Do Job Centre Staff Now Need Training In Resuscitation And Should All Job Centres Have Defibrillators?

Reblogged from Grannie's Last Mix:





 There have recently been a number of reports in local newspapers up and down the country of sick or disabled people being taken ill while attending Job Centres. Given the fact that the Work Capability Assessment is seriously flawed and some very seriously  and even terminally ill people are being passed as ‘fit for work’ and being forced to attend Job Centres under threat of losing benefits, this is a budding trend that could potentially become an every day occurrence.



Job Centre staff have already been given training in dealing with suicidal claimants, a tacit admission by the DWP that its policies are having a devastating effect on many people’s mental health. Is it now time for staff in Job Centres to be trained in basic life support and resuscitation techniques and for all Job Centres to be equipped with defibrillators, to deal with the growing likelihood that very sick claimants could need urgent medical attention whilst under their roof?



If you think this sounds ludicrous consider the following news reports. For instance back in March of this year an ambulance was called to a Job Centre in Grays, Hertfordshire    when a man collapsed. By the time the paramedics arrived, despite attempts to resuscitate him, the man had died. Had the staff been properly trained in basic CPR its possible his life could have been saved.

In July this year an ambulance was called to a Scunthorpe Job Centre when a man complained of chest pains. He was later diagnosed as having had a panic attack which when severe enough can give rise to chest pain, pallor and a feeling of shortness of breath – symptoms very like those of a heart attack and just as unpleasant. Had staff been trained in First Aid techniques,whilst they may not have been able to accurately diagnose his problem they would at least have felt more confident in supporting him and calming him down until the paramedics arrived.

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Benefit change ‘could lead to suicide risk’

Sweeping changes to the welfare system could be leaving people already struggling with mental health issues contemplating suicide.

That is the fear of one man who claims he was told by an adviser for the Department of Work and Pensions that it was not there to “spoon-feed” people having difficulties re-applying for benefits.

Chris Hyde, from Chalk, said he only discovered his entitlement to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) was to be stopped more than three weeks after he received what would be his final payment.

The 52-year-old art and design degree student said he was left without money to buy food and incurred bank charges when direct debits could not be paid.

Mr Hyde, who had been receiving £97 a week in benefit after a nervous breakdown caused him to lose his job, believes not enough is being done to help people with mental health problems having to re-apply.

He claims that a staff member at the DWP’s JobCentre Plus central team, based in Canterbury, was less than sympathetic when he phoned to inform them of his predicament.

Don't fall victim to an internet scam

Mr Hyde said: “I was told there was an internet site that could help. When I said I hadn’t got the internet, was dyslexic and had mental health issues they said it was not their fault and it was not their policy to spoon-feed people. I was shocked.

 

“I just feel that not enough is being done to help people like myself. The only relevant information you can get is off their website, but that’s no good if you don’t have the internet or have problems reading.

“Thankfully I’m on medication but this could easily push people into feeling suicidal.”

Mr Hyde, who lives in Chalk Road, Chalk, suffered a breakdown after his mother’s death and was unable to continue working at the Asda warehouse in Dartford.

He had been receiving ESA for more than a year and is still under the care of a mental health team.

Mr Hyde said he received a letter telling him of the halt to his benefit payments on June 24, having last been paid on June 7.

He is appealing the decision, and is now being paid an interim lower rate of £67 a week until the matter is resolved.

Mr Hyde said the stress of dealing with the appeal and the delay in the final decision being made by the DWP has simply added to the pressure he is under.

He said: “I’m not sure if it’s because of the stress, but I suffer from black-outs and my doctor is now sending me for a neurological scan.

“I would take any job but I’m not supposed to go out on my own because of the black-outs and I’m not supposed to have a bath when I’m alone.

"I’m under the mental health team and have a care worker but they are saying I’m perfectly well and fit to work. It’s nonsensical.”

A spokesman for the DWP said it could not comment on Mr Hyde’s “spoon-feeding” allegation, but said: “Every day JobCentre Plus advisers are successfully helping people realise their aspiration to move off benefits and into work.

“Advisers are focused on making sure people get all the help and support they need, and we have specialist staff to support people with disabilities.”

The changes to benefits represent part of government plans for the biggest shake-up of the welfare system for decades.

MPs argue they are necessary to tackle the rising cost to the taxpayer and cut the budget deficit.

However, charities and opposition politicians fear a rise in rent arrears and a subsequent increase in homelessness.

For those without access to the internet, the relevant telephone numbers provided by the Department of Work and Pensions website are:

• People with new benefit claims – 0800 055 6688
• People wanting help finding a job – 0845 6060 234
• People with existing benefit claims – 0845 608 8501

Source

Axing the official death rates, more Tory double standards

Reblogged from AAV:

In August 2013 a leaked copy of a Public Health England report revealed an alarming 23,400 spike in the number of deaths per year in 2012, with the over-80s being the worst affected by this increased death rate. It hardly seems like a coincidence that just days after this damning report was leaked, Public Health England decided to announce that they will stop collecting the data.

Many people have speculated about the possible causes for this 5% spike in the death rate. Proposed contributory factors include the desperate underfunding of the NHS, (especially emergency care), cuts to local government elderly care services, a colder than normal winter and increasing levels of general poverty. Labour MPs and other opposition groups called for an inquiry in order to determine the causes of this spike in mortality rates, but the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt ignored them. Now it turns out that we won't just not be getting an investigation into the cause of over 23,400 extra deaths, but that the collection of the specific death rate statistics will be discontinued too.

Anyone that is familiar with the machinations of the DWP under Iain Duncan Smith's "leadership" will recognise this technique. If the official statistics show that over 10,000 people are dying, then the obvious solution to this problem is not to investigate further, it's to just stop collecting the data!

The Tory party have defended both the decision to avoid an investigation into the causes of these extra deaths, and the decision to cancel the collection of these death rate statistics. In a remarkable statement a Department of Health spokesperson stated that:

"it is scaremongering to suggest a link to poor care and support before there is any evidence to support such a claim."

So, any attempt to offer potential explanations for this deeply concerning rise in the death rate is to be derided as "scaremongering", yet the government are determined that no inquiry will be held to determine the actual causes! The government won't conduct an inquiry to establish some verifiable evidence of the causes, and any effort to consider potential causes in light of this refusal to provide the evidence is to be derided as "scaremongering". They won't give us the evidence and then deride as fearmongering propagandists anyone that talks about the subject without the evidence they they are deliberately withholding!  

Essentially this quote can be taken to mean that "nobody is allowed to talk about the subject without concrete evidence, and since we are determined to withhold the evidence, everyone might as well go home and watch X-Factor and stop worrying their pretty little heads about this!"

When it comes to this quote, another comparison with Iain Duncan Smith and the DWP is in order.

Iain Duncan Smith has been reprimanded on several occasions by the UK Statistics Authority for his blatant misuse of statistics, and the culture of statistical misrepresentation at the DWP. In July 2013 Ian Duncan Smith decided to go on the counter-attack in a rambling and self-righteous interview on Radio 4. This strategy was hardly surprising, given that the rambling and self-righteous counter-attack seems to be Iain Duncan Smith's only debating strategy.

When it came to his made-up statistical evidence that his welfare policies were working the defence he came up with was frankly laughable,"you can't disprove what I said either ... I believe this to be right, I believe that we are already seeing people going back to work who were not going to go back to work".

So when it comes to a Tory blatantly misusing statistics to create shockingly misleading "success narratives" that are presented to the public as concrete facts, it's perfectly acceptable because of nothing more than his stated belief that his explanation is right, and the onus is upon the opposition to disprove his claims.

But when it comes to the opposition talking in purely speculative terms about the potential contributory factors to an alarming spike in the national death rate, they are guilty of "scaremongering" and the onus is upon them to them to prove their own claims with evidence!

Thus, Tories can make up the facts as they go along and are under no obligation to prove their claims with evidence, but the opposition must never speculate about the potential causes of a situation, and must provide evidence to back their assertions (evidence that is unlikely to come to light given that the Tories are refusing to hold an official inquiry, and the statistics in question will no longer be collected).

If you can't see the double standards at play here, you're probably the kind of person that thinks David Cameron is an honest trustworthy sort of chap aren't you?

Adventures at A4e

Reblogged from Izzy Koksal:



‘Izzy, nothing is impossible…’ he tells me reassuringly, he starts to read one of the many motivational quotations that are stuck all over the walls and on the desk around which the group is seated. I stare back at him blankly, horrified. Then the man next to me starts reading out loud the Oprah Winfrey that is in front of him.

This was one of many surreal moments of an A4e training course ‘finding and getting a job’ that I was coerced into attending by my job centre advisor. She had told me that it would help me with my CV, however, it seemed that the trainer of the course had much grander ideas – he was determined to change my ‘being’ which was apparently what is preventing me from getting a job – rather than, say, an economy that is heading back into recession and a saturated job market. And so, for two days I sat with ten other unemployed people being told that we needed to ‘talk, breath, eat, shit belief in yourself’ and being compared to iPhones. The experience was like being in some sort of strange comedy sketch that just went on and on and at times bordered on feeling like a cult. Even the toilet signs were plain weird – the sign for disabled has a man with a broken leg that appears to be bandaged up with toilet roll.

Barbara Ehrenreich charts the rise of positive thinking in the US in her book Smile and Die – it seems that this is yet another US import, like workfare, that is being used to punish the poor. Does the government honestly think that sending unemployed people to these courses, where we are bombarded with pseudo psychology about positive thinking, will actually make any difference at all to unemployment? I would argue that they are actively harmful to unemployed people who spend the time being blamed for the situation that we find ourselves in and being offered ‘solutions’ that will make no difference whatsoever, and may even reduce one’s job prospects – for example we were told ‘no need to be nice and fluffy about it, tell them straight up. ‘I am the one you’re looking for.’ Like the Matrix – ‘I am the one’ – it was only when he believed he was the one that he became the one’. As well as being at best a waste of our time and at worst mentally distressing and incredibly manipulative, is this really good use of tax payers’ money who are paying A4e for this nonsense?

The entire course was simply one long motivational talk with very little actual real content. (Of course, even if it had been a course that was well structured with decent advice, this will make no difference when the problem is lack of jobs). The main point which was hammered home time and again was that if we believed we could get a job, then it would happen. It was simply our mindset that was the barrier and he seemed intent on us all having mini epiphanies there and then.

James had found himself unemployed for the first time in his life at the age of 60. He had worked in retail but despite his experience he could not find work now because of his age. The employers only want young people. His agent had confirmed to him that it was his age that meant he wasn’t getting past an interview and had suggested to him that he start lying about his age. But our trainer did not accept that it was age discrimination and a saturated job market that were the issues here, rather it was the barrier that James had created in his mind about his age. ‘We are a product…if we’re not talking and bigging up that product, then we can’t expect anyone to buy that product.’ ‘Age is not a barrier, the only barrier is here [pointing to his head] we create it’. He kept on ‘working’ on James as he said it ‘takes a bit of breaking down’ to create an ‘opening’.

I was getting really frustrated by this point with this focus on the individual so I said that it wasn’t James that was the problem, it was age discrimination, and that there was very little he could do about it, that it was an issue that we needed to address as a society. That young black men have an unemployment rate that is 50% so the issues here were discrimination and that however positively they thought, this would not change the reality. That we need to look at the bigger picture and not focus on the individual. He laughed at my idea that we should deal with this issue as a society and then he turned it all back onto me – ‘you’ve got all these hooks on you…it’s your way of being…you need to shift the way you look at it. You’ve got all this anger and frustration and that’s stopping you from getting a job. It comes across in your CV’. I’d just like to point out that he has never seen my CV. He later told me, in a personality assessment that he did for all of us at the end, that he liked my fire and passion and that he wanted to help me channel my fire so that it could shine brightly.

His attempts to modify our individual ‘beings’ in order for us to ‘create’ jobs through our new attitudes bordered on ludicrous at times. He picked up a pen and asked ‘what is this?’ ‘a pen’ I responded rather stonily. He then went around the class – whilst a couple of others stated that it was a pen, others caught on that maybe it wasn’t a pen… ‘it’s a tool’, ‘a writing implement’. He put us out of our misery ‘it’s a long piece of plastic with a small bit of plastic on top, and when you open it up, it’s a pen’. I honestly missed the point of this. He then stated a little later – ‘a pen is a pen, a cup is a cup’ much to my confusion and bemusement.

In an attempt to show us how it’s really done, he told us of his own experience getting his job at A4e. ‘When they said, ‘why do you want to work here?’ I said [pause for dramatic effect] Because I believe in human beings’’ There was genuinely a hushed silence. That explains why I don’t have a job yet, because at my last interview I told them I believed in unicorns. And he continued, ‘because I am part of the human race’. The man next to me was so impressed – ‘you out-foxed them there’.

Whilst at times, there were very funny moments, which I was able to tweet about which helped pass the time, the seriousness of what we were sitting through was brought home to me when he told us of another course that he had just started running called ‘Launch Pad’ for single parents, mostly mothers. The course involves 4 weeks in the classroom, 4 weeks in the workplace. In his first group of 7 – all of them got a job apparently. In the second group of 7 he said that they all went onto work placements. I am greatly concerned that the work placements sound like workfare. And I am horrified at the idea of this man ‘training’ single parents for 4 weeks. My mother was a single parent when she brought me up – she received pitiful benefits for the incredible amount of work that looking after me involved. She suffered from severe depression as well. The idea that she would be told the mantra of choice and responsibility and forced into work terrifies me.

Disabled people too may be forced onto these training courses. Will they be told that their disability is in their head and can be overcome by changing their attitude?

I spent two days being told to sell myself like an iPhone. I tried to point out that however many apps I had, or however many megapixels the inbuilt camera had, the market wasn’t interested. Instead of blaming the individual we must look at the wider picture at the structural causes that have caused unemployment, and act collectively to bring about real change. These programmes are incredibly manipulative and judgemental and a distraction from the real problems. They could cause real harm to vulnerable people. The trainer told me that anger was not productive, but we have every right to be furious at our treatment by this government and A4e.



Thanks to everyone on Twitter who gave me messages of support – it made the whole experience so much more bearable. I would really encourage others who find themselves sent on one of these courses to tweet and write about their experiences so that we can challenge this crap together.

I took notes so that job seekers could perhaps skip the course and get the main points here – maybe the government could just give us the money that would have been spent on the course.

‘I call it – what we know what we know (sic) – we’re just taught what we know’. To try and explain this a little more, basically, we are told these things, such as you’re too old, and then we believe them and don’t challenge them and that explains our position in life, rather than there being any systemic inequalities…I think that’s what he was saying.

‘but if you believe in yourself and believe in what you have to offer…then you create it’

‘you have to change the programme a bit…the way we talk about the product is the way we should be talking about ourselves…there’s nothing broken, there’s nothing to fix’.

Responding to my pleas to look at the reality of the situation using job statistics – ‘all those things in the way – they’re real, if we’re going out there to get a job, then we need to be the best…you have to think the best’.

His impersonation of an unemployed person’s day ‘You wake up, maybe a bit late, you have some breakfast, a cigarette, by the time you get round to job searching, it’s 11 o’clock, you do half an hour, then you think, oooh, I’ll make lunch and do it in the afternoon.’

‘one of our biggest enemies is ourselves’

To one member of the class ‘stop wasting your life…for you its responsibility…you’re lacking responsibility. Your life right now is a choice. You choose it to be that way, you can make it another way.’

‘how we use our words, how we language it, really matters’.

‘Each of you are professionals in your own domain. If you speak of yourself as a professional, your attitude changes…why not be a professional all of the time –it resonates…’

‘body language is real – it’s part of communication – it’s key’

‘The whole game is a conversation, [say to an employer] ‘this is who I am…If you want to be with the best, I’m the best’

how many of you guys look at a woman and think ‘ooooohhhh’ and then when they open their mouths and speak to you, you’re completely put off’.

On your CV ‘instead of writing excellent communication skills, write ability to communicate at all levels’.
‘you are the product – you either believe it or you don’t’.

Don’t use boxes on your CV ‘If I took you and put you in a box, what am I doing to you, how will you feel in the box?…They have their judgements – if you start to put boxes on it shows we’re restricted, we’re not explosive and out there’.

‘It’s like a date, you go out, you flirt…either you want to continue it or not. Your cover letter and CV is like your first date. You don’t tell them everything on a first date’.

And, finally, in our ‘Stay Positive During Your Job Search’ leaflet it informs us that whilst it is ‘unrealistic to think you will be 100% positive each moment of the day’ you should only allow yourself ‘thirty minutes, one day a week, to lament your situation and then get back to the search’.

Seven Atos doctors under investigation

Seven doctors employed by the company that carries out controversial “fitness to work” tests for the government are being investigated by the General Medical Council (GMC).

At least one of the doctors has been the subject of more than one complaint, with a total of 10 cases under investigation.

Although the seven doctors work for Atos Healthcare, the company that carries out the work capability assessments on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions, the GMC said it could not confirm whether the complaints related to their work for Atos.

Disabled people forced to undergo the assessments have repeatedly complained about the attitude of Atos staff.
Only last week, two Atos employees – a nurse and an administrator – were caught making offensive comments about their disabled customers on the social networking website Facebook.

Atos is investigating those complaints, while a complaint about the nurse’s comments has also been lodged with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

A GMC spokesman said: “Regardless of the type of work a doctor does they must follow the same standards of good medical practice set by the General Medical Council, including making the care of your patient your first concern.

“We can and do take action to remove or restrict a doctor’s right to practise if there have been serious failures to meet our standards.”

The NMC said it was unable to say if any Atos nurses were under investigation.

An NMC spokeswoman said: “Under our disclosure guidance we cannot confirm if someone is under investigation until it has been referred for a hearing.”

An Atos spokeswoman confirmed that seven of its doctors were under investigation, but said this was less than one per cent of the doctors the company employed.

She added: “We wouldn’t comment on the individual cases of the doctors.”

She declined to say how many Atos nurses were under investigation, but said the company was “committed to providing a high quality, professional service and requires these standards of all its employees”.

She added: “Any complaint made about an employee is taken extremely seriously. In addition to our own, rigorous, internal investigations we will cooperate with any external investigation to ensure that all facts are properly established and the appropriate action taken.”

News provided by John Pring at www.disabilitynewsservice.com

Government invoke Godwin’s law to refuse to meet disabled people

Esther McVey: Talk to the hand

The government has cited one line in the guest  foreward of a review of the work capability assessment as the reason why it refuses to meet with representatives of sick and disabled people. The line they objected to referred to wounded soldiers being sent back to the front by the Nazis.

As Michael Meacher MP said in Parliament “This work is evidence based, uses the DWP’s figures wherever possible, has never been challenged on accuracy.” He pointed out that it has been used by the Work and Pensions select committee, the joint committee on human rights, and in many parliamentary debates.

Mark Hoban, Minister of State for Work and Pensions, refused to meet Meacher to talk about the Work Capability Assessment and he flatly refused to meet representatives of We Are Spartacus. In Michael Meacher’s own words:

He simply replied blankly “I’m not seeing you”, and repeated it 3 0r 4 times.   I kept on insisting ‘Why not?’ and finally he said “I’m not seeing Spartacus”.   Again I was taken aback and asserted that in my view Spartacus had analysed hundreds of cases, prepared a very detailed and thoughtful analysis of the implications arising from these cases, and even if he disagreed strongly for whatever reasons it was his responsibility to meet them.   To this he simply kept repeating “I’m not meeting Spartacus”.

Michael Meacher took it to the speaker of the house and arranged a debate to face Hoban in Parliament. Hoban didn’t turn up. Instead he send Esther McVey, Minister for Disabled People. Who publicly refused to meet disabled people. The reason given, eventually, was that it “wouldn’t be constructive”. The evidence presented was one sentence from the guest foreward of The People’s Review of the Work Capability Assessment.

The process is reminiscent of the medical tribunals that returned shell shocked and badly wounded soldiers to duty in the first world war or the ‘KV-machine’, the medical commission the Nazis used in the second world war to play down wounds so that soldiers could be reclassified ‘fit for the Eastern front’.

- Guest Foreward to The People’s Review of the Work Capability Assessment by Professor Peter Beresford OBE, BA Hons, PhD, AcSS, FRSA, Dip WP, Professor of Social Policy, Brunel University

The government have essentially invoked Godwin’s Law to get out of meeting the most effective campaign against their welfare policy. They are afraid, desperate, and grabbing at any way out they can find.

Please sign the WOW petition to call for a cumulative impact assessment of the government’s welfare reforms.

Michael Meacher MP: DWP Ministers run frit of seeing delegation on Atos Healthcare
Benefit Scrounging Scum: Polite? Constructive? Request to meet with Minister Mark Hoban 10/2012
We Are Spartacus: The People’s Review of the Work Capability Assessment
Where’s The Benefit: Is It Coz We Is Disabled?
A Latent Existence: Godwin’s Law Must Die
We Are Spartacus

A Latent Existence

Why won't DWP REALLY meet Spartacus?

Reblogged from Sue Marsh:

Any of you who just watched the car-crash that was Esther McVey trying to undermine the credibility of the Spartacus network, might like to see the quote that upset ministers so much, they refuse to meet us and treat us like aggressive radicals.

The quote, picked out  from 100s of 1000s of words laid bare over the last 3 years. You can decide for yourselves if you think it justifies DWP not meeting leading disability campaigners.

"The WCA is a statement of political desperation. The process is reminiscent of the medical tribunals that returned shell shocked and badly wounded soldiers to duty in the first world war or the ‘KV-machine’, the medical commission the Nazis used in the second world war to play down wounds so that soldiers could be reclassified ‘fit for the Eastern front".

- Quoted from:
       Professor Peter Beresford OBE, BA Hons, PhD, AcSS, FRSA Dip WP
       Professor of Social Policy, Brunel University

 

Diary of a Benefit Scrounger

Harrington’s replacement helped devise ATOS ‘fitness for work’ test

The government has announced the name of the man who will continue the crucial task of reviewing its “fitness for work” test.

Dr Paul Litchfield will replace Professor Malcolm Harrington, who published his third and final annual review of the work capability assessment (WCA) in November.

Litchfield is chief medical officer and director of health, safety and wellbeing for BT, and his areas of expertise include the impact that mental ill-health can have on job prospects.

But Litchfield will be reviewing an assessment he played a part in creating.

He was a member of the mental health technical working group that was set up in 2006 by the Labour government as part of its plans to “transform” the personal capability assessment (PCA), which tested eligibility for incapacity benefit (IB).

He was also a member of a working group set up by Labour to help replace the PCA with the WCA, as part of the move from IB to employment and support allowance, the new out-of-work disability benefit.

He is also the joint author of a report for the Labour government on mental health and employment. His co-authors were Rachel Perkins, now chair of Equality 2025, the government’s advisory network of disabled people, and Paul Farmer, chief executive of the mental health charity Mind.

Litchfield said he was “pleased and honoured” to be asked to continue Harrington’s work, and added: “Most of my career has been devoted to trying to help people with physical and mental health problems in the context of employment. 

“Any assessment not only has to be fair but must be perceived as being fair and I hope that I can continue the process of improving the work capability assessment.”

Farmer welcomed Litchfield’s appointment, and said his former colleague had “a wealth of knowledge and experience in the fields of occupational and mental health”.

But he said: “Although the previous reviews by Professor Harrington have made a number of recommendations which have been implemented to improve the WCA, there are still some key problems with the assessment for people with mental health problems that have been highlighted but have yet to be addressed.

“We look forward to working with Dr Litchfield in his new role to drive forward the implementation of existing recommendations as well as collaborating on identifying and correcting outstanding issues with the WCA.”

Neil Coyle, director of policy and campaigns for Disability Rights UK, said he was concerned with the areas Litchfield would look at in the fourth review.

He said: “The review has to be focused on improving the ‘user’ experience, cutting avoidable appeals and helping disabled people into work.”

Harrington concluded in December that progress in improving the WCA had been “slower than hoped for”, but insisted that he had not heard or seen any “compelling arguments or evidence” that the whole system should be scrapped.

Many disabled activists were critical of his failure to be more hard-hitting in his three reviews, particularly over the performance of Atos Healthcare, which carries out the assessments.

In the same month that Harrington published his final report, two evidence-based reports by disabled activists were far more critical about the WCA system.

The People’s Review of the Work Capability Assessment found disabled people were still experiencing humiliating and inappropriate treatment because of failings embedded within the WCA.

And a survey of more than 700 people by Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) revealed the “tricks, barriers and bullying tactics” being used to prevent disabled people having their WCAs recorded by Atos.
The DPAC report said there was “a clear theme” of individual claimants who viewed the WCA as a “war-like situation for their survival”.

Mark Hoban, the Conservative employment minister, said in a statement: “Dr Litchfield brings with him a huge amount of expertise and experience, so I am very pleased that he will be carrying out this review.
“We have already made considerable improvements to the work capability assessment, so this is a great opportunity to build on the progress made so far.”

Source

Shameful Failure to Tackle Slavery and Human Trafficking in the UK

'Ministers, the police and social workers have been accused of a 'shocking' failure to prevent the spread of modern slavery in the UK, leading to sexual exploitation, forced labour and the domestic servitude of adults and children from across the world.

Describing government ministers as 'clueless' in their response to tackling human trafficking, both into and within the UK, the most exhaustive inquiry yet conducted into the phenomenon concludes that the approach to eradicating modern slavery is fundamentally wrong-headed.

Instead of helping vulnerable victims who are trapped into forms of slavery after being trafficked from overseas, the legal system prosecutes many for immigration offences.'

Read more: 'Shameful' Failure to Tackle Slavery and Human Trafficking in the UK

Letter from Iain Duncan Smith:ATOS/DWP are doing a great job

DPAC's Website goes down - shortly after publishing a letter from Iain Duncan Smith

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Update 08 March 2013

http://www.dpac.uk.net/2013/03/letter-from-iain-duncan-smithatosdwp-are-doing-a-great-job/

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05 March 2013, 23:17:26

Letter from Iain Duncan Smith:ATOS/DWP are doing a great job

05 March 2013, 23:17:26 | admin2

We’ve been passed a letter from Iain Duncan Smith (IDS) to an individual’s local MP.  That individual has asked us to publish the letter because surprise, surprise IDS  is defending Atos and says they are doing a great job- we know that the reality is very different. We know the misery and distress that Atos is causing and we know that [...]

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Work When You’re Sick Say New DWP Guidelines

New advice issued to doctors, patients and employers on sick pay shows just how far the Government intend to push the brutal regime for people on disability or sickness benefits into the workplace.

The DWP recently renamed ‘sick notes’ as ‘fit notes’ which in the new guidance has led to some genuinely Orwellian gobbledygook in the guidance such as:  “if your employee’s doctor thinks they are fit for work, they will not be issued with a fit note.”

Just like the despised Atos run Work Capability Assessment, doctors can now declare a patient ‘fit for work’, unfit for work, or capable of some work but not necessarily the job they usually do.  This means that if an employer makes some changes to a staff member’s working conditions then they may be forced back to work.

The new rules, which were devised in consultation with the Confederation of British Industry, seem little more than an attempt to bully people into work when they aren’t really well enough.  The document is littered with bold claims that work is good for your health such as “People can often come back to work before they are 100% fit – in fact work can even help their recovery”.

Nowhere in the documents does it warn that people’s conditions may also be made far worse by going back to work before they are ready.

Bosses have welcomed the chance to force their sick employees back to work with one quoted as calling the new system ‘a joy’:

“The joy of the fit note is that it’s flexible enough for us to interpret and fit the GP’s recommendation within the context of our business.”

The truth is that the DWP are playing a dangerous game and could tempt employers into a legal minefield.  One stark warning says:  “You may need to carry out a risk assessment to accommodate the clinical judgment in the fit note (eg if it states that your employee should avoid lifting, you are liable if you give them work that involves manual handling).”

In a further complication, according to guidance from Citizen’s Advice, if employers refuse to make changes to an employee’s working conditions to accommodate doctor’s recommendations, then they are still liable to pay Statutory Sick Pay.  The confusion doesn’t even end there.  ‘Fit Notes’ are advice only and bosses are not legally obliged to follow that advice.  They can sack you even if a doctor claims you are too ill to work.  They could however then be taken to court.  Employment tribunal lawyers will be rubbing their hands in glee at the DWP’s meddling with an already complex  legal situation.

The DWP have already shown they are happy to play fast and loose with the Courts.  Bosses who act the same way may be in for an expensive shock.

The guidance can be read at: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/fitnote/

Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid

The Void

This is what ESA/WCA means for sick and disabled people [Ekklesia]

As part of a new campaign to highlight the highly damaging impact of the government's welfare changes, particularly in relation to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), activist Sue Marsh (http://diaryofabenefitscrounger.blogspot.co.uk/) launched #ESAendgame, the first of a range of mobilising activities, on Twitter and on her web page yesterday (6 March 2013).

The aim is to get people talking about the human impact of ESA, and of the WCA (Work Capability Assessment) overseen by the DWP and implemented by ATOS and others, which is what someone has to go through to qualify for ESA.

We have excerpted some of the comments and examples people tweeted below. They make harrowing reading. There are a few news and audio links included. These are the stories and experiences which politicians, civil servants, policy makers and media operatives need to see in order to understand the massive damage being occasioned by the government's assault on welfare.

Ekklesia believes that social, welfare and benefits policy should be shaped by human determinants, by an economics of sharing rather than hoarding, and above all by the expertise, experience and perspective of those living at the sharp-end - not by decision-makers living in remote comfort, protected by spin-doctors.


Here is what #ESAendgame revealed:

"The DWP sends very poorly terminally ill people like me into the Work Related Activity Group - we're not 'fit for work' any time soon, we're dying."

"Elaine's body was found in a drain. The Inquest heard she was worried about a benefit entitlement meeting."
"My terminal friend had to explain 'how terminal?' was her terminal cancer to the JSA office. She died four months later."

"If you became ill or disabled would you want to live in constant fear of becoming destitute?"

"A Freedom of Information document from the DWP has revealed that rather than an average of 32 deaths per week as a result of Welfare Reform that figure has now risen to an average of 73 deaths per week." http://welfarenewsservice.com/nothing-short-of-barbaric/

"I live in a crip's body, wracked with pain, high on drugs to dull pain receptors, have restricted movement but brain works fine."

"I was pushed into oncoming traffic whilst waiting at traffic lights in my wheelchair followed by shouts of 'scrounging scum'."

"Quote from ATOS Work Capability Assessment: 'And how long have you had Down’s Syndrome?'"

"According to the DWP's own research, 92 per cent of UK businesses will not consider employing a blind person. WCA [is] oblivious to this fact."

"Far from 'helping people back to work' the truth regarding ESA is [that] it causes additional suffering and makes sick people sicker."

"The DWP, with no medical experience, can declare you fit for work despite evidence from professionals. This is just wrong."

"Now too old for ESA, but hear about too many people with terminal cancer being told they should be in work."

"Fury as benefits bullies DWP force 50,000 disabled Scots to go back to work." tinyurl.com/b7fqneb

"I object to having my illness tested by a points scoring system. If doctors did this, hospitals would be virtually empty."

"New rules allow assessors to completely disregard symptoms."

"The One Year Time Limit totally undermines any contributory principle."

"Is it fair that ill/disabled have to justify said illness to someone who knows nothing about it? Justify it?"

"My WCA assessment stated I couldn't work. DWP overturned it and placed me in a WRAG. Took a year to overturn at tribunal."

"Claimants could be left without any income replacement benefit at all when challenging a decision that they are fit for work, the government has confirmed."

"My fight for my ESA is temporarily over, many more are still fighting."

"Why should someone who has to spend the bulk of their energy on dealing with pain, fatigue, and staying alive be forced to work?"

"Most people's impairments can be accommodated in the right job with the right support - but those jobs are few and far between."

"ESA is finding people fit for the dole queue, not fit for any kind of realistic and suitable employment."

"The worst thing about ESA is the constant reassessment of people who won't get better."

"The tragedy of Alice: How the Work Capability Assessment costs lives - its impact on people with mental health problems is more serious than ATOS have acknowledged." http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/03/tragedy-alice

"One day I was a valued member of society, the next day I was a dirty, filthy scrounger who bankrupted the UK."

"All the people I tweeted about who died were real and their stories can be found here." http://t.co/ZRsZzVlkoO [*.PDF file]

"Seems saying I have frequent co-morbid tendencies at my ESA WCA means I'm OK to work. Who knew?"

"Full of rage for the contempt in which people are held. Human beings. Full of fear for the future when I'll need to apply."

"A man who doused himself with petrol and tried to set himself alight in a job centre after a dispute over benefits has been jailed for 20 months."

"April 2013 sees the end of contribution-based ESA. All claims will only last for a year even if you have paid 40+ years of National Insurance (NI)."

"ATOS incompetence: 'When did you catch autism?'"

"The claimant has no right to know the qualifications of the WCA assessors. You could have a physio assessing autism."

"One ATOS [assessor] was described, by my brief at my tribunal hearing, as 'certifying a chair fit for work'. Everyone knew him."

"I'd like to know how qualified these ESA 'advisors' actually are. More visibility, please."

"A person whose cousin was on disability benefit, dying of liver failure: the DWP stopped her benefit and she had to appeal against it, enduring eight weeks of 'worry, hopelessness and grief' before dying two days before her family received notification that her appeal had been granted."

"One of the most stressful events in life, is moving home - the government's bedroom tax is deliberately inflicting this on disabled."

"A man 63 dies of kidney failure and starvation after being cut off benefits and declared 'fit for work'."
"Please tell me, Government, what have I done to deserve this abuse and suffering from you?"

"The bullying tactics of DWP and ATOS." http://alonewewhisper.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/the-bullying-tactics-of-dwp...

"Why are we spending millions of pounds finding sick people fit for jobs that don't exist?"

"ATOS: The world's silliest interview." http://loopys-rollingwiththepunches.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/esa-sos-world...

"Worst thing about ESA is [that] they ignore long-term medical knowledge about people in favour of a 10-minute ATOS interview."

"Simon Hickmans ATOS assessment. This is how they treat people with mental health problems." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG9a22hbrcY

"This is very much like my assessment, but I felt couldn't walk out and I had no-one with me or any support of any kind, so I got trampled over by ATOS and got zero points."

"Government policy on disability assessment doesn't work and is wasting my taxes, and making the lives of the disabled even harder."

"We hope that you'll never understand what the fear of the brown envelope means, but just in case please sign the WOW petition: http://wowpetition.com/

------

Ekklesia is honoured and pleased to be working with disability researchers and campaigners in helping to link analysis with advocacy, political lobbying and media awareness-building around welfare, benefits and disability policy.

See also:

* Sue Marsh's blog on Ekklesia: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/suemarsh
* Disability issues on Ekklesia: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/disability
* Truth and lies about poverty, benefits and welfare: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/18086
* Thousands of disabled and sick people will be hit by new ESA/WCA changes: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/17812

Source

ME/FMS/CFS Parliamentary Questions | Graham Brady, MP | 4 March 2013

Graham Brady, Conservative MP for Altrincham and Sale West, put down three questions for the Health Secretary. Written answers were provided by Norman Lamb MP, the Minister for Care and Support, on 4 March 2013.

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Question 1:

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To ask the Secretary of State for Health


(1) on what (a) advice and (b) evidential basis his Department defines myalgic encephalomyelitis as a psychological condition;

(2) what assessment his Department has made of the findings of the PACE trial relating to the effectiveness of (a) cognitive behavioural therapy and (b) graded exercise therapy for people with myalgic encephalomyelitis.

ANSWER

The Department considers the condition chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis to be a neurological condition of unknown origin.

We have not carried out any specific assessment of the findings of the PACE trial.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) supports clinical decision-making in the national health service by developing guidance and recommendations on the effectiveness of treatments. NICE routinely reviews the need to update its guidance in order to take account of the latest available evidence. As an independent body, NICE is responsible for assessing which evidence should be considered as part of this process.

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Question 2:

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To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions officials of his Department have had with the Medical Research Council on the possibility of conducting further research to evaluate the outcomes of studies which have reported evidence of the presence of retroviruses in patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome.

ANSWER: Officials have had no discussions.

The Medical Research Council funds (MRC) funds medical research in the field of medical science by awarding grants to research organisations.

Research organisations may submit unsolicited research proposals at any time in any field of research relevant to the MRC’s remit. In addition, research organisations can submit proposals in response to calls for proposals and highlight notices, which focus on key strategic areas.

Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis is currently a highlighted area and a high priority for the MRC and the Council has implemented a number of initiatives to stimulate high quality research in this area. The MRC is independent in its choice of which research to support.

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Question 3:

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To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration his Department has given to and what discussions officials of his Department have had with the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence on issuing separate clinical guidelines for myalgic encephalomyelitis and for other fatiguing disorders set out in the World Health Organisation classification system.

ANSWER: We have had no such discussions.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published its clinical guideline on the diagnosis and management of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy) in adults and children in August 2007. NICE periodically reviews its published guidance in order to take account of the latest available evidence.

ME Association

Unum: Getting rich on disability denial

Debbie Jolly reports on US insurance giant Unum, whose ‘biopsychosocial model’ is being used to justify the devastating cuts in disability benefits

When the Tory work and pensions undersecretary Lord David Freud set out his vision of welfare reform for disabled people he used a number of references to back up his plans. No fewer than 170 of these references came from a group of academics based at or connected to Cardiff University’s Centre for Psychosocial and Disability Research.

This centre, originally led by the ex‑chief medical officer at the Department for Work and Pensions, Sir Mansel Alyward, was funded by the US-based insurance giant Unum to the tune of £1.6 million from 2004 to 2009. The objective was to add academic credibility to the ‘biopsychosocial model’ that has underpinned disability benefits reform since the early 1990s – a model used as part of the government’s disability benefits crackdown by the private company Atos in identifying who is deemed to be ‘fit for work’ and hence ineligible for disability support.

So what is the biopsychosocial model? In this context, its key postulate is that an emphasis on medical causes and effects has failed to provide an adequate basis for disability benefits policy, and therefore much greater emphasis should be placed on the psychological attitudes and beliefs of individuals. It posits that disability – and the ability to work in particular – is not just a medically definable, physical matter but one that has a social and psychological dimension too. And it is used to underpin the assertion that to a very large extent the growth in the cost of disability benefits must surely be the result of people faking those disabilities.

A whole set of workshops run by Unum with such charming titles as ‘Malingering and illness deception’ should leave us in no doubt about where this approach is coming from. A glance at popular media would appear to substantiate such a view. However, the headline figures of those considered ‘fit for work’ by Atos always miss the successful appeals at tribunal, which significantly reduce those figures (and incidentally cost the taxpayer £50-80 million per year). Who is gaining from this system?

Unum’s second vice-president John LoCascio was brought into UK government circles as early as 1992 to ‘manage’ incapacity benefit claims. He was also responsible for bringing in ‘health assessors’ and training them by Unum criteria in biopsychosocial views of individual capacity. Back in the US this approach led to the company (which currently provides disability insurance for 25 million workers, half the US market) systematically refusing to pay out on huge numbers of insurance claims. One of its working practices that received widespread negative attention involved rewarding employees with ‘hungry vulture awards’ for their success in closing claims.

Unum’s behaviour resulted in it being accused of being ‘an outlaw company – it is a company that for years has operated in an illegal fashion’ by California insurance commissioner John Garamendi in 2005, when it was charged with more than 25 violations of state law and fined $8 million. These charges followed a financial and regulatory settlement in the previous year with 48 US states following investigations of Unum’s alleged abuses.

Nevertheless this same basic approach was to prove useful in helping with the UK’s welfare reform and in overriding the basis of medical opinion as the deciding factor on a whole set of conditions. And the more the government bought into disability denial with its contracted private companies such as Atos and supporting academics, the more Unum stood to benefit from increased market returns on its insurance business as disabled people saw their minimal welfare support diminishing.

The company was quick to seize its opportunities. As early as 1997, with the roll out of the all work test to assess fitness for work for benefit purposes, in which John LoCascio had played a major part, Unum launched an expensive advertising campaign. One ad ran: ‘April 13, unlucky for some. Because tomorrow the new rules on state incapacity benefit announced in the 1993 autumn budget come into effect. Which means that if you fall ill and have to rely on state incapacity benefit, you could be in serious trouble.’

Unlucky for some, lucky for Unum.

Red Pepper

Coalition's support fund won't protect disabled from bedroom tax

The £30m fund promised by David Cameron will cover just £2.71 of the £14-a-week loss in housing benefit facing disabled claimants.

By far the most troubling aspect of the "bedroom tax", which comes into effect on 1 April, is the impact it will have on the disabled. The policy, which will see housing benefit reduced by 14 per cent for those deemed to have one spare room and by 25 per cent for those with two or more, currently takes no account of those families for whom this additional space is not a luxury but a necessity. For instance, a disabled person who suffers from disrupted sleep may be unable to share a room with their partner, likewise a disabled child with their brothers and sisters. The same applies to those recovering from an illness or an operation.

While those disabled tenants who receive overnight care from a non-residential carer will not be charged for an extra room, those who live with their carer (such as a family member) will have their housing benefit reduced. Of the 660,000 social housing tenants that will be affected, the DWP estimates that 420,000 are disabled. From April, they will be forced to pay an average of £14 a week more in rent or an extra £728 a year. As a result, many face the unpalatable choice of either falling into arrears or downsizing to a property unsuitable for their needs.

When challenged to defend the decision not to exempt the disabled from the measure, David Cameron has insisted that the most vulnerable tenants will be protected by the £50m Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) fund. At last week's PMQs, he said:

This government always puts disabled people first and that is why we have protected disabled benefits. Specifically on the issue that he raises, there is the £50m fund to support people affected by the under-occupancy measure.

But new research published today by the National Housing Federation shows just how inadequate this support is. First, of the £50m referred to by Cameron, £20m comes from general DHP funding, which must cover a wide range of claimants struggling to pay their rent, not just those hit by the bedroom tax. Second, were the remaining £30m to be distributed equally among every claimant of Disability Living Allowance affected (229,803 in total), they would each receive just £2.51 per week, compared to the average weekly loss in housing benefit of £14. With the fund also intended to support foster families, whose children are not counted as part of the household for benefit purposes, the disabled may not even receive this paltry amount.
In a recent letter to George Osborne calling for the disabled to be exempt from the cut, the heads of seven charities, including Carers UK, Mencap and Macmillan Cancer support, cited two typical cases (see Frances Ryan's recent NS post for others).

Jean and Carl live in a two bedroom house. Carl has suffered from serious health complications for years and is now unable to work as a result of a series of operations and treatment. Jean juggles caring for her husband with a job at a local supermarket. They are unable to share a room because Carl’s condition causes very disrupted sleep and if they share Jean cannot sleep. Her shifts at work mean she frequently has to be up at 4am and she would simply be unable to do this if she could not get a good night’s sleep. They fear they will not be able to make up the shortfall in their Housing Benefit and if forced to downsize Jean is worried about her ability to do her job if she is unable to sleep properly (names changed to preserve anonymity).

Jodie has two sons Kian, aged eight and Ashton, aged seven who has Down’s Syndrome and Autism. Ashton does not sleep. He wakes through out the night and head butts the wall. Jodie has to get up and calm him several times a night. Jodie was going to be housed in a two bed house, but the social worker and the family doctor said that they needed an extra room, because of Ashton’s care needs. Ashton at times has difficult behaviour and Kian needs his own space for his health and wellbeing and for his performance at school.

It these personal stories that Labour believes could turn public opinion against the government on welfare reform. Shadow work and pensions minister Liam Byrne will launch a new party campaign against the bedroom tax in Hull today, where 4,700 tenants will be affected by the policy but where there are just 73 one and two bedroom properties available to let. Unsurprisingly, Byrne will remind voters that five days after the bedroom tax is introduced, the government will reduce the top rate of income tax from 50p to 45p, benefiting 8,000 millionaires by an average of £107,500 a year (see the recently-launched "Tory Millionaire's Day" campaign).

Coalition ministers remain confident that the public will accept the logic of the policy. Private sector tenants do not receive a "spare room subsidy" (as Tory chairman Grant Shapps has dubbed it), so why should those in social housing? In addition, they will challenge Labour to say how it would raise the £1.05bn the policy will save over the next two years (although housing experts have said savings could be limited or even non-existent as families are forced into the private sector, where rents are higher, leading to a consequent rise in the housing benefit bill). Would it cut spending on schools and hospitals instead? But the politically toxic decision to reduce taxes for the highest earners has made every spending cut that much harder to justify.

New Statesman

Atos Are Just Medical Mercenaries Leeching off the Vulnerable…

John Mackintosh a so-called Manager for the WCA Process at Atos thinks his company is compassionate, this poor fellow has obviously been taking some medication which changes his perception of Compassion.

Any employee who stands up and defends this companies actions are idiots, how can this man defend the indefensible, how can he defend his company’s total lack of compassion, something which if he bothered to research he would know about, his companies appalling treatment of severely sick & disabled people is well documented for all to see.

Mr.Mackintosh said

“We run a large, highly complex, national operation, with around 1,400 doctors, nurses and physiotherapists assessing around 15,000 people each week.”

 The so-called Doctors, Nurses, Physiotherapists that are employed by Atos only do the job because it’s easy money especially If you don’t have a caring bone in your body, no ethical Doctor/Nurse/Physio would ever take employment with Atos, it’s impossible to decide a person’s ability by a system that was devised by an Insurance company to deny disabled people their rightful entitlement to benefits, it’s a complete fraud of an assessment.
Those who work for Atos are not medical professionals but medical mercenaries who’ve sold themselves to the highest bidder, lining their pockets at the expense of those who cannot defend themselves.

If it wasn’t so serious I may laugh but it is very serious indeed, Atos are trying to defend themselves by saying that it is not them who decides who get’s benefits etc, we know that but in reality the DWP continues to rubber stamp their ludicrous and fraudulent so-called medical/functionability reports, how can any report about a person’s ability to perform certain tasks be made without looking at the individuals medical problems/diseases, being able to hold a carton of milk doesn’t mean a person can work in an office, being able to use ones legs doesn’t mean you are capable of getting to work, the whole assessment process is NOT about making sure the money goes to the right people, it’s all about the political elite trying to REDEFINE DISABILITY?

The profits that Atos are making have increased 36%, sure it’s not all from assessing disabled people but a percentage of it is, the mortuaries are starting to get backed up with the victims of the persecution carried out by Atos, the smoke is billowing from the crematoria more and more, the air is being filled with the toxic excuses of a fraudulent & disreputable company who cares little about its reputation so long as it makes money, money from the deaths of innocent vulnerable people, destroying families lives in its wake.

Atos has caused more damage to society than any oil leak into the sea, when a ship leaks its oil there’s a clean up, with the Atos WCA Assessment process there’s only one outcome, death or continual reassessment by a bunch of disgusting unethical individuals…

Paul Smith 

Atos Victims Group News

DWP manipulated DLA figures to justify cuts, say MPs

The government has been accused by MPs of “manipulating” its own benefit statistics in a bid to justify scrapping working-age disability living allowance (DLA).

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) claimed that the number of DLA claimants was increasing, but neglected to point out that working-age recipients have actually been falling.

On Monday – the same day that Channel 4 aired a Dispatches investigation into the reforms – DWP released a “statistical update”, which it said showed the number of successful claimants of DLA had risen by 15,000 between February and May 2012.

But analysis of DWP figures by Disability News Service (DNS) has shown that the rise in claimants is due to increases in the number of children and older people receiving DLA, while the number of claimants aged 16-64 actually fell by more than 1,600.

This is important because the reforms and cuts will only affect working-age claimants, with DLA for that group to be gradually replaced by the new personal independence payment (PIP) from April.

Stephen Lloyd, the disabled Liberal Democrat MP, who has previously criticised the coalition for “pandering to the Daily Mail” – after it published a misleading press release about the results of its “fitness for work” tests – said he was “extremely angry at this sleight of hand by the DWP”.

He is to write to Esther McVey, the Conservative minister for disabled people, to highlight his concerns about her department’s “massaging of the stats”.

Anne McGuire, Labour’s shadow minister for disabled people, said it was “yet another example of the DWP manipulating the figures on DLA to suit their agenda of abolishing DLA”.

She said: “I find it astonishing that it was not made clear that the number of working age applicants are falling, and can only conclude that this did not suit their agenda.

disabilitynewsservice.com/2013/03/govern...try-to-justify-cuts/

Government deliberately misrepresenting the poor, say churches



Churches claim several "myths" have emerged as a result of the way information is used



By John McManus
BBC News

The government is deliberately misusing evidence and statistics to misrepresent the plight of the poor, a report says.

The Methodist and United Reformed Churches, the Church of Scotland and the Baptist Union jointly published the The Lies We Tell Ourselves study.

Researchers said evidence had been skewed to put the blame for poverty at the door of the poor themselves.

The government said it had always made it clear that the system was failing people, not the other way around.

Complex reasons

The churches said that a number of "myths" about welfare claimants have arisen as a result of statistics being misused.

These are repeated by the media and find their way into the popular consciousness.

The myths, according to the churches, pin the blame for poverty directly on those who rely on welfare benefits while ignoring more complex reasons.

These incorrect ideas must be challenged, according to Paul Morrison from the Methodist Church.

He said: "Everybody is complicit - politicians, the media and the general public.

"This is because we have a culture which allows us to tell lies in public life."

Mr Morrison said many people preferred to believe that bad things only happen to "bad people".
The report challenged what it called several misleading ideas about welfare and poverty.

One of these related to the 2011 launch of the government's plan to tackle disruptive families, the Troubled Families programme.

Mental health

Speaking about the programme at the time, Prime Minister David Cameron referred to 120,000 families who were plagued by drug addiction, alcohol dependency and crime.

The report said families counted as "troubled" had to exhibit certain characteristics - none of which actually related to alcohol or drug addiction or criminality.

The largest shared characteristic of the families was, in fact, that the mother had mental health problems.
The report's authors also challenged the idea, repeated by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan-Smith, that in some parts of Britain there are three generations of families where nobody has ever worked.

According to Mr Morrison, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has admitted that no data exists to prove this claim.

In response to the report, the DWP said there was an ongoing debate about the benefits system.
The department's reforms aimed to end the benefits trap and make it easier for those who needed help to get it.

The four churches said they would send a copy of their findings to every MP and MSP.
They have called for an honest debate about poverty, with policy being formed on the basis of clear facts.

Related Stories

• 'Wide differences' in child poverty
• Ex-minister attacks benefit plans
• How did welfare claimants come to be seen as scroungers?

BBC

ESA appeals nightmare confirmed

Created on Tuesday, 26 February 2013 23:45

Claimants could be left without any income replacement benefit at all when challenging a decision that they are fit for work, the government has confirmed.  Once the new system of mandatory reconsiderations before appeals is introduced, employment and support allowance (ESA)claimants will lose their right to be paid the assessment rate when they first challenge a decision.

Instead, they will have to try to sign on as available for work and claim Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) or manage without either benefit until the reconsideration has been carried out.  Only once an appeal has been lodged will they be able to reclaim ESA.  The decision to refuse to pay ESA during the reconsideration period was confirmed by Lord Freud on 13 February, when he told the House of Lords:

“I turn now to ESA. At the moment, if someone appeals a refusal of ESA, it can continue to be paid pending the appeal being heard; this is not changing. What is changing is that there can be no appeal until there has been a mandatory reconsideration. So there will be a gap in payment. In that period-and I repeat that applications will be dealt with quickly so that this is kept to a minimum-the claimant could claim jobseeker’s allowance or universal credit. Alternative sources of funds are available. Of course, he or she may choose to wait for the outcome of the application and then, if necessary, appeal and be paid ESA at that point.”

However, there is no time-limit for how long the DWP can spend carrying out a mandatory reconsideration.  Given the ever increasing workload and ever decreasing staff numbers, the probability of reconsiderations being carried out in weeks rather than months does not seem high.

In addition, some people attempting to claim JSA may find Jobcentre Plus staff attempting to refuse to accept their claim on the grounds that, because of their health condition, they are not available for and actively seeking work.  This may be particularly the case as claimants are likely to be required to continue submitting sick notes in relation to their ESA claim whilst presenting themselves as fit for work in relation to their JSA claim.  Claimants may well find themselves  in the nightmare scenario of being found too fit to claim ESA but too sick to claim JSA.

Even the start date for the new mandatory reconsiderations for ESA is the subject of confusion.  DWP and ministerial statements refer to a start date in April for PIP mandatory reconsiderations and  October  for ESA.  The draft regulations, on the other hand, give a start date of 8th April for PIP and 29 April for ESA, JSA and universal credit mandatory reconsiderations.  We’ll keep you posted.

http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk

DWP bullying of mentally ill and vulnerable has to stop

A plea from Lynn Blackmore:

“Please would people kindly sign this petition which ends 20th March.  I have tried very hard to get this to 10,000 signatures but there seems to be apathy when it comes to signing it. I feel if this we’re for a basket of pretty kittens the signatures would have been there in a week like the badger petition, yet human beings who suffer mental ill health don’t seem to count as much in the publics eye!  My son who suffers from schizophrenia, has been in a psychiatric hospital now for 31 months, yet he’s being hassled by ESA, WCA, DWP, asking him if he’s fit for work!  This is crazy, and the bullying of the mentally ill and vulnerable has to stop! All I can do as a distraught and worn out mum now, is beg you to PLEASE sign this so I at least get this to 10,000 signatures, because the Government then HAS TO AT LEAST ACKNOWLEDGE THIS PETITION!”

Here’s a link to Lynn’s petition. With PIP (Personal Independence Payments) seemingly overlooking mental illness it is vital people act. Time is running out for this petition. There are 23 days to get just over 800 people to sign, how hard can that be folks?

Click here to sign