‘Overwhelmed’ claimant admits chemical weapon charge after jobcentre suicide attempt
A disabled man who swallowed poison in a jobcentre in an attempt to take his own life, after becoming “overwhelmed” by the harmful actions of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), has pleaded guilty to possessing a chemical weapon.
David Rollins had emailed Disability News Service (DNS) earlier that day – 23 June – to say he intended to take his own life, and that he wanted to draw attention to the harm caused by DWP and its assessment providers Maximus and Capita.
He had been waiting for a decision on his personal independence payment (PIP) claim and had also just been told he needed to have a work capability assessment (WCA), and he feared losing both PIP and part of his universal credit.
He has spent the last six months on remand in prison, after recovering from the suicide attempt, but he has now been released on bail before he is sentenced next month.
He had already pleaded guilty to intentionally or recklessly causing a public nuisance, but on Monday, at Leicester Crown Court, he also pleaded guilty to possessing a chemical weapon.
A further charge of developing or producing a chemical weapon will lie on the court’s files.
Rollins, from Orchardson Avenue, Leicester, had told DNS in the 23 June email: “I already know from the experiences of my friends where this is going, and I will not starve to death.”
He added: “The DWP and Capita and Maximus will deny any association with my suicide so this letter is one of the ways I intend to make it clear to them and the public.
“Without the encroaching sense of impending dread caused by the prospect of losing half of an already stretched income I would not be doing this.
“Without a pip and esa assessment either or both of which will destroy the life I have struggled to build I would not be doing this.”
DNS editor John Pring had emailed a response, asking Rollins not to take his own life, and directing him to organisations that could offer support.
Pring then contacted Leicestershire police to ask for an officer to check on his welfare, but by the time they arrived at his flat, Rollins had arrived at Leicester’s Wellington Street jobcentre, where he took the poison.
He emailed from a hospital bed that evening to say he had taken this action because of the stress of waiting for both his PIP decision and a WCA.
He said he had informed DWP’s universal credit department that he was at high risk of suicide and so should not be put through a WCA – which has been associated with countless suicides since its introduction in 2008 – but “they sent a robot reply and the form anyway”.
He added: “I’m exhausted being a drop in the huge ocean of claimants unfairly refused disability benefits.”
He has told DNS that he was becoming “overwhelmed by the dwp”.
After taking advice, DNS decided not to publish a news story in June*, because of the risk that other disabled people experiencing mental distress caused by DWP would take similar action in the hope of DNS writing about their suicide note after their death.
In his email, Rollins had described his own work over the last 10 years supporting other disabled people with their benefit claims.
He said he had seen an increasing number of benefit appeals reach the tribunal stage over those 10 years that “clearly should not have done so”, mostly because Capita and Maximus assessors had “lied and misled” DWP, while he said DWP’s PIP, employment and support allowance and universal credit departments had “acted openly in tacit agreement, underscoring and zero-ing claimants”.
He said he was tired of seeing friends “forced to survive on almost nothing while they wait even longer than ever for successful Tribunal results”, with a backlog, he said, that meant they would wait a year for their appeal to be heard.
He said one disabled person with cerebral palsy he was supporting had just received a mandatory reconsideration notice from DWP that confirmed his previous PIP award for enhanced daily living and mobility had been removed completely, even though it had previously been awarded by a tribunal.
Rollins said: “I had to tell him we would win at tribunal in a year’s time again.”
He added: “Most of my claimants and friends have fibromyalgia and poor mental health like myself, we all have the same dread of DWP letters, we know that the DWP will dismiss our overwhelming symptoms and multiple diagnosis with a zero across the board outcome.
“This is a drop in the ocean. I am a drop in the ocean.”
DWP declined to comment.
Leicestershire police also declined to comment.
*DNS will not report on suicide notes emailed to the editor by claimants aiming to highlight the harm caused by DWP. This is because of the risk that running such reports could encourage other people in mental distress to take similar action
21 December 2023
Disabled Tories threaten to quit party after disability minister role is downgraded
Disabled Conservatives are considering tearing up their party memberships in protest at the decision to downgrade the importance of the role of minister for disabled people.
They spoke out after a chaotic day last Thursday (14 December) saw the government originally brief a journalist that the post would be scrapped altogether, before appointing a new minister for disabled people, Mims Davies, just hours later.
It soon emerged that Davies would be combining her new role with her existing job as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) minister responsible for young people and social mobility.
The government also confirmed that Davies would continue to be a junior minister – a parliamentary under-secretary of state – in contrast to Tom Pursglove, her predecessor as disability minister, who had been a minister of state.
The downgrading of the role came just one day after the Covid public inquiry heard how disabled people were left without protection, written out of key investigations and proper consultation, and had their rights ignored by the UK government during the pandemic.
Following the decision to downgrade the role, Barry Ginley, chair of the Conservative Disability Group (CDG), wrote to prime minister Rishi Sunak to express his concerns.
He said he was “extremely angered and disappointed”, and he urged Sunak to reverse the decision “to ensure that our rights as the largest minority group in the UK are championed in parliament and Westminster”.
He said it was a “retrograde step diminishing the rights of disabled people to be effectively represented”.
He later told Disability News Service (DNS) the decision showed “the government does not hold disabled people’s interests at the heart of policy” and that it meant disabled people would now “not believe the government” when it announces any future policy which aims to improve their lives.
He added: “Feedback from some CDG members is that they are considering not renewing their membership in annoyance with the prime minister’s decision last week.”
There was further embarrassment for the government after DWP announced the appointment of Mims Davies through an inaccessible post on social media that failed to include “alt text”, which allows disabled people using screen-reading software to listen to a description of a picture.
Despite the downgrading of the role, Davies has been given the title of minister for disabled people, health and work, the same title held by Pursglove.
There was also criticism of the delay of seven days in appointing a successor to Pursglove, with the disability charity Scope suggesting this was the longest period between disability ministers in 30 years.
In fact, the gap between Chloe Smith (who was promoted to work and pensions secretary on 6 September 2022) leaving the post and the appointment of Claire Coutinho on 21 September 2022 was even longer, at 15 days, during the short-lived leadership of Liz Truss.
Commenting on Twitter, Davies said she was “honoured” by her appointment and would “work as hard as I can to ensure disabled people’s voices are heard loud and clear”.
But she said she would also have a “continued focus on social mobility – both reflecting the voice and needs of young people in DWP and all across Govt”.
She said later: “My Dad lived with head injury for over 25 years, as a result we were on benefits.
“I was the Charities Minister and have co chaired the [all-party parliamentary group] for carers and this has been a passion of mine, I’ve been at DWP since July 2019 and I know the teams, policymakers and [jobcentres]. Be assured I get it.”
She later told Labour’s shadow minister for disabled people, Vicky Foxcroft, that her lower seniority as a junior minister “makes no material difference” to disabled people.
There was also criticism of the decision to again appoint a non-disabled person to the post, even though the same ministerial reshuffle saw one of parliament’s few disabled MPs, Paul Maynard, appointed as DWP’s pensions minister.
When DNS asked if Maynard had turned down the position of disability minister, his spokesperson referred all questions to DWP.
The government this week refused to say why Sunak changed his mind about scrapping the role of minister for disabled people; whether DWP would apologise for failing to add alt text to the social media post; whether Maynard was offered the post of minister for disabled people; why the post had been downgraded; and how it justified handing Davies the role in addition to her existing duties, when it now had two immigration ministers.
DWP said the role of minister for disabled people had delivered for disabled people at both minister of state and parliamentary under-secretary of state level in the past, and pointed to Davies’ extensive experience within the department and with the issues disabled people face.
A DWP spokesperson said in a statement: “Minister Davies will build upon this government’s track record of supporting disabled people, having delivered millions of cost-of-living payments and helping over one million more disabled people into work five years earlier than planned*.
“The minister will help ensure there is always a strong safety net for the most vulnerable in our society, while tearing down barriers so that every disabled person can realise their potential and thrive.”
*Previous DNS stories have exposed this claim as deeply misleading, pointing to mounting evidence that suggests years of government employment policies have had little or no impact on reducing the discrimination disabled people face in the jobs market
21 December 2023
‘Game-changing’ £1.5 million will fuel ALLFIE’s fight for inclusive education
A £1.5 million grant has helped secure the long-term future of the disabled people’s organisation (DPO) that leads the fight for inclusive education in the UK.
The Alliance for Inclusive Education (ALLFIE) said the grant would be spread across the next 10 years and will provide it with “crucial space, time, and opportunity to secure our future”.
ALLFIE was one of 13 charities to benefit from “game-changing” long-term core funding of almost £14 million for organisations fighting inequality across London, from City Bridge Foundation, under the first round of its Anchor funding programme.
Michelle Daley, ALLFIE’s director, said she hoped the grant would encourage other funders to support the work of DPOs on inclusive education, which was vital for the “collective success” of the disabled people’s movement.
She said funders had “hesitated” for too many years to view inclusive education as a social justice issue.
She said: “Education is not an isolated issue; it intersects with various areas, such as independent living, transport, housing, as well as issues of gender injustice and abuse.”
She said the funding would give ALLFIE 10 years to make progress on its vision for inclusive education in mainstream settings “as a human right for all disabled people”.
News of the funding emerged after ALLFIE led a parliamentary event last week that called for an end to the degrading treatment, dehumanisation and even torture that young disabled people are subjected to in institutional settings.
Daley told Disability News Service this week that ALLFIE had experienced short-term funding challenges and uncertainty over its future for more than 30 years.
She said: “We cannot definitively say that ALLFIE would have folded without the Anchor funding, but what we do know is that the grant has provided crucial space, time, and opportunity to secure our future.
“This support enables us to advance our strategy, addressing the issues of ableism and disablism within the education system, and continue to move forward the work for inclusive education.”
As well as contributing to its core costs, the funding will allow ALLFIE to recruit two new staff members.
Daley said the funding would also support the wider inclusive education movement.
She said: “Campaigning on issues that centre around the denial of any human right is emotional and tough.
“Therefore, having a funder support ALLFIE’s work over the span of 10 years makes a huge difference in promoting and advancing inclusive education as a social justice issue.
“We hope that this will bring better support in understanding the need for advocacy services for inclusive education, centring inclusive education within campaigns, increasing resources and initiatives and addressing the broader issues.”
It will also help the campaign for new legislation that would give all disabled people the right to inclusive education “without it being a constant struggle”, she said.
Daley expressed ALLFIE’s “sincere gratitude” to City Bridge Foundation and called on other funders to provide long-term funding for DPOs and “collectively support the work of the disabled people’s movement as a social justice issue”.
Other recipients of Anchor funding include Inclusion Barnet, which will receive £980,000 over the next seven years.
Inclusion Barnet said the funding would “play a crucial role in helping us keep core roles within our organisation going strong” and allow it to “continue work on addressing the ongoing problems that are making life difficult for disabled people and other marginalised groups in Barnet”.
The funding will mean it can “continue to develop and grow” and “focus on building our organisation infrastructure so that we can continue advocating for meaningful difference in society”.
It added: “We can’t emphasise enough how excited and grateful we are for getting this Anchor funding.
“City Bridge Foundation has been an amazing supporter, and this is a huge achievement for our organisation.
“We’re really proud of what we’ve accomplished in getting this grant.”
21 December 2023
Equality watchdog told to ‘come clean’ over DWP benefit deaths discussions
The equality watchdog has been told to “come clean” over its failure to hold the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to account on deaths linked to benefit claims.
It is now 20 months since the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) announced it was drawing up a legally-binding “section 23 agreement” with DWP to force it to act, following concerns raised with the commission about the deaths of DWP claimants in vulnerable situations.
It said then that it expected the agreement to be signed by the summer of 2022.
But, 20 months on from the announcement in April 2022, no such agreement has been signed.
Two months ago, the Reclaiming Our Futures Alliance (ROFA) sent an email to the commission’s chief executive and chair, calling on them to explain the lack of progress.
It then sent another email a week later.
But EHRC has so far failed to respond to the emails, which had called for it to act “as a matter of urgency”.
Both were sent direct to the email addresses of the chief executive, Marcial Boo, and the chair, Baroness Falkner.
Although Disability News Service (DNS) has verified the email addresses they were sent to, EHRC claimed this week that neither of the emails was received.
In its first email, ROFA said the “unnecessary deaths and misery inflicted on Disabled people by the DWP has continued unchecked” and it called on the commission to “disclose the truth and come clean”.
It highlighted a series of reports by DNS that have linked universal credit with serious harm caused to claimants.
Among them was a disabled woman left traumatised by the daily demands of universal credit, who took her own life just days after being told she would need to attend a face-to-face meeting with a work coach.
Another was a disabled man left suicidal and without any income because of the serious flaws within universal credit.
Since ROFA’s emails to the commission, evidence has continued to emerge of safeguarding flaws within the department, particularly in relation to universal credit.
Earlier this month, DNS reported how senior mental health figures had told a coroner that DWP’s actions were having a significant “debilitating” impact on service-users, particularly those trying to claim universal credit.
Meanwhile, the PCS union has handed DWP a dossier of evidence that suggests the department is a failing organisation in a “state of crisis” and faces a “near collapse” of its benefits systems.
Mark Harrison, a member of ROFA’s steering group, said the commission’s failure to sign the section 23 agreement showed it was not fit for purpose.
He also accused the commission of misleading the UN committee on the rights of persons with disabilities about the section 23 agreement.
In a report for the committee, published in August, EHRC said it was “currently in negotiations with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to enter into a legally binding agreement to improve its treatment of disabled benefits claimants”, but failed to point out that those negotiations had already lasted 16 months.
Harrison said this failure to be clear about the situation was “disgraceful”.
He said: “We need a real, independent and functioning human rights body to protect us from the vicious attacks of this government.”
An EHRC spokesperson said in a statement: “We did not originally receive the letters sent by the Reclaiming Our Futures Alliance.
“Now we have received them, we will respond in due course.
“As with all correspondence we receive, we will carefully consider the issues raised and take action where appropriate.”
Labour’s Debbie Abrahams, who has led parliamentary efforts to secure justice for DWP’s victims and push for a public inquiry into the countless deaths linked to its actions, asked in the Commons this week for an update on the section 23 process, asking work and pensions secretary Mel Stride: “Why has the department still not reached an agreement?”
But Stride said: “By virtue of the legislation that underpins those interactions, the discussions are necessarily held in private.
“I am informed that they have resulted in positive engagement, and that the department and the EHRC will come forward with a response as soon as possible.”
21 December 2023
Third of young people with SEN experienced violent bullying last year, says government
One-third of young people with special educational needs (SEN) in England experienced violent bullying in the last year, according to a major government-funded survey.
Nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) of those surveyed, who were all 12 or 13, said they had experienced some kind of bullying, with reports more common among young people who were autistic or had social, emotional or mental health difficulties.
This compares with a similar study of all young people aged 13 and 14 that asked the same questions in 2013, and which found that 40 per cent had experienced bullying in the previous year.
The new study says name-calling was reported by nearly half (47 per cent) of those with SEN while 35 per cent said they had been threatened with violence, and 33 per cent had been victims of violence in the last year.
Just under one in five (18 per cent) reported that they had been called names which were related to their impairment.
About 3,000 young people with SEN completed the survey last year for the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), in collaboration with the National Children’s Bureau and on behalf of the Department for Education.
In all, nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) of young people with SEN reported being happy with their life as whole, with 90 per cent saying they were happy with their family, but just 55 saying they were happy with their school.
The vast majority of young people with SEN (94 per cent) said they expected to go on to have a job in the future, while more than half (54 per cent) wanted to go to college or university after leaving school.
Young people with SEN who attended mainstream schools (56 per cent) were more likely to want to continue in education than those in alternative provision (42 per cent) or special schools (38 per cent).
The study also says that young people with SEN and an education, health and care (EHC) plan were much less likely to spend unsupervised time with a friend than those without a plan.
Of those with an EHC plan, 38 per cent never spent unsupervised time with friends, compared with 16 per cent of those who did not have an EHC plan.
Three-quarters (76 per cent) of those whose parents reported that the school supported their child well reported high levels of happiness with their life compared with two-thirds (67 per cent) of those whose parents were not satisfied with the school’s support.
The study concluded that young autistic people and those with social, emotional and mental health difficulties were at greater risk of negative outcomes than other young people with SEN.
The study is part of long-term work by the government to set up a large-scale survey of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in England.
As well as the 3,000 young people, about 3,500 parents and guardians also completed the survey.
Of the young people analysed by the study, 85 per cent attended a mainstream school, 12 per cent a special school, and two per cent were attending alternative provision.
21 December 2023
Alan Benson: Tributes from ‘heartbroken’ colleagues to ‘astounding campaigner’
Countless tributes have been paid by friends, fellow campaigners and colleagues following the death of Alan Benson, an “astounding campaigner and ambassador” who played a major role in the fight for an accessible transport system.
As well as being co-chair of Transport for All, he was a long-serving deputy chair of London TravelWatch, a founder member of the Campaign for Level Boarding, and co-chaired the Department for Transport’s inclusive transport stakeholder group.
Transport for All (TfA) said it was “heartbroken” by his death on Sunday and described him as “an astounding campaigner and ambassador for the disabled community”.
Benson was awarded an MBE for services to public transport for disabled people last year.
He described at the time how his activism began when – as a powerchair-user – he was left stranded on a train platform in the run-up to the London 2012 Paralympics.
He had secured a degree in computing and economics, and a masters in management innovation and change, and used those skills mostly in jobs in further and higher education before moving to London in 2011.
He told TfA last year: “I moved to London and started regularly commuting around 2012, when the plans for the Paralympics were in full swing, and there was this huge push from the government to present London as an accessible capital.
“And then, while there was all this publicity about the legacy of the Paralympics, how accessible our transport was, what an example London was going to be, I was left stranded on a train platform.”
After attending a couple of parliamentary meetings on accessible transport and contributing to a Channel 4 investigation, he was introduced to TfA and became a board member.
He then played a key role in a series of TfA campaigns, including the battles to make Crossrail accessible; to ensure reliable, accessible patient transport; and to improve access to rail stations.
He told TfA in 2022: “The campaigns I remember are the ones that make the greatest amount of change, even if they’re not obvious, even if most people won’t see them.
“So, for example, there is now a new standard of lift signage across the London Underground: it makes a lot more sense, is less technical, more human, more accessible. And a lot of people won’t have noticed this change.
“But for many disabled people, this makes a huge difference to their ability to navigate stations and move through the world freely.
“I’m also really proud of the training we did with senior staff at the Underground.
“Often the most important work we do is changing attitudes, changing industry standards, because this is what results in lasting, widespread change.”
He stressed the importance of collaboration and co-production and the support of other campaigners, organisations, charities, transport operators and allies.
Last year, he was given the freedom of the borough of Richmond, where he lived, and the council’s leader, Gareth Roberts, spoke this week of his “remarkable contribution to the lives of disabled and older people, particularly in London” and his “immeasurable legacy”.
The user-led charity Ruils, which is based in south-west London, paid tribute to the “major role” he played – which included nearly seven years as a board member – and said it would miss his “drive, determination and wry humour”.
His influence and popularity were reflected this week in the many online messages of condolence from fellow disabled activists and industry professionals.
Among the messages left on an online tribute page, many spoke of his kindness, generosity and sense of humour, as well as his “massive contribution to improving transport accessibility”.
One said: “Heartbroken. Alan was the most fearless of campaigners – his legacy will live on and we can but try our best to carry on with his work the best we can – he has changed the life of so many.”
Another described him as “one of the kindest, wisest and best people you could ever meet”.
Among the messages from industry figures, Andy Lord, London’s transport commissioner, said the news of his death was “absolutely devastating and heart-breaking”.
Peter Wilkinson, managing director of passenger services at the Department for Transport, said: “Alan was a star and a truly committed and passionate champion of passengers. He will leave a giant hole behind him.”
London TravelWatch – London’s statutory transport watchdog – said it was “devastated” by his death and that he was “held in deep affection by everyone here”.
Tony Jennings, a fellow co-founder of the Campaign for Level Boarding, said Benson was “a friend and a pragmatic disability rights campaigner, who worked tirelessly in collaboration with the transport industry to help improve accessibility and remove the barriers.
“He was a supportive advocate for disabled people and generous with his time, leaving a legacy for other campaigners and activists to continue the fight for equal access.”
He said they shared a “passion for cricket and cake”, with Benson a loyal supporter of Surrey, who would frequently post on Twitter about his frequent trips to the Oval.
He said: “He will be greatly missed by family, friends and the disabled community.
“Strength to Yvonne, his soulmate and constant support at this terribly sad time.”
Another accessible transport campaigner, Doug Paulley, described Benson as “a true diplomat, committed campaigner and gentleman” and said his death was “a giant loss”.
He said: “I got to know him through the First Bus case, where he was a stalwart supporter, and have conspired with him ever since, along with his lovely partner Yvonne.
“But he also had become a firm friend, with his cheeky and impish sense of humour yet kindly advising and reeling me in where required.
“I mourn his loss for me, for disabled and other groups he supported, but particularly for his friends and his lovely partner.”
21 December 2023
Other disability-related stories covered by mainstream media this week
The UK government has agreed to pay £31,500 compensation after accepting that a 15-year-old boy with serious mental health problems was subjected to “inhuman or degrading treatment” by being kept in solitary confinement for almost two months. The boy, identified in court documents as AB, was locked alone in his cell for more than 23 hours a day for at least the first 55 days of his detention in Feltham prison, according to the Howard League for Penal Reform, which represented him: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/dec/18/boy-kept-in-solitary-confinement-wins-31500-pound-payout
UK phone companies have paused making “vulnerable” customers switch to digital landlines, following “serious incidents” where telecare devices stopped working. Nearly two million people are thought to use such equipment, which can be used to summon help in an emergency. Digital landlines can fail in some circumstances, such as a power cut. Phone providers have signed a charter under which people can only be moved from an analogue to a digital line if there is no impact on telecare: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-67750235
Changes to the Tory voter ID clampdown are desperately needed to stop people being locked out at the next general election, peers warn. Ministers have been warned that the rules – which require people to show valid proof of their identity in order to vote – risk locking tens of thousands of people out. In a letter to local government minister Simon Hoare, the cross-party House of Lords constitution committee said a number of groups, including disabled people, over-85s and unemployed people, are less likely to have the ID they need: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/tory-voter-id-failings-alarm-31700830
Post-Brexit restrictions on the free movement of workers from the EU have contributed to modern slavery becoming “a feature” of the care sector in England, the Care Quality Commission has told MPs. James Bullion, chief inspector of adult social care and integrated care at the watchdog, told the Commons health and social care committee that the end of free movement significantly increased the possibilities of exploitation, which have included cases of care workers not being paid for months and dozens being squeezed into overcrowded lodgings: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/dec/19/modern-slavery-care-sector-england-brexit
Schoolchildren will soon be able to take a GCSE in British Sign Language. A new qualification will teach students to sign effectively using BSL and give them an understanding of the history of sign language in the UK. Parents, teachers and the deaf and hearing communities have taken part in a 12-week consultation on what should be included in the course. The finalised content for the new qualification has today (Thursday) been published by the Department for Education: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/kids-take-gcse-british-sign-31717935
21 December 2023
News provided by John Pring at www.disabilitynewsservice.com
