UK: Disability benefits (UC, ESA and PIP) - news and updates 2024 (including PIP consultation)

Yes half the questions make no sense to me. But assuming a new administration would read it and feel more empathy I gave some of the questions my best shot in wordpad over a few days and submitted by copy+paste earlier today. In fact I was able to drag and drop selected text from wordpad to Chrome. I think we have until 11.59pm tonight to say something.

Though Disability Rights and Benefits and Work were quite scathing about it.

https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/...rnising-support-independent-living-health-and

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/n...-disabled-people-2024-pip-changes-green-paper


Plugged the relationship between longcovid & ME/CFS & the improved NICE guidelines and the importance of not pressurising PWME/LC and providing a fair hearing/assessment. Also told them it is not right to have targets or quotas for assessment and would prefer to get less PIP myself and make sure everyone who needed it got help.

 

How are PIP assessments changing this year?

from the Mirror

 

ah, so it's a completely different Maximus from the Maximus that sent my claim back to the DWP 3 times, because I couldn't attend an assessment center that on a good day was over 2 hours away, each way, that the DWP H&S rules said was totally unsuitable and no one with mobility issues should attend as it was on the 6th floor. The same Maximus that despite eventually agreeing to a home assessment didn't actually send anyone, at least twice. The very same Maximus that after nearly 2 years of this eventually did a paper review that said that they accepted that due to M.E. my maximum walking range was 30m and that 'return to work is unlikely in the longer term'.

2 years of totally unnecessary hell, with my money being stopped on a couple of occasions, and it would have been more if I hadn't got an advocate to handle all of the urgent communications with them as well as someone to help research, plan, and even write most of the non urgent stuff.

Given that the Maximus I was forced to deal with did not have the “highest standards of ethical behaviour and professionalism”, that in fact they behaved like thugs out to cut my benefits by any means necessary, and that they totally ignored both their own and the DWP's rules - it can't be that Maximus that's being talked about.

It can't be the same Maximus that insisted that any documents must be sent by fax, as email 'isn't secure', meaning that I had to pay a subscription service for faxes for well over a year at over £10 pm. A fax service that was only cancelable, according to their T&Cs by phone, when I can't use a phone effectively, or at all most of the time.

It must be a different Maximus.

 

I've at last had a response to my complaint to the BBC. (I failed to complain to other broadcasters.) This was the 1b stage. 1a response was tagging a piece on BBC Verify which was quite good but you wouldn't find if you weren't looking for it. To be fair I've had a lot of "apologies for taking so long" messages.

Thank you for getting back in touch with us about our coverage of the previous government’s plans to cut disability benefits, on BBC News.



Firstly, we’re sorry about the delay in getting back to you. We know people appreciate a prompt response and unfortunately we’ve taken longer to reply than usual – please accept our apologies.

Further to the BBC Verify link in our previous response, we have also written other articles on this story:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp4wn22gjypo
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0ry09d50wo
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crgg9k5qdn5o

We appreciate that you would’ve liked to have seen more of the effects on disabled people of the cuts in our news coverage, rather than the financial implications of the cuts. We consider that we have shown this aspect of the story in our coverage, but we’re sorry of any disappointment in wanting to see more of this. We have shared your comments with a senior news editor, and we thank you again for getting back in touch.

This concludes Stage 1 of our complaints process. That means we can’t correspond with you further here. If you remain unhappy, you can now contact the BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU). The ECU is Stage 2 of the BBC’s complaints process. You’ll need to explain why you think there’s a potential breach of standards, or if the issue is significant and should still be investigated. Please do so within 20 working days of this reply.
Full details of how we handle complaints are available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/handle-complaint/.

How to contact the ECU:

 

This ignores my main point that journalists failed to interrogate ministers about the negative effects of the policy on disabled people. My initial reaction was "at least by escalating this to 1b they had pay some attention and I'll leave it there". However now I'm feeling stubborn, so I may still pursue it to the next stage.

It's not just this instance. The massive cuts and negative changes to benefits have been allowed to happen, because there's so little scrutiny. If interviewers do (rarely) bring up these issues, it's only a single question, with the minister's reply allowed to stand unscrutinised. Other issues will be pursued tenaciously, sometimes ad nauseam.

 

Benefits and Work have published a guide to claiming PIP for ME/CFS and a summary on their webpage.

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/p...-and-work&utm_content=11 September Newsletter


I'm not a subscriber so can't access the 16 page guide.

On a brief skim - no mention of PEM.

The statistics could be useful for the vexed issue of prevalence - 25th most common reason for claiming and a breakdown by age.

Success rate is 54%, just above the average for all claims. Considering the disease burden, more difficult for us to be successful.

Comments are open to all - not just subscribers. I'll try and comment - maybe tomorrow.

 

The full guide mentions PEM in two places.

 

I did the Benefits & Work PIP training when I knew my award was due for review, and it was rather good.

It's focused on how best to describe the difficulties of living with conditions in a way that meets the PIP descriptors rather than anything else. There might have been one or two bits of wording about ME/CFS that in a different context we'd suggest could be tightened up, but it didn't get anything important wrong.

I kept the same award for an ongoing period without an assessment, so it definitely helped!

 

https://www.icontact-archive.com/ar...4b7e81a15d03a3040ca2700682dadb514b7c01a8d57f0

Newsletter from "Benefits & Work"

NEW PIP AND WCA ASSESSMENT COMPANIES

A new system for work capability assessments (WCA) and personal independence payment (PIP) assessments started on Monday.

The Health Assessment Advisory Service (HAAS) has taken over providing WCA and PIP assessments.

HAAS is part of the DWP. It provides training, guidance and software for assessors.

But the assessors themselves still work for private sector companies. There are four of these now involved in carrying out benefits assessments: Maximus, Capita, Serco and Ingeus.

These companies now carry out all benefits assessments in their geographical area, including both PIP assessments and WCAs

The assessments remain entirely separate, however. There is no joint assessment that combines both PIP and the WCA at a single meeting, contrary to claims in the national media.

In reality, it is likely to be exactly the same health professionals carrying out the assessments as before, having in some cases been moved en masse to new employers.

However, with the DWP now having complete control over training, software and guidance it will be more straightforward for changes to be rolled-out in the future.

But for the moment, although the companies making the profits may have changed, there will be virtually no difference for claimants being assessed for PIP, ESA or UC.

We’ve updated our main PIP and UC/ESA claims guides to reflect the new system and will be updating other guides and web pages over the coming weeks.


ESA TO UC MIGRATION – NO SIGN OF POSTPONEMENT

There are no signs yet that the DWP intend to postpone the forced migration of income-related ESA (ir-ESA) claimants to universal credit (UC), due to start this month.

There had been hopes that an incoming Labour government might delay the move, given demands by organisations such as Citizens Advice that better safeguards should be put in place before migration begins.

Yet all the signs are that Labour is not listening, possibly more interested in the potential £5 billion to be saved by moving claimants sooner rather than later.

Firstly, the DWP updated its “Move to Universal Credit if you get a Migration Notice letter” web page on 30 August. It now includes confirmation that claimants migrating to UC from ESA without a break do not generally need to provide fit notes.

Then the September edition of Touchbase, the DWP’s newsletter, revealed that the department considers that the “correct level of support is in place to safely move customers over to UC”.

And finally, in a response to the Public Accounts Committee dated 5 September, the government stated that it needed “to be ready for migration of the Employment and Support Allowance cohort in 2024-25 as opposed to 2028”.

So, at this stage, everything points to the DWP sticking to its schedule for moving ESA claimants onto UC. However, we have not yet heard from any readers in receipt of ESA who have received a migration notice, unless they were also in receipt of child tax credit.

Please let us know if you get one.


ONE THIRD OF UC MIGRATION CLAIMANTS FAIL TO MAKE A SUCCESSFUL CLAIM

Statistics released in August by the DWP show that 32% of all claimants sent a UC migration notice failed to make a successful claim and had their legacy benefits terminated.

In total, a shocking 284,660 individuals did not make a valid claim and had their benefits stopped up to the end of February 2024.

The DWP are quick to point out that “households who have been sent a migration notice to date may not be representative of the complete population who will be sent a migration notice” because the majority are tax credit households.

The reality is, however, that the DWP have no idea whether the number of people who will disappear from the system when it is income-related ESA claimants who are being transferred, will be smaller or even greater.

 

That is really scary.

 

I am currently a member as we are in the process of applying for PIP, for our daughter.
I was very pleased to see the new specific guide.
From a quick skim it has several useful pointers for a range of severity.

As with applying for UC we will need to emphasise the problem of being able to do things repeatedly and within a resonable time.

 

I found thinking about the "safely, reliably, repeatedly" part of the PIP regulation really useful for my application - as it can make the descriptors make a lot more sense with M.E (I think).

This (below) is from the "PipInfo" website (https://pipinfo.net/issues/reliably)


"Legislation
The meaning of "reliably" is defined in regulations.

Regulation 4(2A) of the main PIP regulations provides -

Where [a claimant's] ability to carry out an activity is assessed, [the claimant] is to be assessed as satisfying a descriptor only if [the claimant] can do so - (a) safely; (b) to an acceptable standard; (c) repeatedly; and (d) within a reasonable time period.
Regulation 4(4) of the main PIP regulations provides -

1. "safely” means in a manner unlikely to cause harm to [the claimant] or to another person, either during or after completion of the activity;
2. “repeatedly” means as often as the activity being assessed is reasonably required to be completed; and
3. “reasonable time period” means no more than twice as long as the maximum period that a person without a physical or mental condition which limits that person’s ability to carry out the activity in question would normally take to complete that activity."
   
   I found the "unlikely to cause harm to the claimant either during or after completion of the activity" stipulation really useful for thinking about M.E.
   Harm can include worsening of symptoms.
   
   
   Regulation 2.2.7 from the official government PIP assessment guidelines for assessors (https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...-part-2-the-assessment-criteria#reliability-1) I think is also helpful for this.
   
   "2.2.7 Harm includes damage to an individual’s health. For example, if carrying out an activity could cause a substantial and sustained worsening of a claimant’s condition, meaning it is not safe for them to do it at all, the individual should not be considered able to complete the activity safely at the level described in the descriptor. Given the nature of the activities within the assessment this is likely to be rare."

 

I have. I got enhanced rate on both components at the first attempt, though they did do an assessment.

I've been clear that I drive an automatic WAV, and that although I use a powered wheelie outdoors for any distance more than a few metres, I can mostly get around inside the house without it.


ETA: I've read (I don't know this to be the case myself) that claimants are more likely to be successful if they drive automatic vehicles than manual transmission ones. I drove a manual for most of the time I was receiving mobility allowance under DLA, but just by chance I'd managed to afford a secondhand wheelie accessible van by the time I transferred to PIP, and it was automatic.

 

100%. I don't think there's any way I'd have been awarded without this.

 

The current test for mobility allowance is 20 metres, but as Josep says, it is safely, reliably, and as often as you need to. By inference, that means you can walk more than 20 metres without impactful consequences.

I couldn't walk 130 metres, but on a good day I'd probably manage 50. However, I'd be at risk of falling (my gait's a sort of unsteady, lop-sided rolling), I'd have pain at night that would stop me sleeping, and the next day I'd get PEM that interfered with my ability to do essential tasks. So under the PIP descriptors, I can't walk more than 20 metres.

If you used a scooter as an aid it might well help your case. You can buy small scooters that come apart and stash in the boot of an ordinary car—they're often called boot scooters. I rented one from Shopmobility for a year because at the time I couldn't easily transport my wheelie anywhere the tram didn't go, and although they're a bit uncomfortable for a long day out, they're brilliant for short hops such as visiting your relative. Even new they're not phenomenally expensive, and you can get secondhand ones if you wanted to give it a try.

This is what I rented, it was great.

https://greatbritishmobility.co.uk/...1DGCnhIrtg9olGuxueqLk8tE89qopWlxoCV0cQAvD_BwE

 

It's tough. I was forced into years ago because I was still working in a large building, I couldn't walk round it, so it was either get a powered wheelchair or not be able to work at all. I don't know how long I'd have left it otherwise, but I've never regretted it for a moment. It's why I can apparently do quite a lot of things for someone who's moderately affected—I don't waste any energy doing routine stuff like walking round supermarkets. And I can get out into nature too, which for a wildlife nut is a big deal.

But it's still tough taking the step, and family members may worry (in a genuinely caring way) that you'll lose function prematurely for your age. It's been 22 years, and in that time using a wheelie has made exactly zero difference to the distance I can walk.