Volunteers for ESA documentary required

Anyone remember "Cathy Come Home"? 

Remember how gritty it was, and how it changed public perceptions? 

Now we have a chance to do a day by day, blow by blow account of being 
disabled, on benefits and terrified of the outcome of an upcoming WCA 
or ESA appeal. 

What will it involve? 
Spending time with you and your family (or the people you live with), 
and demonstrating the fears, risks and pitfalls and financial 
implications of the WCA and not getting the ESA. 

We are thinking that we may need 9 or 12 people, not all of which will 
be used, but if we have that many then we can hopefully get a true 
picture. There is no upper limit to volunteers, obviously, but the 
final piece will be editted to have the most powerful impact. 

It doesn't actually matter if your condition is mental health, 
physical health, constant, fluctuating or stable, or any combination 
of conditions. Or if you are a carer. 

Fear of the DWP may stop some people, but for those of us who have put 
our faces out there already, I dont know of one single person who has 
been targetted by the DWP, or any other organisation. 
In fact, having your story out there may actually work as protection. 

You will not be portrayed as fiddling the system if you are found fit 
for work, I suspect quite the opposite will happen and you will be 
shown to have significant problems that prevent you from being as 
employable as others on JSA. 

Its time the tide turned, and the producer is keen to do this. 

If you want more info,  you can email me, and we can chat about it, or 
use this thread. 

Can you also spread the word as much as possible to other sites? 

Ta very much, please feel free to contact us to discuss it if you are 
at all concerned,  or fascinated! 

You can view some of his work here to get a feel of it; 


http://vimeo.com/3863905 

contact me on hossylass@gmail.com

Repeat

 Thanks to Batsgirl for this excellent post, originally published here


I know this is ground we've covered before, but a look at today's front pages makes it necessary to go over it again.

In the UK, we have a welfare system. The disability benefit side of it has been being overhauled for the last few years. Labour started it, the Coalition are continuing it, they're using the same company (Atos) to execute it and the same advisor (Lord Freud) to justify it. This is not a party-political issue - red, blue or yellow, to borrow a phrase, they're all in it together.

In summary:

• If you have a doctor's note stating that you are unable to work because of illness, injury or impairment, you apply for Employment Support Allowance (ESA). For the first 13 weeks of your claim you are paid the "assessment phase" rate of up to £67.50 per week.
• If the assessment classifies you as entirely unable to work, and unlikely to ever be able to work, for instance because you are bedbound and terminally ill with a life expectancy of less than a year, you are granted unconditional ESA at the "support" rate of up to £99.85 per week.
• If the assessment decides that, although your disabilities are substantial, you would be able to do *some* work at *some* point in the future with the right conditions/support/equipment/adjustments, then you are awarded ESA at the "work-related activity" rate of up to £94.25 per week. To continue to receive this you must attend regular work-related activities.
• If the assessment determines that your NHS-diagnosed conditions are not severe enough to substantially impair your ability to work in an office environment, or that you would only require minor adjustments, you are deemed "fit to work". You don't get ESA at all, and are placed on Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) which is a smaller amount of money with much higher conditionality attached. If you are fortunate, there may be a note on your jobseeking file excusing you from mandatory application for specific jobs that would aggravate or be incompatible with your condition (for instance someone with speech and hearing difficulties may be "fit to work" but excused from mandatory application for call-centre jobs).

Leaving aside all the arguments about whether the system is fair, how their fitness-to-work tests relate to what is required to perform a job in the real world, and so on... the Department for Work and Pensions released these statistics yesterday, about ESA applicants over the last two years:

• 7% were incapable of any work (Support group)
• 17% were able to do some sort of work given the correct support (Work-related activity group)
• 39% were deemed to be fit for work and were moved onto jobseeker's allowance
• 36% dropped out of the application process
• 1% of applications were still in progress

Today, the Express have taken these numbers and decided that 1% (still in assessment phase) plus 7% (Support group ESA) plus 17% (WRA group ESA) equals 25% of applicants approved to receive some form of ESA. So far, so true. However, their headline screams that therefore the remaining 75% - those moved onto JSA, and those who drop out of the system entirely - are "faking".

This is simply not true.

The fact that a person has failed to score enough points to get ESA (yes, it really is a points-based computer system) does not mean that they scored no points whatsoever, or even that they're not disabled, just that they're not quite disabled enough to be Officially unfit for work. That's why we have the assessment process! To assess people!

To apply to be assessed is not "faking".

To have a level of impairment that falls just short of the ESA bar is not "faking".

There will also be quite a few applicants who suffered an acute injury or illness (for instance, they were in a car accident) and were advised to apply for ESA as a temporary or worst case scenario - but in the 13-week assessment period, they have recovered well so they have been moved to JSA or have returned to work.

To recover from an illness or injury does not mean that the illness or injury was "faked".

There are also the people who get placed onto Jobseeker's Allowance, and go to appeal, and win. The rate of people winning their appeals is around 40% and this increases to 70% where the appellant has someone to represent them. Regrettably, there are also a number of genuinely disabled people who simply don't have the wherewithal to fight an appeal, and have to attempt to survive without the benefits they need. I myself have been in this situation.

To be too ill to fight is not "faking".

There are people who, during their assessment period, are fortunate to find a suitable job which is prepared to make the necessary adjustments, or who, like myself, have enough personal support around them to enable them to be self-employed.

To return to the taxpaying workforce is not "faking".

A very few people will be fortunate enough to have other resources to fall back on. Perhaps an insurance payout of some kind, or a lottery win, or the sale of assets, will save them from the indignity of having to complete a process that treats them as the worst kind of fraudster from beginning to end.

To have alternative resources is not "faking".

Most significantly, there are those who die before the assessment phase is complete.

To die of a condition is perhaps the strongest possible indicator that the condition was not "faked".


I'd provide more concrete statistics, but we don't have them. Once you leave ESA, you're not monitored. We don't know how many of these people have got jobs, have died, have killed themselves, have left the country... no one cares. The Express just goes ahead and calls them all "fakers".

Fit for Work #fitforwork

Below is a selection of "Fit for Work" tweets from the last couple of days.  People were encouraged to tweet the usual and the difficult parts of their day with the hashtag in order to show what life really can be like for disabled people and how the WCA is failing people.

These are just some of the tweets - chosen completely at random.  To view the hash tag click on #fitforwork.  Names are twitter names, but not linked due to the time and effort that would take but should be searchable on twitter.


I chose a "pretty" bowl as my sick bowl because I spend most days with my head in it #disabilitynormal #fitforwork http://t.co/flG6At - KimbellyBull

I'm #fitforwork but am out of the country caring for my #disabled dad 2 weeks of every 4. Employ me? - Gavroche2000

Even though you're tee-total, you sound and look drunk. Always a good look for potential employers.#fitforwork - Lou_Lou_Bird

If you ask me how many sick days I took in my last two years of work and I write 3 months+ will you employ me? #fitforwork - HellsBells265

I know I have a lot to offer a potential employer. I also know I will never be able to offer it in a work setting and the number of people who think this is somehow evidence of "low self-esteem" makes me really angry - ksej

Have spent the entire morning either crying with pain or stuck on the loo.  - Sharon_J

My wife has gone to get food. I'll be lucky if I eat half of it. Fortunately employers don't mind workers being constantly hypo - JulianYon

I don't know what time I can get to work and I will need a rest when I get there.  - LatentExistence

Numbness in my hands and fingers now, and shoulder pain. Really wants my bed! Any boss would sympathise right? #fitforwork - LongDogFerret

Guessing employers don't mind that you can't sit still or concentrate for more than a minute when the pain's driving you mad - Sharon_J

In order to function I take (prescription) class A narcotics. That's OK in the workplace, right? - LatentExistence

Listening to 5 playing telephone: "Daddy feels poorly" over and over. :/ -- #fitforwork? - JulianYon

Two Hons degrees..unable to recall colleagues' names,where they sit, office postal address etc 3 months into job. - GentleChaos

talking frequently induces 'choke-until-you-vomit' (sorry if TMI!) - StickmanCrips

I can't lift the full bottle of milk or full kettle to take my turn making tea. Co-workers won't mind, right?  - BatGirl

pain clinics, skin reactions to the lights in the office, son attacking staff - time off twice a week ok with you, then? - LonAitewalker

People asked my opinion, always included me, and never found me #boring when I was #fitforwork - longdogferret

Have just changed the bedsheets. I am now completely exhausted and wanting to crawl back under them.  Additionally, having to spend the day in my dressing gown as my skin is too sensitive and sore for clothes today. That's #fitforwork, right? - Mazzlestar

If a co-worker were to take just one of my pain pills, it would shut their brain down for a month (assuming they lived). - AdAstra45

My powerchair took almost 3 weeks to be fixed. I've had it back 10 days. It's making scary bad noises. - FunkyFairy22

I cant sit, stand or walk for long, got any jobs I can do from my bed? - HovellingHermit

I hope you won't mind finding me a clean area so that I can set up an aseptic trolley and hook up to an IV line when I'm dry. #fitforwork - Sharon_J

Just had my new manual wheelchair delivered. Anyone want to push me to my government allotted office every day? - QueenieJelly

"Can you explain why you're always 'sick' on Fridays?" Erm, because I've worked while sick for 4 consecutive days. - JulianYon

Of course when I struggle with mental health, I won't have a manager who think she's lucky as 'she can leave things at home' - HellyCopeland

PA took me to the docs and chemists. Regular health-related stuff during office hours shouldn't be a problem if you're #fitforwork - Batsgirl

"You do know your eyes are pointing in different directions, don't you?" #fitforwork - BendyGirl

keep walking outside whatever the weather's like because my brain doesn't like the artificial lighting, #fitforwork - Robbsart

I  know that you can always vomit just one more time #fitforwork - Suey2y

Can't move well enough to dress myself & no help today. Can't reach up to food or microwave so surviving from fridge - Bekijane

#fitforwork lose effective use of your left side if you get too hot. This lost me my last job cos they refused reasonable adjustments. - StickmanCrips

I'll take an hour for a toilet break to wash my hands, then get stuck in the toilet because I can't touch the door #fitforwork - Aliquant

When i was #fitforwork i didnt have to go to a shop & buy something in order to have contact with another human being - Opinion8ed_dyke

I'm lucky, I am #fitforwork cos I found work #fitforme . - QueerPup

Being #fitforwork is a privilege. A sensible society embraces everybody, including those who cannot work. - KindJourneys

You can be #fitforwork one day and unable to work the next. Good health is fragile and not guaranteed; it could be YOU next. - HovellingHermit