DPAC

Watchdog tells DWP to release secret assessment of decision to scrap WCA

The information commissioner has told the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to release vital information about its decision to scrap the work capability assessment (WCA), which the watchdog says will impact millions of disabled people.

DWP has refused to release its written assessment of how the decision to abolish the WCA will impact disabled people and other groups protected under the Equality Act.

But the information commissioner has decided that the department should release the equality impact assessment (EIA) because “the public is entitled to scrutinise a decision such as this at an early opportunity”.

Disability News Service (DNS) has been seeking the information from DWP since March, when the move to end the WCA was announced in the spring budget, with details included in the government’s new Transforming Support white paper.

Under the government’s plans, disabled people who cannot work will only be able to qualify for a new health element of universal credit if they also receive personal independence payment (PIP), disability living allowance, or, in Scotland, adult disability payment.

This would also mean that it would be left to DWP’s over-worked work coaches – who will usually have no health-related qualifications – to decide if a disabled person should carry out work-related activity.

The WCA will not be scrapped until after the next general election and not until 2026 “at the earliest”, DWP told the watchdog.

In a decision notice on DNS’s complaint about the failure to release the EIA, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said it “considers that DWP has failed to consider the strength of the public interest in the timely understanding and scrutiny of the decision to remove the Work Capability Assessment”.

It said there was “a particularly strong public interest in disclosure of information relating to disability benefits reform”.

It noted that the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) had estimated that scrapping the WCA could see an increase of £390 a month in benefits for 320,000 disabled people, but a fall of £390 a month for 520,000 disabled claimants.

It also noted that IFS has stated that scrapping the WCA “could help more people into paid work, but it comes with the risk of requirements being inconsistently applied and the potential for hardship if they are applied inappropriately”.

DWP told ICO that the policy was “still in the development phase”, despite having announced that the WCA would be scrapped after the next election, and it claimed that there were “still a number of policy decisions to be made”, including how it would support disabled claimants who do not receive PIP.

DWP said it accepted that the information requested by DNS “could benefit claimants and stakeholders to help them understand what a reformed system may look like” but “considered that this would be based on incomplete and in development information, and therefore this would limit the value of the information”.

DNS had told ICO that the WCA has been “closely linked to the deaths of hundreds of disabled people” and that the plans to scrap it could lead to further deaths of disabled claimants.

The information commissioner concluded that DWP “has not provided compelling arguments regarding how the specific policy named would be undermined by disclosure of the disputed information”.

A DWP spokesperson said: “We are aware of the decision notice from the Information Commissioner’s Office and we are currently considering our position.”

9 November 2023

Work coach whistleblowers describe jobcentre safeguarding failures

Whistleblowers have raised serious concerns about safeguarding failures by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that put the lives of benefit claimants at risk.

Disability News Service (DNS) reported last week how conditions at Oxford jobcentre became so stressful that 15 of those in one team of 23 work coaches quit within a 12-month period, with at least eight experiencing a significant collapse in their mental health due to a huge, sudden increase in workload in late 2021.

Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS union, which represents many work coaches, told DNS this week that it was “beyond disgraceful” that many DWP members were “becoming too ill to work because of chronic understaffing”.

He said that failings that could impact on disabled claimants “need to be addressed with the utmost urgency”.

Two of the former work coaches at the Oxford jobcentre have told DNS this week about some of the serious safeguarding failures they witnessed at the jobcentre.

One of them, David*, witnessed work coaches failing to follow the department’s “six-point plan”, which instructs staff how to deal with statements by customers that they intend to self-harm or take their own lives.

On one occasion, a claimant had become so distressed during a discussion about removing a benefit sanction that she told a work coach: “I might as well kill myself.”

The work coach did not appear to know what action to take, but instead of instigating the six-point plan – which should at least have led to them gathering information about the level of risk and providing advice on where they could find support – a manager told the claimant the meeting should end, thanked her for coming in, and directed her to the door.

David said: “This is perhaps the most blatant and offensive act in direct opposition to the duty of care we were all bound by that I saw in my time at the Oxford jobcentre.”

He also discovered that the jobcentre’s six-point plan documents were all out of date, listing staff members as vital contact points when they no longer worked at the office and had even left DWP.

He said: “Requests to management by a colleague for these documents to be updated were met with silence and inaction.

“The ultimate consequence of this was that work coaches had no notion of how to support claimants in mental health crises.”

David also said that three work coaches admitted to him that they had previously “ignored” claimants who had disclosed suicidal thoughts or intent to them.

He thinks this was due to how “overworked and stressed” they were, as well as the lack of training.

He said: “They were intimidated by the enormity of the situation, of having another person’s life in their hands, didn’t know how to effectively respond to that crisis, and didn’t have the faintest idea how to fill out the six-point plan form after the incident.

“So they opted to not engage or to just tell them to speak to their GP and send them away.”

DNS has previously reported how at least five secret reviews by DWP into the suicides of claimants recommended that staff should be reminded about the six-point plan following the death of a claimant.

David’s evidence suggests that work coaches and managers continue to ignore the guidance, which has been in operation since 2009.

Jake*, another of the work coaches who spoke to DNS last week about working conditions at Oxford jobcentre, described how a manager stood behind a claimant who was disclosing suicidal thoughts to David, while the manager tapped their watch because he was taking too long on the appointment.

Jake described how he had worked with a claimant who was homeless and had disclosed suicidal thoughts to him, and realised that contact and signposting details for the six-point plan were “completely out of date”.

He said he updated the plan in late 2021, with input from colleagues, but managers failed to approve the updated document until late July 2022.

Jake also said that he and his colleagues would often have to support claimants during episodes of great distress without any specialist training.

He said: “We were often unable to cope with such distressing experiences ourselves, never mind adequately supporting the claimants during such a crisis.”

He said it would often take many days, or even weeks, before work coaches could secure the support they needed.

Even when they finally received a call to provide mental health support, work coaches were frequently not able to take that call because of their excessive workload (see last week’s reports).

Jake said that, despite DWP’s claim last week that there was “a community of mental health first aiders” working in its jobcentres, he was not aware of any such trained staff in the Oxford jobcentre, while his own request for such training was rejected.

He also confirmed the concerns raised repeatedly by disabled activists in recent years, and reported by DNS, that claimants “often relayed that they felt harassed by the DWP through oppressive and excessive contact and the constant fear of financial sanctions”.

These failures continued throughout his time at the jobcentre, from April 2021 to October 2022, when he resigned because of the damage caused to his mental health by the excessive workload.

DWP declined to say if the department would take any action to investigate and address the safeguarding concerns, if ministers were concerned about the claims, and whether the department believed they were widespread across jobcentres.

But a DWP spokesperson said in a statement: “We support millions of people every year and our priority is they get the benefits they are entitled to as soon as possible and receive a supportive and compassionate service.

“The safety of vulnerable customers who may need additional health and wellbeing support remains a top priority and we have safeguards in place to protect them.

“We take any staff concerns very seriously and are committed to tackling any issues that are raised.”

The department also claimed that only one link to the six-point plan document had been out of date and that this link had been removed.

But Jake said this was not true.

He said: “What the DWP has told DNS is disingenuous at best and is absolutely not true.

“The six-point-plan (6PP) was dangerously outdated in all critical areas.

“Local managers were warned about these serious risks, repeatedly, by more than one work coach.

“I went to great efforts along with colleagues, to update all 6PP documentation and despite said documents being presented to a local senior manager for approval and action, no crisis measures were implemented and changes were not made for several months.

“This is the truth and my account can be substantiated, robustly.”

A PCS spokesperson said it was “not aware in 2021 of all the issues raised, nor did it have all the detail that has recently emerged”, and was not aware that the issue of work-related stress at Oxford jobcentre had been reported by Jake to the Health and Safety Executive.

But he said: “We recognise the lack of adequate mental health support for DWP staff and continue to negotiate with the appropriate management nationally to improve mental health support.

“We would much rather members were in a position where mental health crisis management was less likely to be necessary by addressing the root causes of the problem – chronic understaffing – rather than the symptoms.

“The issues of understaffing and the unacceptable stress experienced were reported to Oxford jobcentre management at the time and continue to be reported since.

“DWP management were not responsive to PCS arguments. Local management have been uncooperative and do not engage well with PCS.”

He said DWP management in Oxford had now recognised the staffing issues, but recruitment campaigns “have not been successful because in a labour market as competitive as Oxford, there are many other better paid and less stressful jobs available.

“As a consequence, jobcentre staffing levels remain inadequate in the Oxford area, as with many others across the UK.”

Serwotka said DWP members had reported “dangerous levels of stress placed on them by heavy workloads” during a recent consultation.

He said: “It is beyond disgraceful that many DWP members, particularly those working in jobcentres and universal credit service centres, are becoming too ill to work because of chronic understaffing.

“PCS recognises that low staffing levels in DWP have resulted in unacceptable failings in service delivery.”

He said that failings that could impact on disabled claimants “need to be addressed with the utmost urgency”.

Serwotka said: “It is unacceptable that a staffing crisis could have resulted in six-point plans not being followed or claimants with suicidal ideation not being dealt with in a manner that manages their circumstances safely.”

PCS is campaigning for an extra 30,000 staff across DW, but he said the department was failing in its recruitment because of “systemic low pay”, with 25,000 staff currently paid below the Real Living Wage, and the poor working conditions.

He said PCS “routinely raises issues relating to understaffing with the DWP and encourages any member who is experiencing unacceptable levels of stress in their DWP workplace to report the issue to their local PCS representative”.

*Not his real name

9 November 2023

King’s speech ‘shows a government failing to prioritise disabled people’

The government has failed to include any proposals to address the inequality faced by disabled people in its list of legislation that it plans to introduce over the next year.

In what is likely to be the last king’s speech before a general election, there was no attempt to address the crises in adult social care, accessible housing or disability poverty.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak also appears to have dumped plans to reform the Mental Health Act, and ignored long-standing calls by the Law Commission to strengthen disability hate crime laws.

The only substantive mention of disabled people in a government briefing on the speech (PDF) came in a section on plans for a draft rail reform bill.

The draft bill will lay out plans to transfer powers to Great British Railways, the new over-arching body that will – eventually – run the rail system.

This “will ensure that accessibility on the railway is improved and the experience for disabled passengers is enhanced”, with specific accessibility duties for the industry.

But as it will only be a draft bill, the measures will not become law by the next election, while the government’s advisers on accessible transport have previously told ministers they do not believe their proposals will be enough to deliver an accessible railway.

The briefing document also confirms that the national accessibility audit of all 2,578 British railway stations has been completed, and that the government is still developing a new national rail accessibility strategy.

Disabled people’s organisations criticised the government’s failure to use the king’s speech to address the significant barriers disabled people are facing.

Fazilet Hadi, head of policy at Disability Rights UK, said: “Nothing in the legislative programme will improve opportunities and outcomes for disabled people, despite the deep inequalities disabled people face.  

“However, some of the bills do hold threats for disabled people, such as the strengthening of anti-social behaviour eviction grounds in the renters reform bill.”

She added: “Later this month on 22 November, we will have the budget statement and this could include provisions that impact disabled people.

“We have already had an extremely callous proposal to remove criteria from the work capability assessment (see separate story), which if implemented… would drive some disabled people on to lower benefit levels.”

She also pointed out that the government’s new Disability Action Plan is expected to be published in the next few months.

Amy Wells, senior communications and operations manager for National Survivor User Network (NSUN), said: “Though we were not confident that the Mental Health Act reforms went far enough, or would be backed by sufficient funding, people with lived experience of mental ill-health, distress, and trauma have campaigned for decades for reforms that could have gone some way to improve the state of inpatient care and address unacceptable racial disparities in the use of the act.

“People’s time, energy and expertise engaging with the drawn-out process of legislative reform over the past several years has been disregarded and disrespected by the failure to include a mental health bill within the king’s speech and implement the promised reforms.

“It confirms what we already knew, amidst a broader context of policy developments that make life harder for disabled people and people with lived experience of mental ill-health, distress and trauma – mental health, including the unacceptable state of inpatient care, but also the decimation of community care and alternatives, is far from being a priority for this government.”

Bob Ellard, a member of the national steering group of Disabled People Against Cuts, also highlighted the failure in the king’s speech to address the barriers faced by disabled people.

He said: “Disabled people? What disabled people?”

Vicky Foxcroft, Labour’s shadow minister for disabled people, told fellow MPs yesterday (Wednesday) that “not much in the king’s speech delivered for disabled people”.

She said: “After 13 years of Conservative-led governments, disabled people feel that they are an afterthought and that their rights are not fully protected and promoted in this country.

“It is shocking that we are still having these conversations in 2023. Progress has gone backwards, not forwards.”

There were no Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) bills outlined by the king on Tuesday, although the speech did include the following sentence: “Proposals will be published to reform welfare and support more people into work.”

Despite repeated requests, DWP declined this week to clarify what this referred to, although the department provided background about its plans to scrap the work capability assessment (WCA) after the next general election, and its plans to restrict eligibility to out-of-work disability benefits by tightening the WCA.

The department confirmed again that the legislation needed to implement measures laid out earlier this year in its Transforming Support white paper – including scrapping the WCA – would not be brought forward until after the general election.

A consultation on the plans to tighten the WCA ended last week, with the department saying yesterday that more than 1,300 individuals and organisations had responded, while there had also been 14 public consultation events.

DWP said it had yet to decide whether to take forward any reforms.

But Stephen Timms, the Labour MP who chairs the Commons work and pensions committee, told MPs yesterday: “The government have been undertaking a rushed consultation lasting only eight weeks over major proposals to change the descriptors for the work capability assessment.

“There will have to be legislation to make whatever changes are decided on, but there is no mention at all in the king’s speech of a bill to do it.

“There is a puzzle here, because the government have announced that they plan to abolish the work capability assessment in a couple of years anyway.

“That will require legislation, but there is no bill to do any of those things in the king’s speech.

“There are press reports that the government intend to inspect benefits claimants’ bank accounts regularly.

“That will also require powers, but there is nothing in the king’s speech that would have that effect either.”

9 November 2023

Legal bid aims to halt DWP plans to tighten ‘fitness for work’ test

A disabled activist has launched a legal attempt to force the government to carry out a fresh consultation on its plans to tighten the work capability assessment, which she believes will force many disabled people into poverty, or even destitution.

Ellen Clifford is arguing that work and pensions secretary Mel Stride has breached his duties under the Equality Act by failing to make the “unfair” and “unlawful” consultation process accessible.

She says the unlawful consultation, which was launched two months ago and ended last week, was too short to allow many disabled people to take part and failed to make reasonable adjustments to enable her and others to respond.

It also failed to make clear that many people could lose up to £390 a month under the government’s plans, and could be forced to carry out work-related activity and face the risk of sanctions if they fail to comply with the conditions imposed on them.

And she says there are questions over the availability of accessible formats of the consultation report.

Clifford, a member of the national steering group of Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) and author of The War on Disabled People, also believes the consultation document was unlawful because its contents were misleading and lacking in detailed, accurate analysis.

A pre-action legal letter she has sent to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) – backed by lawyers from Public Law Project (PLP) – requires a response from the department within 14 days, and warns of a possible judicial review if the concerns are not resolved.

She said this week: “The DWP’s proposals will take much-needed money out of the pockets of disabled people.

“The proposals themselves do not stack up, and the way they have gone about consulting on the changes is unfair and unlawful.

“At the very least, the DWP must not pursue any proposals without proper, lawful consultation.”

Clifford has told Stride in the letter that she believes the changes to the work capability assessment (WCA) will have a substantial negative impact on the health of many disabled people and force more of them into poverty and even destitution.

A key concern about Stride’s 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 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.

Days before the consultation was launched, Clifford and other disabled activists had been in Geneva to provide evidence on the UK government’s implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Seven years earlier, the UN’s committee on the rights of persons with disabilities had found the UK government responsible for “grave and systematic” violations of disabled people’s rights under the convention.

It found in November 2016 that the UK government had discriminated against disabled people on their rights to an adequate standard of living and social protection, work and employment, and independent living.

Most of those breaches were caused by policies introduced by Conservative DWP ministers.

One of Clifford’s arguments is that Stride should not have launched a consultation on such a crucial reform so soon after disabled people and disabled people’s organisations had completed an exhausting process of evidence-gathering and report-writing in advance of the Geneva meeting.

Although DPOs including Disability Rights UK, Inclusion London, Disability Wales, DPAC and Disability Action Northern Ireland attended the Geneva UN session, the UK government backed out of attending.

Clifford is arguing in her legal letter that Stride must have been aware of the efforts made by these DPOs to prepare for and attend the Geneva session, and that he should have been anxious to hear their detailed responses to the consultation.

She was unable to respond to the consultation on behalf of DPOs including DPAC for impairment-related reasons, partly caused by the significant work she did for a coalition of DPOs ahead of the Geneva meeting.

Clifford said DWP should have been aware of the many competing demands on the time of under-resourced DPOs, which were given no advance warning of the consultation.

She said: “For impairment-related reasons, I found it personally difficult to engage with the proposals within the short consultation period.

“All the DDPOs* I spoke to who were able to respond said eight weeks was too short and didn’t give them the chance to consult properly with their members.”

Clifford has also pointed out that the WCA consultation overlapped with the government’s consultation on its Disability Action Plan, which ran from 18 July to 6 October, creating further problems for DPOs with limited resources.

Aoife O’Reilly, the PLP lawyer acting for Clifford, said: “There are principles of fairness that government departments must follow when carrying out consultations like this.

“The changes being consulted on will have life-altering consequences for disabled people.

“When you think about the diverse accessibility needs of the people the consultation was aimed at, consulting for just under eight weeks is wholly inadequate.”

A response to the letter from DWP is expected next week.

*Deaf and disabled people’s organisations

9 November 2023

Nearly three-quarters of calls to equality helpline relate to disability, new figures show

New figures show that nearly three-quarters of all discrimination-related enquiries to the government-funded equality helpline have come from disabled people, with this proportion rising every year.

The figures, obtained by Disability News Service through a freedom of information request, show that 72 per cent of calls to the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) helpline so far in 2023 have related to disability.

This proportion has risen every year since 2018, when it was 66 per cent.

The proportion of calls coming from members of other groups protected under the Equality Act has mostly fluctuated over the last five years.

The proportion of calls linked to sexual orientation is currently just under one per cent, compared to 1.20 per cent in 2018, while 13 per cent of calls this year have related to race, the same proportion as in 2018.

The only consistent fall in the proportion of calls has come with those related to sex (4.66 per cent so far this year compared with 7.2 per cent in 2018) and pregnancy (2.99 per cent this year compared with 5.5 per cent in 2018).

Disability is the only protected group where the proportion of calls has risen every year since 2018.

In July, the government’s draft Disability Action Plan – which aimed to “help transform disabled people’s everyday lives for the better” but was dismissed as a “PR exercise” by one disabled people’s organisation – included 12 proposed new policies, all of which were low- or zero-budget measures, with no proposed legislation.

Meanwhile, this week’s king’s speech, which detailed the government’s plans for new legislation over the next year, included no bills aimed at addressing disability discrimination other than a brief reference to accessibility on the railways in a draft rail reform bill (see separate story).

The EASS helpline is run on behalf of the Government Equalities Office (GEO) by outsourcing company G4S, and it provides advice and assistance on equality and human rights issues across England, Scotland and Wales.

A similar helpline was run by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), until it was replaced in October 2012.

From October 2012 to March 2015 (PDF), 62 per cent of enquiries received by the helpline were disability-related.

Fazilet Hadi, head of policy at Disability Rights UK, said: “Sadly, the figures are unsurprising, as discrimination and inaccessibility are an everyday feature of the lives of thousands of disabled people.  

“Those that contact the EASS are just the tip of a very large iceberg.

“The fact that every year more disabled people are seeking advice and support on disability discrimination underlines that the Equality Act just isn’t working.

“We saw clearly during the Covid pandemic that the act was almost universally flouted, including by the UK government.

“We need the government and Equality and Human Rights Commission to strengthen compliance and step-up enforcement.

“We need legal aid to be available for disability discrimination cases. 

“In the medium term, we need to consider new options such as those recently raised by Anna Lawson: an Accessibility Act and an accessibility commissioner.”

G4S said it was for GEO to comment on the figures.

GEO had not responded to requests to comment on the figures by noon today (Thursday).

EHRC had also not responded to requests to comment on the figures by noon today.

*The figures show the “percentage of discrimination enquiries by the main, relevant, protected characteristic of the person enquiring”

9 November 2023

‘This is why we fight for justice after losing loved ones to state violence’

Three women who have lost loved ones to state violence have described how they were able to spend years fighting for justice, while coping with the grief caused by the flawed and dangerous police, mental health and social security systems.

Anna Susianta, Imogen Day and Ajibola Lewis spoke at an event on Sunday – organised by Healing Justice Ldn – that examined the impact of state violence on bereaved families, and how they each fought for justice after the death of a relative.

Ajibola Lewis described her son Seni as an “adventurer” and a “volunteer” who had a “heart for the marginalized” and loved life and “really loved people”.

She told how Seni had his first psychotic episode after being given “something bad” on a night out.

He was admitted as a voluntary patient at Bethlem Royal Hospital, in Croydon, but when his family arrived to visit him the next day they were told there had been an “incident” and that he was receiving life support.

They later discovered he had been handcuffed by police officers and taken to a seclusion room, where he was put on his stomach, forced into two sets of handcuffs and two sets of leg restraints, struck with a baton, and restrained for nearly 45 minutes over two periods by a total of 11 officers, before he finally went “limp”.

Resuscitation wasn’t immediately attempted because the officers thought he was “faking”, and he never regained consciousness. Seni died on 4 September 2010.

Years of campaigning by his family and allies eventually led to Seni’s Law, the Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act, which covers England and Wales and was introduced by their MP Steve Reed as a private members’ bill.

It took seven years for Seni’s parents to secure an inquest into his death, with a jury finding that multiple failings by police officers contributed to his death, and that the use of restraint was “unnecessary and unreasonable”.

Seni’s mother told the event on Sunday: “That’s why I don’t think police should be called to mental health incidents. They either taser you or kill you.

“I tell this story because nobody believes it. It’s online, it’s all in the inquest, and everything is online.

“People don’t realize what is happening. They don’t realize. So I tell the story. It upsets me, but it has to be said.”

She said that one of her favourite writers, James Baldwin, had said that “not everything can be changed that is faced, but nothing can be changed unless it’s faced”.

She said: “That is why I campaign. Listen, they want you to lie down and die. I am stubborn. I’m stubborn. And I’m also old, so that gives me the courage, and I keep saying ‘what are you going to do, kill me? You know, I’m 74.’

“So you cannot stop me telling the truth. And that is why I fight. I fight, I fight, I fight, because I’m so stubborn.

“It’s taken its toll on the family, on my family and me, but you can’t kill people and get away with it. I’m not having it. I’m not having it.”

Imogen Day spoke of her sister Philippa, who she said had a “really strong sense of justice” and was “the kindest soul I’ve ever known”.

Her sister died in October 2019 after multiple failings in dealing with her personal independence payment (PIP) claim by the Department for Work and Pensions and its private sector contractor Capita.

A coroner later concluded that flaws in the disability benefits system were “the predominant factor and the only acute factor” that led to Philippa taking her own life.

Imogen told the event that “state violence kills people really slowly” and that every one of the 28 mistakes made with Philippa’s PIP claim “stole a piece of her”, before the final letter that told her she would need to attend a face-to-face assessment in an assessment centre “destroyed her”.

She spoke of the support she has received in dealing with the trauma of Philippa’s death, including from Alison Burton (the daughter-in-law of Errol Graham) and Joy Dove (the mother of Jodey Whiting), who have both lost loved ones due to DWP violence.

She said: “Grief can be incredibly isolating, especially state grief.

“It’s really difficult to share with people that haven’t experienced political violence because there is an inherent understanding of the fact that the perpetrator is somebody that should protect you and it’s somebody that should keep you safe and support you throughout your life.

“Meeting these amazing women has been so healing and it’s really empowering.

“We all go on for each other, it’s not just our own loved ones that we fight for, we fight for all of them. And to do so is a great privilege.”

She later told the event that “until the DWP is dismantled from the top down, until people receive accountability for what they have done, justice is not possible”.

Anna Susianta spoke of her son Jack, who was “passionate about making things fair” and had an “enthusiasm for life”, and she read out extracts from a book put together by his friends after his death in which they described their affection for their sweet, funny and caring friend.

But she said he was also “incredibly sensitive” and hid his anxiety from those who knew him.

The 17-year-old drowned in the River Lea in east London in July 2015 after being chased by police officers from the Metropolitan police’s Territorial Support Group (TSG) following a mental health crisis.

The TSG officers had refused to enter the water and told members of the public who had gathered by the river not to do so. 

Jack had earlier been discharged from hospital by East London NHS Foundation Trust just hours after being admitted to its accident and emergency department, with no advice for his family on what to do if his mental health crisis re-emerged.

Anna said she believed that “the whole system is there to protect the big state institutions, and when it comes to the police and the Met being the worst, they have so much power.

“I pity the people trying to turn it around because it just needs to be destroyed and then started again.

“The little snippets of change that have come since Jack died in the last eight years are so tiny.

“I feel that [I need] to carry on, keep going, keep campaigning, but it’s the big things like poverty and just the whole structure of our society and the way our community’s been destroyed, those are the things that are going to help people.”

Sunday’s event was part of the month-long Rehearsing Freedoms festival, hosted by Healing Justice Ldn, which has examined how to dismantle violent and oppressive structures and replace them with “community-based structures of care, health and healing”.

The event space in Brixton has been hosting extracts from the Deaths by Welfare timeline, a project led by Dr China Mills, who chaired Sunday’s discussion.

The timeline aims to “make visible the slow and bureaucratic violence of the state” and show how DWP spent years attempting to hide its role in the deaths of countless disabled benefit claimants.

*Both Ajibola Lewis and Anna Susianta are members of The United Families and Friends Campaign, a coalition of those affected by deaths in police, prison and psychiatric custody

9 November 2023

Purple Tuesday faces fresh ‘purple-washing’ claims after multiple access fails

A series of embarrassing online access fails has again left a high-profile campaign facing accusations that it allows businesses to parade their supposed commitment to accessibility and inclusivity, while failing to put those promises into practice.

This week saw the sixth annual Purple Tuesday event, devised and run by the organisation Purple, which aims to be a “celebratory day, promoting accessibility and inclusivity”.

But the event has long faced concerns that it allows businesses to secure cheap publicity by pledging their commitment to disability equality, without actually implementing those promises.

The apparent failure of events such as Purple Tuesday to have an impact on disability discrimination was demonstrated this week by new figures secured by Disability News Service (see separate story) which show that nearly three-quarters of all discrimination-related enquiries to the government-funded equality helpline have come from disabled people, with this proportion rising every year for the last five years.

The concerns about Purple Tuesday were highlighted this week when a string of Purple Tuesday supporters posted their backing for the day on the social media platform Twitter* but attached photographs and other images that failed to include “alt text”, which allows disabled people using screen-reading software to listen to a description of the picture.

Among them were businesses and other organisations that are supposed to focus in their work on disability and accessibility.

One of the organisations that posted inaccessible images was Suffolk Growth Partnership, which invited the public to “the launch of Accessible Destination Suffolk”, before adding an inaccessible image.

Many shopping centres, including the Queensmere Observatory in Slough, Houndshill in Blackpool, The Broadway in Bradford, The Meads shopping centre in Farnborough, and the Stratford Centre in east London, also highlighted the “celebratory day, promoting accessibility and inclusivity”, before attaching inaccessible images.

None of them responded to requests to comment this week.

Meanwhile, National Paralympic Heritage Trust claimed in a post: “At the Heritage Centre, we’re committed to inclusivity every day of the year.”

It then added an inaccessible image without alt text.

The trust declined to apologise, or comment on Purple Tuesday, but said: “As a small charity, we endeavour to make all of our work accessible.

“We will ensure that alt-text is included on our social media images from now on.”

Royal British Legion Industries encouraged “everyone to join us in raising awareness” about “the challenges faced by disabled consumers”, before attaching an image without alt text.

Passenger Lift Solutions took the opportunity to celebrate “the global movement for disability inclusivity”, while adding an inaccessible image.

Among the most surprising access fails came from Tourism for All, a charity which describes itself as “the voice of accessible tourism in the UK”.

It also failed to comment this week.

Recruitment agency Marmion highlighted the work of the “global social movement” Purple Tuesday, before tweeting an image without alt text.

Janet Mclaughlin, its founder and managing director, said her company used an agency for its social media work, but she accepted responsibility as she had approved the tweet, and she apologised for the error.

She said: “When someone raises something like that to me, I take it very seriously.”

Asked if she understood the criticism of Purple Tuesday, she said: “I do understand, and I feel that I have failed.

“I can’t speak for other business… I don’t know everything, and I need to learn. We will do better.”

Less impressive in its response was Wingham Wildlife Park, which – when asked about the decision to tweet an image of a wild animal without alt text – attacked DNS for raising concerns about its post.

A spokesperson for the park highlighted the steps Wingham had taken to improve accessibility at its facilities, including using alt text on its website, and said he was “incredibly disappointed and upset” by the criticism.

He said the failure to use alt text on the image posted on Twitter was “uncharacteristic” and a “genuine anomaly”, but he also said he and his colleagues had not been aware of the existence of the alt text facility on Twitter.

He said the concerns raised by DNS were “causing as much harm to accessibility as the companies who are using this as a chance for purple washing”, and he added: “So for us as a company I absolutely do not accept your criticism of what we are doing.”

Among disabled campaigners highlighting how many companies were supporting Purple Tuesday through inaccessible tweets was journalist and author Rachel Charlton-Dailey.

Another was journalist and researcher Jess O’Thomson, who told DNS: “It is deeply concerning that, apparently motivated by potential publicity and profit, several organisations have attempted to take part in the Purple Tuesday campaign without even a basic commitment to accessibility.

“A shocking number have failed to make even their marketing about the day accessible to disabled people, by not providing alt text.

“Many criticise Purple Tuesday for ignoring that organisations should be accessible to disabled people every day of the year.

“This shows that, in practice, many who seek to benefit from Purple Tuesday do not even make the effort on that single day.”

A spokesperson for Purple Tuesday said: “Purple Tuesday as an organisation has clear accessibility policies and practices that we implement and share with others, including our partners.

“We have no control over what other organisations put out but we are clear that everyone is on a journey in terms of accessibility.

“We have seen a significant rise in commitments in this area.

“We continue to raise awareness and understanding for all about being a disability inclusive organisation.”

*Currently known as X

9 November 2023

DWP complaints rise by more than a fifth in one year

Complaints made about the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have rocketed by more than a fifth in just a year, official figures have shown.

Government statistics show that the number of complaints about the department rose from 4,999 in the first quarter of 2022-23 to 6,115 in the same quarter of 2023-24, a rise of more than 22 per cent.

The figures will raise questions about the performance of the work and pensions secretary, Mel Stride, who took over the position in October last year.

In recent months, Disability News Service (DNS) has reported a series of concerns about the department and the service it provides to disabled people.

In September, a Conservative MP, Elliot Colburn, told MPs that trust in the disability benefits assessment process was “severely lacking”.

The previous month, DNS described how DWP was continuing to send an access consultant inaccessible letters about his disability benefits, despite the high court ruling that this was unlawful discrimination.

In July, DWP’s latest Digital Accessibility Compliance report showed that less than half of its websites and other digital services complied with public sector regulations on accessibility.

Also in July, new figures showed there were still more than 23,000 disabled people waiting for their Access to Work claim to be dealt with by DWP, with an average waiting-time of 41 days.

The previous month, DWP admitted to the public spending watchdog that its system of disability benefits assessments was too slow, too expensive and too inaccurate, and that too many claimants did not trust how it makes decisions.

The same month, in June, Tom Pursglove, the minister for disabled people, admitted that disabled people were waiting an average of 41 minutes for their call to the personal independence payment telephone enquiry line to be answered.

Despite the increase in complaints, the latest figures still appear to be far lower than the number of complaints recorded in the austerity years of the 2010 coalition government, when more than 54,000 were recorded in 2014-15 (PDF) (an average of more than 13,000 a quarter) with more than 94,000 in 2012-13 (PDF).

Asked this week whether Stride was happy with the increase in complaints so far this year and whether he thought his policies and reforms were responsible, a DWP spokesperson said: “We support millions of people each year to get the help and support they are entitled to, and complaints represent less than one per cent of our customer base.

“We always strive to deliver the best possible experience for all customers and use feedback to inform improvements to our services.”

9 November 2023

Report makes ‘compelling case’ for work flexibility

New research has made “a compelling case” that providing flexible working can enable employers to increase their recruitment and retention of disabled people with energy-limiting health conditions.

The Making Employment Work for People with Long-Term Conditions report, due to be published today (Thursday), is based on a survey* of more than 400 disabled people, most of them with energy-limiting conditions.

The results highlight how “pushing through fatigue” makes the health of people with energy-limiting conditions worse and increases the likelihood that they will leave the workforce permanently.

The survey results also show that the most common “fear factor” about re-entering the workplace after developing a chronic illness is “not knowing how many hours of work they could safely undertake without causing their health to deteriorate”, selected by 66 per cent of respondents.

Another major barrier to work is the failure of employers and managers to understand “the realities of long term health conditions”, the report says.

The lack of accessible jobs that take account of reduced capacity for work – such as providing flexible hours or work location – is another key barrier.

The survey found that “flexible working solutions” were “the most common form of workplace adjustment” needed by those who responded, by “a large margin”.

The report by disability charity Astriid calls on the government to commission specialist employment support services for people with long-term conditions that are “informed by knowledge of energy-limiting conditions”.

Of those surveyed, 98 per cent said fatigue and/or limited energy due to their impairment limited their ability to work, while 92 per cent believed they had skills that could be of value to an employer if a suitable job was available, while half (48 per cent) had left their previous job because the working conditions caused their health to deteriorate, and 84 per cent said they needed to work from home.

Astriid, which provides support and consultancy around employment of people with long-term conditions, says more than 2.5 million people in the UK are excluded from work due to such conditions.

Many of those who run Astriid have long-term health conditions themselves.

Catherine Hale, head of Astriid Consulting, who has an energy-limiting impairment, said: “Despite Astriid’s bespoke and valued support, we need more help and support from UK employers and we are therefore calling on them to facilitate more job opportunities with part-time, flexible hours and the ability to work from home.

“These factors should be clearly stated in job advertisements at the earliest opportunity.”

*Of the 419 survey responses, 414 said they had an energy-limiting condition and/or identified “limited energy or fatigue” as a health-related barrier to them accessing work, while 96 per cent considered themselves to be disabled people

9 November 2023

Other disability-related stories covered by mainstream media this week

An ex-minister has defended the government’s approach to disabled people during the pandemic, following claims they were “largely disregarded”. Justin Tomlinson, a former minister for disabled people, told the Covid inquiry the government recognised this group was at greater risk from the virus. He added that work had been done “at pace” to address this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67363086

Autistic children and those with a learning difficulty should never be subjected to long-term segregation in hospital – and its use should be “severely curtailed” for adults, a review has recommended. An independent panel, chaired by Baroness Hollins, was announced in November 2019 to oversee a case review for those in long-term segregation to help with their discharge into the community as “quickly as possible”. In her final report, she said the panel was unanimous in stating that all instances of enforced social isolation, including seclusion and long-term segregation, should be renamed “solitary confinement”: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/nhs-providers-care-quality-commission-mencap-maria-caulfield-england-b2444036.html

The Priory healthcare group has been charged with two criminal offences over the death of a 23-year-old man who was hit by a train after absconding from a mental health hospital. Matthew Caseby died in September 2020 after leaving the Priory Woodbourne hospital in Birmingham, after he had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act. The Care Quality Commission launched an investigation into his care and has charged the Priory Group with two criminal offences under the Health and Social Care Act 2008: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/nov/06/priory-group-charged-with-criminal-offences-over-death-of-patient

9 November 2023

News provided by John Pring at www.disabilitynewsservice.com

Activists raise concerns over human rights record of company that ousted Atos

Disabled activists have raised concerns about the human rights record of the outsourcing company that defeated Atos in the battle for a multi-million-pound disability benefits assessment contract.

Disability News Service (DNS) reported last week that the government decision to award Serco the final regional contract – worth £338 million over five years – meant an end to 20 years of Atos delivering assessments on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Atos earned more than £465 million over seven years from delivering work capability assessments (WCAs) before it withdrew from the contract in 2015, following years of negative publicity and multiple links between its actions and the deaths of disabled claimants.

Its healthcare professionals have also repeatedly been accused of dishonesty in the provision of personal independence payment (PIP) assessments.

But disabled activists have this week questioned Serco’s credentials and whether it is an appropriate organisation to be carrying out assessments of disabled people, many of whom will be in significantly vulnerable situations.

They highlight how Serco has made millions delivering Home Office contracts to provide asylum accommodation, and particularly how it was linked to an abuse scandal at Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre in Bedfordshire.

Serco insisted this week that it would with treat disabled claimants with care and would provide high quality assessments, and that it was proud of its “good track record of delivery”.

Under the new Functional Assessment Service being developed by DWP, Serco will now carry out both PIP assessments and WCAs in the south-west of England from September 2024, although a Conservative government will eventually phase out WCAs if it wins power at the next general election.

But DNS has spoken this week to the grassroots disabled women’s organisation WinVisible about its concerns over Serco’s track record.

WinVisible works closely with Women Against Rape, which in 2015 helped put together a dossier of hundreds of complaints about Yarl’s Wood, where Serco had taken over the management in 2007.

Claire Glasman, co-founder of WinVisible, told DNS this week: “They were telling us that at Yarl’s Wood this predatory regime of sexual abuse by their guards was allowed to continue for many years.

“We are worried that Serco will have the same contempt for claimants that they showed to the women in detention.

“We have many women in our group who are refugee women and many women claim disability benefits because we are survivors of traumatic experiences: war, rape, abuse as children, various traumatic things.

“We are worried that they are just going to be contemptuous of claimants in the same way as they were with the immigration detention.”

She said she believed that Serco would be “no improvement on Atos”.

Rebecca Yeo, spokesperson on refugees for Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), also raised concerns about Serco.

She said: “Serco’s past failure to respect the human rights of disabled people must cast doubts on whether they are a suitable organisation to be delivering assessments in a situation where we know claimants’ rights have repeatedly been breached over very many years.

“Serco are already making millions from their Home Office contracts to provide asylum accommodation.

“The company profits from providing substandard accommodation and depriving people of access to some of the most basic human needs. 

“Now the company’s reach is being extended yet further to have even greater impact on the wider population of disabled people.”

Announcing its success in securing the assessment contract, Serco’s group chief executive, Mark Irwin, said last week: “We will focus on ensuring all claimants are treated with care and respect and our employees are fully supported and trained to provide high quality and consistent health assessments.”

A Serco spokesperson told DNS this week that Serco delivered services in 20 countries and across five sectors and was proud of its “good track record of delivery”.

He said: “We are committed to looking after the people in immigration removal centres with dignity and respect during what is an extremely difficult period in their lives.

“Wherever complaints or allegations are raised they are thoroughly investigated and, if appropriate, actions taken.

“We have not had a substantiated allegation of sexual abuse at Yarl’s Wood since 2012.”

He added: “Serco provides accommodation for asylum seekers on behalf of the Home Office in two of the six regions of the UK.

“Our teams are committed to supporting the asylum seekers accommodated by Serco with compassion, dignity and respect.

“All the accommodation we provide is regularly inspected and complies with the terms of our contract with the Home Office and with all appropriate housing standards.

“As with any housing, faults do occur. These are repaired by our teams in line with our contract, which sets strict time limits for the completion of repairs.”

He said Serco would draw on its “existing knowledge and capabilities supporting the DWP and partner with existing supply chain providers in the region.

“We will also draw on our international expertise in this area of work, including managing a large workforce of health professionals in support of the Australian Defence Force, delivering the National Disability Enquiry Service in Australia, and supporting eligibility determinations for citizens in the US under the country’s Affordable Care Act.”

He added: “In the development of our proposals to the DWP we proactively sought to engage with disabled people’s organisations, advocacy groups and people with lived experience to look to address some of the challenges faced by people going through the process to ensure this fed into a better claimant experience and to build a more appropriate solution.

“This included using universal design principles to make the services easier to access and navigate the system, both physically and digitally.”

But there are other concerns about Serco’s track record in the UK and internationally.

In 2019, the company was fined more than £19 million after admitting fraudulently understating profits from Ministry of Justice electronic tagging contracts.

Serco said this week that this “related to issues from 2013 and before” and that it “undertook an extensive corporate renewal programme”, and the company “today bears no relation to that at the time with processes, culture, management, and governance all considerably strengthened”.

There are also historic concerns over Serco’s actions at detention centres in Australia, including allegations of excessive force and harassment.

A Serco spokesperson said: “All Serco employees working in immigration detention in Australia are bound by local law, the Australian Public Service code of conduct and Serco’s own code of conduct.

“We take any complaints or reports of inappropriate activity seriously.

“Alleged breaches are investigated, and appropriate action taken, including reporting to the Australian Border Force and legal authorities.”

Although this is Serco’s first benefit assessment contract in the UK, it has secured other DWP contracts, including delivering employment programmes such as Restart.

Last year, DNS reported how Serco – which was running a DWP helpline – told a disabled patient to leave hospital to visit a jobcentre when he was severely ill with a condition that later killed him and who was “very vulnerable to infection”.

DWP later claimed it had not been aware of the severity of his illness at the time.

Meanwhile, DPAC and allies will be protesting outside DWP’s Caxton House offices in Westminster from noon on Monday (30 October) over “horrendously dangerous” government proposals to tighten the WCA. 

The protest takes place on the final day of a DWP consultation on its plans, which DPAC says will lead to many disabled people losing both out-of-work disability benefits and protection from conditionality and sanctions.

Under the plans, DWP would no longer take any account of whether a disabled person has a mobility impairment when deciding if they are fit for work or work-related activity.

Ministers are also suggesting 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.

They have argued that the “rise in flexible working and homeworking” provides “new opportunities for disabled people to manage their conditions in a more familiar and accessible environment”.

They are also considering removing protective guidance which states that a claimant should be found eligible for the highest rate of support – with no conditions or potential sanctions – if work or work-related activity would create a substantial risk to their health.

26 October 2023

Accessible transport laws are complex, unclear and not enforced, MPs are told

The legislation around accessible transport is unclear and “ridiculously complex”, with the rules protecting disabled people from discrimination not enforced by regulators or the government, MPs have been told.

Disabled campaigners and legal experts told the Commons transport committee yesterday (Wednesday) of the significant barriers disabled passengers face in trying to assert their right to use public transport.

Their evidence was part of the committee’s ongoing inquiry into the legal obligations that are supposed to ensure accessible transport.

Professor Anna Lawson, a law professor at the University of Leeds, said the systems to challenge transport providers over access are “very complex”, while finding legal advice is a “massive problem” because there are so few solicitors who specialise in this area.

She said: “Accessibility doesn’t have a high enough profile, and in other countries there is more of an effort being made to really foreground the importance of accessibility as an issue.”

Accessible transport campaigner Doug Paulley said the legislation was “ridiculously complex”, with much of it 20 to 25 years old, “and yet we’re still fighting for basic compliance with that legislation”, while “regulators and enforcers to one degree or another don’t know or enforce the law, or don’t know what’s going on on the ground”.

He told the committee about serious breaches he had informed regulators about – which they had been unaware of – including discrimination by coach operators, and with home-to-school buses and rail replacement buses.

He contrasted the challenges disabled people face when they want to challenge transport providers over access to the situation when “you get food poisoning in a dodgy takeaway”.

He said: “Then you can speak to the local environmental health people, who will go and inspect and take whatever action and keep you anonymous, and they have a duty to deal with it.

“But if you’re discriminated against [on transport] then the only way to enforce is either to take legal action yourself, or complain, or try and get a regulator to use their discretion to enforce.”

Caroline Stickland, chief executive of Transport for All (TfA), said that “all too often” campaigners see the flawed legislation, the processes of making complaints and “the fragmentation of the different regulations” across different types of transport “actually becoming a barrier in and of itself, when really it should be there to remove those other barriers”.

She said: “Issues such as individuals having to take claims under the [Equality Act], individuals having to make complaints, individuals really having that burden of trying to enforce the law to remove those barriers ourselves, is really not the right way around.”

One TfA member told her this week that 75 per cent of her taxi journeys this month have seen the driver “charging her while they were putting the ramps out for her to disembark, which is illegal”.

She said: “There’s clearly a time requirement to sit and make a complaint… Even just finding out who you’re meant to complain to sometimes needs kind of like a PhD.”

Barrister Catherine Casserley, an expert in disability discrimination, told the MPs there was a “very difficult enforcement regime” when it came to accessible transport failures.

She said she has disabled clients who repeatedly face discrimination from the same provider and “put up with an incredible amount”.

She said: “The cases that I deal with, if people brought cases for every time there had been a breach of legislation, they would be in court all the time, and they would do nothing but bring cases.”

Casserley said that disability legislation was “a mess”, with “the attitude that’s displayed to disabled people and to their access needs reflected in the legislative progress that there’s been… or lack of progress”.

She said there did not seem to be “much of a will… to do anything about it”.

Lawson pointed to the Accessible Canada Act, which came into force four years ago, as a possible model to follow for reform in the UK.

She said the act aims to “heighten the profile of accessibility, and resource it, and place it within the centre of government”, while it also created a public body to set accessibility standards and an accessibility commissioner “who is the focal point through which you can channel complaints”.

She said both Canada and the United States – which also develops accessibility standards in “very deep consultation and the involvement of disabled people and their organisations” – place responsibility on government bodies “to be proactive in going out and monitoring the compliance of these accessibility standards”.

She said: “It’s not just a case of waiting until complaints come.”

Paulley told the committee that the “poorly enforceable and unenforceable” legislation “is a reflection of the fact that disabled people’s access needs are not seen with the priority that they should be… and this has been the case for so long”.

He said there would have to be “a huge volume” of legal cases taken against transport providers to make a difference, when the current number of cases, compared with the number of incidents of discrimination, “is tiny”.

He said: “That’s what needs to happen. And for that to happen, the whole enforcement model has to go from individual disabled people trying to enforce it yourself… [to introducing] a proactive duty on competent regulators and enforcers to make that happen.”

Paulley also highlighted the discrimination against scooter-users, which he said was “just phenomenal” and “ridiculous”, with “each transport operator having its own different scheme” and rail operator ScotRail even banning them altogether “unless you can get on and fold it up and put it in the luggage rack”.

26 October 2023

Council ‘silences’ disabled woman set to speak out over care charges

A disabled woman has been prevented by a council from describing to a public meeting how its “inhumane” and “unjust” care charging policies will strip more than £100 a week from her benefits.

Hannahlisa* was part of a two-person delegation from the grassroots group Accessible Care in Lambeth, who wanted to address a public meeting of Labour-run Lambeth Council last week about its policies on charging for social care.

But despite the significant effort she made to attend, council officers prevented her from giving a one-minute speech about the discrimination she has faced.

Fellow campaigner Margaret Ashmead had told the meeting that the care charges imposed were “harmful and cruel” and of the “scandal” of the south London council taking benefits from disabled people “whose health and wellbeing are already at risk” to pay for their care charges.

Ashmead, a carer for both her 92-year-old mother and her adult disabled daughter, also described the council’s failure to follow guidance on disability-related expenditure (PDF).

But after she had addressed the council, Hannahlisa – who had been waiting to speak – was ushered away by council officers.

Although Inclusion London’s Jon Abrams tried to persuade an officer to allow her to speak, the council refused to give her the few minutes she would need to return and deliver her speech to the meeting.

She would have described how she had been forced to return her “lifeline”, a pendant that allowed her to call paramedics when she fell over – which she often does – after the council started charging her £8 a week for the service.

She would have told the council: “Ever since that pendant was taken, my safety is compromised.

“There have been nights where I’ve been stranded, lying cold on my bathroom floor, with distant family unable to rush to my aid.

“The sun rises, and only then does my carer arrive to help.”

She has also been told the council will charge her more than £100 a week from her benefits “to set up a care package so I can get the support I so desperately need”. 

She would have said: “This, councillors, is not just a charge but a tax on my disability.

“I urge you to reconsider this decision, for it is not just inhumane but unjust.

“Every individual deserves dignity, safety, and the right to care. Let’s make sure Lambeth stands for that.”

Abrams, Inclusion London’s campaigns and justice coordinator, said afterwards that the way Hannahlisa had been treated by the council was “scandalous”.

He said: “Not only are they proposing to strip her of over £100 a week of her welfare benefits as a charge to pay for vital social care support but last night they also stripped her of her voice.”

He suggested the council had failed to understand its duties to disabled people under the Equality Act.

Cllr Jim Dickson, the job-share cabinet member for healthier communities, said after Ashmead’s speech that members of the council’s Labour administration “agree with you that the care charging regime in this country, which all councils fall within and have to work with, is out of date and needs huge reform”.

He said the council provided “an awful lot of support” for disabled people, through both social care and “our cost-of-living work”.

And he agreed that there were “huge inequities” in the care and charging system, and highlighted “cuts in government funding which mean we have to charge at all”.

A council spokesperson told Disability News Service this week: “Deputations are invited to speak for five minutes, split across as many speakers as they wish, and this was explained to Margaret and Hannahlisa.

“On this occasion, Margaret’s contribution took five minutes, after which a response was provided by Cllr Jim Dickson on behalf of the council.

“Deputations, which over many years have represented the diverse demographic of Lambeth, sometimes request additional time but in fairness to all those taking part this is not possible.

“Cllr Dickson is very happy to meet Hannahlisa to discuss her situation if she would like to get in touch. She is also welcome to request another delegation at a future meeting.

“Everyone who attended will receive a written response to their deputation.”

Abrams said Inclusion London was concerned that Lambeth council “did not fully understand” how its public sector equality duty – under the Equality Act – had applied to the deputation process.

He said: “While we appreciate the constraints of the deputation process, adequate time and consideration are crucial, especially when disabled people are part of a deputation.

“Extending the time by a few minutes would have been a reasonable adjustment, which councils usually strive to do.

“Having attended numerous council meetings across London, I was surprised and disheartened that Lambeth council did not make this effort.”

*She has asked for her surname not to be used

26 October 2023

The State of Care is ‘longer waits and reduced access’, says watchdog

The care watchdog has raised a series of concerns about access to care and support, the over-use of restraint and seclusion, and the failure to provide legal protection to disabled people in vulnerable situations, in an annual report.

In its annual assessment of the state of health and adult social care in England, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) warned that a combination of the cost-of-living crisis and pressures on the health and care workforce risked “longer waits, reduced access and poorer outcomes for some”.

In its State of Care report, the commission warns that local authority budgets have “failed to keep pace with rising costs and the increase in the number of people needing care”.

This has led to the risk that people who live in more deprived areas “may not be able to get the care they need”, it says.

And it says that some disabled people who pay for their own care at home have had to cut back on support as providers have increased their fees.

The report also raises concerns that staffing shortages in the mental health sector have led to “the over-use of restrictive practices, including restraint, seclusion, and segregation”.

There is also an analysis of the continuing problems with the Deprivation of Liberty (DoL) system of human rights safeguards.

Care homes and hospitals should apply DoLs when an adult does not have the mental capacity to consent to their care arrangements and they need to be deprived of their liberty through “supervision and control”, but this should only happen when “necessary, proportionate and in the person’s best interests”.

CQC said it was concerned that the DoLs system was unable to cope with the demand for assessments, with the number of applications to deprive a person of their liberty increasing to over 300,000 in 2022-23, with only one-fifth of standard applications completed within the statutory 21-day timeframe.

DoLs were supposed to be replaced by the new Liberty Protection Safeguard (LPS) system in October 2020, but the government said in April that their implementation would be delayed “beyond the life of this Parliament”.

The report says: “We are concerned about what this means for people being potentially deprived of their liberty unlawfully, for their family and friends, and for providers and local authorities.

“Disabled people and older people are more likely to require the safeguards offered by DoLs and will therefore be disproportionately affected by the decision to delay LPS.”

The report says CQC is concerned that the problems with DoLs are contributing to the overuse of “restrictive practices”, with its expert advisory group warning that some adult social care providers “continue to use stricter measures introduced during the pandemic without recognising them as potential human rights infringements”.

The report also says that NHS England data shows the number of new requests to councils for adult social care support increased by three per cent between 2020-21 and 2021-22 to reach nearly two million requests.

But more than half a million of these requests (568,685) did not result in extra support, an increase of more than four per cent, while another 522,850 received only universal services (those available to anyone, without the need for an assessment) or were advised to contact non-council services, such as local charities.

Since 2017-18, the rate of new requests granted through either short- or long-term care has fallen by more than two per cent, from 915 to 895 per 100,000 population aged 18 and over.

Meanwhile, the rate of requests from working-age adults per 100,000 population has increased by 15 per cent over the last five years, while in 2021-22 more than 205,000 adults aged 18 to 64 were not provided with adult social care support when they requested it.

Mikey Erhardt, from Disability Rights UK, said: “The latest Care Quality Commission report is a damning indictment of our failing system.

“Disabled people across the country are being failed by a system that simply does not care. 

“This report must be a red line, which breaks the current cross-party consensus on cuts, and spurs the change we all need to experience.” 

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said this week that it had made up to £8.1 billion available in additional funding to support adult social care over the next two years, which it claims will put the system on a stronger financial footing and help local authorities address waiting-lists, low fee rates, and workforce pressures.

The CQC report also warns that people with learning difficulties and autistic people “continue to be in hospital inappropriately when they should be receiving care in the community”.

At the end of September 2023, there were 2,045 such inpatients, and more than half of them (1,115) had been there for more than two years*.

But this is a drop of less than 200 on the 2,240 inpatients there were at the end of March 2022 – 18 months ago – whereas the government’s target is to cut the number of people with learning difficulties and autistic people in specialist inpatient care by 50 per cent by March 2024 compared with March 2015, when there were 2,900.

A DHSC spokesperson said: “We remain committed to achieving our ambition set out in the NHS Long Term Plan to reduce by half the number of autistic people and people with a learning disability in mental health hospitals, by March 2024, through investment in community support. 

“This year, we are investing an additional £121 million to improve community support, including funding for children and young people’s keyworkers.

“The number of people with a learning disability and autistic people in specialist mental health inpatient settings at the end of September 2023 was 2,045 – a 30 per cent net reduction since March 2015.”

*These are more up-to-date figures than those in the CQC report, as new figures were released by NHS Digital last week

26 October 2023

Ministers reject Tory pleas for new law that would support disabled councillors

Ministers have rejected the chance to scrap rules that prevent disabled councillors taking part in council meetings remotely, despite Conservative MPs and peers urging them to change the law.

Members of the House of Lords finally accepted defeat yesterday (Wednesday) after the government repeatedly rejected amendments to its levelling-up and regeneration bill that would have eased the rules that mean councillors must attend a meeting in person if they want to take part.

Emergency regulations that allowed council meetings to be held online – or in a “hybrid” combination of in-person and online attendance – during the pandemic were only in place until 6 May 2021.

Since then, it has been illegal for councils in England to hold hybrid or virtual meetings, although the Welsh government passed legislation allowing remote meetings two years ago, while Scottish local authorities have had powers to do so for 20 years.

A Local Government Association (LGA) survey found that 95 per cent of councils want the powers to be able to reintroduce virtual and hybrid technology for statutory council meetings.

Two disabled councillors, both Conservatives, spoke in June of how the ability to take part in meetings virtually on some occasions would allow them to fulfil their roles.

One of them, Cllr Dr Jane Worlock, a councillor at Hart District Council in Hampshire, who has a progressive mobility impairment, said: “Attending virtually during the pandemic allowed me to fully realise what truly accessible local government could look like.

“Flexibility through hybrid meetings could remove the inherent barriers of in-person only meetings and encourage greater public engagement from parents, carers, full-time workers and disabled people who might find it more challenging to attend in-person.

“It would be difficult for me to overstate how important it is that councils are allowed the flexibility to offer virtual and hybrid meeting options.”

The LGA call for the government to allow hybrid meetings was backed by a series of Conservative MPs and peers – and other political parties – over the last week, as supporters pushed for a change in the law.

Among them were Tory MPs Peter Aldous, Liam Fox and Theresa Villiers, who called on ministers to change their resistance to a modernisation of the law.

Aldous said on Tuesday: “Set in the overall context of a bill that gives local communities and local councils greater discretion and greater autonomy and looks to devolve powers away from Whitehall, it is perverse that the government are dictating to local authorities how they conduct themselves.

“The provision will strengthen local democracy and will make it easier for such groups as the disabled, parents with young children, carers and those in full-time employment to participate in decision-making in their own local communities.”

Despite his comments, MPs voted against the amendment by 292 to 177.

In the Lords, the Conservative peer Baroness [Anne] McIntosh, a former Conservative MP, who proposed the amendments to change the law, said on Monday: “It is not fair that they should be excluded from attending a meeting because they cannot get there physically either because of weather – floods and storms, or snow in the winter – or due to some disability or illness or childcare commitments.”

Among the Conservative peers who supported her call was former health secretary Lord [Andrew] Lansley, who said there were “physical, demographic and personal circumstances that mean that members may wish or need to participate in meetings remotely”.

But Earl Howe, the Conservative deputy leader of the House of Lords, said the government had “consistently expressed the view that councillors should be physically present to cast their votes and interact in person with citizens”.

The view was repeated in the Commons on Tuesday by housing and planning minister Rachel Maclean, who said the government’s position had not changed.

She said all MPs recognised the “real problems faced by people who wish to take part in local democracy without being excluded because of where they live, because they do not have a car or because of other barriers”, and she added: “We need our politics to be as inclusive as possible.”

But she said the government could not accept the Lords amendment and told MPs: “It is a long-standing principle that local democracy should take place face to face.”

Withdrawing her amendment yesterday, Baroness McIntosh said: “To move from completely virtual attendance during Covid to a situation where no virtual or remote attendance is allowed seems baffling.”

She suggested she would try again in the future to secure a change in the law, telling Earl Howe: “If there is any possibility in any of the legislation in the King’s Speech, I will latch on to it. I give him early warning of that.”

26 October 2023

Only one in three disabled PhD students receive the support they need, report finds

Only a third of disabled postgraduate doctoral students receive the support they need to study on an equal footing with their non-disabled colleagues, new research has revealed.

The report also found that nearly nine in 10 (86 per cent) of the disabled students surveyed said that conducting their PhD research had negatively impacted their mental health.

The research* – which included a UK-wide survey of 192 doctoral students – focused on disabled PhD students in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

The report, Improving the Experience of Disabled PhD students in STEM, was written by Disabled Students UK – which is run by current and former disabled students – and Pete Quinn Consulting.

It suggests seven ways that support for disabled PhD students could be improved, including addressing gaps in support; reducing the “administrative burden” associated with securing support; and improving safeguards to prevent the relationship between disabled PhD students and their supervisors deteriorating.

The survey results showed that those who found the administrative process of setting up support “quick and easy” were 4.5 times more likely to say they had the support they needed, compared to students who had not found it quick and easy.

And PhD students whose supervisors were “accepting and supportive” of their impairments were more than 12 times more likely to secure the support they needed, although 38 per cent of those surveyed said their supervisors were not well-equipped to support them.

The report also calls for universities to make the physical and sensory environments on campuses more accessible, with students with mobility impairments the least likely to have a sense of belonging at their institution.

And it calls for disabled PhD students to be allowed to study “at a pace that suits different bodies and minds”, as they are more likely to drop out than other PhD students.

One disabled PhD student told the researchers: “Disability services staff were very kind and wanted to help, but just had no experience supporting PhD students, especially those working in labs.

“I went to them because long hours working at an inappropriately positioned microscope was exacerbating my chronic pain and making it very difficult to work, and initially all they could offer me was ‘extra time in exams, and permission to record lectures’.

“Both of these accommodations are useless because as a PhD student I don’t have lectures or exams.

“It felt like they had no idea how to support anyone that wasn’t doing an undergraduate degree.

“After a few months, they lent me an ergonomic mouse, which has been some help.”

Some PhD students spoke of having to prove they were disabled before their university would provide them with the reasonable adjustments they needed.

One said: “The biggest change would be to believe and accept students’ disabilities even if they don’t have a formal diagnosis or documentation.

“This would involve adjusting the process for requesting accommodations and making it more accessible to those who do not yet have formal documentation.

“I struggled severely for the first two years of my degree due to health issues and lack of accommodations, but I did not have the required medical diagnosis documentation to be able to submit the online form and begin the accommodations process.”

Another said: “Until I filled in this questionnaire, it never occurred to me that I could complain about the lack of support [my university] offered.

“I’d told them I was on a waiting list of [autism] assessment, but there was no support available without a diagnosis, and the waiting list was 18 months long, so it’s been a bit of a surf-through-hell-on-a-chocolate-board really.”

Other disabled doctoral students highlighted the need for better funding for university disability services departments.

One said: “Fund the disability services so they are no longer so horrendously overworked that it takes months for them to reply to their emails.”

Another told the researchers: “Employ more people in the disability offices so students don’t have to wait for months after they start to get the reasonable adjustments they need and are entitled to from day one.”

The research found that those disabled students who felt they had somewhere to turn with disability-related issues were 3.7 times more likely to feel they belonged at the institution than those who did not.

And more than half of those surveyed (53 per cent) reported being concerned about how they were going to meet their financial commitments.

The report also stresses the need to ensure that international disabled PhD students are aware they have the same right to support as students from the UK, and that doctoral students know they have a right to the same level of support as taught disabled students, whether it is funded by disabled students’ allowance or by their institution.

Disabled students often take longer to complete study tasks, have less time and are in a financially difficult position, but the report’s authors said they “were concerned to see that funders often have policies which make it impossible for disabled students to get extensions, take sick leave or reduce their work hours without a loss of funds”.

They conclude: “Our report consistently shows the importance of allocation of responsibility, communication and collaboration within and between the bodies responsible for accessibility for doctoral students.”

But they add: “Throughout this work we found numerous examples that whether accommodations were put in place was largely down to whether disability was prioritised to the same degree as other protected characteristics.

“Senior leaders must take responsibility and listen to the data and lived experience expertise to create lasting change.”

*The research was funded by the Oxford Interdisciplinary Bioscience Doctoral Training Partnership, a four-year graduate training programme funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

26 October 2023

Disabled mum calls for others to challenge discriminatory roadworks

A disabled woman who successfully challenged a utility company over the discriminatory actions of its contractors, after they made crossing-points impossible for her and her daughter to access, is calling on other disabled people to follow her example.

Kate Ball, from Derby, has secured compensation and an apology from CityFibre and now hopes her victory will encourage other disabled people to challenge utility companies that discriminate against them by blocking their path with temporary works.

She and her disabled daughter Sophia, who is autistic and has learning difficulties, were out for a walk on 15 July when they were forced to attempt a risky road crossing because two pedestrian crossings were blocked with equipment placed there by contractors working for broadband network provider CityFibre.

Ball uses a wheelchair and Sophia cannot judge vehicle speeds, and both of them were put at risk by having to cross the road when they saw a gap in the traffic, rather than being able to use a pedestrian crossing.

After the incident, Ball secured information about the roadworks – which were there because CityFibre was laying broadband cables – from Derby City Council, and contacted CityFibre and its contractors.

She then wrote a “letter before action” to CityFibre, explaining that she and her daughter were both disabled and had faced discrimination because of its actions, and told the company she was prepared to take it to court for disability discrimination under the Equality Act.

She pointed to Department for Transport guidance, Safety at Street Works and Road Works, which makes it clear that failure to comply with the code of practice is a criminal offence*.

The code warns “operatives, supervisors, managers, planners and designers” of road works that they “must pay particular attention to the needs of disabled people”.

In response to her letter, CityFibre apologised and blamed “human error” and “poor site management” by its contractors.

A manager told her: “CityFibre recognises the need to ensure that our build is designed inclusively and in line with legislation and that our contractor failed in this regard.”

She accepted the offer of £500 compensation, and a promise to ensure training for CityFibre’s contractor Trust Utility Management (TUM) that would “emphasize their responsibility for site standards and safety, including contractor-installed traffic management”.

CityFibre also said it would stop using the sub-contractor used by TUM to carry out works “due to their failure to meet the required standards”.

But after Ball pushed CityFibre further, it also agreed to review its own internal training.

Ball told Disability News Service: “My hope is that other people could use a similar approach if they know about it.

“I’d really like more disabled people to know how road works should legally give access as I think this could be a very useful way to help people improve provision and stop temporary road works from blocking people’s journeys.”

CityFibre and TUM refused to comment.

*The code applies across the UK, although failure to comply with it is not a criminal offence in Scotland where Scottish government ministers have authority over its application

26 October 2023

Other disability-related stories covered by mainstream media this week

Tory ministers and train bosses must halt plans to shut almost all railway ticket offices because they are moving “too far, too fast”, MPs have warned. The Commons transport committee said the government must rethink the mass closure as it will hit disabled, older and “vulnerable” people. In a letter to rail minister Huw Merriman, the committee said changes should be piloted in a small number of locations so the impact can be properly assessed: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/tory-ministers-told-halt-too-31257235

A woman who has been stuck in hospital for 16 months due to a lack of accessible social homes says she is “in limbo”. Sophie Shuttleworth, from Newport, became paralysed after developing meningitis in July 2022. Social properties with the adaptations she needs have become available, but they have been reserved for people over 55. Freedom of information requests to all 22 local authorities in Wales showed a gap in accessible housing stock data: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-67169806

Government officials are using artificial intelligence (AI) and complex algorithms to help decide everything from who gets benefits to who should have their marriage licence approved, according to a Guardian investigation. The findings shed light on the haphazard and often uncontrolled way that cutting-edge technology is being used across Whitehall. Civil servants in at least eight Whitehall departments and a handful of police forces are using AI, especially when it comes to helping make decisions over welfare, immigration and criminal justice: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/oct/23/uk-officials-use-ai-to-decide-on-issues-from-benefits-to-marriage-licences

26 October 2023

News provided by John Pring at www.disabilitynewsservice.com

Join this TWITTER STORM to @NorfolkCC and @NorfolkTories between 7.30-9pm on Friday 20th October.

Hashtag tweets of:

#Care4Christine

#ShameonNCC

#FreeChristineLee

Their story is being broadcast on the BBC on  this Friday 20th October using their various media outlets …. TV and online

Thus we are requesting a Twitter storm on that date.

How many Christine’s are there out there?

Christine and Linda’s resilience and perseverance has been nothing less than incredible, despite the unrelentless determination of Norfolk County Council to ride roughshod over the legalities of this situation.

Christine still wants to go home!

My Mum, Christine Lee, was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis 25 years ago and has been a full time wheelchair user for several years. She was forced into residential care by Norfolk County Council (NCC) over a year ago following a stay in hospital due to a medication issue. Her care needs had not changed.

Before this she had been living happily in her flat for which she had (and still has) an assured tenancy. Her flat has been fully adapted for her needs (hoists, wet room etc.) and she has lived there for over a decade. Care is provided by on site care provider Norse Care who are owned by Norfolk County Council. They provide care 24/7and it is claimed they meet low, medium and high care needs.

She was told she would only be in the residential home for a maximum of 28 days for assessment. NCC put her in a care home owned by Norse which was miles from her friends, sister and town she had lived all her life. She was completely isolated and not taken out once, her independence completely destroyed.

The reality is that because my Mum needs more than 13 hours care per week Norfolk County Council have forced her into residential and have refused care in her home. Mum needs basic personal care only and has full capacity.

In August Mum was evicted from the Norse care home because I spoke out. She is now in another care home despite telling many NCC staff constantly over the last year that she wants to go home.

The last year has been horrific. Getting any information has taken months and the dishonesty has been staggering.

Mum has not been listened to in any way.

Other issues are:

1. Waited 11 months for NCC OT assessment. OT refused to visit Mum’s flat to review equipment.

2. SW ignored Mum’s requests and signed authority to act form for advocacy to be present at all meetings. She visited Mum when on her own and was dishonest and manipulative.

3. Mum not involved with Care Plan.

4. Mum had no idea what the SW was taking to panel and when. We were told after the event that she had taken options of staying at the residential in which Mum was isolated or returning home with an over inflated care package which was not as per her assessment (the cost would have been £3500 per week!). Residential was chosen.

5. The new care home is cheaper than the one they owned but they now want top ups. This was not mentioned before Mum moved. NCC claim they didn’t know costs before the moving date. I have emails from the care home sent to NCC that they did. Mum could face another eviction.

5. NCC have spent 5 months avoiding and refusing a subject access request.

6. They have agreed an independent SW, but he is an ex-employee of NCC and is again ignoring Mum’s requests for advocacy.

7. NCC management have refused to meet with Mum and family.

There have been many more incidents when we have felt totally bullied and distressed. They are relentless.

Mum just wants to go home and feels she shouldn’t be in a residential home just because she has a disability. She misses her independence, home, friends and sister.

The issue is being covered by the BBC on Friday 20th October. Doing all of this is definitely outside my comfort zone, but I know it supports Mum and all those who have been treated so unfairly.

Please can I ask for your support with a Twitter storm to @NorfolkCC and @NorfolkTories between 7.30-9pm on Friday 20th October.

Hashtag tweets of:

#Care4Christine

#ShameonNCC

#FreeChristineLee

Labour ignored safety concerns ‘for two years’ before near-miss on conference ramp

A wheelchair-user could easily have lost his life in front of hundreds of delegates to the Labour conference, after the party ignored years of safety warnings about the ramp used to access the speakers’ platform, say disabled activists.

There was an audible gasp in the auditorium on Sunday afternoon as powerchair-user James Driver nearly toppled off the narrow ramp as he tried to leave the platform, following a short speech opposing changes to the party’s constitution (see separate story).

Labour is now facing questions over its commitment to the safety of disabled members, following years of concerns raised about its attitude to disability equality within the party.

Less than 12 months ago, Labour was warned that it faced possible legal action over years of disability discrimination within the party, after reneging on plans to hold a national disability conference and set up a committee of disabled members.

Disability News Service (DNS) has been told that Disability Labour first raised concerns about the safety of the ramp – and the need for a barrier and handrail on both sides – at the 2021 conference in Brighton, and again at last year’s conference in Liverpool.

It also brought the issue to the attention of party chair Anneliese Dodds two months before this year’s conference, and again last week with the team organising the conference.

Emily Pomroy-Smith, who fought South-West Wiltshire for Labour at the 2019 general election and is herself a wheelchair-user, raised the issue as a point of order the morning after the incident.

She told delegates that she was again “calling out the disgraceful disregard for disabled members at this conference”.

She said: “Disability Labour have asked the conference arrangements committee for a barrier and a rail on the ramp multiple times.

“Please can you confirm that you will finally listen to us. We were lucky this time. I don’t want us to be lucky, I want us to be safe.”

She told DNS later: “He could have been killed.

“We knew this was an accident waiting to happen and it wasn’t dealt with.”

Jonathan Farr, treasurer of Disability Labour, said the incident should have been logged as a “near miss” under RIDDOR health and safety regulations.

RIDDOR requires employers and “other people in charge of work premises” to “report and keep records of incidents with the potential to cause harm”.

Farr agreed with Pomroy-Smith that Driver “could have been killed”.

He said: “Disability Labour have been telling the party about this since at least the last Brighton conference two years ago.”

But he said the party had been insisting that the ramp met the relevant “regulations”.

DNS has been unable to contact Driver this week.

Vicky Foxcroft, Labour’s shadow minister for disabled people, told DNS there would be meetings about the ramp issue after the conference.

The party had failed by noon today (Thursday) to explain why it repeatedly failed to listen to Disability Labour about the ramp safety concerns, whether the incident on Sunday had been reported under the RIDDOR regulations, and whether the concerns would now be acted on.

12 October 2023

Ministers ignored Covid care home warning at start of pandemic, inquiry hears

Two ministers failed to respond when a disabled people’s organisation warned at the start of the pandemic that new government guidance would not be enough to protect care home residents, the Covid public inquiry has heard.

Disability Rights UK (DR UK) warned the ministers that the government’s advice “does not take full account of the ease of transmission of this virus within confined communities”.

The inquiry heard this week that Disability Rights UK (DR UK) had written on 16 March 2020 to Justin Tomlinson, the minister for disabled people, and social care minister Helen Whately, with a series of concerns.

They warned that the guidance for the care sector in England was not strong enough to protect disabled people in care homes or those disabled people receiving care and support in their own homes.

But a civil servant who responded to the letter – on behalf of Tomlinson and Whately – failed to respond to those concerns.

A month after the DR UK letter, reports began to emerge that thousands of care home residents in England had died after being infected with Covid.

By then, the government had decided to discharge 25,000 NHS patients into care homes without first testing them for coronavirus – in the period up to 15 April – a decision described three months later by the Commons public accounts committee as an “appalling error”.

Between 9 March and 17 May, around 5,900 care homes, more than a third of those across England, reported at least one outbreak of coronavirus.

Kamran Mallick, DR UK’s chief executive, told the inquiry on Monday that his organisation had been “extremely worried” about the impact of the government’s plans and told Tomlinson and Whately in the letter that they needed to do much more to stop the virus spreading.

DR UK also called for funding for isolation areas, advice to protect people giving and receiving care, and the training of new care workers, while also raising concerns about benefits.

When the government responded (PDF) to the letter – through a civil servant – the reply only discussed the benefits issue, other than promising the government would “do whatever it takes to support people affected by coronavirus” and would “keep the situation under review” and “keep Parliament updated”.

Mallick told the inquiry that the government’s response had been “incredibly disappointing”.

On the day he gave evidence this week, disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) and activists were outside the inquiry to protest about the government’s handling of the pandemic and its impact on older and disabled people. 

They included representatives from WinVisible, Inclusion London, Disabled People Against Cuts and DR UK. 

Claire Glasman, from WinVisible, said it had been “absolutely shocking” to see how the government had “completely dismissed” Mallick’s letter.

Rensa Gaunt, from Inclusion London, told the protest: “Many of us died not because of COVID but because our essential care and treatment was withdrawn without consideration. 

“Unless lessons are learned, this will happen again.”

Paula Peters, from DPAC, said that thousands of disabled people did not have the internet access they needed to request support during the pandemic “and they were abandoned, left to isolate at home.

“We want justice for every single disabled person and older person left to die as a result of government policies.”

Mallick had also told the inquiry how Tomlinson set up a new forum of DPOs, which he called the DPO Forum, in the summer of 2020.

But the forum only met twice, in July and August, with further monthly meetings that had been planned for the next six months never taking place.

The DPOs didn’t meet Tomlinson again until May 2022.

In a written statement to the inquiry, Mallick said: “As a result, there was no line of communication between the DPO Forum and central government for around 18 months, which left a vacuum at a time of national crisis when ongoing consultation and engagement was vital.”

He told the inquiry that he had suggested to Tomlinson that DR UK’s Our Voices group of DPOs could meet the Disability Unit every two months, but that offer was rejected.

Instead, the government suggested that a planned meeting of the forum due to take place in February 2021 would be replaced with individual and small group meetings with forum members, but Mallick said in his written statement: “This did not happen.”

His statement added: “From the statements, decisions and actions of the UK Government throughout the crisis, considerations relating to Disabled people appeared to be largely disregarded.

“There were no consultation arrangements which allowed for the views of Disabled people or our organisations to be properly heard before decisions were made.”

The inquiry also heard on Monday from two disabled academics, Professor Tom Shakespeare, professor of disability research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Professor Nick Watson, professor of disability research at the University of Glasgow and director of the university’s Centre for Disability Research.

They have produced a joint report for the inquiry on structural inequalities and disability.

The two academics told the inquiry that government decision-making and the measures it imposed had a direct impact on the day-to-day lives of disabled people, who were disproportionately affected by that impact.

Professor Shakespeare said disabled people were “an afterthought in many of the provisions”.

He said: “They were not centrally thought about, and therefore they were excluded from measures that were taken to protect the general population.”

He agreed that government measures such as social restrictions, lockdown orders, stay-at-home orders and social distancing did not appear to have paid any regard to disabled people.

12 October 2023

Labour pledges to scrap Tory plans to tighten ‘fitness for work’ test

Labour has pledged to scrap Conservative plans to tighten the work capability assessment – reforms described by disabled activists as “cynical” and “horrendously dangerous” – if it wins power at the next election.

Although Labour offered almost no information at its party conference this week about its plans to reform social security if it wins the next general election, Disability News Service (DNS) has been told that it has ruled out proposals announced last month by work and pensions secretary Mel Stride.

Under his plans, currently out for consultation, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) would no longer take any account of whether a disabled person has a mobility impairment when deciding if they were fit for work through a work capability assessment (WCA).

Ministers also want to remove 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.

And Stride is considering removing protective guidance which currently states that a claimant should be found eligible for the highest rate of support – with no conditions or potential sanctions – if work or work-related activity would create a substantial risk to their health.

But Vicky Foxcroft, Labour’s shadow minister for disabled people, told DNS this week in Liverpool: “We won’t be following through on that. No.”

Labour’s position on other Conservative proposals, announced earlier this year in its Transforming Support white paper, is less clear, with Liz Kendall only appointed shadow work and pensions secretary little over a month ago.

Foxcroft said that Stride’s plans to scrap the WCA and instead use the much-criticised personal independence payment assessment system to decide eligibility for out-of-work disability benefits was not Labour policy, or at least “not in that way”.

She said Labour had not yet decided if it would follow the Tories and scrap the WCA and rely on PIP assessments.

But Foxcroft did say that she did not like the Conservative plan for jobcentre work coaches with no healthcare experience to decide whether a disabled person was able to carry out work-related activity.

She said Labour’s plans for social security were partly on hold because they wanted to wait until they met senior DWP civil servants for confidential briefings (PDF), roughly six months before the next general election.

She said Labour did not yet know “what the universal credit computer systems can do and what they have got the potential to do”, and they would not find out until they have these meetings.

She stressed again that Labour wanted “a fairer system, we want one that’s more compassionate, we don’t want one where disabled people feel fear of the DWP in terms of any interaction.

“We need to get rid of that culture of fear, but it won’t happen overnight, and it won’t happen if we don’t do this by working with disabled people about how we do that, because there’s already a complete lack of trust [in DWP].”

Foxcroft said a Labour government would reform the assessment process and would do it in co-production with disabled people “because otherwise we’re not going to get it right”.

Kendall’s speech to the annual conference contained almost no social security policy detail, with vague pledges to “transform employment support so it’s tailored to individual and local needs”, make “sweeping changes to jobcentres”, “reform universal credit” and “champion equality for disabled people”.

Foxcroft defended the lack of policy detail in her new boss’s speech, saying she “didn’t have very long to speak”.

Foxcroft was also unable to say whether a Labour government would order a public inquiry into deaths linked to DWP’s actions.

Evidence stretching back more than a decade has shown how DWP repeatedly ignored recommendations to improve the safety of its disability benefits assessment system, leading to hundreds, and probably thousands, of avoidable deaths of disabled claimants.

It also shows how DWP ensured that key evidence linking its actions with those deaths was not considered by the independent reviews it commissioned into the assessments.

Disabled activists and relatives of those who have died – backed by DNS – have repeatedly called for a statutory public inquiry into the deaths.

But although Labour shadow ministers have met with relatives, the party has refused to promise a public inquiry if it wins power, although it did do so under the previous leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.

A report by Labour’s National Policy Forum, which will form the basis for its general election manifesto and was approved by conference delegates this week, includes no mention of an inquiry.

Asked how a party committed to social justice could refuse to hold an inquiry, Foxcroft said the decision would be “one for Liz” and that as she was new in post it might be a few months before she could make a decision.

She said: “A big inquiry like that… I think we need to keep the dialogue going with the families.”

12 October 2023

Labour admits dropping disability rights pledge from policy plan

Labour has finally admitted that it is not currently planning to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) into UK law if it wins power at the next general election.

The admission was made by the party’s shadow minister for disabled people, Vicky Foxcroft, after concerns over Labour’s failure to include the pledge in an influential policy document.

Activists from Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) were outside the Labour conference in Liverpool this week to raise awareness of the issue among party members and to call on a Labour government to “make UNCRPD law”, a policy that is part of the new Disabled People’s Manifesto.

Disability News Service (DNS) reported last month that Labour policy documents failed to include its previous pledge to incorporate the convention into UK law.

Instead, the National Policy Forum (NPF) report, which will form the basis for Labour’s general election manifesto and was approved by delegates this week, refers only to the party honouring its “commitments” to the convention and ensuring that its “principles are reflected across government”.

There is no mention in the report of implementing the convention into UK law, which disabled activists believe would have a transformative impact on disabled people’s rights, for example by providing rights to independent living, inclusive education, an adequate standard of living, and freedom from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

Vicky Foxcroft, Labour’s shadow minister for disabled people, who has repeated the pledge to implement the convention into UK law at least twice in the last 12 months, would only tell a Disability Labour fringe event this week that the party would “honour our commitments” to the UN convention.

She later told DNS that “the wording in the NPF is the wording at the moment.”

That wording is: “We will honour our commitments to the United Nations’ Convention for the Rights of Disabled People and ensure its principles are reflected across government to create policies which remove barriers to equality and focus on disabled people’s representation at all levels of government.”

Foxcroft then added: “We’ve still got time until the next [election].

“I think it’s one of those where in government you have to hold us to account in terms of whether we are actually committed to it.”

When DNS asked for a definitive position on whether a Labour government would – currently – implement the convention into UK law, she admitted: “It doesn’t say that at the moment.”

Rick Burgess, from Manchester DPAC, one of those protesting outside the conference on Tuesday, said the current situation, without UNCRPD implemented in UK law, means that “ultimately, our rights remain negotiable on a case-by-case basis”.

If the convention was incorporated into UK law, disabled people would be able to use the legal system to defend their rights, and policy-making processes would have to pay regard to the convention.

He said: “It lifts everything to a higher level of rights-based policy-making.”

Burgess said DPAC was “calling for the UNCRPD to be brought into law by whoever wins the general election”.

He said: “It’s particularly important with Labour because they did have a commitment to bring it into law and they seem to have dropped that.

“Between now and the election we have to try and get a promise that we can hold them to, that they will bring it into law.”

He said there was now a “window of opportunity” because it was always harder to extract such promises from parties once they are elected.

He said: “Disabled people will support them if they make it law.”

Another DPAC activist at the protest, Rhi, from Liverpool, said attention had rightly been focused on the Conservatives in government but it was also important to push Labour because it had “back-stepped on commitments they have made”.

She said the convention had a vital role in areas such as accessible housing – which she said was a “real problem” – and social care.

12 October 2023

Labour still ‘not sure’ on care charges, 12 months after ‘working on it’ pledge

Labour has dodged a promise made 12 months ago that it would produce a policy on whether it would reduce or scrap care charges if it wins power at the next general election.

Shadow health and social care secretary Wes Streeting promised the party was “working on it”, when asked by Disability News Service (DNS) 12 months ago what a Labour government would promise on care charges during its first term in government.

But – a year on – there was no mention of care charges in Streeting’s speech to conference yesterday (Wednesday).

Instead, he said a Labour government would “grip the immediate crisis in social care, starting with the workforce”, providing a “New Deal for Care Workers” as the “first step on our 10-year plan for a National Care Service”.

When DNS asked the new shadow social care minister Andrew Gwynne earlier in the week what progress had been made in the last 12 months, he said he had only been in the job for four weeks and still needed a “handover” on policy from his predecessor, Liz Kendall, who has been promoted to shadow work and pensions secretary.

Only minutes earlier, Gwynne had been telling an enthusiastic fringe meeting – organised by the Future Social Care Coalition – that he wanted to be remembered by Labour party members as “the Nye Bevan of the 21st century” for building a new National Care Service if Labour wins power.

But Gwynne made no mention of care charges in his speech – focusing instead on “professionalising” social care and supporting carers – even though the party has been told repeatedly that tens of thousands of disabled people every year are having debt collection action taken against them over unpaid care charges, and that disabled people view charges as “a tax on disability”.

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham – who has supported the disabled people’s campaign to abolish care charges, part of the new Disabled People’s Manifesto – told the meeting that social care should be provided “free at the point of use”.

He said: “I think it’s absolutely an abomination actually that any disabled person has to pay charges for the support that they receive.

“Let’s take away the fear of that cost from social care.”

When told by DNS after his speech that disabled people view care charges as a tax on disability and that the issue was causing widespread concern, Gwynne said: “I get that. It’s something I am acutely aware of as being an issue.”

Speaking just yards from where Streeting made his promise to DNS 12 months ago, on Liverpool’s Mann Island dockside area, he said the issue had been raised with him by Vicky Foxcroft, the shadow minister for disabled people, “about how we get some kind of recognition of this issue into the policy-making process ahead of the manifesto”.

He said: “I’m aware of it and I will look at it. In terms of where Liz left off on this, I’m not sure yet.

“I’ve got to sit down with Liz, she’s doing a handover with me on a whole range of policies.”

His failure to offer any progress since last year’s pledge by Streeting follows a report by DNS which revealed that documents that will form the basis of the party’s next general election manifesto included no reference to scrapping care charges.

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats have promised to introduce free personal care for all adults if they win power at the next general election, although there are question-marks over key details of their pledge.

When DNS suggested that the care charges issue did not seem to be a priority for the party, Gwynne said: “Disabled people will always be a priority.

“What I’ve got to do is work out how the policy has been developed since you spoke to Wes and what steps I need to do to take that policy forward.”

He added: “You’ve caught me on the hoof about a specific issue.

“I need to sit down with Liz and go through all the policy handover and work out where the policy’s at and it may well be that there has to be discussions with the shadow Treasury team.

“I can’t make spending commitments on a dockside.”

12 October 2023

‘Shocking’ disability hate crime figures, a year on from police and CPS promises

The number of prosecutions of disability hate crime offences has slumped yet again, despite both the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and police chiefs admitting last year that their performance was not good enough and must improve.

Last year, CPS hate crime lead Lionel Idan told Disability News Service (DNS) that figures on disability hate crime prosecutions made for “woeful reading”, and he pledged to “move every stone I can” to improve them.

Mark Hamilton, hate crime lead for the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), told DNS last year that the performance of police forces across the country in providing justice for victims of disability hate crime was “not good enough” and needed to improve.

And yet the latest figures show that the number of prosecutions and convictions has continued to slide.

Following the release of annual figures from the Home Office, which show the number of recorded hate crime offences for 2022-23, DNS has analysed CPS figures to show how its performance for 2022-23 – and that of police forces – compares with 2021-22.

DNS has now been raising concerns for five years about the plummeting number of cases being passed to CPS by police, and the falling number of disability hate crime prosecutions.

Home Office statistics for police forces across England and Wales* show that the number of disability hate crimes recorded fell slightly in 2022-23, compared with 2021-22, from 13,905 to 13,777, the first recorded fall since the data series began in 2011-12.

But figures from 30 of the police forces also show that the percentage of offences that led to a charge or summons was far lower for those cases flagged as disability hate crimes than for those seen as non-hate crime offences.

With offences of “violence against the person”, just one per cent of those flagged as a disability hate crime led to a charge or summons, compared with five per cent of non-hate crime cases.

With public order offences, just two per cent of those flagged as a disability hate crime led to a charge or summons, compared with six per cent of non-hate crime cases, and 14 per cent of those that were flagged as sexual orientation hate crimes.

But CPS figures also show that the number of prosecutions of disability hate crime offences fell by about 10 per cent in the year to 2022-23, from 345 to just 311, with successful convictions falling from 273 to 245, also about 10 per cent.

This will have been heavily influenced by how few cases are passed to CPS by police, with forces passing on only 269 disability hate crime cases last year, although that was an increase on the 243 passed on in 2021-22.

As recently as 2016-17, CPS was completing 1,009 prosecutions of disability hate crimes, more than three times as many as there were last year, while police were passing on nearly 1,000 disability hate crime cases to CPS.

But these figures have been falling sharply in recent years.

By 2018-19 the number of cases passed to CPS had plunged to 367, and it kept dropping, to 320 in 2019-20, to 298 in 2020-21 and to just 243 across the whole of England and Wales in 2021-22, before rising last year to just 269.

The CPS figures mean that prosecutions as a proportion of total disability hate crimes recorded by police in 2022-23 was just 2.26 per cent, even without figures for Devon and Cornwall police.

That means that in 2016-17, there were about 5,400 disability hate crime offences recorded by police and 1,009 prosecutions, compared with 13,777 disability hate crimes recorded by police and only 311 prosecutions in 2022-23.

Tracey Lazard, chief executive of Inclusion London, said the figures were “shocking but not surprising” and yet again revealed “the depth and extent of disablism within our police forces and wider criminal justice system”.

She said: “We are rightly at a crossroads in policing and the criminal justice system in relation to racism, misogyny and homophobia.

“Disablism must be understood and explicitly addressed alongside these other institutional forms of oppression and discrimination.

“The barriers that prevent victims of disability hate crime getting justice are institutional, systemic and complex.

“We need root and branch reform to dismantle these barriers and tackle disablism, so we can better prevent and respond to disability hate crime.”

She added: “Action must be strategic and systems wide, including mandatory disability equality training for police forces and the CPS, re-instatement and roll out of initiatives such as Disability Hate Crime Matters that directly lead to improved recording of disability hate crime and in-depth engagement and co-production with DDPOs**.

“Equally important is long-term investment in DDPO/community-based work to tackle the chronic under-reporting of DHC and ensure adequate provision of hate crime advocacy services to support victims of DHC.”

Dr David Wilkin, a disabled activist, researcher, author and support worker for victims of disability hate crime, said the number of cases referred to CPS by police “remains an unacceptably poor rate” and appeared “inexplicable”.

He said there was an urgent need to investigate the causes of the figures.

Asked why police forces were still passing so few disability hate crime cases to CPS when there were so many recorded offences, the National Police Chiefs’ Council said it would not have time to comment, despite being given three days to do so.

CPS declined to explain why it thought its figures had continued to worsen, despite its past promise to try to improve.

But Lionel Idan, chief crown prosecutor for London South and CPS hate crime lead, said in a statement: “Hate crime directed at people with disabilities is abhorrent and we recognise the wider corrosive impact they have on our communities.

“Our commitment to tackling disability hate crime remains unwavering and there is more that needs to be done to drive up the number of referrals and prosecutions.

“This year, our joint National Hate Crime Conference focused on disability hate crime and we have also held a national scrutiny panel on disability hate crime, with academics in attendance, to help inform our joint approach to improving outcomes for disabled victims of hate crime.

“Our local involvement and scrutiny panels and external consultation group on hate crime continue to enable us to review how we prosecute cases of disability hate crime and to identify future learning and best practice.

“In cases where our legal test is met, we have issued a charge in more than 80 per cent of these and have secured a conviction in 78.8 per cent of all cases.

“We will continue to work closely with police, third sector organisations and communities to build confidence, increase the number of these cases going to court and deliver justice for more victims.”

*The latest Home Office figures do not include statistics for Devon and Cornwall police, which has had problems with a new IT system

**Deaf and disabled people’s organisations

12 October 2023

Labour rule change further marginalises disabled people, activists warn

Changes voted through by Labour at its annual conference this week have further marginalised disabled people within the party, activists have warned.

Because of the changes to the party’s constitution, constituency Labour parties (CLPs) now need to have permission from the party’s national executive committee (NEC) to create a disability officer role with a vote on how the local party is run.

The changes – which also apply to some other equality groups – were designed by the party to cut the number of executives with voting rights in each CLP, in most cases to just six.

The changes have delivered a further blow to disabled people’s voice in the party, less than a year after the party went back on plans to hold a national disability conference and set up a national committee of disabled members.

The NEC decided last year that it would be too expensive to set up national and regional committees for its disabled members and hold the disabled members’ conference, and it decided instead to focus funding on winning the next general election.

Two members of Disability Labour this week spoke out against the changes to the constitution.

Emily Pomroy-Smith told Disability News Service (DNS): “It’s marginalising us even more.”

She said the six CLP voting roles – such as chair, treasurer and vice-chair – are usually taken by non-disabled people.

She said: “It’s another roll back on inclusion for disabled people.

“It’s frustrating – if we can’t get it right internally, then how are we going to deliver it in government?”

She said the rule change on disability officers was added to other proposed changes and grouped under the heading “getting CLPs election ready”, which meant anyone voting against it appeared to be opposed to the idea of preparing for the general election.

Jonathan Farr, treasurer of Disability Labour, told DNS: “It means that disabled people don’t have any positions in the party that carry a vote and therefore any meaningful say in what happens in the party, except for the ability to vote for one person on NEC.

“I feel that as a disabled person and someone who has been active in the party, I am actually not welcome in the party.

“I found it triggering. The party doesn’t care about me.”

After hearing how Farr felt about the party’s move, Vicky Foxcroft, Labour’s shadow minister for disabled people, told DNS: “I don’t think it’s nice if people feel like that. We need to do better.”

Some delegates spoke in favour of the changes when they were debated at the conference in Liverpool on Sunday.

Peter Swallow, chair of Ealing Central and Acton CLP, said: “Right now, too many CLPs are over-encumbered or have half-empty executive committees.”

He said that his CLP had almost 1,500 members but “even we can’t fill our exec committee”.

He said the “top priority” was “winning the next general election”, and he added: “This isn’t factional, it’s functional.”

Cllr Birgit Miller, from Hove and Portslade CLP, a newly-elected councillor on Brighton and Hove City Council, also said the focus needed to be on winning the next election.

She said: “I am a neurodiverse person. It doesn’t help to have a disability officer who struggles to make meetings. It doesn’t help to be a token person.

“I want people with disabilities, people who are LGBTQ+, people who are BAME, I want them in the centre, and I want them in those six important roles.”

But Miller’s comment about having a disability officer “who struggles to make meetings” was criticised the following day from the platform by disabled delegate Emily Pomroy-Smith, who told the conference: “If your disabled members struggle to make meetings, then you need to fix that, not use it as an excuse to deny us voting rights on executive committees.

“The very fact that this went unchallenged by the chair, as they should call out any discrimination on this stage, demonstrates why it is so important that disabled people always have a seat at the table.

“And I can tell you, from experience, that if that space isn’t mandated, then it is very rarely available to us.”

Wheelchair-user James Driver told delegates that “removing minorities’ voting rights on execs… removes the standard of inclusion at the highest level”.

He said: “I simply do not believe this is true to the Labour party’s most central values.”

Tommy Edwin Kirkwood, from Blackpool South CLP, who is dyslexic, said the changes represented a “blatant disregard for equalities”.

He said: “We think that people deserve a voice in this society… disabled and LGBT and young people like myself need to be listened to.”

Summarising the changes, NEC member Cllr Nesil Caliskan said: “We need to be election ready, an operational focus which means swift, agile, decision-making executive committees will be critical across the country.

“Very big executive committees are just not practical.

“These proposals are about functionality and reflect the NEC’s commitment to make sure every aspect of our party machine is election ready.”

She said CLPs could still choose to have equality officers, but they would not have votes.

12 October 2023

All our ministers will be ministers for disabled people, Labour pledges

Labour has promised to govern by co-producing its policies with disabled people, if it wins the next general election.

Following criticism of the party’s decision to leave out key disability rights policies from the report that will form the core of its next general election manifesto, it repeatedly stressed its commitment to co-production at its annual conference in Liverpool this week.

At a fringe event hosted by Disability Labour, the party’s shadow minister for disabled people, Vicky Foxcroft, sat alongside three other shadow ministers to demonstrate the party’s commitment to listening to disabled people and working with them on policy.

She said all four of them were committed to working with disabled people in co-production, and she added: “We are committed because we know that this will ensure that we get our policies right, not just for disabled people but actually for everybody.”

Anneliese Dodds, Labour’s chair and shadow women and equalities secretary, later told the conference that the party was “determined to break down barriers to opportunity for disabled people.

“That’s why we are committed to the social model of disability and the principles of co-production and independent living.”

Abena Oppong-Asare, the shadow minister for women’s health and mental health, told Sunday’s fringe meeting that she was keen to hear from disabled people and their organisations on how to improve women’s health.

She said she was concerned that disabled people and other equality groups “will be used as part of the culture war” by the Conservative government in the run-up to the next election.

She said: “I am concerned about the language and the narrative that will be used.”

Lilian Greenwood, the shadow minister for arts, heritage and civil society, told the meeting: “Disabled people have just as much right to enjoy the arts, music, theatre, film, sports, and not just to enjoy those things… we want to see more disabled people being able to participate in the workforce.”

Stephen Morgan, the shadow rail minister, spoke of the planned closures of nearly 1,000 rail ticket offices, and said the government needed to “see sense, come clean on the damage that their plans will do, and rethink the decision”.

Kathy Bole, chair of Disability Labour, told the meeting it was not good enough for policy-makers to say they were “in consultation” with disabled people.

She said: “Things have to be co-designed, co-produced.”

She said the impact assessments on policy proposals that are carried out by public bodies “do not have any teeth”, and she called for legislation that “puts teeth” into them.

She also told the shadow ministers: “It’s not corporations’ and charities’ voices you need to hear, you need to hear disabled voices, not the voices of people who are not disabled people themselves.”

Foxcroft told the meeting: “I hope you’ve heard how committed we are across the Labour party in terms of co-production.

“You’ve got many shadow ministers here at the moment who are talking about it and want to engage and make sure that they get it right.

“If Labour get into government, you won’t just have the minister for disabled people.

“Every single one of our ministers will be ministers for disabled people.”

Emily Pomroy-Smith, a leading disabled party member, who fought the South-West Wiltshire seat for Labour at the 2019 general election, said the appearance of four shadow ministers at the fringe event was “really positive”.

She said: “I was really pleased to see shadow ministers attending, really showing a commitment to understanding the challenges that disabled people face.

“‘Every minister will be a minister for disabled people’; that for me felt like a step in the right direction.

“Obviously it has to be delivered. If they don’t, we can definitely hold them to account, because they will be in government.”

12 October 2023

Deaf student could be forced out of UK after university’s interpreter refusal

A Deaf student could be forced to leave the country and return to the United States after a university refused to provide them with the sign language interpreters they need for their course.

The University of Brighton has told postgraduate student Chelsea Reinschmidt that it will only be able to fund interpreters for about a quarter of the lectures, seminars and work placements that make up the two-year course.

When they were being interviewed for the course, they made it clear that they would need interpreters.

But it was only after they had paid their fees of £16,200 and arrived in Brighton to start the masters in occupational therapy that the university announced it would not be able to provide sign language interpreters for all the sessions.

This would have meant about 15 hours of support a week.

They told Disability News Service they had been left “traumatized” by their treatment.

They said: “Every session has to be interpreted, because I’m Deaf.

“It can be argued that we can get by with a few assistive tech options for a few things but basically every session needs interpreters for access.

“I contacted loads of different resources in the UK and every single one said the university is required to pay.”

Reinschmidt even offered to pay for some of the extra interpreting, and suggested other options, but the university refused to consider the solutions Reinschmidt offered, or to fund anything more than £26,000 a year.

Because their visa depends on being enrolled on a university course, they are now at risk of being forced to return to the US.

They said: “Had I known that that was the figure they had and there was no way to get funding from the NHS for my placements or any other option I would not likely have enrolled, because this is clearly a systemic problem that means no Deaf sign language-user, from the UK or otherwise, will be able to access their course.

“It’s impossible. No person can fund £100,000 for interpreters.”

The stress caused by the way they have been treated by the university has affected them so significantly that they have now withdrawn from the course, a month after it started.

Reinschmidt is convinced that the university is breaching its duty to make reasonable adjustments for Deaf students under the Equality Act.

The university’s actions come despite promising disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) that the mass job cuts to academic staff it announced earlier this year would not impact on disabled students’ access to education.

Members of the University and College Union are currently in the 15^th week of an indefinite strike at the university over the redundancies.

Reinschmidt had moved to the UK from the US to train as an occupational therapist and then hoped to support Deaf people in hospices, palliative care and mental health services.

They said there are very few occupational therapists in the UK who can sign and work with Deaf patients, while there is also an overall shortage of trained occupational therapists.

Reinschmidt said they were “absolutely heartbroken” by the way they had been treated.

They said: “The problem is bigger than me. I just know I have to do something. I can’t let it go on like this.”

A University of Brighton spokesperson said: “Almost one-third of our students have a registered disability, and we provide support to them all, wherever in the world they come from.

“We discuss reasonable adjustments during the university application process and appoint a learning disability coordinator to refine the support each student requires.

“The applicant is always involved in agreeing this prior to the start of a course.

“We are still working with Chelsea on assessing whether reasonable adjustments can be put in place.

“They have not been removed from their course and we will continue to support them through this process.”

But Luke Beesley, a disabled PhD student at the University of Brighton and one of the organisers of its Interventions in Disability Politics seminar series, said: “The way Chelsea has been treated is appalling.

“Brighton’s claim that they are not being kicked off the course is laughable.

“Deaf and disabled students need adaptations to study; if those aren’t provided, the student can’t do the course. It’s as simple as that.

“This puts the bow on a long list of complaints disabled students have about the university, ranging from poor physical access to lecture halls and accommodation, lack of induction loops in teaching spaces, and the university’s inaccessible communications style.

“Until now, we’ve relied on teaching staff to make the best of a bad job, and design adaptations with us around these problems.

“With the ongoing redundancies, many of us fear the access situation will get dramatically worse.

“When DPOs raised their concerns about this with the vice chancellor, Debra Humphris, she told them that disabled students’ access would not be impacted.

“That promise now looks worthless.”

12 October 2023

Other disability-related stories covered by mainstream media this week

The mum of an autistic boy has won a landmark legal battle for his right to have free school meals at his home. Jennifer Dunstan fought for over a year to prove her son Rio, 12, is entitled to help from his school to feed and educate him at home. The youngster has not been in school or had access to education for over a year after a traumatic incident put him in hospital for two months: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/mum-wins-year-long-fight-31139531

12 October 2023

News provided by John Pring at www.disabilitynewsservice.com

Boris Johnson ‘ordered delay to pandemic plans to protect disabled people’

Boris Johnson ordered that plans to protect disabled people from being disproportionately impacted during the second wave of the pandemic should proceed at a “slower time” than other crucial work, the Covid public inquiry has heard.

Government documents released to the inquiry show that this package of measures was “never fully put into place”, the inquiry heard this week from four national disabled people’s organisations (DPOs).

The direction from the prime minister and Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove was made in November 2020, even though they had known for five months that disabled people were dying in disproportionate numbers.

It is now known that 60 per cent of those who have died from Covid were disabled people.

The decision was made even though Gove declared in October 2020 that “time is running out” for the risks to disabled people and others to be mitigated as the second wave of the pandemic began.

Barrister Danny Friedman – representing Disability Rights UK, Inclusion Scotland, Disability Wales and Disability Action Northern Ireland – was delivering their opening statement to the second module of the Covid inquiry, which focuses on government decisions in the early months of the pandemic

He told the inquiry that government decisions meant “there was no plan for disabled people throughout the first and second waves of the pandemic, and there is still no plan”.

And he described an “abject failure to escalate disability issues to ministerial meetings for months”.

Documents released to the inquiry have revealed that rising Tory star Kemi Badenoch, whose portfolio as minister for equalities did not include disability, was commissioned in June 2020 to conduct a review of the “disparities” in the pandemic impact but that her work “did not examine the impacts on disabled people”.

Friedman also told the inquiry on Tuesday, on behalf of the four DPOs: “None of the key decision-making during the pandemic was informed by the expertise of disabled people.”

He added: “Despite obvious risks to disabled people from the outset, the government did not properly engage with them or their organisations during the pandemic response.”

And he said that the meetings that Justin Tomlinson, the minister for disabled people, had with DPOs were “too little, too late”.

In their written submission to the inquiry, the four DPOs told the inquiry that the government failed to engage with a series of urgent recommendations made by DR UK to Tomlinson and Helen Whately, the social care minister, in a letter sent on 16 March 2020.

These included calls for more stringent protections for care home residents and funding for isolation units in care homes.

The DPO submission highlighted information from previously confidential government documents, which have been released to the inquiry and its core participants.

The DPOs said afterwards that the documents released so far to the inquiry showed that ministers, including Johnson, “chose to delay focussing upon and remedying the impact of the pandemic on disabled people”.

The information released to the inquiry appears to corroborate the reporting of Disability News Service (DNS) in the early months of the pandemic.

DNS revealed repeated concerns through 2020 about the government’s failure to protect disabled people, including delays in publishing crucial guidance for those using direct payments and employing personal assistants, concerns over the right to life-sustaining treatment, disabled people in high-risk groups being unable to obtain personal protective equipment (PPE), and the failure of ministers to engage with DPOs.

DNS later obtained government figures that showed Tomlinson had taken part in just a handful of meetings – mostly online – with “external” organisations during each of the first four months of the pandemic, and just four of these meetings included a DPO.

Kamran Mallick, DR UK’s chief executive, who will be giving his own evidence to the module on Monday (9 October), said after the hearing: “The consequences of Covid touched every disabled person and their family and friends.

“Almost 60 per cent of people who died from Covid were disabled people.

“We found ourselves dismissed and patronised as ‘vulnerable’, we were last in the queue for health care, our social care was removed or reduced, our rights were restricted and our reasonable adjustments were denied.

“Disabled people were left without food, were forced to receive support from carers without PPE or testing, were compelled to give up work, were denied assistance on public transport and were harassed for legitimately not wearing face coverings.”

Disabled campaigners will be outside the inquiry on Monday to “honour the devastating impact of the pandemic on disabled people and visibly show our solidarity with those who died or experienced hardship”.

5 October 2023

Ministers ramp up hostile rhetoric, a decade after Osborne, Cameron and Duncan Smith

Conservative ministers have used their party conference to ramp up rhetoric that blames disabled people on out-of-work benefits for the country’s economic problems, just as they did in the post-2010 coalition government.

Following months of media articles highlighting the growth in the number of disabled people on out-of-work benefits, many of which were criticised for demonising and scapegoating disabled people, prime minister Rishi Sunak yesterday (Wednesday) told the country in his main conference speech that “welfare” should be “a safety net and not a way of life”.

He said that supporting so many disabled people on out-of-work benefits was “not good for our economy” and “not fair on taxpayers who have to pick up the bill”, and he called it a “national scandal”.

He also became the latest member of the government to compare the proportion of those now found not fit for work (65 per cent) after an assessment with the same figures in 2011 (21 per cent).

Like his fellow ministers, and many media commentators, he has ignored the fact that the 2011 figures reflected the early years of the work capability assessment (WCA), before its most serious flaws were exposed.

It took years of activism and research by disabled people and allies to expose the links between the WCA and hundreds, and probably thousands, of deaths of claimants, and to force DWP ministers to ease the harshness of the assessment.

That eventually made it easier to qualify for the employment and support allowance (ESA) support group and avoid work-related conditions, although the test continues to be linked to serious harm and multiple deaths.

But Sunak was not the only senior member of his government to target disabled people in Manchester this week.

On Monday, the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, spoke of 100,000 people leaving work every year “for a life on benefits”.

He was referring to the number of people leaving work and being found to have limited capability for work-related activity (LCWRA) after being put through the WCA.

He told the conference that this was the reason work and pensions secretary Mel Stride was scrapping the WCA.

Hunt said he was “proud to live in a country where, as Churchill said, there’s a ladder everyone can climb but also a safety net below which no one falls”, before adding: “That safety net is paid from tax.”

The words of Sunak and Hunt closely mirror the hostile rhetoric of Conservative politicians such as David Cameron, Iain Duncan Smith and George Osborne in the coalition years.

In a notorious conference speech in 2012, Osborne, the chancellor at the time, talked about the unfairness of  a “shift-worker” leaving for work early in the morning who looks up and sees “the closed blinds of their next door neighbour sleeping off a life on benefits”.

At the 2011 conference, work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith said that incapacity benefit was “too often abused as an excuse for avoiding work”.

And in October 2010, prime minister David Cameron told the party conference: “If you really cannot work, we will always look after you.

“But if you can work, and refuse to work, we will not let you live off the hard work of others.”

Rhetoric like this led to years of hostility and hate crime directed at disabled people.

Disability Rights UK warned this week of “language that is harmful and potentially destructive to those who rely on the benefit system because they have no other option due to a disability or long term health condition” and called on the government to “stop demonising people”.

It added: “It seems that disabled people and those with long term health conditions are being used as scapegoats.”

When Disability News Service asked the minister for disabled people, Tom Pursglove, if he supported Hunt’s comments, he did not appear to be aware of them.

Speaking only 75 minutes before Hunt was due to take the stage to make his speech – which had been trailed over the weekend by the party press office – Pursglove said he had not seen the speech and had “literally just arrived at conference”.

Asked what he felt about the comments, Pursglove said he would not “prejudge” them, but would comment if DNS emailed him after the speech.

DNS emailed Pursglove after the speech, as requested, but he failed to respond by the deadline.

The advance briefings of Hunt’s speech led to news stories in the right-wing media that echoed those of the early 2010s, with the Daily Mail pointing to the figure of 100,000 disabled people leaving work to claim disability benefits and claiming that Hunt would “declare war on 100,000 work-shy benefit claimants”.

The Sun’s headline was “Shirkin class blitzed”, as it said Hunt would “crack down on benefits claimants refusing to find a job as 100,000 people leave the workforce each year for a life on handouts”.

The Daily Express quoted a “senior Tory source” saying Hunt would “turn the screw” on people who refused to work.

Pursglove was challenged about the use of hostile rhetoric at a fringe event organised by the disability charity Scope.

Louise Rubin, Scope’s head of policy and campaigns, told him: “In the context of what we have heard over the last few days, there has without a doubt been an increase in the often unpleasant rhetoric about benefits creeping back in over the last few weeks and months.

“Articles about clamping down on scroungers, making it much harder to apply for benefits… we are not here to discuss benefits today, but it does seem to us here at Scope rather misguided to put all of the attention on forcing unwell people back to work, using sticks, but to pay little attention to supporting those who are already in work.”

Stride had spoken of the same 100,000 people referred to by Hunt in his conference speech at a fringe event hosted by the Resolution Foundation on Sunday.

He agreed there needed to be “some more study” into the reasons for the increase in the number of those receiving long-term sickness and disability benefits over the past four years, but he made no pledge to carry out that research.

Instead, he insisted he was still ploughing ahead with reforms that will make it significantly harder – if the Conservatives win the next election – for many disabled people to secure the highest rate of support and avoid being forced to carry out work-related activity.

Last week, DNS reported that the Department for Work and Pensions had admitted making no attempt to research why spending on out-of-work disability benefits had risen significantly in recent years, despite planning its “horrendously dangerous” cuts.

But Stride suggested some possible reasons for the increase.

He said an increase in the state retirement age was tipping more older people into the LCWRA group, while increasing numbers working from home might be playing a part in an increase in musculoskeletal injuries.

But he particularly focused on mental health and younger people.

He suggested the increasing use of social media might be responsible for an increase in mental distress among younger people, while he also claimed that the trend towards greater discussion of mental health issues meant there could be “an element of a more extensive labelling of people having a mental health issue perhaps in a way that might not have happened 20 years ago”.

He repeated this claim at another fringe event on Tuesday, again without quoting any evidence, saying there was “a question mark to what degree are we too readily identifying individuals [as having a mental health condition] and then consequently doing various things as a result of that… it’s a question mark in my mind”.

5 October 2023

Minister suggests fresh PIP cuts and means-testing are still on the table

The work and pensions secretary has sparked fresh concerns that a Conservative government would target the main disability benefit – personal independence payment (PIP) – for cuts and means-testing if it wins the next general election.

Both Mel Stride and the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, spoke at the party conference in Manchester this week about the significant increase in the number of people claiming out-of-work disability benefits.

Stride spoke of this “unsatisfactory” trend over the last four years, while Hunt spoke in his main conference speech of the 100,000 people a year leaving work to claim the limited capability for work-related activity element of universal credit (see separate story).

But Stride was also asked at a Centre for Social Justice fringe event this week whether PIP “would ever be incorporated into the universal credit system”.

Three months ago, Disability News Service (DNS) reported that the Conservative party appeared to be considering plans to means-test disability benefits like PIP as a way of cutting spending.

DNS was told at the time that participants in focus groups had been asked questions about which people “deserve” various benefits and what they think about the idea of means-testing “extra cost” benefits.

Although DNS was unable to confirm that it was the Conservative party that paid for and ran the focus groups, such a move would almost certainly involve benefits such as PIP, disability living allowance and attendance allowance.

The introduction of means-testing could mean these benefits eventually being folded into the universal credit system, and payments in future only going to those with less than a certain level of income, savings and investments.

There have been concerns about the possibility of a Conservative-led government means-testing PIP since the publication of its Shaping Future Support green paper, two years ago.

That green paper suggested that ministers could create a “new single benefit” to simplify the disability benefit application and assessment process, which could “provide support for disabled people and people with health conditions on low income and with extra costs”.

The then work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey later told DNS at a fringe meeting at the annual conference in October 2021 – also held in Manchester – that merging PIP with universal credit was “on the table” as part of a fresh wave of social security reforms.

Just a month later, DNS reported how a Department for Work and Pensions civil servant told a disability charity that the government planned to merge PIP with universal credit, although not until at least 2027.

Asked this week whether PIP would be incorporated into the UC system, Stride pointed out that existing Conservative plans would see PIP act as the “gateway” that disabled people would have to go through instead of the work capability assessment to claim out-of-work disability benefits, through a new health element of universal credit.

But he then criticised PIP – introduced by his own party 10 years ago to replace working-age disability living allowance – even though it is seen by disabled people as a hugely-important contribution to meeting their extra disability-related costs, despite its deeply flawed assessment process.

Stride told the event: “There are some issues around PIP in that it is a fairly blunt instrument because it’s there basically to compensate for the extra costs of disability and yet what we know is that for some people [who need] a grab rail to get into the bath or an extra step to be able to reach the microwave, and yet the amount of course is relative to those kind of items really quite high.”

He appeared to be suggesting that many claimants would not need PIP if they had such adjustments made to their homes.

Stride then said that the demand for PIP “has been increasing quite dramatically recently, so there are some issues around PIP”.

He said there were no “immediate plans to reform PIP”, but he did not rule out future changes.

5 October 2023

Disabled activists face down police to protest in front of Rishi’s hotel

Disabled activists faced down police officers who tried to prevent them protesting in front of the four-star hotel where prime minister Rishi Sunak was staying during this week’s Conservative party conference in Manchester.

Activists from Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) gathered opposite The Midland Hotel to protest at the presence of the “institutionally disablist” Conservative party in the city, and to support the new Disabled People’s Manifesto.

But shortly after they arrived on Tuesday, police officers approached the group of activists to tell them they would have to move to an official protest site in nearby St Peter’s Square.

The official protest site was out of sight of the hotel entrance, which has acted as the hub for conference fringe events and socialising by Conservative party members during this week’s four-day event.

When the DPAC group refused to move, one police officer warned them: “We either do it nicely…”

Officers quoted powers under section 14 of the Public Order Act, and claimed the street needed to be kept clear for emergency vehicles and was “a designated no protest site”, although activists had been able to use the same street for protests both in 2019 and in 2015.

Rick Burgess, from Manchester DPAC, told Disability News Service (DNS) during the protest: “We are not in anybody’s way but we are visible to the conference. Our visibility is important.

“The Conservative party and the government it forms re-institutionalised disabled people and they are not welcome until they deal with their institutional disablism.”

He said they wanted to be opposite the hotel “to be visible with our messages and our presence so they have to look at us and go past us”.

He said the government’s latest work and pensions white paper and other cuts and reforms to the work capability assessment “are literally threats to our life. They are trying to wipe us out.”

One police officer told him: “We are here to facilitate a peaceful protest but also facilitate the conference. You’re allowed to walk through, but not allowed to protest.”

A more senior police officer eventually agreed that the DPAC activists could continue their protest opposite the hotel until 2.30pm.

Among the protesters was actor and activist Ali Briggs, who told DNS that she had wanted to be there to “stand with disabled colleagues”.

She said: “I really want to fight the whole thing about ticket office closures. It’s terrible, it’s cruel.

“They carry on ignoring us. It’s not good enough. Our rights: we won’t see them eroded by this lot.”

Another activist was Dom Hutchins, who two years ago had a high-profile party conference confrontation with senior Conservative Jacob Rees-Mogg, at the time the leader of the Commons – just yards from where they were protesting this week – when he challenged him over the government’s record on disability rights.

He told DNS this week: “Nothing has changed in two years. Disabled people are still dying because of Tory policies.

“They listened to me, but obviously it was just lip service. Disabled people are still dying because of assessments and the media are just ignoring it. I feel it’s my duty to do this.”

Another DPAC activist, Stella Thomas, from Salford, said she was concerned about the latest government “crackdown” on people who claiming disability benefits which she said would affect people both in and out of work.

She said her message to the government was: “Stop lying to us, tell us the truth: are you going to cut disability benefits?”

DPAC activist Luke Beesley told DNS: “I am here because disabled people in Britain have undergone 13 years of social murder.”

He pointed to benefit cuts, the “pathetic response to Covid, which put profits over disabled people’s lives”, and the segregation of disabled people in special schools and care homes.

He said: “As this government continues its assault on the working class, I know disabled people will continue to be in the firing line and I am here to say enough is enough.”

Fellow disabled activist Klint Durham said he was there to “express my deep concern and disappointment” at the “utter contempt” shown to disabled people by the government through its decision not to give evidence in August to the UN committee on the rights of persons with disabilities about its progress since being found guilty of grave and systematic violations of disabled people’s rights.

Durham said: “It sends a signal to politicians in this country and people in this country that disabled people are second-class citizens.”

He said he believed that disabled people had “not moved forwards” since the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act.

He said: “We fought for rights and we have basically been sold a pup because nothing has changed.”

JoAnn Taylor, who founded Salford DPAC, said she was protesting the “devastating” impact of Conservative austerity policies.

But she said she was also there to protest about flaws in the disabled facilities grant system, which have left her having to move home four times while waiting for her housing association to provide her with accessible housing.

5 October 2023

Pursglove silent over research that linked WCA with hundreds of suicides

The minister for disabled people has failed five times to say whether he was aware of research linking the “fitness for work” test with 590 suicides of disabled benefit claimants, as his department prepares to tighten the assessment even further.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is currently consulting on proposals that would make it significantly harder for many disabled people to secure the highest rate of support and avoid being forced to carry out work-related activity.

Among its plans – which would not be introduced until after the next general election – is to remove a vital safety net that protects those at risk of suicide.

But at this week’s Conservative party conference in Manchester, both work and pensions secretary Mel Stride and Tom Pursglove, the minister for disabled people, suggested that they had not been briefed by the department on the ground-breaking research, despite embarking on major reforms to the work capability assessment (WCA).

At a fringe event hosted by the Conservative thinktank Policy Exchange and the Health Foundation, Disability News Service (DNS) asked Pursglove whether he was aware of the high-profile research, and if it would impact how he approached the reforms.

The research, published in 2015 by public health experts from Liverpool and Oxford Universities, found that a programme to reassess people on incapacity benefit through the WCA was linked to 590 suicides in just three years.

In response to the DNS question, Pursglove insisted that his department would proceed with the reforms “with great care” and was “continuing to engage with relevant stakeholders” to make “every effort possible” to ensure “there is all of the right safeguarding around that”.

He added: “I can absolutely say to you that we will take forward any reform that we seek to make as a government with the utmost care and attention to the needs of our most vulnerable customers.”

Asked again if he was aware of the research, Pursglove said he considered a “wide range” of reports.

Asked a third time, he pointed to the “considerable work taken place since 2018 particularly, tangible improvements that have been recognised as quite significant strides forward in terms of those safeguarding mechanisms, and we continue to keep that under review, taking account of all reports”.

Asked a fourth time if he knew of the research, he said nothing, and when DNS asked for a final time, he again stayed silent, before the event’s chair asked another panel member to comment.

When DNS had asked the same question of Pursglove’s boss the previous evening, he also did not appear to be aware of the research.

Stride told DNS: “It’s therefore really important that when we look at the report you referred to that we do it in a measured and proportionate and very careful way.

“So rather than rushing out and announcing reforms, we are going through a consultation that will end in October… to make sure that we don’t rush these things, to make sure that we do take those decisions in a proportionate, careful and caring way.”

Asked if Stride would now promise to ask the department to brief him on the research, a Conservative party spokesperson refused to comment, directing DNS to DWP.

Asked if it could confirm that it had failed to inform Stride about the research, despite the secretary of state announcing plans to further tighten the WCA, a DWP spokesperson refused to comment.

Pursglove also confirmed at the fringe event that DWP was proceeding with further controversial changes to the assessment process that would – eventually, after the next general election – scrap the WCA entirely.

The reforms, announced through the Transforming Support white paper in March, would see eligibility for out-of-work disability benefits – through a new universal credit “health element” – decided by the personal independence payment assessment.

This would also mean that decisions on whether a sick or disabled person must attend job-focused interviews or other work-related activity would in future be decided by a jobcentre work coach.

Pursglove told the fringe event that the reforms would remove the “jeopardy” that some disabled people feel when considering whether to try to move into work from out-of-work disability benefits because of the risk of it not working out and losing their benefit entitlement and then having to reapply and be reassessed.

He said: “We have been through extensive consultation around that change, and I think it is the best route forward in terms of alleviating that pressure and anxiety that people feel.”

Chris Smyth, Whitehall editor of The Times, told the event that the government’s plans for reform were “pretty similar” to Labour’s plans.

He said he had spoken to Labour’s (at the time) shadow work and pensions secretary, Jon Ashworth, and asked him “what do you actually disagree with the government on” and was told Ashworth’s main concern was: “We thought of it first.”

Smyth said there was “an unusual degree of political consensus on this”.

5 October 2023

Stride may have blundered by admitting DWP has ‘duty to act with real care’

Work and pensions secretary Mel Stride appears to have made a significant blunder after insisting that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has a duty of care to disabled people who claim benefits, following years of DWP denials.

DWP has repeatedly denied that it has a legal duty of care, almost certainly because it fears such an admission would lead to a flood of legal cases taken by the families of disabled people whose deaths have been linked to its failings.

Former work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey has previously been particularly insistent in her denials that the department had a legal duty to “safeguard” its claimants, insisting that such tasks were the responsibility of local agencies such as social services departments and doctors’ surgeries.

But now comments by the current work and pensions secretary have thrown that position into confusion.

Stride was speaking at a fringe event hosted by the Resolution Foundation at this week’s Conservative party conference in Manchester.

Disability News Service (DNS) asked him how he could be sure that his latest reforms to tighten the work capability assessment (WCA) would not have a similar impact to reforms introduced by the coalition government a decade ago.

Research published in 2015 by public health experts from Liverpool and Oxford Universities found that the coalition’s programme to reassess people on incapacity benefit through the WCA was linked to 590 suicides in just three years.

Stride is now spearheading plans – which would not be introduced until after the next general election – that would make it significantly harder for many disabled people to secure the highest rate of support and avoid being forced to carry out work-related activity.

Among the proposals is to remove a vital safety net that protects those at risk of suicide.

He told DNS: “We have a duty as a department to act with real care and to make sure that we interact in the right way with often very vulnerable people, and we have processes and training and appeal procedures and so on in place to make sure that we do exactly that.

“I’m not saying that DWP gets everything right all the time, but we are very, very aware of our duties in that regard.”

He said the department was consulting on the reforms to the WCA, a process that will end on 30 October, “to make sure that we do take those decisions in a proportionate, careful and caring way”.

Stride also highlighted guidelines on media reporting of suicide (PDF) from the Samaritans charity. Those guidelines suggest that “most of the time there is no single event or factor that leads someone to take their own life”.

Asked to clarify if Stride was now accepting that DWP does have a legal duty of care to its claimants, a Conservative party spokesperson refused to comment, referring DNS to DWP.

DWP suggested that its position had not changed and that it did not have a statutory safeguarding duty.

But a DWP spokesperson declined to comment on Stride’s remarks.

5 October 2023

Minister silent over UN rights evidence no-show, despite criticism from disabled Tories

The minister for disabled people has refused three times to explain why his government failed to give evidence to the United Nations on its disability rights record, weeks after his party’s disability group expressed concern at the decision.

The Conservative Disability Group (CDG) has been a familiar presence at party conferences for at least 20 years, hosting stalls in the exhibition area and fringe events on matters of interest to disabled party members.

This week, at the conference in Manchester, there was no stall in the exhibition and no CDG fringe event, although Disability News Service (DNS) has been told this was due to financial reasons and the lack of accessible rooms available on the group’s preferred date.

But last month, CDG’s chair, Barry Ginley, wrote to Tom Pursglove, the minister for disabled people, to raise concerns over reports that the government had refused to attend a meeting of the UN committee on the rights of persons with disabilities in Geneva.

The meeting was being held to examine the government’s progress since being found guilty of grave and systematic violations of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The UN committee found in November 2016 that the UK government had discriminated against disabled people on the right to an adequate standard of living and social protection, work and employment, and independent living.

Most of those breaches were caused by policies introduced by Conservative ministers at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The 2016 findings were the result of the first high-level inquiry ever carried out by the UN committee, which followed years of research and lobbying by Disabled People Against Cuts.

The committee had put aside a day in August to examine the government’s progress in implementing its recommendations over the last seven years.

But the UK government refused to attend the session in Geneva on 28 August and said it would not give its evidence until next March.

Ginley told Pursglove in his letter: “I am concerned that the advice you have received is incorrect and the decision not to attend may show the Government does not respect the rights of disabled people.

“As a group who strive to promote accessibility, we would urge the Government to reassess its decision and attend the review, regardless of any public scrutiny, to highlight the work undertaken by the UK Government.”

Ginley told DNS yesterday (Wednesday) that he had been unable to attend the party conference himself because of family bereavements, and he stressed that CDG’s failure to hold a fringe meeting was “not due to the government’s work on disability or the issue of attendance at the Geneva meeting”.

Asked by DNS about the decision not to attend the Geneva meeting, at a fringe meeting held by the disability charity Scope, Pursglove dismissed Ginley’s concerns.

He claimed the government had a “very ambitious programme of work that responds in a very thorough way to many of the challenges that people have highlighted”.

He then mentioned his draft Disability Action Plan – criticised for its lack of action and dismissed as a “PR exercise” – the National Disability Strategy, which was previously on hold for two years after its legality was challenged through the courts, and a planned review of the much-criticised Disability Confident employment scheme.

He also referenced two pieces of controversial legislation that were introduced through private members’ bills – the British Sign Language (BSL) Act and the Down Syndrome Act – but supported by the government.

DNS reported in August that more than half of government departments had ignored the BSL legislation, which was supposed to boost the use of BSL in their communications.

Pursglove also referenced DWP’s own controversial reforms of the work capability assessment and employment support.

He said: “I think this government’s got a record of being very thoughtful about these issues, and responding to the challenges that people have raised with us in a considered way.

“We of course live up to our UN convention obligations, we will continue to do that, and when it comes to the UN committee, we have agreed entirely properly, and through the usual processes, to appear in March and present our latest position and we will continue to engage in that process in good faith, as you would expect.”

Pursglove repeated some of his points in a reply to Ginley that was added to the CDG website this week.

But when asked by DNS why the government did not attend the meeting in August, he said: “I’m not going to say any more to that which I’ve already said. I’ve set out the position.”

Asked again, he said the government “continues to act in good faith”.

And asked a third time why the government did not attend in August, he declined to say anything further.

5 October 2023

Harper dismisses disabled people’s concerns over rail ticket office closures

Transport secretary Mark Harper has dismissed concerns that plans to close hundreds of ticket offices across England will have a negative impact on disabled people’s right to “turn up and go” rail travel.

Even though the proposals are set to lead to more than 2,300 redundancies among rail staff, Harper insisted that the closures would improve disabled people’s access to rail travel.

His comments came as two disabled campaigners applied for a judicial review of consultations on the plans to close nearly 1,000 ticket offices across England, which they believe could leave many disabled people unable to use the rail network.

Sarah Leadbetter and Doug Paulley say the consultations were unlawful and unfair as they did not give people – particularly disabled people – the opportunity to respond “meaningfully” to the proposals.

They are challenging “multiple, serious flaws” in the consultations carried out by four publicly-owned train operating companies: London North Eastern Railway, Northern Trains, South East Trains – which trades as Southeastern – and TransPennine Trains.

Leadbetter and Paulley want any decision to close ticket offices based on the results of these consultations to be quashed.

Meanwhile, Harper was speaking this week at a fringe event organised by the Rail Industry Association at the Conservative party conference in Manchester.

Disability News Service (DNS) had asked him what his level of commitment was to “turn up and go” rail travel for disabled passengers and why the government had not done more to protect that right through the closure proposals.

But Harper said he was “not sure that’s got anything to do with ticket offices at all”, before adding: “In fact, I’d say quite the opposite.”

He said he and rail minister Huw Merriman “want to see people moved out of ticket offices into the station so they are better able to help customers that require assistance, like disabled people, the more vulnerable customers”.

DNS reported two months ago that a template drawn up by Harper’s department as part of the consultation process failed to ask the train companies in its access section how they would preserve the right of disabled people to turn up and go assistance that does not need to be booked in advance.

DNS has also reported how campaigners have warned that disabled people’s right to enjoy spontaneous travel on the rail network is under “serious threat” because of the planned closures.

But Harper dismissed any concerns that the closures would have a negative impact on disabled people’s right to turn up and go travel.

He said that, for any proposed closures that come to him for a final decision – if the passenger bodies and train operating companies cannot reach agreement – “one of the things that will be important to me when I make a decision on this is about the impact on disabled and vulnerable passengers”.

He said: “I want to make sure that disabled people are able to use our rail network at least as well as they can at the moment.”

And he said train operating companies had had to carry out equality impact assessments as part of their proposals.

Harper, a former minister for disabled people, said: “I take my responsibilities to improve [disabled people’s] opportunities and life chances very seriously indeed.”

In answer to a question from Ben Clatworthy, transport correspondent for The Times, he also repeated the pledge made by Merriman that “those stations that are currently staffed, the expectation is that they should not become unstaffed as a result of any of the proposals from the train operating companies”.

He said that was “one of the things that we will use to test proposals if any proposals come before me when I am making decisions about them”.

Analysis by disabled campaigners and DNS of the consultation documents issued by the train companies showed that at least three of them were planning to move some stations from being staffed part-time to relying on mobile teams that cover a group of local stations.

5 October 2023

Minister bashful over sharp rise in Access to Work spending

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has declined to welcome its own figures which show a huge increase in spending on the Access to Work disability employment scheme.

The new figures show spending of more than £180 million in 2022-23, more than £30 million higher than 2021-22, which itself was the highest spending on record.

They also show that real terms spending increased by 15 per cent on 2021-22, and is now more than £20 million higher than the previous highest real terms spending level before the pandemic.

The minister for disabled people, Tom Pursglove, spoke briefly about the importance of the Access to Work scheme at a fringe event at the Conservative party conference on Monday, but failed to mention the new figures.

He also mentioned Access to Work at another fringe event the next day, and again failed to mention the significant increase in spending.

The number of disabled people who received some kind of Access to Work (AtW) provision rose by nearly a quarter (23 per cent) to 47,230 in the year to 2022-23, although about 14,000 of those people only received a payment for an assessment.

The remaining 33,000 receiving a payment to provide an element of AtW provision – such as aids and equipment, help with the cost of travelling to work and adaptations to work premises – again the highest number on record.

And the number of people who had an assessment rose by nearly half (48 per cent), compared to 2021-22.

The number of disabled people who received an Access to Work payment for a support worker rose by 14 per cent on the year to more than 12,000.

There were also significant increases in the number of disabled people receiving an AtW payment for mental health support (a nine per cent rise) and travel to work (a 28 per cent rise).

Despite the successful expansion of the scheme, there are still significant waiting-times for disabled people waiting for a decision on their AtW claim, with unpublished figures released to Disability News Service (DNS) in July showing there were still more than 23,000 disabled people waiting for their claim to be dealt with.

That had fallen to just under 22,000 by 5 September.

But despite the government’s apparent success in expanding the scheme, a DWP spokesperson declined to welcome the figures when approached by DNS.

Asked why the figures had risen so sharply, and whether ministers welcomed the increase, a spokesperson said: “Our Access to Work grants are available to disabled employees to cover the additional costs of in-work adjustments and we are recruiting new staff to meet increased demand for the scheme.

“Our extensive wraparound will support disabled people to sustain employment in the long term.”

They also said: “We are committed to supporting disabled people who want to work to do so, and latest figures show disability employment has risen by a total of 1.6 million since 2017.”

DWP and ministers have been told repeatedly that these disability employment figures are deeply misleading.

Government figures released in January found that 60 per cent of the increase in disabled people in employment was simply due to a sharp rise in the number of people identifying as disabled.

Those figures estimated that only 15 per cent of the increase in disabled people in work was due to a narrowing in the disability employment gap – the difference in the proportion of disabled and non-disabled people in jobs.

But DWP also admitted to DNS that it could not prove that even this small proportion of the increase was due to government policies.

5 October 2023

Other disability-related stories covered by mainstream media this week

A woman whose friend took her own life after being driven to desperation by the benefits system hit out as Tories gathered for their annual conference. Helen Lomas was one of thousands of protesters who rallied against Conservative failures outside the Manchester Central Convention Complex, where top Tories were assembled. She carried a heartbreaking placard saying “Poverty Kills”, following the death of pal Karen McBride: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/mum-whose-friend-died-after-31077398

One of Brighton’s busiest North Laine streets, which was pedestrianised last year, will be reopened to traffic. Brighton and Hove City Council voted in favour of reducing Gardner Street’s pedestrianised hours to 11am to 7pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The change will improve accessibility for disabled residents, one of whom has been “left stuck in their home for months”, the council said: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-66988425

5 October 2023

News provided by John Pring at www.disabilitynewsservice.com

Disabled people ‘must create a drumbeat’ to promote radical new manifesto

Disabled people’s organisations have been urged to “make a hell of a lot of noise” to promote a radical new manifesto that would tackle “the root causes of our oppression” if adopted by the next government.

The Disabled People’s Manifesto calls on the next government to take action across the “four pillars” of representation and voice, rights, independence, and inclusion.

The manifesto was launched in Manchester at a conference of disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) from across England, with the next general election likely to be no more than 12 months away.

It was the first significant in-person gathering of English DPOs since a conference in Sheffield in 2016, and was organised by the DPO Forum England, Reclaiming Our Futures Alliance and Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People (GMCDP).

Among the manifesto’s demands is for funding to support a network of DPOs across England, for action to ensure co-production of policies at local and national level with disabled people and DPOs, and for a new fund to provide reasonable adjustments for disabled candidates at elections.

On rights, it calls for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to be fully incorporated into UK law, for long-awaited action on disability hate crime law, for new laws to abolish forced detention and treatment of people on mental health grounds, and for an inquiry into deaths linked to the Department for Work and Pensions.

The publication of the manifesto came in the same week that a Labour policy document suggested that the party had ignored calls for an inquiry into benefit deaths, and had scrapped its previous promise to incorporate the UN convention into UK law.

On independent living, the manifesto calls for an end to social care charging – another omission from the Labour document – a legal right to independent living, measures on accessible housing, and a series of demands on disability benefits, including an end to sanctions and a significant increase in the level of both means-tested and non-means-tested disability benefits.

And on inclusion, the manifesto demands action across education, access and work, including a call for the next government to work with DPOs to develop plans to move disabled children and adults out of all institutional provision.

Launching the Disabled People’s Manifesto, Fazilet Hadi, head of policy for Disability Rights UK, said it was vital to keep telling politicians “like a drumbeat” that disabled people “want a radical transformational plan for disabled people to be put in place by the next government in complete co production with disabled people”.

She said: “We don’t want a plan that tinkers. We want a plan that transforms our lives and it won’t be done overnight, and we want a government to have that commitment and that dedication to fight that injustice with us.”

Hadi said the manifesto does not mention “everything that disabled people need or want or deserve or are entitled to” but acts as “a political marker for the change we want to see from the next government”.

She said: “We won’t get everything, you know, this month, this year, next year, but we will lay the groundwork for other disabled people who come after us.”

She said disabled people were facing “great, great hardship” and “some people haven’t survived”, while the “dial” was “going backwards” in nearly every area, “whether it’s economic, whether it’s education, whether it’s employment, whether it’s wellbeing”.

And she told the conference that DPOs could “create that drumbeat” and “make a hell of a lot of noise” if they worked together to promote the manifesto in the run-up to the next election.

Dennis Queen, GMCDP’s co-chair, told the conference that DPOs would play a vital role during the general election campaign and “need to be shouting from the outside as well as doing that policy work inside”.

She said: “We’re really looking forward to carrying on this work and in the next 12 months, let’s get out there.

“Let’s get all of our demands as perfect as we can, so they’re intersectional, so they apply to everybody, and so they work whatever age we are, whatever group we’ve come from.

“And let’s go and show them this future world that we want to see, because it’s going to be ours.

“We are in it, and we’re not going anywhere. So they better just move over and let us in.”

The conference was held at the People’s History Museum*, which is currently hosting a co-produced exhibition of the history of the disabled people’s movement, Nothing About Us Without Us.

There was also a speech from the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham (see separate story), as the region prepares to celebrate five years since the launch of its ground-breaking Greater Manchester Disabled People’s Panel, a formal partnership between Burnham and DPOs.

*Other representatives of DPOs watched the conference and took part in discussions online

28 September 2023

Anger over ‘clueless’ government’s ‘completed misguided’ awareness campaign

Disabled campaigners have asked why the government is spending money on a “potentially damaging” and “completely misguided” awareness-raising campaign that aims to stop non-disabled people making “assumptions” about people’s impairments.

One of the disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) that were backing the project has already told Disability News Service (DNS) that it is now asking the government to rethink its Ask Don’t Assume campaign.

The minister for disabled people, Tom Pursglove, has so far failed to respond to the wave of anger and frustration about Ask Don’t Assume, which encourages strangers to approach disabled people and ask them personal questions about their impairments and “what they are capable of”.

Among those expressing concern was disabled journalist and author Lucy Webster, who called it “completely misguided” and warned on Twitter that it risked “opening the ableism floodgates”.

The campaign website, which has only sketchy, confusing details of what it hopes to achieve, claims Ask Don’t Assume was “developed in partnership with disabled people” and is based on “their individual experiences, extensive research and work with disability stakeholders”.

The government’s Disability Unit yesterday (Wednesday) repeatedly refused to respond to the criticism, pointing only to background notes about the campaign.

In that background information, it said the campaign wants non-disabled people to ask disabled people what their access needs are, and not what their impairment is, and that they should not make assumptions and should instead support disabled people in the way they have requested.

But the public response to the campaign from disabled people has been overwhelmingly negative.

Sarah O’Brien, author of So, I’m Autistic, a guide for young autistic people, told DNS that the campaign “encourages invasive questioning and curiosity that creates the expectation that people’s impairments and needs should be public rather than personal”.

She said: “Some people are happy in the right moment to take the time to educate others, but that choice is taken away from the disabled person by this campaign which encourages people to be put on the spot.”

She also warned that it could have an even more troubling impact on disabled people with intersectional identities, who “may face additional harassment because of not wanting to answer questions”.

Vera Kubenz, a disabled academic, said it was “not disabled people’s responsibility to constantly educate strangers”.

She said: “Because I am researching disabled people’s encounters with strangers, I am really concerned that the government campaign will encourage intrusive questions, which are a really common experience for many disabled people, alongside staring.

“These questions are just as harmful and exhausting as more outright hostility because they are so frequent and turn disabled people into public property, rather than letting us just go about our day like everyone else.”

The government claims the campaign was “developed in partnership with disabled people”, but DNS has heard from Autistic Nottingham, one of the DPOs whose logo appears on the website.

Claire Whyte, chief executive of Autistic Nottingham, said the campaign’s “lack of message clarity” was “extremely disappointing”.

She said: “We initially saw the government’s scheme as positive and understood it was trying to bring to light the issues faced by those with physical disabilities having assumptions pushed upon them, such as wheelchair users being pushed/manoeuvred without their consent.

“However, due to the campaign’s lack of message clarity, it could be seen to promote asking disabled people intrusive and inappropriate questions.

“This is extremely disappointing, as we were hoping the campaign would promote a more open discourse to reduce those incidents from occurring.

“As an Autistic-led organisation, where most of our staff are Autistic, a campaign that allows issues to be taken out of context is not helpful and we believe that the government should look again at the content.”

Disabled author Penny Batchelor, co-founder of the Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses Literary Prize, said: “There’s a huge difference between asking someone if they need help, such as opening a door, and thinking that it’s acceptable to ask personal medical questions.”

She listed on Twitter some of the “insulting and distressing” things she has been asked by strangers, such as “What’s wrong with you?” and “How do you have sex?”.

She told DNS that the government “doesn’t seem to have a clue”, ignoring practical advice such as the need to bring in personal emergency evacuation plans for disabled people living in high-rise buildings while “spending money on this potentially damaging campaign”.

She said: “It’s tinkering round the edges whilst Rome burns – not addressing the real issues such as extensive NHS waiting lists, inaccessible housing, rising disability hate crime, disability poverty, the care crisis and a disability benefit system that assumes you’re a faking scrounger until proven otherwise.”

Kubenz said the campaign failed to consider “where the harmful assumptions come from”.

She said: “We have had over a decade of anti-austerity politics where mainstream media frequently claimed that many disabled people were scroungers and ‘trying it on’.

“My research focuses on blue badge spaces, which were largely exempt from cuts, but still many of my participants faced these assumptions.

“These ideas stick to disabled people and harm them in all situations, and this continues to be perpetuated by the government who are now gearing up for yet another round of benefit cuts.”

Disabled activist Jess Plant said the campaign “encourages the public to ask intrusive questions of disabled people who are just going about their day to day lives”, such as why they are using the accessible toilet.

She said: “I for one, as a disabled person, don’t want to share my personal medical information as I am doing the shopping.”

But she said the campaign also deflects “from what the government could and needs to be doing to address its own policies and inactions that make disabled people’s lives more difficult”, such as on social care, its plans to close rail ticket offices, and consultations on benefit reforms.

28 September 2023

Disabled man in fourth week of hunger strike over ‘inhuman’ Home Office facility

A man with significant long-term health conditions is in the fourth week of a hunger strike over “inhuman” conditions at a former Essex care home that is being used to house more than 50 disabled people seeking asylum.

The Home Office has so far refused to take any action over the case of Basam Huzyene, originally from Jordan, who has diabetes and a serious heart condition.

He is pleading with the government to intervene to provide humane conditions for himself and the other disabled people at the home, in the Tendring district of Essex.

But the Home Office failed to turn up to a safeguarding meeting last week, which was attended by local social services and NHS representatives, his solicitor (from lawyers Deighton Pierce Glynn), and the voluntary organisation Refugee, Asylum Seeker and Migrant Action (RAMA), as well as Clearsprings Ready Homes, which is contracted to run the facility.

Huzyene has been in the home for eight months and says the conditions, and the lack of nutritious food, are putting his life at risk.

He is in such poor health he believes he could easily catch an infection from the cramped, shared facilities, which would be fatal.

He told Disability News Service last Friday: “The food you can’t even eat, even your dog will not eat it, but you eat it because you have no choice, no money to buy your own food.

“Every day my condition is going down. I feel weak.

“This is the third week. The first week it was very hard. The second week I don’t feel hungry no more, this week my body is struggling.

“I am training my brain to keep myself up and strong. It is very, very difficult, but I try.

“They have to change. If they don’t, I have no choice. I have to finish what I started.”

He added: “My health is weak, I can catch anything from anyone, from a shower, from the toilet. If I catch anything that’s the end of it.

“They should know I have all my reports, all the surgeries I have had, my history, I just want to be like a human, I don’t want anything else.

“I am not asking for something special, I am just normal. I just need normal things.”

Campaigners say that 53 disabled people seeking asylum are currently being housed in the facility in “cramped, unsafe conditions, without adequate food or care”.

One resident, Behnam Murufi, who was Iranian, died in June after being denied the wheelchair that doctors said he needed after a number of strokes. RAMA said he was not offered any support and had “struggled hugely with mobility”. 

Among the current residents, there are six who are paraplegic, 13 with prosthetic limbs, a number with significant mental distress, and others with life-limiting conditions.

The lack of proper care resulted in one disabled woman being left on the floor for 14 hours because the security staff that work there are not trained in manual handling.

Although the facility is step-free and accessible to wheelchairs, there are no hoists or other vital equipment to assist those with physical impairments.

Another disabled woman, aged 74, is so desperate for nutritious food that she has taken to knocking on the doors of local families to ask permission to use their cooker to boil cheap vegetables she has bought with her £9-a-week allowance.

National media, including the Guardian and ITV News, have previously reported on allegations that the disabled people dumped at the facility have been abandoned by the Home Office and “left to rot”.

Clearsprings Ready Homes has 10-year Home Office contracts to manage accommodation for people seeking asylum in England and Wales and last year made £28 million profit on those contracts, with its three directors sharing almost £28 million between them in dividends.

The Home Office refused to comment this week on the case of Basam Huzyene and his hunger strike.

But it said in a statement: “We are committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of those on asylum support, with extra provisions in place for people with disabilities.

“Asylum accommodation providers are contractually obliged to ensure accommodation is accessible for disabled people and where concerns are raised, we work with providers to ensure they are addressed.

“The food provided meets NHS Eatwell standards and caters for all cultural and dietary requirements.”

But Maria Wilby, operational lead of RAMA, which has been supporting those in the Essex facility, said: “We are aware of three individuals, all elderly and disabled, who appear to have become diabetic while staying at the site.

“The lack of training provided for staff around working with disabled people and the lack of essential equipment is putting lives at risk.

“There has already been one death. We will do everything we can to ensure there is not another.”

And Rebecca Yeo, a disabled activist and academic and member of Disabled People Against Cuts, who has researched issues of disability and forced migration, said: “The disabled people’s movement and anyone who cares about justice must not turn away from what is happening to Basam and everyone housed in this place.

“People are being deliberately deprived of the most basic needs and isolated from the wider population.

“We need a social model approach to focus resistance on the disabling impact of restrictions imposed on people in the asylum system.

“We have seen time and again that these restrictions are gradually extended to the wider population of disabled people.

“We need a stronger collective movement of solidarity to benefit us all.

“The Disability and Migration Network of people involved in either or both sectors are collecting signatures on an open letter which will be delivered to Clearsprings Ready Homes, the company providing this accommodation.”

Campaigners believe the government, Clearsprings and local authorities are breaching the rights of the disabled people in the former care home under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

But Cllr Mark Stephenson, an independent councillor and leader of Tendring District Council, said the council had a “long and proud history of supporting people fleeing persecution”, and “understand the government’s reasoning for dispersing asylum seekers throughout the country”.

He said the council had “robustly expressed concerns about the suitability of this specific location which we feel is unsuitable both for those placed there and the existing community, given other pressures on services and levels of deprivation – and have repeatedly asked for information and assurances around our concerns.

“People placed here are vulnerable due to additional care needs, and we have been doing what we can within our remit, and the bounds of propriety, to help them.”

He said it was the duty of Clearsprings to fund the relevant services.

The council has asked the Home Office for written clarification of whether it can use some of the Asylum Dispersal Grant of more than £100,000 it receives to support those placed at the facility, but Stephenson said “this has not been forthcoming”.

The council said it was aware of Huzyene’s hunger strike and was trying to influence the Home Office to take action to improve conditions and release the funding it could use to support that goal. 

Stephenson said the council had regularly visited the former care home and raised concerns “where appropriate”, even though it was not responsible for safeguarding, health care or commissioning the services.

He said the council had also installed a free Careline service so the council can support and lift anyone who falls, had organised exercise classes, provided clothing through partner organisations, and co-ordinated fortnightly meetings with partners, such as the NHS and social care, “in order to ensure there is appropriate support in place”.

Asked what action it was taking to address the concerns, including the hunger strike, a Clearsprings Ready Homes spokesperson said: “We would not comment thereon but refer you to the Home Office press office for any comment they may have.”

A spokesperson for Conservative-led Essex County Council said it was aware of the hunger strike.

He said in a statement: “While we don’t comment on individual cases, we continue to be in close contact with our partners, including the Home Office, health partners, the local council and voluntary sector organisations, to support all those living at this site.

“Work that has taken place in partnership has included site visits in advance of their arrival to ensure that the former care home was fully accessible and appropriate for people with a range of care needs, and advice and guidance has been provided to residents, many of whom are fully independent.

“In all cases where a referral has been made, Essex County Council staff have undertaken assessments and care packages have been put in place to meet eligible needs, as well as providing advice, support and signposting where needed.”

He said he could not reveal how many care packages had been put in place “as it would risk personal identification of those involved”.

He added: “Any urgent referral is dealt with quickly in the same way as it would be for any Essex resident.

“Whilst we are not resourced to undertake this additional activity, we are fully committed to safeguarding all vulnerable adults living in Essex.”

28 September 2023

DWP failed to research why benefit spending rose before announcing ‘horrendous’ cuts

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has admitted making no attempt to research why spending on out-of-work disability benefits has risen significantly in recent years, despite planning “horrendously dangerous” cuts after the next election.

Earlier this month, work and pensions secretary Mel Stride revealed proposals that would make it significantly harder for many disabled people to secure the highest rate of support and avoid being forced to carry out work-related activity.

Disabled activists raised serious concerns about what they said were “cynical” and “horrendously dangerous” attempts to make new government cuts by tightening the work capability assessment (WCA).

A DWP press release announcing the proposals highlighted a real-terms increase in spending on “incapacity benefits” from £15.9 billion in 2013-14 to £25.9 billion this year, while Stride told MPs that the proportion of disabled people “being given the highest level of award and deemed to have no work-related requirements at all” had risen from 21 per cent in 2011 to 65 per cent last year.

He said the situation was “excluding significant numbers of people from receiving employment support” and was “holding back the labour market and the economy”.

But he did not tell MPs that the early 2010s saw the beginning of years of activism and research that exposed the links between the WCA and hundreds, and probably thousands, of deaths of claimants.

That activism eventually forced DWP ministers to ease the harshness of the assessment and make it easier to qualify for the employment and support allowance (ESA) support group and avoid work-related conditions, although the test continued to be linked to serious harm and multiple deaths.

A consultation on the latest proposed changes – which would not be introduced until after the next general election – ends on 30 October*.

Some researchers and campaigners believe a key reason for the increased number of people receiving out-of-work disability benefits – and non-income-related disability benefits such as personal independence payment – in the last three years is the impact of the pandemic.

But Stride did not seem to be basing his proposals for a stricter WCA on any DWP research, instead appearing to focus on the need to cut government spending, despite the likely impact on those who would lose support.

Following his comments, Disability News Service (DNS) submitted a freedom of information request to DWP, aimed at discovering what research the department had carried out in the last three years into the reasons for the sharp rise in the number of people needing to rely on ESA and the disability element of the new universal credit.

But in a response to that request, DWP has now admitted to DNS that it “does not have specific research on this matter”, even though the department plans to make it more difficult for disabled people to claim support if they cannot work for health or impairment-related reasons.

DWP said that it “draws” instead on “the wealth of data” produced by the Office for National Statistics, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and others.

It highlighted OBR’s Fiscal Risks and Sustainability report, which was published in July and includes a lengthy chapter on “inactivity and health”.

The OBR chapter includes detailed analysis of data relating to people reporting long Covid symptoms, NHS waiting-lists, the rise in caseloads for incapacity benefits and personal independence payment, rates of benefit sanctions, and the rise in health-related inactivity.

But the chapter repeatedly makes clear that the analysis can draw no firm conclusions about why spending on ESA and disability- and health-related universal credit has risen so sharply in the last few years.

It uses phrases such as “would suggest”, “looks unlikely”, “it is possible”, “could plausibly have played a role”, “may have”, “might have”, and “there appears to be limited evidence” in its analysis.

But the report is clear that ONS figures show the number of people “citing long-term sickness as their main reason for being inactive has proven to be the most significant and persistent legacy of the pandemic, rising steadily over the past three years and by 440,000 by early 2023”.

It is also clear that “the increase in inactivity due to long-term sickness since 2019 has been concentrated among those who previously worked in lower-paid occupations”.

Ellen Clifford, author of The War on Disabled People and a member of the national steering group of Disabled People Against Cuts, said: “The rhetoric amplified by the Tory government has absolutely no place within any evidence-based system of policymaking.

“The amplification by the right wing over the so-called rise in sickness benefits is an ideological distraction.

“The government thinks they can get away without evidence base or economically-logical arguments. We have to prove them wrong.”

DWP refused this week to address concerns that it was planning potentially dangerous cuts to spending on incapacity benefits and a tightening of the WCA without undertaking research to discover why disabled people have been claiming those benefits in larger numbers, and whether it was safe to introduce its cuts and reforms.

But a DWP spokesperson said in a statement: “We know that one in five people on an incapacity-related benefit would like to work at some point in the future, but fewer than one in a hundred move into employment every month.

“That is why we are consulting on reforms to work capability assessments and will take the time to ensure any subsequent changes are implemented safely.”

*Any organisation that needs help responding to the consultation can access free, confidential email support from the independent benefits advice website Benefits and Work

28 September 2023

Liberal Democrats edge ahead of Labour on charging, with free personal care pledge

The Liberal Democrats have promised to introduce free personal care for all adults if they win power at the next general election, although there are question-marks over key details of their pledge.

Party members this week approved a £5 billion-a-year plan to offer free personal care, which a party spokesperson said would cover “everybody” and not just older people.

The party also claims (PDF) that the net cost of the policy – to be introduced “throughout the UK” – would be only £3 billion a year because it would cut NHS costs by £2 billion a year.

The pledge appears to cover support with nursing care, getting dressed, washing, bathing, and at mealtimes, but not other support such as housework, shopping, laundry and engaging with the local community.

It is not clear whether there would be any limit to the free personal care for those supported to live in their own homes, and it is likely that it would apply only to those assessed as having substantial and critical needs under the Care Act, although the party declined to clarify these details this week.

The Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said the plans would mean “everyone can live independently and with dignity”.

But there were no further details in the conference speech made by the party’s health and social care spokesperson, Daisy Cooper.

And Davey’s conference speech also failed to offer any details about the free personal care promise.

He spoke instead of “rescuing our NHS and care system”, of “better social care, with many more care professionals, better paid” and “more support for family carers”.

Although the party declined to explain this week why it apparently did not intend to extend the policy to cover all council-funded care and support, it still puts the Liberal Democrats ahead of the Conservatives and Labour on dealing with the care charging crisis.

Only last week, Labour was accused of caving in to “powerful vested interests” after failing to include any reference to scrapping care charges in documents that will form the basis of the party’s next general election manifesto.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives have failed to take action to deal with a charging crisis that has left tens of thousands of disabled people every year facing debt collection action by their local authorities over unpaid care charges.

Successive Conservative governments have repeatedly promised – and then failed – to solve the social care crisis.

28 September 2023

Movement now has ‘powerful voice’ to challenge oppression, conference hears

The disability movement now has a “powerful voice” to challenge oppression, the first major in-person gathering of disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) in England for seven years has heard.

DPOs from across England gathered in Manchester on Friday* for the launch of a new Disabled People’s Manifesto (see separate story).

It was the first significant in-person gathering of English DPOs since a conference in Sheffield in 2016 and was organised by the DPO Forum England, Reclaiming Our Futures Alliance and Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People (GMCDP).

Svetlana Kotova, Inclusion London’s director of campaigns and justice, said the conference showed how disabled people and their organisations had continued fighting over the last 13 years despite “huge cuts to our support”, the COVID pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.

She said the succession of setbacks felt as though “we can’t lift our head from one blow [before we] get another one”.

She said it was “important to remember that despite receiving all those blows from the government and from everyone who is supposed to support us, we kept fighting”.

Mark Harrison, a member of the steering group of Reclaiming Our Futures Alliance, said the DPO Forum England now provided a “much more powerful voice” for DPOs because it “came out of adversity”.

He said the forum was set up two years ago after the then minister for disabled people, Justin Tomlinson, set up a forum of DPOs and then shut it down after just three meetings “because we challenged him on every single thing”.

Harrison said later that the conference had “reaffirmed the belief of what we know, and that what we know is that disabled people change the world.

“Nobody else is going to do it for us. It’s us. We are the people that are going to make the change happen.”

Michelle Daley, director of The Alliance for Inclusive Education, spoke of the vital importance of sustainable funding for DPOs, which would provide the resources necessary for proper co-production of policy.

She said: “We don’t just want to sustain. We want to thrive. We must thrive.

“We don’t just want to be at the table. We want to be part of the conversation. We want to dismantle the shit that’s happening.

“We know that we can’t be sustained when we have to scrape for the pebbles. And we know that in order to be sustainable, we need to thrive as well.

“DPOs are important, they’re necessary. They’re necessary for our tomorrow, they were necessary for yesterday, and they’re necessary for the years to come.”

Fazilet Hadi, head of policy for Disability Rights UK, said it felt like “such a momentous day”, and that they were following “a very proud tradition of disabled people fighting for our rights and our equality and inclusion”.

She highlighted how she had personally benefited from the past activism of disabled people, which had produced disability living allowance and the Disability Discrimination Act.

And she said disabled people had continued their activism in recent years, protesting about personal emergency evacuation plans, the failure to extend the universal credit £20 uplift to those on legacy benefits, the unlawfulness of the National Disability Strategy, and now against rail ticket office closures.

*Other representatives of DPOs watched the conference and took part in discussions online

28 September 2023

Burnham pledges to challenge Labour leaders over broken promise on rights

Disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) have secured a promise from Greater Manchester’s mayor that he will ask his party why it dropped a promise to implement the UN disability convention into UK law if it wins the next general election.

Andy Burnham made the pledge at a national conference of DPOs in Manchester*, after being told that the Labour party had dropped its pledge to incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) into UK law.

He spoke out after being told of the broken pledge by Ellen Clifford, a member of the national steering group of Disabled People Against Cuts.

The party was insisting until at least July this year that a Labour government was “fully committed” to incorporating the convention into law.

But last week, Disability News Service reported that a leaked copy of Labour’s National Policy Forum report included no mention of the policy.

The report will form the basis of Labour’s general election manifesto and will be put to the party’s annual conference in Liverpool next month.

Clifford asked Burnham what he could do to persuade Labour to renew its pledge.

Burnham said he believed it would be a “mistake” and a “very big backward step” for the party not to include the promise in its general election manifesto.

He said if the DPO conference could pass a resolution about Labour’s broken pledge, he would take that to national party leaders “and we will say that we think this is a mistake”.

He said the last 13 years had been “brutal for disabled people” and “there has to be a reckoning here, and an understanding of that, and then a commitment to change”.

The conference later unanimously passed a motion – witnessed by Burnham – that called on the Labour party to incorporate the UN convention into UK law, remove all the UK’s existing reservations to the convention, and commit to end care charging and introduce a National Independent Living Service within the first 100 days of a Labour government.

Burnham also promised to fight the “dangerously excluding” plans to close hundreds of rail ticket offices across England, which would mean that disabled people would be “straightforwardly discriminated against if this policy proceeds”.

He said: “We’ll fight this proposal all of the way. We will take them to court if they proceed with it.

“We will use the Equality Act to stop it. This proposal is not going ahead in Greater Manchester, and we will be fighting it every single step of the way with all of the people in this room.

“And we’ll be fighting it for you and your part of the country as well, because it isn’t happening.”

*Other representatives of DPOs watched the conference and took part in discussions online

28 September 2023

Successful care charging campaign ‘led to huge change’ in co-produced policy

A disabled activist has told a major conference of disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) how a successful campaign to end discriminatory care charges in a London borough has led to powerful change in other key areas of independent living.

Kevin Caulfield told the conference in Manchester that the campaign led to “huge, huge change” in disabled people’s involvement in co-producing policy with Hammersmith and Fulham council.

It was the first significant in-person gathering of English DPOs* since a conference in Sheffield in 2016 and was organised by the DPO Forum England, Reclaiming Our Futures Alliance and Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People (GMCDP).

Caulfield is former chair of Hammersmith and Fulham Coalition Against Cuts, which played a key role in campaigning for an end to care charges in the borough, and is now strategic lead for co-production at the council.

He told the conference how the then leader of the council had told disabled activists in the 2000s to “to wake up and smell the coffee, and that we are never going to live in a borough where disabled people are not charged for essential support and services”.

But in 2015, Hammersmith and Fulham became the only council in the country to abolish all charges for care and support, when Labour won control of the council under Cllr Stephen Cowan, who had pledged to scrap charges when in opposition.

Caulfield said the message to the conference was “to stick to your principles, however strong the coffee smells, and if we water down our messages and our demands, then we’re stuffed”.

But he said care charging was just one of the “huge” barriers disabled people face.

Hammersmith and Fulham also set up a disabled people’s commission that focused on how to remove the barriers disabled people faced in the borough by embedding a culture of co-production within the council.

All eight of the recommendations made by the commission were about co-production, he told the conference.

One of the priorities was to implement a vision for independent living, co-produced by disabled people, which Caulfield said was “groundbreaking”.

He said there were now at least seven council groups working with disabled residents, including on housing, the redevelopment of the town hall, and on digital inclusion, so there was “a movement of residents becoming part of the fabric of the way the council works, and that’s a huge, huge change” and a long-term commitment.

Caulfield said: “All of our residents are being paid for their time if they want to be, and disabled people are becoming much more a part of a delivery team across the borough, not just consultees and service-users.”

Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, told the conference that he would speak to Cowan about how he managed to scrap care charges in his borough, and also find out what has happened in Tower Hamlets, which this year announced that it would also be ending care charges.

He said care charge policy and council tax rates were set by the 10 Greater Manchester local authorities, but he said he would work with them to try to produce a “standardised approach” to care charging “as a prelude, hopefully in the future, to removing it completely, which is what I support”.

He had said earlier: “Personally, I think care charges are an abomination. I would want to see all people able to live their lives without being disadvantaged from a financial point of view.

“These are the issues we need to get into the general election campaign. I hope today will help us do that.”

The conference also heard from two co-chairs of the Greater Manchester Disabled People’s Panel, a formal partnership between Burnham and DPOs across Greater Manchester.

One of the co-chairs, Chris Hamnet, from Embrace Wigan and Leigh, said: “We’re able to select the issues we want to take to the system, so we get to speak to Andy, and we take the issues that we think are important, rather than the system telling us what they want to consult us on.”

Another co-chair, Sara Crookdake, from Disability Stockport, spoke of the survey of 1,700 people, including 1,500 disabled people living within Greater Manchester, which was carried out by the panel last year.

The survey found that disabled people were being “forgotten and effectively abandoned”, forced to rely on foodbanks, and having to cut back on how much they eat, because of the cost-of-living crisis.

Crookdake said the panel had worked in partnership with Greater Manchester Combined Authority to discuss how to respond to the issues raised by the survey, and met with the four main energy providers, while communications had improved with all 10 Greater Manchester councils.

She said: “It’s meant that those disabled persons’ organisations can now better network, they communicate with each other, and it’s undoubtedly going to strengthen the movement.”

*Other representatives of DPOs watched the conference and took part in discussions online

28 September 2023

Other disability-related stories covered by mainstream media this week

Two disabled academics are to give their £20,000 book advance to charities committed to supporting neuro-divergent working-class families. Earlier this year, Prof Jason Arday became the youngest black person ever appointed to a professorship at the University of Cambridge. He is now writing a book – We See Things They’ll Never See: Love, Hope and Neurodiversity – with sociologist Dr Chantelle Jessica Lewis of the University of Oxford: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-66911978

A young disabled woman is calling for recognition for owner-trained assistance dogs. Sophie Noel, from Craven Arms, Shropshire, is autistic and trained her dog Loki to help her when she feels anxious or overwhelmed. But self-trained dogs are not recognised everywhere, and she and her family are calling for it to be possible to secure certification so they can fly together on holiday: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-66892866

28 September 2023

News provided by John Pring at www.disabilitynewsservice.com

Ministers ignore ESA claimants in suicide prevention strategy… again

Ministers have refused to include claimants of out-of-work disability benefits as a high-risk group in their latest suicide prevention strategy, despite “irrefutable evidence” from NHS research.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has listed “common risk factors” such as physical illness, financial difficulty and social isolation in its new Suicide Prevention Strategy for England.

But it fails to include claimants of universal credit and employment and support allowance (ESA) who have been found to have limited capability for work (LCW) or work-related activity (LCWRA).

Ministers have failed to include this group despite NHS Digital’s Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey showing in 2016 that more than 43 per cent of ESA claimants had said they had attempted suicide at some point in their lives, compared with about seven per cent of non-ESA claimants.

Five years ago, the department refused to explain why ESA claimants had not been included as a high-risk group in a cross-government suicide prevention plan, and why DHSC was refusing to warn agencies and departments that ESA claimants were at high risk of suicide.

Now it has failed again to explain its refusal to include LCW or LCWRA as a risk factor for suicide, even though the strategy insists that practice and policy on suicide prevention “should be informed by high-quality data and research”.

Dr Jay Watts, a disabled activist and consultant clinical psychologist, praised the progress made by the new strategy in acknowledging groups such as autistic people and those “subjected to intimate partner violence” as priority groups for the first time.

But she said the strategy also appeared “strategically crafted to insulate the government from the harsh consequences of its own policies”.

She said: “The strategy recognises financial difficulty as a risk factor yet fails to make the direct link to welfare reforms that have significantly impacted claimants since austerity measures began – reforms that are well-documented for increasing suicide risk.”

She added: “Five years ago, we urgently flagged the need for ESA claimants to be recognized as a high-risk group in our national suicide prevention approach.

“This was based on a crucial finding that corroborated what activists had been telling and showing us for years and was rooted in irrefutable evidence from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS).

“Given the APMS’s stature among researchers, it’s startling that the new Suicide Prevention Strategy itself overtly highlights the survey as a crucial future data source, but simultaneously overlooks its shocking revelation that 43 per cent of ESA claimants have attempted suicide.

“This is in stark contrast to the less than seven per cent of other adults – a disparity that’s more pronounced than for most other groups highlighted as high-risk in the strategy, denying claimants yet again the recognition and targeted help so desperately needed.”

Although the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has agreed three actions to support claimants at risk of suicide as part of the new strategy’s action plan, the department confirmed yesterday (Wednesday) that all three had been agreed in previous years.

It is commissioning a “call alert and transcription service” to “support the quick identification of people who raise suicidal thoughts when using DWP call helplines and services” and to “help staff identify these callers quickly and provide timely signposting”.

This appears to involve the use of “speech analytics” technology, although it is not clear exactly how this will work.

DWP has also said it will “identify opportunities to review and strengthen guidance and staff training” around claimants who disclose suicidal thoughts.

The department has been repeatedly criticised over the failure of its staff to follow this guidance, known as the six-point plan, and has previously promised to remind staff of its existence.

DWP also committed to “mandatory two-day mental health awareness training for all its frontline staff”, which again has previously been announced.

Watts said it was hard not to conclude that the failure to include the LCW/LCWRA group as high-risk was a “deliberate attempt to deflect from the repercussions of governmental policies”, when DWP’s actions show “show tacit acknowledgment of a problem”.

She said the measures taken by DWP were “not only insufficient but actively mask the deep, impactful changes needed”.

This includes the need for “the immediate cessation of the benefits sanctions system, known to drive many to desperate acts, and an end to the hostile policies that link worklessness with worthlessness, making life feel not only more perilous but also disposable, as countless claimants have shared”.

She added: “It’s perverse to insist DWP agents such as work coaches signpost suicidal claimants to help when they themselves are so often the straw that broke the camel’s back – an institutional gaslighting made worse by the fact so many claimants have been desperately seeking help from mental health services with waitlists of over one million already.

“The strategy, whilst laudable elsewhere, then puts a happy, smiley thumbs up of progress on the DWP’s failing, flailing system, obscuring, and becoming complicit in its violence.  

“If every life truly matters, then saving them should be paramount – even if it embarrasses the government.”

A DHSC spokesperson refused to explain why the strategy did not include LCWRA/LCW claimants as a priority or high-risk group.

But he said in a statement: “Our suicide prevention strategy delivers a firm commitment to see the number of suicides in England decrease within 2.5 years and contains over 100 actions to save lives, provide early intervention and support anyone going through crisis.

“The strategy is informed by existing evidence and data, engagement with experts in the field, and by the responses we received to the mental health call for evidence.

“The groups of concern we have identified are not exhaustive, and many of the actions in the strategy will benefit people claiming benefits such as employment and support allowance.

“For example, we will launch a mental health impact assessment tool to inform policymaking across central and local government to ensure that policies consider the mental health impacts, particularly on vulnerable groups.”

14 September 2023

Watchdog appears set to approve mass ticket office closures

One of the two watchdogs tasked with running the huge public consultation on proposals to shut hundreds of rail ticket offices appears to have suggested to MPs that it will probably approve many of the planned closures.

Transport Focus appears set to recommend a “review period of 12 months to see how the changes have gone”, despite a consultation process that has seen hundreds of thousands of rail passengers raise concerns about the government-backed proposals put forward by rail companies.

The watchdog was one of a series of organisations giving evidence about the closures to the Commons transport committee yesterday (Wednesday), as part of its inquiry into accessible transport.

Its chief executive, Anthony Smith, told the committee: “I think there is a case, and we may well argue this either in particular cases or generally, that there is an argument for piloting this and seeing what the effect is and having a formal review after a period of time.”

He then added: “I think we might be arguing for a review period of 12 months to see how the changes have gone.”

He also suggested that Transport Focus would tell the train companies that the “mitigation” measures they have suggested to ease the impact of the closures – which mostly affect ticket offices in England – would have to be in place before the ticket offices are closed.

He said: “Without prejudging any individual responses, I think it’s quite clear that we will be saying to the train companies that the mitigation factors have to be in place before the changes come in because otherwise you’re getting the cart and the horse slightly the wrong way round.”

The next stage of the consultation process will end on 31 October, when Transport Focus and London TravelWatch will publish letters to each train company with their conclusions, as well as a general comment about the process and the issues raised during the consultation.

Smith also told the committee that the watchdog was “not in any way opposed” to the idea proposed by the train companies of “redeploying staff out of ticket offices onto a more visible role onto stations”.

He said: “If done properly, that could be of benefit to very many passengers who are seeking assistance… the principle, I think, is a positive one about redeployment, but it’s got to be done well and it’s got to pass quite a high hurdle.”

There was also a suggestion to MPs from the regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), that it would not oppose ticket office closures.

Stephanie Tobyn, ORR’s director of strategy, policy and reform, told the committee that the mitigation measures provided by the train companies would be there for passengers “who will not adapt well to this without support”.

She added: “I think it will take time to adjust, I think there will be a significant period of adjustment.”

Tobyn told the committee that she did not understand some of the proposals put forward by the train companies, particularly those relating to stations that would rely on mobile teams to turn up to provide support at smaller stations once a week at a certain time.

She said: “I can’t understand how that would facilitate turn up and go assistance [for disabled people].”

Tobyn said she also had concerns about how passengers with visual impairments would find staff to assist them on stations once ticket offices had closed, and how induction loops would be provided.

She added: “The most risk will be unstaffed stations where people wish to turn up and go and how that assistance will be provided.”

The committee had earlier heard from the disabled people’s organisation Transport for All that it did not trust the government to listen to the hundreds of thousands of concerns raised during the consultation (see separate story).

Four representatives of the rail industry also gave evidence, but they provided little new information.

Andy Mellors, managing director of Avanti West Coast, did eventually admit that its 27 staff at Glasgow Central would be cut by nine or 10 under its current proposals.

Simon Moorhead, chief information officer of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents the companies that run Britain’s railways, admitted that 20 per cent of tickets purchased by holders of disabled persons railcards were currently bought in ticket offices.

He declined to say how many rail stations that are currently staffed would become unstaffed under the current proposals, but he said he would write to the committee with that information.

14 September 2023

Disabled politician sues Lib Dems over discrimination that left her suicidal

A disabled politician has described how the discriminatory treatment she received at the hands of the Liberal Democrats, as one of the party’s elected councillors, was so bad it triggered epileptic seizures and left her feeling suicidal.

Avril Coelho, a former chair of the Liberal Democrat Disability Association (LDDA), says she faced discrimination and bullying by party officials as an up-and-coming disabled politician in the party’s Richmond and Twickenham stronghold.

She is now taking legal action against the party over its alleged failure to provide her with the reasonable adjustments she needed while campaigning to be elected to Richmond council in 2018, and the unlawful victimisation she says she suffered when she complained.

Her case is due to be heard at a civil court in south-west London next month, and she is now seeking financial support through a crowd-funding website to pay her legal fees.

She said she decided to take the case because she wanted to ensure that other disabled women of colour – and others – can speak out on issues of social justice within the party.

Coelho was elected as a Liberal Democrat councillor on Richmond council in 2018, winning a previously safe Conservative seat.

But despite the party being aware of her degenerative condition, which causes epilepsy, migraines and chronic pain, she claims it refused to provide the support she needed with campaigning.

In a legal document describing her claim against the party, she says she was set targets that were “unobtainable for a single person with limited mobility, no access to private transport and in full time work”.

She says the party also failed to set up a web page for her, and to provide her with the same literature as other candidates.

At the election count, she was told by the party that none of her Liberal Democrat group could leave early, and – as a result – she had a seizure.

Hours later, the local party arranged a victory photoshoot for candidates before she had time to recover from her seizure, she claims.

In the closing stages of the election campaign, she had complained about the local party’s failure to provide her with the reasonable adjustments she had requested.

But instead of dealing with those concerns, a party official submitted a complaint about her complaint.

Even though she was off sick with stress, the party went ahead with its investigation and produced a report without interviewing her or her witnesses or seeing her evidence.

She was reprimanded and told she could not stand as a parliamentary candidate for two years.

She had been on the party’s list of candidates approved to stand at general elections, but she was unable to seek selection as the candidate for Twickenham – a seat the party went on to win at the 2019 general election – because of the ban.

She claims this treatment was unlawful victimisation under the Equality Act.

Coelho was also excluded from the ruling group of Richmond councillors, and her formal approval to stand for re-election to the council in the party’s name was not renewed.

She told Disability News Service this week that her treatment led to her being “excommunicated, isolated, bullied, disrespected, side-lined, [and I] had my epileptic seizures triggered and exacerbated”.

The anxiety she experienced at her treatment led to suicidal thoughts while she was shielding alone during the pandemic, and she was left sitting as an independent councillor.   

Coelho continued to speak out against what she saw as significant discrimination, but she faced what she says were further “ridiculous” complaints.

After being elected unopposed as LDDA chair, she was told her party membership was being suspended, based on allegations of bullying – which she claims were unfounded – which led to another seizure.

She says she was “inevitably” expelled from the party.

The ordeal caused migraines, epileptic seizures and physical injuries from those seizures, as well as significant mental distress.

Coelho claims in her civil case that the party “weaponised” its complaints system as a way of silencing her after she complained about her treatment and expressed her wider concerns about discrimination.

She told DNS: “The court action I am taking, at great risk to myself (which the party’s lawyers waste no time in reminding me), is important to me, but it’s also important to everyone who is reading this. 

“Only by challenging orthodoxy can we ensure the change in societal attitudes that is so desperately needed.”

Elliot Hammer, Coelho’s solicitor, and a partner at Branch Austin McCormick, said: “I am very pleased to represent Avril Coelho in her disability discrimination case against the Liberal Democrats, including claims for a failure to make reasonable adjustments and for unlawful victimisation, at her trial on 23 and 24 October 2023.  

“We urge any members of the public who want to support Avril to donate to her crowd funder or to share and talk about her case on social media.”

A Liberal Democrat spokesperson said: “It would not be appropriate for us to comment on this case given that legal proceedings are ongoing.”

14 September 2023

‘We don’t trust government to listen to ticket office consultation,’ MPs are told

A disabled people’s organisation has told MPs it does not trust the government to listen to the hundreds of thousands of concerns raised during a consultation on proposals to close hundreds of rail ticket offices.

Members of the Commons transport committee heard yesterday (Wednesday) that there were likely to have been more than 750,000 responses to the consultation, once written responses have been counted by watchdogs Transport Focus and London TravelWatch.

Transport Focus later appeared to suggest to the committee that it would probably approve many of the planned closures (see separate story).

Katie Pennick, campaigns and communications manager for Transport for All, told the committee: “I don’t have trust in the government to listen to the responses of the consultation, particularly around the fact that this directive seems to have come from the department itself.”

Transport for All was one of a series of organisations giving evidence about the closures to the committee yesterday as part of its inquiry into accessible transport.

The committee heard that the current proposals – which mostly affect ticket offices in England – were set to lead to more than 2,300 redundancies among rail staff.

Pennick said Transport for All was fighting for more staff to be available to assist disabled rail passengers with their journeys, not fewer.

She said: “That’s what we’re fighting for and that’s what’s so demoralising about this entire conversation is that my best-case scenario in all of this is things don’t get worse, but we won’t have secured progress.”

Pennick said she was “really disappointed to see the opaqueness” of the consultation documents produced by the train companies, and “the number of misleading statements there were in the documents, particularly around staffing”.

She also told the MPs that most of the equality impact assessments produced by the train companies had been “copy and paste jobs” that “don’t take into account the specific circumstances in each area”.

And she said Transport for All was not confident that the “mitigations” promised by the train companies “will be in place and will work by the time that ticket offices are set to shut”.

Four rail industry representatives who gave evidence later in the morning repeatedly spoke of how their plans to close ticket offices would bring rail staff “out from behind the glass” into new multi-skilled roles that would benefit customers, including disabled passengers.

But Pennick told MPs: “The idea that staff currently being behind the glass is a problem that needs to be fixed is not the case at all; it’s actually one of the most important accessibility features of a ticket office.

“It’s a designated place where disabled people can go and be assured that they will find assistance from that place.”

Without that designated location, she said, disabled people – including those with mobility or energy-limiting impairments – would need to go “traipsing round a station” trying to find a member of staff to assist them.

Mick Lynch, general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), said the proposals were simply about “cuts”.

He told the committee: “Reform and modernisation are the two most abused words in this building. This is a fig leaf for cuts, mass cuts to staff, mass cuts to provision.

“They’re not interested in what we’re all supposed to be interested in, the turn up and go social model of accessibility and disability.

“They just want to ram this through to save money.”

He said the changes had been initiated by transport secretary Mark Harper.

Lynch also said that a quarter of jobs would be cut at rail stations under the proposals, with the loss of 2,300 positions.

He said: “The companies have notified us of that already. They’re not taking them out of the ticket office to work on the platforms, they’re taking them out of the ticket office to make cuts.

“They are going to cut the staff and cut accessibility.”

14 September 2023

Questions for Network Rail as plans emerge for yet another inaccessible footbridge

New information suggests Network Rail has under-stated its plans to build more inaccessible footbridges, after proposals emerged for a new stepped bridge in the heart of west London.

Network Rail claimed in July in a freedom of information (FoI) response that it planned to build 17 more inaccessible bridges from 2022 to 2024, but that it had no plans to build any in the south of England.

But Disability News Service has already reported on two inaccessible footbridges that Network Rail is planning to build, in Wokingham, Berkshire, and in Egham, Surrey.

Now plans have emerged for yet another inaccessible footbridge, this time in Hounslow, west London.

Plans submitted to Hounslow council show Network Rail plans to replace an ageing stepped footbridge at Brooks Lane with another stepped footbridge, with work due to start next month.

A letter from Network Rail to the council says the “primary objective” of the proposal is “to replace the existing footbridge with one that is of similar design and scale whilst meeting modern standards”.

It says the current bridge “is in the most appropriate location to continue to provide the most convenient access to the local footpath network”.

Disability Network Hounslow had not been told about the plans for the new footbridge until alerted to the proposals this week by Disability News Service (DNS).

Penny Ledger, chair of the network, said it was important to point out the advantages of ramps and lifts not only to disabled people but also those with baby buggies, shopping and suitcases, and to cyclists.

She said: “I think joining up areas separated by rail tracks should be an important priority for planners.”

DNS was originally contacted by a local campaigner, Andrew Ross, who has questioned why Network Rail has no plans to make the new bridge accessible to disabled people and others who cannot use steps.

He points out that there is a large, sheltered housing complex just 100 metres away from the bridge, and a junior and infant school even closer – which has a unit for autistic children – while the bridge provides access to shops on the south side of the bridge, and to an underground and mainline rail station on the north side.

He says that the alternative way of accessing the south side of the Brooks Lane footbridge from the north side means a pedestrian taking a route of more than a mile.

The area to the south side of the bridge is also a popular tourist destination.

Network Rail is currently investigating the accuracy of July’s FoI response about how many inaccessible footbridges it is planning to build.

The public body, which owns and runs most of the country’s rail infrastructure, has previously blamed cost factors for its decision to continue building footbridges that are likely to breach its legal duties under the Equality Act.

A spokesperson for Network Rail refused to say if it believed the Brooks Lane plans would breach the Equality Act.

He also refused to explain why the FoI response had stated that there were no inaccessible footbridges planned for the southern region this year or next year, suggesting that Network Rail’s freedom of information team would answer this question after it has completed its investigation.

But he said in a statement: “Brooks Lane Bridge in Hounslow is life expired and needs to be replaced for safety reasons.

“Its location means a ramped replacement would not be possible. We aim to have this project underway later this year and will be in touch with users and neighbours soon.”

Councillor Katherine Dunne, deputy leader of Hounslow council and its cabinet member for climate, environment and transport, told DNS in a statement: “As a council we are committed to helping make rail travel accessible for all.

“Improved and accessible public transport options contribute to making our borough cleaner and greener and is an important stepping stone in the council’s journey for tackling our climate emergency and we will apply that commitment insofar as planning law will allow.

“With regards to this specific application it remains under consideration, all concerns raised will be considered in detail and the reasons for the decision publicised when a decision is issued.

“Should the application be refused then a full planning application would be required.

“That application would be considered against the council’s development plan policies, which include policies on disabled access.

“Such an application would also be considered against the council’s obligations under the Equality Act.”

14 September 2023

Leonard Cheshire’s care home closure plan ‘is underhand and immoral’

Disabled residents of a Leonard Cheshire care home have described the charity’s actions as “underhand”, “immoral” and “despicable” after it suddenly announced plans to close the service and sell the building.

Two residents of Chiltern House, in Gerrards Cross, south Buckinghamshire, told Disability News Service (DNS) this week that they had arrived back from their holidays to be told Leonard Cheshire was planning to sell their home.

The charity is already under investigation by the Charity Commission over its financial problems, although the commission said in May that it was “satisfied that the charity has a robust turnaround plan in place and is making progress in putting it into action”.

Residents said they had been told the home was being sold for financial reasons, although the charity yesterday (Wednesday) blamed other reasons and said it was a “strategic decision”.

It is just the latest in a series of care homes the charity has been forced to sell in recent years.

In last year’s annual report (PDF), Leonard Cheshire’s chief executive, Ruth Owen, spoke of “a serious financial challenge that had built up over many years”. That report also detailed a “dedicated Property Disposal Team”.

The charity has been selling its care homes – sometimes to other service-providers – since 2018, when it was accused of making “a complete mockery” of its supposed commitment to service-user involvement after suddenly telling residents of 17 of its homes that it planned to sell them to other care-providers.

The 22 disabled residents of Chiltern House have been told their home will not be sold to another provider.

Instead, it will close by the end of February next year if the proposal is confirmed after a short consultation.

Mark, one of the residents, told DNS the decision was “totally immoral”.

In the past, he has given talks to local Rotary clubs, schools and colleges in which he has praised the charity.

Now he faces being kicked out of the home where he has lived for more than a quarter of a century.

He said: “I think it’s very underhand. We are being penalised because of where we live. The site is probably worth quite a lot of money.

“So many people’s lives are going to be shattered. It’s not easy to get rehoused and to get links in the community again.

“It is not just an existence, we get out and do things, we are part of the community.”

He said he had been informed about the closure five minutes after returning from holiday last Friday and was told by the charity it faced a financial “deficit” and that Leonard Cheshire “owes the bank a lot and the bank wants to see more repayments made”.

He said he still hoped the charity would change its mind, but he added: “I fear it is just going to be about money rather than people. It’s just money, money, money.”

He said the decision appeared to be “totally against” the charity’s founding principles.

Mark said: “I was gutted. As far as I am concerned, the home is run very well at a local level and a lot of the staff are very dedicated.

“I think we have been penalised for things that have happened elsewhere.”

At least two of its residents are believed to have moved to Chiltern House in the last year, after being forced to leave another Leonard Cheshire care home that was being sold.

Another resident, Sandra, a former teacher who has lived at Chiltern House since 1985, told DNS she thought the charity’s decision was “despicable”, and that it wanted to sell the care home because the land was so valuable.

She said: “Leonard Cheshire [the charity’s founder] would turn in his grave.”

She said she was worried about where she would move next, as she has no family and there is a shortage of accommodation locally for disabled people.

There will now be a four-week consultation, and some residents are determined to fight the plans to sell their home.

Leonard Cheshire said it had “significantly” cut staff outside frontline care delivery, reduced other spending, and secured increases in fees “so they are appropriate to the current costs involved in care delivery”, while its “good progress” would be reflected in its accounts for 2022-23, which will be published soon.

A Leonard Cheshire spokesperson told DNS: “Huge challenges remain in modernising much of our social care delivery, with many of our services and supporting technology requiring investment.

“This means we have had to make some difficult decisions about some of our services.”

He said that Chiltern House needed “a considerable amount of investment” for essential work, and that upgrading the service to meet “preferred choices from disabled people in the future would cost vastly more”.

He said Children House income had not kept pace with rising costs, while recruitment for some key roles had “proved difficult”, with problems securing a suitable permanent manager and “high agency use for extended periods”.

He said: “We appreciate any closure proposal causes a degree of upset and worry and we are working closely with everyone impacted.

“However, given the long-term trends at Chiltern House, we cannot justify the kind of long-term financial commitment necessary to modernise the service so it has a sustainable future.

“Having considered all the circumstances and with great regret, we are now proposing to close Chiltern House.”

He added: “There is a dedicated team in place to manage what is a sensitive situation for all, with named contacts for residents and families to talk through any concerns.

“We will work closely with residents and local authorities funding their places to secure alternative support which is right for them. This will not be a rushed process.”

A Charity Commission spokesperson said: “The commission’s inquiry into Leonard Cheshire remains ongoing at this time, and as such we cannot comment further.

“It is our standard practice to make our findings public once an inquiry has concluded.”

14 September 2023

Report calls for ‘proper safety net’ for disabled people

A user-led campaign group has welcomed a “timely and important” new report that shows disabled people are caught in a financial “disability trap” because of the extra costs they face, and their problems accessing work, benefits and essential services.

The Disability Poverty Campaign Group (DPCG), which is led by disabled people’s organisations Disability Rights UK and Inclusion London, said the findings would intensify calls from its members for a parliamentary inquiry into the causes of disability poverty.

The Financial Wellbeing of Disabled People in the UK was produced by researchers at the University of Bristol’s Personal Finance Research Centre and from the Research Institute for Disabled Consumers (RiDC).

Although none of the authors are disabled people, they spoke to 57 members of RiDC’s UK-wide research panel of disabled people about their financial wellbeing, and then surveyed more than 800 members of the panel.

Some of those they spoke to described the “punishing and humiliating” process of applying for benefits and the discrimination they faced from employers.

One said: “What’s even worse is the lack of control that you have over your own finances, especially if you’re on benefits.

“It feels like these can be taken away at any time, and you’re also reassessed every two to three years, based on your eligibility.

“And with universal credit, you don’t know what you’re going to get the next month.”

The researchers found that 27 per cent of disabled adults were in serious financial difficulty, compared to 11 per cent of non-disabled adults, with half (47 per cent) of disabled people who receive universal credit struggling to pay for food and other essentials.

But they also found that some disabled people were much more likely to face financial hardship than others, with some age groups reporting significantly worse financial wellbeing than older disabled people.

The survey found 19 per cent of disabled people of pension age said they faced a “constant struggle” to meet bills and credit commitments, but this rose to 40 per cent for those aged 45 to 54.

Disabled people with certain impairments were also significantly more likely to be in financial trouble than other disabled people.

Those most likely to report facing a constant struggle with bills were those with mobility impairments, learning difficulties, mental health impairments, impairments that affect appearance, multiple health conditions, chronic fatigue and impairments that were acquired suddenly.

Helen Rowlands and Dan White, co-leads of DPCG, said the report showed that the systems that should provide a safety net for disabled people “are broken” and that “nothing about the UK benefits system works well for disabled claimants and their households”.

In many cases, they said, engaging with the system is a “disabling ordeal” that can lead to “distress and self-harm”.

The report was supported by abrdn Financial Fairness Trust.

Among its recommendations, the report calls for a benefits system that provides a “proper safety net”; targeted support to reduce the costs of disability, such as higher water and energy bills; better access to essential services and advice; and improved access to jobs for those who can work.

Professor Sharon Collard, chair in personal finance at the University of Bristol, and one of the report’s authors, said: “There are examples of positive changes already happening on some of the issues we highlight in the report.

“But to make a real difference, major changes are required to ensure that all disabled people in the UK have a decent standard of living.”

Gordon McCullough, RiDC’s chief executive, said: “This report highlights the disability trap many disabled people find themselves in where the cost-of-living crisis has exacerbated the extra costs associated with being disabled.

“We hope this report shows the importance of fully appreciating the challenges and barriers disabled people face when understanding what financial wellbeing means to them.”

14 September 2023

Other disability-related stories covered by mainstream media this week

Hundreds of thousands of people could be excluded from voting in a UK general election because of voter ID laws, the government’s election watchdog has said. The laws could have a disproportionate effect on poorer people, disabled people and people from minority ethnic backgrounds, the Electoral Commission warned. It said ministers should take urgent action to alleviate these impacts: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/sep/13/uk-election-watchdog-issues-damning-verdict-on-voter-id-impact

The government has handed billions to companies to assess disability benefit claims over the years, but it has the power to claw some of that money back when performance is poor. New government figures seem to show that performance has dramatically improved over the years, even though disabled people are still facing “harrowing and inhumane” experiences: https://www.bigissue.com/news/social-justice/dwp-disability-benefit-assessments-fines-atos-maximus-capita/

The government has quietly signed a contract targeting 20 per cent cuts to the number of new education plans for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to bring down costs, the Observer can reveal. Then education minister Claire Coutinho – recently promoted to the cabinet as energy secretary – subsequently told MPs that no targets were in place. The cuts target has emerged as councils across England grapple with huge financial deficits on their SEND budgets: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/sep/10/revealed-covert-deal-to-cut-help-for-pupils-in-england-with-special-needs

The fact that over half of the rail stations in the north are not accessible for wheelchair-users has been described as “very, very worrying”. A report looking at all 600 stations in the north found many lacking facilities that would allow disabled people to make full use of them. Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, said accessibility was apparently seen as a low priority by rail companies, and this needed to change: https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/23787909.lack-disabled-access-stations-north-worrying/

Former Tory cabinet minister Dame Priti Patel has launched an astonishing attack on government-backed ticket office closures – saying she’s “absolutely flabbergasted” by the plans. Dame Priti piled extra pressure on Rishi Sunak to intervene over plans to cull nearly 1,000 ticket offices across England, saying she’d been left “frustrated and deeply angry”. It comes as the prime minister faces a growing rebellion within his party over the unpopular closures: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/priti-patel-says-shes-deeply-30929065

14 September 2023

News provided by John Pring at www.disabilitynewsservice.com

It is currently investigating harm, loss or injury caused by the Department for Work and Pension’s administration of welfare support including during connected medical assessments and evidence gathering, especially for Personal Independence Payment.

If decisions have been made during any part of the application or review process that have been negligent, breached duty of care or discriminated against you, openDemocracy would like to hear from you. 

Anita Mureithi is investigating this and can work flexibly with you with what arrangements work in order for you to be heard. 

You can contact Anita directly (preferably by end of September 2023) on anita.mureithi@opendemocracy.net