Nearly a third (31 per cent) of those responding to the survey said they had been affected by the use of flares, smoke bombs and other pyrotechnics at a live sports event, with more than 120 disabled supporters rating the impact as “10 out of 10” for severity.
There were some positive results from the survey, with the proportion of respondents saying that physical access had created a barrier for them falling by seven percentage points to 29.5 per cent since last year’s survey.
But the survey also found that 54 per cent of respondents said they faced extra disability-related costs in attending live sport, usually in relation to travel and parking or the additional cost of paying for a companion or personal assistant to join them at an event.
The average additional disability-related costs were £66 for a home game and £111 for an away game.
One respondent said: “I struggle financially as I can’t work.
“The club charge blue badge holders for parking and eventually I will have to stop going – just can’t afford it. I only wish I could park elsewhere and walk.”
Following the survey, each of the 118 clubs mentioned have been sent a report with just their own supporters’ responses.
Taylor said: “Inaccessible public transport and disability abuse have both seen year-on-year increases in the percentage of disabled fans for whom they act as a barrier when attending live sport.
“These are key areas of work for Level Playing Field to focus on, and the results provide us with unquestionable evidence to utilise in discussions with other stakeholders, in order to bring about meaningful action.”
2 November 2023
Other disability-related stories covered by mainstream media this week
The Metropolitan Police have begun to reduce the amount of mental health calls officers attend in the capital, as part of a new initiative with the NHS. The Right Care, Right Person scheme introduces a threshold for police response to tackle the amount of time officers are spending on policing mental health. From yesterday (1 November), police will not attend medical calls where a healthcare professional is more appropriate, and will no longer attend welfare checks for people who have missed a planned health appointment or have not taken their medication: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/met-police-mental-health-calls-nhs-b2439448.html
Hospitals must do more to provide effective care for people with learning difficulties, the patient safety body has said. The Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) said the current system can cause distress and confusion for patients, as well as elevating the risk of harm. An HSSIB probe looked at how information about patients with learning difficulties is shared following admission to hospital, and how staff are supported to deliver their care: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/hospitals-nhs-england-mencap-sullivan-trust-b2440118.html
A tenant killed himself after his landlord dismissed his pleas for help with a noisy neighbour as “whining” and told him he could not expect silence if he lived in London. Clarion, the UK’s largest housing association, had been warned by the resident’s doctor that the effect of noise from the upstairs flat on his mental health was such that he had already attempted suicide twice. But it failed to fix the problem or find him another home despite receiving more than 20 complaints. After a nine-month ordeal, the tenant, who has not been named, took his own life in September 2021: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/nov/02/tenant-killed-himself-after-landlord-failed-to-resolve-repeated-noise-complaints
Legalising assisted dying in one part of the British Isles has moved a step closer after the Isle of Man’s parliament voted a bill through to its next stage. The assisted dying bill, as it stands, applies to terminally ill adults who have been “ordinarily resident” on the island for at least a year. Following hours of debate on Tuesday, a vote just after 6pm saw 17 members of the House of Keys vote for the bill, and seven against it: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/bill-isle-of-man-british-isles-helen-whately-dignity-in-dying-b2439290.html
Annelies Kusters has become the first deaf scholar to be made a full professor in the field of deaf studies and sign language studies in the UK. While other countries in Europe and the US already have deaf professors working in these fields, Kusters says such an appointment is long overdue in the UK, which until now only had hearing people as full professors – about 10 to 15 of them: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/nov/01/deaf-scholar-promoted-to-full-professor-in-deaf-studies-in-uk-first
2 November 2023
News provided by John Pring at www.disabilitynewsservice.com
