UK Parliament debate - 10 Years of the Work Capability Assesment 24 April 2019

[Sly Saint]

Laura Pidcock Shadow Minister (Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) (Labour) 2:30 pm, 24th April 2019
I beg to move,

That this House
has considered 10 years of the work capability assessment in relation to employment and support allowance and universal credit.

This feels like such an inadequate environment to describe the work capability assessment and its brutal consequences. I wish that every single person affected by the system could be here with us in the Chamber and look in the eyes of those who defend the system. I hope that when they have heard what I am about to describe, Conservative Members—there are not many of them—will feel shame, and that in this debate we can do justice to the experiences of those subject to the work capability assessment.

Let me set out some of the elements that we believe are wrong with the system;

In both the application form and the face-to-face assessment, the descriptors that enable a score to be given to assess a person’s ability to carry out tasks are essentially a functionality test. They cannot capture the fluctuating nature of physical and mental unwellness or disability and how that could prevent or limit the ability to work. People often describe feeling punished for telling the truth. Yes, perhaps they could go out unescorted on a journey somewhere, but the test is not interested in, for example, the panic attack before leaving the house, or the emotional recovery afterwards. Perhaps venturing to the supermarket will have been their only trip out that month, but making that journey could lose them their entitlement.

In reality, one day someone may be in the depths of despair, and the pain from their condition may be unbearable; the next day, they may be able to have a laugh over a cup of tea with a loved one. The question is, should they lie about that laughter or feel shame about it because they might get points deducted? Does that laughter render meaningless the pain felt the day before? Fundamentally, does that have any bearing on someone’s ability to work? I think not. The test ignores the complex reality of living with long-term or fluctuating conditions.

I am not sure whether the Government or Conservative Members realise just how truly terrified some people are of the brown envelope from the Department for Work and Pensions. They know that they will be forced through a long and extremely difficult process. They will have to attend an assessment, and the decision notice they receive about the outcome of their work capability assessments is often inaccurate and misleading, leading to a long and stressful appeal process of up to 18 months; that is 18 months without the entitlement that those people deserve and need.

The process exacerbates poor health, and the Government make things worse. When people, because of their physical or mental health condition, ask that their assessment be carried out at their home, the answer given is almost always no. My caseworkers and agencies have sent substantial evidence to private contractors to show that my constituents would have severe difficulty attending the assessment centre. The stock response is, “If the claimant can get to their GP or to the hospital, they can attend the assessment centre.” How cold-hearted is that?

Alex Chalk Conservative, Cheltenham
The hon. Gentleman mentions compassion, but is it not also correct that there must be professionalism? Linda Hending in my constituency set up a support group for people with myalgic encephalomyelitis. She found that, while 10 of those 11 people had either been found fit for work or had insufficient points for PIP, all those decisions had been overturned on appeal. While it is inevitable that there will need to be some assessment, is it not critically important that those decisions are got right the first time, so that people do not have to go through the strain of an appeal, even if it is successful in the long term?

Debbie Abrahams
The Government have said they want to amalgamate the work capability assessment and PIP assessments by 2021. They say they want a more personalised approach and will involve disabled people in this process. I ask the Minister which disabled people’s organisations have been involved in the decisions. I appreciate that charities may have been involved, and it is important that they be involved, but what DPOs and disabled people have been involved? Were they involved in the decision to put the contracts for this new assessment process out to tender? That has already happened; we had one week, and then the contract for this new process went out to tender.

[see thread (with petition) re-amalgamation of testing for both benefits]
https://www.s4me.info/threads/dont-merge-the-assessments-for-pip-and-esa-april-2019.9032/

Hugh Gaffney Labour
... the problem with work capability assessments cannot be hidden through merging them with PIP assessments. Disability Rights UK summed up the shortcomings of the Government’s approach:
“You can’t merge two badly constructed processes and expect to come up with one fit-for-purpose approach”.

How right that is. For as long as the Government refuse to make real changes to the assessment process, vulnerable people will continue to be denied the help that they need.

full debate here:
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?id=2019-04-24a.318.4&s=Myalgic+Encephalomyelitis#g324.0

 

[Trish]

Thanks for spotting this, @SlySaint. I hope the government takes notice. It's good to see the specific point about fluctuating conditions, including ME, being highlighted.

 

[Barry]

Thanks for spotting this, @SlySaint. I hope the government takes notice. It's good to see the specific point about fluctuating conditions, including ME, being highlighted.

Yes, and it's possible ME might not have appeared on their radar were it not for Carol Monaghan's recent parliamentary debates. Progress feeds progress .

 

[John Mac]

To highlight the issue purely by coincidence this is on todays Liverpool Echo website about a man who was refused ESA after attending a WCA by getting a pass out of hospital. He has subsequently died.

Edit: He had to leave hospital to appeal the decision to refuse him ESA.
He won the appeal.

These are the doctor's letters that warned of the perilous health of six-stone Stephen Smith - and which were ignored by the Department of Work and Pensions as they continued to deny him vital benefits before his death.

Stephen died last week at the age of 64 having only recently overturned the government's decision to take him off benefits following a lengthy and draining battle.

In January he had to get a pass out of hospital, weighing just six stone, to battle and defeat the DWP to get his support restored.

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/stephen-smith-warning-doctors-dwp-16185418

 

[aza]

Very sad.

 

[JellyBabyKid]

Yes, and it's possible ME might not have appeared on their radar were it not for Carol Monaghan's recent parliamentary debates. Progress feeds progress .

Myself and @It's M.E. Linda have been in touch with our MP about ME since before the debate and were the source of his quote about it in this debate. 10 of the 11 people who turned up at out first ME friendship group meeting last year all reported being turned down for at least one benefit on their initial application. We made sure he knew about this!

 

[Barry]

Myself and @It's M.E. Linda have been in touch with our MP about ME since before the debate and were the source of his quote about it in this debate. 10 of the 11 people who turned up at out first ME friendship group meeting last year all reported being turned down for at least one benefit on their initial application. We made sure he knew about this!

Excellent! Well done .

 

[It's M.E. Linda]

To highlight the issue purely by coincidence this is on todays Liverpool Echo website about a man who was refused ESA after attending a WCA by getting a pass out of hospital. He has subsequently died.

Stephen Smith, and many other people who have died following ‘fit for work’ decisions, were mentioned by a lot of the MP’s speaking on Wednesday.

Alex Chalk was the only Tory we could see at the Westminster Hall Debate, apart from the Minister.

 

[Wonko]

It's not the people that have died as a result of this, they're dead, there is no need to worry about them.

It's those that haven't died, yet, which is controversially many more people. People going through at the very least limbo, if not hellish misery, knowing how unfair the system is, seeing it's getting worse, and even worse, knowing it's deliberate, malicious and deliberate policy that is making them dread the post every morning, for years.

Is it any wonder that a lot don't want to go through it again, having done so several times in the past and knowing exactly what it's like, what it does to them, and are so 'primed' to do whatever is necessary not to have to endure it again.

This IS the intent of the current regime.

To make the whole process so 'unpleasant' that no on, literally no one, will endure it voluntarily.

Any Minister who tells you otherwise is bare faced lying - or is far too stupid and gullible to have the job.

Unfortunately for many, many people getting a job, and rewarding this demonic and sadistic behaviour of the political and media classes, is not an option.

Coz...well they is sick, innit.

 

[NelliePledge]

Well yes & no @Wonko its about both

 

[Wonko]

Well yes & no @Wonko its about both

It's about those still living, both people related to those who have died, and those who are at risk.

Only the living are affected by this.

It is, at least IMO, not about those who have died, as they are no longer subject to the WCA - how the system evolves or is politically abused is of no interest to them.

When you're dead you're dead, unless you're religious in which case things may be different, but even in that eventuality the WCA is unlikely to be high on your agenda.

 

[ProudActivist]

Yes but people die because of austerity etc and the government is potentially (I add for legal reasons) culpable.

 

[alktipping]

Yes but people die because of austerity etc and the government is potentially (I add for legal reasons) culpable.

we wish those deemed culpable were actually prosecuted .never likely to happen which is why this tragedy will carry on . in my own wishes for a better world those responsible would face public trials and found guilty of their wilful choices to attack and do considerable harm to the sick and disabled would rightly face lengthy prison sentences and public vilification of their sociopathic desires to dehumanise and abuse us .

 

[Wonko]

I feel roughly the same, apart from the lengthy prison sentences.

 

[chicaguapa]

If only we could get to the WCA! My daughter's claim has been closed three times now because she's 17, even though she meets the eligibility for under 18 claimants. I asked my MP, Steve Brine no less, to intervene after the second time, and he was told by the DWP that she was entitled in her circumstances and to apply again.

The third claim has now been closed on the basis that she's not eligible, and so I've asked Steve to contact Amber Rudd to get this resolved. Each time, my daughter has had to drag herself to the Job centre to provide ID and then the follow up appointment gets cancelled. It's been a complete waste of her time and energy. I can't begin to imagine what the WCA is going to be like, even though we managed to get through the PIP assessment relatively unscathed!

 

[It's M.E. Linda]

If only we could get to the WCA! My daughter's claim has been closed three times now because she's 17, even though she meets the eligibility for under 18 claimants. I asked my MP, Steve Brine no less, to intervene after the second time, and he was told by the DWP that she was entitled in her circumstances and to apply again.

The third claim has now been closed on the basis that she's not eligible, and so I've asked Steve to contact Amber Rudd to get this resolved.

Going slightly off topic, I had hoped that Steve Brine would turn into a supporter of ME, once he took his ministerial hat off! He certainly knows a lot about the subject, having sat through the two latter debates. He also proved helpful by catching Darren Jones MP, immediately after the HoC debate, and providing some helpful suggestions. (@EspeMor , please note SB is helping with this case).

Keep him “on side” @chicaguapa, we’ll get him offering his support to CM next!!

Good luck with application #4, you really need a senior caseworker in charge of the application, who actually understands how the UC system works. Make sure they backdate the benefit to the date of the original claim too