IDS used false statistics to justify disability benefit cuts

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) repeatedly made false claims about the numbers of people living on disability benefits, the official statistics watchdog has found.

Ministers at the DWP repeatedly claimed that the majority of people on disability living allowance (DLA) were given benefits for life without any supporting medical evidence.

According to press releases sent out by the department: "more than 50% of decisions on entitlement are made on the basis of the claim form alone, without any additional corroborating medical evidence."

However, the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) found that the real percentage of claims passed without supporting medical evidence was just 10%.


  The DWP also claimed that "under the current system of DLA, 71% of claimants get indefinite awards without systematic reassessments."

However the UKSA found that in the last two years of the DLA, just 23% and 24% of claimants were given indefinite awards.

The DWP accept that their claims were "ambiguous" and "had not been rechecked by the Department's analysts as is the usual practice."

The findings, uncovered by Channel Four News and seen in full by Politics.co.uk, followed a complaint by the charity Parkinson's UK.

"The Department of Work and Pensions has a long track record of misusing statistics when it comes to the benefits system, and it’s clear this was a tactic to vindicate further welfare cuts," Parkinson's UK policy advisor Donna O'Brien said.

"People with Parkinson's who claimed DLA have told us supporting medical evidence was crucial due to a woeful knowledge of the condition amongst assessors, and it is absurd that the Government was trying to imply that anyone going through the system had an easy ride."

This is the second time in the past year that Iain Duncan Smith has come under fire for the use of false statistics to justify cuts to benefits.

Read more...

More smears from the Mail against UN official who is trying to help the poor

Originally posted on Vox Political:

The victim: Raquel Rolnik, the United Nations’ expert Special Rapporteur on Housing is once again the victim of a baseless Daily Mail smear piece

.

Yet again, the Daily Heil has been using the tactics of its best friend Adolf Hitler - the ‘Big Lie’ – to attack a United Nations official whose job is to point out that Coalition government policies are harming the innocent poor.

The Flail‘s tone was Nurembergian – and almost entirely fact-free - as it denounced ‘Brazil Nut’ Raquel Rolnik for imaginary crimes against Iain Duncan Smith’s benefit cuts - the homicidal, if not genocidal, measures that are driving hundreds of thousands of people into destitution and despair.

You see, the Fail is fine with destitution and despair for the poor – its readers are all rich middle- or upper-class housewives who pass their days spending their husbands’ vast fortunes (this is not entirely…

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Sanctions and Workfare: Incompatible with Human Rights

“This case is another massive blow to this Government’s flawed and tawdry attempts to make poor people on benefits work for companies, who already make massive profits, for free”

So said Public Interest Lawyers yesterday after the High Court ruled that the government’s emergency retrospective legislation, introduced in 2013 – so as to apply thousands of unlawful sanctions to claimants – is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

The retrospective legislation was introduced in order to rewrite history, when the Court of Appeal had originally found thousands of benefit sanctions on workfare schemes unlawful. In response the government came up with emergency legislation, which was designed to retrospectively render lawful benefit sanctions that were issued under the 2011 regulations. This deprived some of the poorest people in the UK of £130million in social security payments that they were lawfully owed. The emergency legislation meant that all previously imposed sanctions were made valid in one block – even sanctions that would have been unlawful under the old regulations anyway.  This means that ongoing appeals against sanctions, which would have succeeded before the retrospective legislation was enacted, were bound to fail.

Now, however, the High Court has found that this retrospective legislation was incompatible with the right to a fair trial. Significantly, the Court called this move “draconian” stating that it was “not explained or justified”.
So what does this mean? This: firstly, and importantly, there is now a real chance that at some point soon, these people will be able to claim the money they had sanctioned back. So keep watching this space.

Secondly, it is now an indisputable fact that all those organisations that have been involved in using and implementing workfare – from A4e to Asda to the Salvation Army – have been involved in depriving people of their human rights. They have been supporting an illegal government policy and, in the case of so called anti-poverty charities such as the salvation army, they have helped to illegally stop people getting the social security payments they were lawfully meant to receive.

Given that some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the UK  have been treated by the government as non-people, yesterday’s High Court ruling is truly damning: people have been subjected to an unlawful policy and then had money taken from them unlawfully. It’s a further indictment of politicians in thrall to workfare that instead of doing the right thing, the moral thing, the Labour party choose instead to do nothing.

Read more...

Leon Brittan quizzed by police over rape allegation?

People who refused to work for free could get £130million benefits payout after court says retrospective laws breach human rights

The taxpayer faces paying £130million in benefits to people who refused to work for free.

‘A government back-to-work scheme withdrew benefits from people if they did not take up placements in shops and offices to improve their employability. After legal flaws were discovered in the scheme, the government passed retrospective laws shore it up.

But the emergency laws have been torn up by the High Court because it could breach their human rights.’

Read more: People who refused to work for free could get £130million benefits payout after court says retrospective laws breach human rights

Nick Clegg DISMISSES calls for inquiry into alleged Westminster paedophile ring

‘Complacent Nick Clegg has dismissed calls for an inquiry into an alleged 1980s Westminster paedophile ring — as victims threaten legal action.

Ministers are under pressure to act after admitting an explosive dossier, handed to former Home Secretary Leon Brittan in 1983, has disappeared.

Labour today slammed the Home Office’s “lamentable” response and called for a full inquiry.’

Read more: Nick Clegg DISMISSES calls for inquiry into alleged Westminster paedophile ring

Only seven detectives investigating MP child abuse claims

‘David Cameron last night ordered a fresh investigation to discover what happened to the missing dossier detailing explosive claims of a Westminster paedophile ring.

Ministers including Nick Clegg and Theresa May have been rejecting calls for a full-scale public inquiry into historical child abuse, insisting a police investigation will be sufficient to get to the bottom of the claims.

Yesterday, however, the Prime Minister ordered the Home Office’s most senior official to launch an investigation amid claims that the department’s response to the affair so far had been ‘outrageous’’

Read more: Cameron orders a probe into VIP child sex abuse – but only seven detectives are investigating explosive claims

More than 10 politicians on list held by police investigating Westminster paedophile ring

‘More than 10 current and former politicians are on a list of alleged child abusers held by police investigating claims of a Westminster paedophile ring.

MPs or peers from all three main political parties are on the list, which includes former ministers and household names.

Several, including Cyril Smith and Sir Peter Morrison, are no longer alive, but others are still active in Parliament.’

Read more: More than 10 politicians on list held by police investigating Westminster paedophile ring

MP reveals new claims of Westminster child abuse in 1980s

‘The MP who first raised the claims that a paedophile ring had been operating in Westminster during the 1980s has said many new allegations have now come to light. Labour MP Simon Danczuk says his office has received around a dozen new pieces of information.

Those allegations, he told ITV News, have been throwing up the same name time and again. It is of a former MP from the 1980s.’

Read more: MP reveals new claims of Westminster child abuse in 1980s

People left dangling while waiting for benefit decisions, says MP

IRKENHEAD MP Frank Field told the House of Commons delays in processing benefit claims are driving people into destitution and leaving them “dangling at the end of a string.”

In an Opposition Day debate by Labour on the performance of the Department for Work and Pensions , Mr Field told ministers there is a growing difficulty for people in gaining benefit payments quickly and efficiently so as to be able to put food on the table.

Mr Field said: “It is undignified not to have money. It is appalling to have to grovel across the counter for money. The alternative of attending food banks is, for many people, a very last resort...

Read more... 

High Court rule that retrospective legislation in the Cait Reilly Poundland case was unlawful

Originally posted on kittysjones:

High Court grants declaration of incompatibility of primary legislation with the right to a fair trial after damning assessment of the Department of Work and Pensions’ interference in ongoing cases.

In a detailed and critical decision, Mrs Justice Lang considered a challenge brought by Caitlin Reilly and Daniel Hewstone against the 2013 Act following a “series of misjudgments by the DWP” (at [109]). In a previous case, brought by Public Interest Lawyers on Ms Reilly’s behalf, the Court of Appeal had ruled that the regulations introducing back-to-work schemes (the 2011 Regulations) – and sanctions for failing to take part in or meet requirements of the schemes – were unlawful and should be quashed (see the press release here).Following a challenge to emergency, retrospective legislation introduced to remedy mistakes made by the DWP in its ‘Back to Work’…

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DVLA Website Lets Visitors Check On Neighbours Benefits

A new vehicle check service on the DVLA website allows visitors to find out whether their neighbours are receiving the higher rate of the mobility component of disability living allowance (DLA) or either rate of the mobility component of personal independence payment (PIP).  The system is likely to be in breach of data protection laws and will be of enormous concern to many disabled claimants.

Unhappy member

The issue was brought to our attention yesterday by a very unhappy member who emailed us to say:

“My neighbour was able to tell me that I was on the higher rate of disability living allowance.

“She found out that people on the higher rate of disability living allowance and other similar high rate benefits get free road tax.

“The DVLA vehicle check system has been revamped and is now displaying taxation class as DISABLED on every vehicle where the registered taxation class is disabled.

“ It never used to be like this it was just blank .

“Anyone can put your car registration number into the system and do a vehicle check just like my neighbour did and find out you are on benefits and what type as a result of the taxation class DISABLED being on display

“What is the purpose of this system being open to the public to do a vehicle check on any vehicle they want?

“It’s a system of no use to anyone other than malicious people intent on causing problems for people on benefits”

Our member asked us to notify disabled people of the issue and lobby to have the data removed from the DVLA website.

We did our own check on cars in the street outside using the DVLA website and were indeed able to discover that the owner of one vehicle has a disabled tax disc and is therefore in receipt of benefits, as the screenshot below taken from the DVLA website shows.


Exemption grounds

Exemption from vehicle tax on the grounds of disability is only available for people on Higher Rate DLA Mobility Component, War Pensioners Mobility Supplement, Enhanced Mobility PIP (100% exemption) or Standard Mobility PIP (50% exemption).

The vehicle doesn’t have to belong to the disabled person, but it must be only used for their benefit. The vehicle’s registered keeper can be the disabled person or someone else who uses the vehicle only for the disabled person’s needs.

At present the tax disc displayed on a car in these circumstances will show a cost of £0.00. But there are other grounds, apart from disability, for getting exemption from vehicle tax.

In addition, where a disabled person keeps their car on a private drive or in a garage, neighbours will not be able to see the details on the tax disc.

Tax discs to disappear

More importantly, from 1 October of this year you will no longer need to display a tax disc on your vehicle at all.

In addition, when you sell a car from October 2014 the tax cannot be passed onto the new owner. Instead, the previous owner will get a refund and the new owner will have to tax the car themselves.
There seems, therefore, no obvious reason for information about the tax status of a vehicle to be displayed online.

Data protection

The issue here appears to be one of data protection.

The information that DVLA are making available is not about the vehicle itself. Instead they are publishing personal information about the benefits received by the individual who currently owns the car or for whom the car is solely used.

We spoke to a staff member at the DVLA press office yesterday evening and asked them if they were aware that they were making this information available and if they would suspend the look-up service as a matter of urgency, as it appears to be in breach of data protection laws.

We have yet to receive any response.

Readers who are concerned that their personal data is being made available in this way may want to contact DVLA and the information commissioner’s office and insist that it is removed immediately.


Source

Open Letter to Ed Miliband

Originally posted on :

Dear Mr. Miliband,

We never thought we would see a Britain in which terminally ill people rely on foodbanks to eat, or cancer patients miss their treatment because they don’t have the bus fare to get to the hospital. We never thought a bedroom for a severely disabled child would be seen as an undeserved luxury, or sick and disabled people would have their incomes reduced or removed for missing an appointment at the Jobcentre. We never thought people with incurable illnesses like Parkinson’s or Motor Neurone disease would be told by the Department for Work and Pensions that they would get better, and should prepare for work.

But we are seeing all this and more. Quite simply, the sick and disabled people of Britain are facing an unprecedented crisis which we never imagined could happen in the UK. It is a national scandal.

We are all of us caught…

View original 921 more words

Write to IDS about #wcamentalhealth

The flyer that has been printed to hand out during the Vigil for the WCA Judicial Review at the High Court in London on the 8th of July has been reproduced below.

At the end are details of our call for people to support us by writing to Iain Duncan Smith to inform him that you are aware of the case and that you support the claimants’ fight for justice.

And if you can’t make the vigil, you can still join in by tweeting on #wcamentalhealth, Tuesday 8th July, 12pm-2pm

---

WHY ARE WE HERE TODAY? You may have heard of the tough new assessments for people claiming disability benefits; the truth is that these are mock assessments that the government are carrying out via Atos which ignore our disabilities and focus on whether we can walk 20 metres, push a button and sit in a chair. We are fighting to ensure that they conduct real assessments instead.

DID YOU KNOW THAT THE GOVERNMENT DO NOT WANT TO ASSESS US ON THE BASIS OF MEDICAL EVIDENCE FROM OUR DOCTORS AND THE OTHER HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS WHO TREAT US? Why is this? It is because the assessments that we currently go through are specifically designed to deny us access to benefits and the DWP knows that if they had to look at our medical evidence, the majority of us would qualify for disability benefits. They have been fighting tooth and nail in court to be able to continue carrying out assessments that cause harm, in order to push through the ideologically driven policies of the coalition government, with the ultimate goal of abolishing the welfare state.

THE COURTS HAVE ALREADY FOUND THAT THE WORK CAPABILITY ASSESSMENT PLACES PEOPLE WITH MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS AT A SUBSTANTIAL DISADVANTAGE BY FAILING TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE ABLE TO SUBMIT FURTHER MEDICAL EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT OUR BENEFIT CLAIMS AND TO ACCURATELY REPORT HOW OUR CONDITION IMPACTS ON OUR DAILY LIVES AND OUR ABILITY TO WORK.

It has been successfully argued in court that the DWP should make reasonable adjustments to the WCA process to make it fit for purpose, as is required of them by the Equalities Act of 2010. Today the court is hearing about what reasonable adjustments, if any, the DWP propose to make.

One would never imagine, by looking at the stories in our national media, the high levels of distress, anxiety and fear that the WCA process is causing to people who already live with mental distress. HOWEVER THERE IS CLEAR EVIDENCE THAT THERE HAS BEEN A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF SUICIDES BY CLAIMANTS GOING THROUGH THE WCA PROCESS. In addition, an overwhelming number of people have suffered a serious deterioration in their mental health requiring further NHS treatment, including hospital admissions, or have had to increase their medication as a result of having to go through this cruel and iniquitous process.

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE and ensure that the safety net which exists for all of us remains effective and firmly in place by writing to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Right Honourable Iain Duncan Smith, MP, to inform him that you are aware of the case and that you support the claimants’ fight for justice.

His contact details are:

The Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP
Secretary of State
Department for Work and Pensions
Caxton House
Tothill Street
London
SW1H 9DA

Or email: caxtonhouse.clerkpru@dwp.gsi.gov.uk

This vigil has been organised by DPAC (Disabled People Against Cuts) in partnership with the Mental Health Resistance Network (MHRN)

DPAC

Starving British children looking for food in rubbish bins - Vox Political

Originally posted on Vox Political:

Who said it could never happen here? Children are starving on the streets of Britain as the Tory-led Coalition’s hate policies bite ever-more-deeply into the poor [Image: Stoke Sentinel].

British children are sifting through bins left outside houses in search of scraps of food because they are starving, it has been revealed.

But Tories and their supporters in rich London won’t have to look at them – because they are in Labour-held Stoke-on-Trent.

The Stoke Sentinel reported that “Youngsters have been searching through bins in the Hollings Street and Brocksford Street area of Fenton before eating any leftovers.”

It said, “Dozens of hungry families are referred to Fenton’s food bank for help every week.”

What’s really sad about this story is that some of the people interviewed seemed to think the problem was with the mess left behind by these children – youngsters who are, remember, so hungry that they…

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One in five sites blocked by the UK's over-zealous 'pornography filters'

Nearly one in five websites are being blocked by government-promoted filters, according to a new tool created by the Open Rights Group.
The filters have been introduced by internet service providers (ISPs) following a range of measures championed by David Cameron last year to stop online pornography “corroding childhood”. Customers buying new interne connections are asked whether or not they want to filter content.

The new tool – named ‘Blocked’ - has checked which of the 100,000 most-visited websites have been blocked by the ‘big four’ ISPs (BT, Virgin, Sky and TalkTalk) and various mobile networks, finding that 19 per cent of the sites tested had been blocked.

Pam Cowburn of the Open Rights Group told The Independent that this figure was disproportionately high, especially compared with estimates for the percentage of sites hosting legal pornographic material online – thought to be around four per cent.

“These filters are overblocking a lot of sites,” said Ms Cowburn. “What we’ve found as well is that there seems to be quite a difference between different ISPs.”

Source; Independent

Open Rights Group

“Please share the URL www.blocked.org.uk as widely as you can so that we can monitor the impact of web filters." via Open Rights Group

The Blocked! website lets you check whether a site has been blocked by these filters. The tool is free but you can support the project by joining ORG, making a donation or becoming a technical volunteer.

www.blocked.org.uk/

UK children scavenging in bins for food

RESIDENTS and charity leaders have spoken of their horror after seeing starving children scavenging through bins for food.

Youngsters have been searching through bins in the Hollings Street and Brocksford Street area of Fenton before eating any leftovers.

Concerned residents have raised the issue at a police meeting in Fenton.

Jade Poynton, aged 38, of Fenton, said: "My nan lives in Brocksford Street and there have been a couple of times when she has heard the bin lid slam against the window and seen people having a look through the bags. It was children and she has seen the same ones doing the same thing down the street and eating bits of food they find.

"There are also adults picking up fag ends and smoking them too. I don't know if they are desperate or just trying to see what they can find.

"It is terrible there are families around here that are so hungry they have to go through people's bins."

Rachel Allen, aged 26, of Hollings Street, said: "It is horrible to see and it's happening to lots of people particularly in lower Hollings Street and the Brocksford Street area.

"Some days on the school run we have had to actually cross over the road because there's so much rubbish on the pavement because of this.

"Luckily I keep my bins to one side so we haven't been too badly affected. But it's a real problem that people in this area are really concerned about."

Dozens of hungry families are referred to Fenton's foodbank for help every week. The foodbank is at Temple Street Methodist Church.

Foodbank volunteer Glenn Parkes, aged 58, who lives in Temple Street, said: "We have a lot of referrals to the foodbank and around half of those are for families who need to feed their children.

"I spotted a guy going through the bins outside a shop near where I live recently. We had a chat and he was a nice, well spoken guy with some troubles who simply couldn't afford food.

"I really would encourage any families in this situation to seek help."

More than 20,000 people have received emergency food parcels from Stoke-on-Trent's 10 foodbanks since May 2012.

Meanwhile, the Citizens Advice Bureau can also help to make sure people are receiving the right benefits.

Stoke-on-Trent CAB chief executive Simon Harris said: "We are seeing increasing numbers of people who are exhausting their short-term resources. There are some people who find their income is erratic and low, who are struggling to cope with cuts to benefits and support services, who are getting behind on their bills and are at risk of losing their homes and we see this all the time.

"We tend not to see the side of things where people are having to resort to rummaging through bins, but it's usually the same root cause."

Police are now trying to trace the families rifling through the bins looking for food.

Sergeant Jason Allport, of Staffordshire Police, said: "The issue isn't a theft, it's children going around not having enough clothing and food.

"It's a safeguarding issue to make sure that when we have foodbanks and charity shops that are full of clothes that we shouldn't have children trying to survive in this way.

"Some of the people who have reported this are saying they are taking food.

"That issue is really something for social services to look at."

Stoke Sentinel

Linking rules to escape Help to Work and other schemes!

Examples of Help to Work (HtW) linking scenarios:

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/215584/re...nking%20document.pdf

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/no_longer...oyed#incoming-535819

The 13 week linking rule applies to daily attendance too!

Source

Govt’s objective should be simple: zero hunger

Food poverty is an extreme example of what happens when the welfare system breaks down

Last month the Trussell Trust, the UK’s largest food bank network, published its annual data, including figures for London. The results were alarming, but sadly, not surprising.

In 2013/14 the organisation recorded 95,639 visitors to its 39 food banks in the capital – a 114 per cent increase on the previous year. The figures only served to confirm what we already suspected – that in London and the rest of the UK, despite the fledgling economic recovery, the increase in food poverty is showing no sign of slowing down.

With this latest data in mind, this week I submitted evidence to the All Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Hunger and Food Poverty in Britain. Co-chaired by Frank Field MP, the outcome of this investigation should inform policies of all main parties, but is likely to make unwelcome reading for any politician wanting to ignore the impact of the current government’s approach to welfare.

It is likely that a large proportion of the submissions to the inquiry will agree that food poverty, and the associated proliferation of food bank use, is an extreme example of what happens when the welfare system breaks down.

Trussell Trust data shows that a quarter of food bank users cited benefit delays as the reason they were forced to resort to emergency food aid. In many cases these are people who even this government believes are entitled to social security payments, but failures within the system are increasingly causing delays in processing claims and denying people access to funds.

Equally, the current sanctions regime often results in unfair and seemingly arbitrary withdrawals of social security payments that can leave claimants with no income whatsoever, often for prolonged periods of time. Resolving the systemic problems with the processing of benefits is vital and should be a priority for any political party serious about fighting food poverty.

With Brazil looking like a good bet for World Cup victory in their home nation, it seems fitting that we can also learn lessons from the Brazilian approach to food poverty. Over 10 years ago, the Brazilian government designed the Fome Zero (‘Zero Hunger’) programme under the leadership of José Graziano da Silva, who is now director-general of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation. A key aspect of the Brazilian programme was a commitment to ensure that all children should have three meals a day...

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IDS In The Dock Again Over Unlawful Atos Assessments

The DWP are back in court next week for the closing part of a successful challenge to the despised Work Capability Assessment (WCA).

This is the test run by Atos which is used to find people ‘fit for work’ and stop their sickness or disability benefits.  It is mired in chaos with a huge backlog of appeals and an ever growing number of tragic deaths linked to the process.  Even Atos themselves are pulling out of the assessments after fierce campaigning saw their carefully managed corporate identity demolished due to their involvement in the cruel and bungled system.

The WCA has also had its share of legal problems after a Judicial Review last year ruled the assessments are unlawful under the Equalities Act for those with a mental health condition.   Rather than accept this defeat and improve or scrap the tests for this group of claimants – or better still everybody -  Iain Duncan Smith appealed this decision and lost.  During the time this took many people will have seen their mental health worsen, been admitted to hospital or even taken their own life due to being forced to undergo assessments which are not suitable for their condition.

Next week’s court case will largely be about what amendments can be made to make the WCA legal.  As Mental Health Resistance Network (MHRN) explain:

“Under the Equalities Act of 2010, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is required to make “reasonable adjustments” to mitigate any disadvantages experienced by disabled people. The forthcoming hearing will be concerned with establishing what adjustments the DWP should make to the WCA process. We already know from the original hearing that they plan to run a pilot study to assess the “reasonableness” of obtaining further medical evidence. We want to ensure that any study will be fair, honest and approached with an open mind. Unfortunately we find it hard to trust that this will happen.”

A vigil called by MHRN and supported by Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) will be held outside the court next week on Tuesday, 8th July 2014 at 12 noon to 2 pm.  Head to the Royal Court of Justice, Strand, London WC2A 2LL.  Full details at: http://dpac.uk.net/2014/07/vigil-for-the-wca-judicial-review-tues-8th-july/

MHRN say they have been too cautious about publicising this important victory.  Sometime people have been working so hard for so long that they don’t even see when or what they’ve won.  But the Work Capability Assessment – introduced by Labour and which looked unbreakable at the time the current government weren’t elected – is beginning to look broken.  That didn’t happen by accident.  It happened because disabled people and benefit claimants have fought these vicious assessments in the courts, on the internet and in the streets.

The real opposition to this Government has not been the Labour Party, the unions , charities or even the growing range of celebrity left-wimgers.  It has been people who are disabled, sick, carers or people on their own with kids to look after.  People dealing with shit housing, homelessness, low or no wages, the bedroom tax, workfare, benefit sanctions and most of all poverty.  The people that liberal do-gooders call vulnerable and the Tory press calls benefit scum.  Yet we keep winning and those victories should be shouted from the rooftops.  As MHRN say:

“We believe that it is vital that people do know about this victory. After all, outrageous lies about disabled benefit claimants have been shouted from the rooftops in much of the national press. Yet where have the front page headlines about this victory been? Nowhere! We now want to rectify this by making as much noise as possible about the truth: that the WCA does not fairly assess people with mental health problems and there has been terrible suffering as a result.”

Please blogs, tweet,share and spread the word about the MHRN/DPAC vigil, and about the court case.


Don’t forget this Friday’s Independence Day Party outside the DWP and around the UK called by DPAC.

The Void

LET THEM EAT CAKE? No to ESA sanctions! No to all benefit sanctions! Fri 4th July, 3-5pm.

Tea party against ESA sanctions and all benefit cuts – Friday 4th July, 3pm, Peckham Jobcentre.

LET THEM EAT CAKE? No to ESA sanctions! No to all benefit sanctions!

Friday 4th July, 3-5pm.

You are invited to a tea party outside Peckham job centre to protest at the sharp rise in sanctions against people with disabilities in support of DPAC Party for Independent Living Day of Action.

Bring balloons, party poppers, cake…

There will be party games, music and an open mic. Let’s celebrate Independent Living Day and the resistance to the savage cuts so far – and build much-needed further resistance together.

Join us in keeping up the pressure on Peckham jobcentre, and demanding an end to their regime of sanctions – double the London average.

No sanctions!
No workfare!
Decent jobs for all!

https://www.facebook.com/events/760986937256005/

Hope to see you there,

Solidarity,

Toby

South London branch

The Revolutionary Communist Group

 

BLOG: southlondonrcg.tumblr.com/

TWITTER: twitter.com/southlondonrcg

FACEBOOK: facebook.com/southlondonrcg

WEB: revolutionarycommunist.org

Top tribunals judge questions universal credit ‘disappearance’

Well this is rather interesting… a top tribunal judge states that the DWP says there will be NO universal credit appeals between now and 2019; now why would that be? Answers on a postcard please.

A senior tribunals judge has thrown doubt over the future of universal credit after it “disappeared” from Department for Work and Pensions forecasts on the number of predicted appeals.

Judge Robert Martin, who retired as president of the social entitlement chamber at the end of last month, queried whether the government’s flagship reform of the benefits system “might prove just too impracticable to implement in full”.

Writing in the Judicial Information Bulletin, which goes out to all tribunal members, Judge Martin revealed that the DWP is no longer predicting that there will be any universal credit (UC) appeals between now and 2019.

He states that in its April 2013 forecast the DWP expected there to be 1,355 UC appeals in 2013-14 and 77,926 UC appeals in 2014-15. However, by the end of March 2014 there had been only three appeals.

Three times a year, the DWP provides the tribunals service with estimates of how many appeals there are likely to be over the next five years.

In its most recent forecast, the DWP estimated that there would be: 393,000 appeals in 2014-15; 456,000 in 2015-16; 622,000 in 2016-17; 553,000 in 2017-18; and 340,000 in 2018-19.

But Judge Martin noted that none of the predicted appeals are for UC.

“The unhappy development of UC has been recorded in reports from the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee,” Judge Martin writes. “The Secretary of State has not moved from the original planned end-date of 2017 for the completion of implementation.

“In its April 2013 forecast DWP estimated that HMCTS (HM Courts & Tribunals Service) would receive 1,355 UC appeals in 2013-14 and 77,926 UC appeals in 2014-15. By March 31 2014, HMCTS had actually received three.

“In later forecast reports, ‘universal credit appeals’ had disappeared as an entry.”

Judge Martin said it was “not credible” that the government – now or in the future – could afford to abandon or even scale back the programme of welfare reform.

But, he added: “Universal credit, which was heralded by DWP as delivering £35 billion of savings, might prove just too impracticable to implement in full.”

Read more...

Vigil to support judicial review for ESA claimants with mental health issues

Vigil: This was taken when the case was appealed in October 2013.

Does anybody fancy helping create a stir outside the Royal Courts of Justice next week? Don’t worry, you shouldn’t get arrested.

The courts will be the venue for the judicial review of government policy regarding claimants of Employment and Support Allowance who have mental health issues, from July 7-9. That’s between Monday and Wednesday next week.

On Tuesday (July 8), the Mental Health Resistance Network, supported by Disabled People Against Cuts, will be holding a vigil at the front entrance of the Royal Courts of Justice building on The Strand, between midday and 2pm.

The aim is to highlight the important issues around the case.

This should help: Buses 4,11,15,23,26,76,172 and 341 all stop at the front of the Royal Courts of Justice, 171, 188, 243, 521 and X68 stop at Kingsway and Aldwych Junction nearby. The nearest underground station is Temple (District Line), Holborn (Central and Piccadilly Line) and Chancery Lane, (Central Line).
Anyone with stories of how you have been affected by the Work Capability Assessment is invited to come and share them – and support the fight for justice.

So how about it?

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Whistleblower predicts troubled start for universal credit system

Originally posted on glynismillward189:

Reposted from the Bolton News

Elizabeth House

A WHISTLEBLOWER inside one of the government’s pilot centres for universal credit has warned how numerous errors will make a smooth introduction of the new system “highly unlikely”.

Staff at the service centre in Elizabeth House, Bolton town centre, have been involved in supporting the management of universal credit since it was piloted in Ashton-under-Lyne and Wigan last year.

Since then, a member of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, who has asked not to be named, told The Bolton News that employees have been leaving their jobs “in droves” after facing huge pressure to make an unworkable system fit for purpose.

Other issues included glitches with the computer system and inadequate training with staff only able to process a fraction of the claims they could under the old system.

The spokesman said: “The union has had to deal with more personal…

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ESA: Massive Increase In Sanctions

Employment and support allowance (ESA) claimants in the work-related activity group (WRAG) are being subjected to a massively increased sanctions regime that deliberately targets the most vulnerable. 

Sanctions, primarily aimed at claimants on the work programme who have mental health conditions or learning difficulties, have quadrupled in the course of a year, even though referrals to the programme have fallen by 43%.

The number of sanctions rose from 1,102 a month in December 2012 to 4,789 a month in December 2013, the most recent date figures are available for.

The vast majority of sanctions are imposed for failing to participate in work-related activity whilst on the work programme, which thousands of ESA claimants are forced to join every month in spite of overwhelming evidence that it does not improve their chances of getting a job.

The massive rise in sanctions, however, cannot be explained by a sudden huge surge in the number of claimants in the WRAG.

In fact, the number of claimants in the WRAG increased by just 21% between November 2012 to November 2013, from 460,160 to 558,960.

Indeed, between August and November 2013 the number of claimants in the WRAG actually fell slightly, from 562,620 to 558,960. Yet the number of claimants sanctioned in this period shot up by a staggering 75% from 2,193 to 3,837.

Nor can the rise in sanctions be explained by a corresponding increase in the numbers of ESA claimants being forced onto the work programme.

In fact, the rate at which ESA claimants get pushed onto the work programme has fallen dramatically over the same period. 8,290 claimant were put onto the work programme in December 2012. This fell to just 4,700 in December 2013, a drop of 43%.

Yet sanctions increased fourfold.

And the main targets of those sanctions are claimants with mental health conditions or learning difficulties. Back in April we pointed out that the proportion of this group receiving a sanction had risen from 35% of sanctioned claimants in 2009 to a massive 58% by June 2013.

That figure has now increased again to 62% in December 2013, even though claimants with these conditions make up just 50% of the work-related activity group.

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Why the profit motive has no place in our public services

The DWP isn’t just off the rails but careering down the embankment



Government auditors are like the best headteachers. They don’t need to raise their voices for their message to be heard and understood.

And so it is today with the latest National Audit Office report into Iain Duncan Smith’s work programme. The report states it is possible this flagship scheme might eventually provide value for money.

The problem is, the auditors note, three years in to the programme it is still underperforming, failing the very people it was set up to help and rewarding some very profitable private companies for these failures. It is worth repeating, it has been three years almost to the day since it was launched – surely it should be working by now.

So what does the report say? Well, for the most recent cohort to complete the programme, ‘job outcomes’ – I assume they don’t just call them jobs because it doesn’t have to mean long term, sustainable employment – are not just below the government’s original forecasts or what the providers anticipated when they bid for the contracts, but still below the minimum performance levels expected. Three years in.

If you are sick or disabled the picture is even worse. Performance levels for people entitled to Employment and Support Allowance are appalling but that is not all. One of the most shocking revelations in this quietly damning report is that prime contractors – those that won the contracts and are either running schemes or sub-contracting them to others – have “reduced what they plan to spend on the hardest to help”.

Providers told the NAO they now plan to spend 54 per cent less than they originally budgeted for on helping the most vulnerable people.

This is exactly what we said would happen under a wholly privatised, payment by results, system.

And not only is this direct evidence that providers are cherrypicking the easiest to reach cases and neglecting the most vulnerable, the NAO says the Department for Work and Pensions has “limited ability to identify issues such as parking of harder-to-help participants”.

This renders ministers all but powerless to intervene in their flagship back to work scheme when it turns out the scheme is failing to achieve its objectives.

This is the market at work. This is why the profit motive has no place in our public services, particularly those public services where provision that does not discriminate or exclude is essential to ensure the most vulnerable people get the help they need.

There are ideologues who will say, “Yes, but if the companies fail they won’t be paid”. Wrong. The NAO says contractors fear for the viability of the work programme but say they still expect to make a profit from it.

The DWP “may be paying contractors for performance they are not actually achieving”, the auditors report, and this year an estimated £31 million could be paid to providers when on “an accurate measure of performance” they would only be entitled to £6 million.

This is an absolute scandal and, set alongside the catastrophe that is universal credit and the backlog in claims for the new personal independence payment, is indicative of a department that is not just off the rails, but careering down the embankment.

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Scots' benefit payments stopped 900,000 times in draconian scheme

JOBCENTRE staff labouring under the Tories’ new sanctions regime cut off Scots’ benefit payments nearly 900,000 times last year, a new report has claimed.

Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) pleaded in a report yesterday for an urgent overhaul of the draconian scheme.

It estimated that 898,000 sanctions were levied against benefit claimants over the past 12 months — ostensibly for failing to meet requirements such as attending jobcentre meetings or doing enough to find work.

But the rate of sanctions for those on jobseeker’s allowance has more than doubled since 2010 and grassroots activists have long warned of sanctions imposed over administrative errors or impossible demands.

One man featured in yesterday’s report saw his benefits reduced to about £11 a week after he failed to attend an interview with a work programme, despite producing a doctor’s certificate to say he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and was not fit to travel.

A survey of Citizens Advice Bureau advisers also cited in the report found that 60 per cent had found people were not being told about the sanctions until the money simply stopped coming.

Ninety-seven per cent said they had seen cases where penalties had been applied without taking into account the claimant’s reasons for noncompliance.

The same proportion said they had spoken with clients who were going without meals, gas or electricity after being sanctioned.

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Disabled man left with malnutrition after waiting EIGHT MONTHS for benefits he was owed

Thomas O'Donnell, who suffers from epilepsy, depression, arthritis and memory loss became suicidal because of the delays, his local MP said

A disabled man was left with malnutrition after waiting EIGHT MONTHS for benefits he was due.
The shocking case of Thomas O'Donnell was revealed in Parliament by Liverpool MP Luciana Berger, who said she was “ashamed” to live in a country where desperately ill people are facing serious delays in getting help.

She told how Mr O'Donnell suffered from epilepsy, depression, arthritis and memory loss - yet was made to wait eight months for his Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

The payment is intended to cover the additional costs claimants face because of their condition, such as taxi fares to hospital, higher utility bills, or specialist equipment.

Ms Berger said: "Thomas O’Donnell originally made his claim for PIP in August 2013. The months went on without him getting an assessment, and he fell into real financial difficulty.

"He was struggling to pay his rent, and he couldn’t afford his bills. By time he came to me in March of this year, Thomas was suicidal.

"Eight months on and he was still waiting for a decision. His epilepsy was causing him to have daily, violent fits, and he was surviving on just £30 a week.

"He didn’t have cooking or washing facilities in his home. And he didn’t have any food.

"After months of helping Mr O’Donnell navigate an impossible system and raising his case on the floor of this House, he was eventually awarded the money that he was entitled to.

"But eight months of waiting and the hardship and strain had taken its toll – his doctor confirmed that he was suffering from malnutrition...

“I am appalled that my constituent was suffering from malnutrition here in the United Kingdom in 2014.”

She also revealed the case of her constituent Trudie Ann Birchall who was forced to wait five months for her PIP payments after being diagnosed with cervical cancer, the Liverpool Echo reports.

She added: “Since the introduction of PIP, thousands of cancer patients have been left in the dark, with at least 4,500 cancer patients waiting six months or more to find out whether they will even be awarded the benefit.”

"I am currently ashamed to live in a country that is treating our most sick and vulnerable in this way. The state should be supporting people in the time of their need not making them feel worse.”

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Coalition ‘driving families further into poverty’

THE coalition government was accused yesterday of continuing to drive Britain’s low-income families further and further into poverty — to the point where they cannot even afford to feed themselves.

Independent charity the Joseph Rowntree Foundation published a report exposing how the ever-increasing gap between prices and wages is leaving low-income families struggling to meet the costs of basic essentials.

The Foundation warned that since 2008 the price of essentials had soared by 28 per cent, while average wages increased by just nine per cent.

The government responded by saying tax cuts — which have handed hundreds of millions of pounds to the wealthy — are a benefit to low-earners.

But the foundation’s chief executive Julia Unwin said: “These figures show there is still a lot of work needed to make up the lost ground for low-income families. The income they need to make ends meet has soared at a time when their ability to make up the shortfall is severely constrained.”

She said action was needed to “to help alleviate the pressure on the worst-off households.”

The foundation’s research identified the levels of wages needed for individuals and families to “afford a minimum acceptable standard of living.”

It said single people need to be paid £16,300 a year before tax while a couple with two children need to bring in a total of £40,600 before tax — an impossibility for most low-wage earners.

The figures are based on the foundation’s “minimum income standard,” which sets out the basics to be included in a minimum household budget according to public opinion.

Report author Abigail Davis said: “Throughout the past few difficult years, the people we talk to have held a consistent view of what it means to live at an acceptable level in the UK.

“It means being able to afford to feed your family and heat your home properly, but also having enough to buy a birthday present for your children, and to spend time with your family away from home, such as the occasional meal out.

“The growing number of people who fall below this standard are unable to afford basic goods, services and activities that most of us would take for granted.”

Morning Star

Glenda Jackson MP demolishes Iain Duncan Smith

IDS has “plunged thousands and thousands of our fellow citizens into the most abject penury”, said the Labour MP