UK: Disability benefits (ESA and PIP) - news and updates up to end of 2020

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DWP drops target for upholding benefit decisions

https://www.actionforme.org.uk/news/dwp-drops-target-for-upholding-benefit-decisions/

December 18, 2017

Sarah Newton MP, Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, has announced that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has dropped its target for 80% of benefit decisions to be upheld at the Mandatory Reconsideration stages.

The target applied to Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and had been scrutinised since a Freedom of Information request earlier this year revealed the internal target.

What does this mean for people with M.E.?

If you have been assessed and want to challenge the DWP’s initial decision, you can request to have a Mandatory Reconsideration where the case is reviewed. The DWP’s internal target has meant that assessment providers have up to now been evaluated based on how many of these reviewed cases are upheld, and how many are overturned.

(The rest is at the link)
 
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Clarifying they have dropped their 80% target does not necessarily mean they no longer have a numerical target at all. I know the statement seems to suggest they no longer have one, but do we know for sure they have not replaced it with, say, a 65% target for instance? I'm just a cynic :rolleyes:.
 
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Every person receiving Personal Independence Payments (PIP) will have their claim reviewed, the Department for Work and Pensions has said.

A total of 1.6 million of the main disability benefit claims will be reviewed, with around 220,000 people expected to receive more money.

It comes after the DWP decided not to challenge a court ruling that said changes to PIP were unfair to people with mental health conditions.

The review could cost £3.7bn by 2023.

The minister for disabled people, Sarah Newton, said the DWP was embarking on a "complex exercise and of considerable scale."

She added: "Whilst we will be working at pace to complete this exercise it is important that we get it right."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42862904

Now why am I suspicious about how many will be down-graded in what they receive?
 
Just heard this ...mixed feelings. Good that the scam of fake assessments have been treated as discriminatory, frustrated and angry at the mismanagement for all the people who have to go through the whole ordeal again.

Best wishes to all who are affected. I hope it ends up being a good thing in the end. (Ever the optimist)
 
I can't help but wonder how honest this review will be, will it be the same as the seriously ill/disabled people won't be subject to repeat assessments lie?

Or will every one of these 1.6 million people be called in, for another medical, or will it be paper based only, relying primarily on "flawed" "medical" assessments?

It's unlikely to affect me, as I don't actually recieve PIP, hopefully yet, due to another part of the system being "flawed"

So many questions, so much......(fill in your own word as seems appropriate) :banghead::banghead:
 
arewenearlythereyet said:
Just heard on news night that the government says that they will back date any claims that have been found to be wrongly assessed after reassessment for mobility allowance.
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Awfully nice of them to comply with the law. :P

Basically, in order to comply with the law, they are having to search through everyone who had a possibility of being discriminated against.

If they used the opportunity to downgrade any award, it would not withstand a challenge, as the only 'new information' is that they were discriminating against people and breaking the law.

They are not allowed to just arbitrarily downgrade without reason in law.

When they say claims are being 'reviewed' I suspect that they mean databases are being searched to find claims the discrimination applies to. They couldn't afford the expense to actually re-interview people involved, there are too many.

Even if they wanted to assess everyone face to face, I suspect that the assessment contractors contracts do not include this situation, so the DWP would be liable for paying extra. The bill for the extra assessments, plus the backdated awards would probably be in in excess of £10 billion, not to mention the chaos of the waiting lists that would be generated.

My cautious assessment: a turd too big and smelly to hide. (and un-polishable) :P
 
From what I've heard, the specific change is that people with mental health problems that mean they need to be accompanied by a helper when they go out were not being allowed the higher rate mobility allowance, and it's now been decided that they should get it. Presumably that's what they will be reassessing, so it may not affect pwme unless we also have that particular need and have justified it on mental health grounds.
 
Trish said:
From what I've heard, the specific change is that people with mental health problems that mean they need to be accompanied by a helper when they go out were not being allowed the higher rate mobility allowance, and it's now been decided that they should get it. Presumably that's what they will be reassessing, so it may not affect pwme unless we also have that particular need and have justified it on mental health grounds.
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I read it as broader than that in terms of every claim being reassessed. I take that as an opportunity for the claiment to put pressure on other unfair assessments not just mental health ones. Whether that pressure becomes a reality remains to be seen ...but a third round of reassessment for other invisible illnesses will be embarrassing for the government given the money that's already been wasted on the first and second ones ...so there may be a chance if people have the energy to push it back that other conditions will be considered.

The headline for me is 'unfair assessments contrived to deliberately withold benefits To save money' not mental health pe se. This calls out the governments hypocrisy and shines a light on the reality of what they call "a country that works for everyone" or their commitment to "fight social injustice".

The fact that it's been a massive U turn with no quibble about the court ruling means that it is a good opportunity for claiment to push back while the iron is hot (just my opinion). I can just hear the commons debate now about fake austerity measures and outsourced assessments that just waste money on beurocratic superficial policy?
 
The effective date will be either the date of the claim or the date of the MH judgment (November 2016), whichever is the later date.
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So they were wrong, and acting illegally, and have acknowledged this, but they aren't going to backdate anything to beyond the date they were told, by a high court, they were acting illegally. So no ethics, or morals.
 
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has promised that no disabled people will have their benefits reduced because of its decision to review 1.6 million personal independence payment (PIP) claims.

The review follows last month’s decision by the new work and pensions secretary, Esther McVey, that she would not appeal a court ruling that found new rules introduced last year by DWP were unlawful, “blatantly discriminatory” and breached the UN disability convention.

The rules, which were rushed into law by the government last March, had meant that people who were unable to plan or undertake a journey due to overwhelming psychological distress would receive fewer qualifying points when assessed for PIP, with many receiving a lower level of financial support as a result, or even no PIP at all.

The new rules were only introduced because an upper tribunal ruling had found that DWP was wrong to say that such PIP claimants should not be entitled to those points.
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https://www.disabilitynewsservice.c...-out-in-huge-review-of-1-6-million-pip-cases/
 
Crikey, I predicted something involving the law and the DWP correctly? Maybe I'm more evil than I think.

I hope something is done about the knock on effects, as the people discriminated against in the PIP claims were affected by claims for blue badges, discretionary help, etc.

As PIP is not an out of work benefit this had a terrible effect on people who relied on the extra income to continue in work. What is going to be done about people who lost their jobs because of this discrimination?

It also seemed to have a massive toll among people with autism, as they were deemed 'physically' able to use crowded public transport.
 
Article by Steve Topple in The Canary

The DWP is in court again and it could open the floodgates for countless disabled people.


THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS PIECE ARE NOT INTENDED AS LEGAL ADVICE.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is facing yet more court action, in a case that could “open the floodgates” for countless other people to sue it.

The DWP: in the dock
Daniel Donaldson is a lawyer from Glasgow. He lives with long-term medical conditions which affect his daily living. In 2013, the DWP awarded him a personal independence payment (PIP). But after an assessment in November 2016, the DWP stopped it. Donaldson appealed, and a tribunal reinstated his PIP in October 2017.

But for Donaldson, this wasn’t acceptable; partly because he feels the DWP discriminated against him on account of his medical conditions. He believes this was due to some of his conditions being related to mental health. So he is suing the DWP for:

  • £4,000 for disability discrimination.
  • £275.34 in bank charges he incurred while the DWP stopped his money.
  • £700 in lost passport benefits. The DWP withdrew other entitlements once it stopped his PIP.
The Scottish government
He told The Canary that the Scottish government is also named in his claim, because powers over welfare payments were devolved under the Scotland Act 2016.
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Link for the rest:

https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysi...the-floodgates-for-countless-disabled-people/





Interesting and I hope Donaldson is succesful!
 
disinformation-clipart-hooray.png
 
The DWP is a slippery beast and will have very good lawyers. They have lost before though. And the UN agrees with the claimant, who is a lawyer. let's hope he's got good legal contacts.
It would be great if this was properly reported in the mainstream press.

I bet if the DWP lose they will try and change the law in some way to minimise claims against them.
 
shame he did not ad a claim for damages regarding stress and aggravation of his condition . if one disabled person could succeed in such a case they really would have to change their ruthless assault on the chronically ill .
 
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