Knowledge Is Power - So What Do The DWP Have To Hide?

The world of welfare is a murky one. Balanced, detailed and accurate information can be particularly difficult to find, which is why it was such a pleasure to see a video produced by the Ministry of Justice about appealing against a Work Capability Assessment decision. The information provided was clear, practical and empathetic, it's one of the best pieces of information about appeals that I've ever seen.

So you'd think given repeat assurances from Chris Grayling and Iain Duncan Smith that the genuinely vulnerable have nothing to fear from this process and their confidence, despite the recent BMA vote to call for the immediate end of the WCA, would mean that Ministers and the DWP would welcome any clear, sensible information on these processes.

Not so. The infomercial was removed after less than a week, eventually reappearing after a three month gap, only to disappear again as it became the most popular video the Ministry of Justice have ever made. In an email, the Minister for Work and Pensions complained that the video explained claimants are twice as likely to win their appeal if they appear in person, and that the DWP rarely send a representative to the appeal.

Another difficult to penetrate area is that of welfare to work programmes and the work providers, an industry widely understood to have been beset by fraud many years before the current deluge of allegations began. The company most widely associated with these issues is A4E, run by Emma Harrison who took £8.6 million in dividends from her private funded by the public company. That might be fair enough if A4E had a stunning success rate in helping people into full time, sustainable, fairly paying jobs. But they don't. And to be fair to A4E...neither does anyone else involved in the industry. It really is scraping the barrel when the best you can find to say about a company is that they're just as bad as all the other companies in their sector.

Over the past few weeks I've noticed something on twitter, initially because it seemed like a clever example of a private company turning to social media to improve their brand image, but then increasingly, and a bit grudgingly it turned into respect for the way this individual was behaving. Jonty Olliff Cooper is one of the directors at A4E and he has been using his personal twitter account to answer people's questions, a fair proportion of which are hostile. At first I just noticed that Jonty's responses were always calm, and polite, but as time went on I realised he was also genuinely attempting to engage, to pass on information and vitally to explore the information sent to him.

It's all very odd. No-one explains about welfare in detail, not the DWP, and certainly not the private contractors associated with it. So, it's fascinating, that all of a sudden whilst the DWP are still attempting to conceal accurate information published by the Ministry of Justice, the private providers are starting to try and shine some light into the murk. It would make a cynical person wonder just what the DWP might have to hide?

And then it all got a bit curiouser and curiouser as Alice would say. I noticed this new 'claimants' section on the website of Atos Healthcare. As I read through each section I found myself thinking 'actually this is quite good information'...which is a very disturbing feeling for a welfare warrior to have about the feared and loathed Atos Healthcare. It explains what to expect before, during and after your assessment, and crucially, who is responsible for what. It points out that if you are unable to attend for a WCA assessment the DWP only permit this to be rearranged once, and if you ask for a second then the DWP issue a form. Odd really, you'd think the DWP being a government department covering sick, disabled people and carers as part of their remit would understand that sick, disabled people and those who care for them can have frequent medical emergencies, so why would they not build into the system an ability to cope with that scenario?

It's was interesting to see that although Chris Grayling has repeatedly insisted everyone will have a face to face assessment as part of the WCA process, that this is clearly untrue, Atos describe this as 'an early check to indicate the person does not need to be invited for face to face assessment. Wherever this confirmation comes from it will hopefully be of some reassurance to claimants, because it's been the most vulnerable, particularly those with mental health conditions who have been most terrified of the prospect of the repeated and regular face to face assessments Ministers have insisted will be the case.

For me though, the most fascinating section was 'In Partnership with the DWP'. This clearly lays out the responsibilities of Atos Healthcare, The DWP and HM Government, explaining that Atos are responsible for recruitment, training, collecting evidence, booking and carrying out assessments etc, all in accordance with the criteria laid out by DWP. DWP are responsible for (emphasis mine);

• Designing and developing the format and criteria for assessments
• Reviewing all evidence presented by an individual, including but not limited to the report from Atos Healthcare, and making a decision on an individual’s entitlement to benefit
• Setting delivery targets and metrics for Atos Healthcare quality and service
• Monitoring service delivery against contractual requirements
• Authorising medical protocols used in clinical applications

So it seems that finally some light is being shone into the dark details of welfare, from the most surprising of sources, the private contractors themselves. I'd highly recommend people read through all the information on the Atos site, partly because it's a clear explanation of how the process works and what to expect, but also because it clarifies departmental responsibilities. It really should make anyone genuinely interested in who is responsible for the Work Capability Assessment process ask why the DWP are not only the last to come forward with open information, but why, when the other parts of the sector are starting to try to do just that, the DWP are still trying to actively conceal such information?

Flipping A Coin - By Hossylass

Out today is a report that will inflame and upset the motor industry.  In these difficult times they stand to lose in excess of 50,000 car sales a year.

This is not the only loss though – the loss of jobs will also be significant, and it will be a tiny pebble that causes ripples throughout a huge and diverse industry.

So what is the cause of these job losses and sales losses? Surprisingly the answer is the Welfare Reform Bill.

Under the new WRB some 280,000 people will lose the very allowance that pays towards a suitable  and adapted vehicle, that allows them to mobilise, to work, to get treatments and to have some life outside of four walls. Without these vehicles the recipients of the allowance would be housebound and unemployable.

Some would say that there is an alternative, such as public transport.

However, a few days ago Transport for All and DPAC invited MP’s to join them on public transport in London, to test this theory.

Now public transport in London is the flagship of accessible transport. Nowhere else has as many accessible buses, tubes, trains or taxis, but Londoners will assure you that the situation is dire.

If there is a limited chance of using public transport in London, then the chances of finding it in a remote area of the UK are even smaller – many places don’t even have a bus every day, let alone an accessible bus. Without these buses the recipients of the allowance will be housebound and unemployable.

Two sides of the same coin.

Of course there is the Government response of Access to Work, and the vast amount of money that will become available for taxis. Except it probably won’t be available.  Access to Work is a postcode lottery – extracting help from them is almost impossible in some regions.

For someone in a rural area to get to their nearest post office of five miles away, they would firstly have to persuade a taxi company to come from the nearest town, some 10 miles away, to take them to the post office. Total round trip for the taxi 30 miles for a 10 mile fare…

Even given the London centricity of the thinking, it won’t work in London. Its stands no chance of working across the country.

Again it has fallen onto the shoulders of the disabled community to do the job of the Government and investigate the cumulative financial and social impacts of the WRB – congratulations to both ventures for undertaking this.

PRESS RELEASE

Embargo: 25 June 2012

New report warns car industry to lose out under welfare reform plans

A new report has highlighted the dangers to the UK’s economy following an analysis of the impact of welfare reform on the motor industry.

‘Reversing from Recovery’, published by the WeareSpartacus campaign group, analyses figures supplied by the Department for Work and Pensions and Motability, the organisation that supplies lease cars to disabled people claiming Disability Living Allowance. The report focusses on some of the impacts of the government’s plans to reform Disability Living Allowance (DLA), and its proposal to remove 280,000 disabled people from claiming the higher mobility rate of DLA, which currently qualifies them to lease a car under the Motability scheme.

The analysis estimates that, under DLA’s replacement benefit, Personal Independence Payments (PIP), there will be a 27% reduction in the number of working age disabled people, and a 17% reduction in the number of disabled people overall, qualifying for the Motability scheme.

Motability’s publication ‘Economic and social impact of the Motability Car Scheme’ (2010) identified the scheme’s contribution to the economy through employment generation and tax receipts. The new report shows that welfare reform plans will lead to a domino effect including the loss of:

·         3,583 jobs (from 21,080 jobs to 17,497 jobs in Motability-related industries)

·         £342 million contribution to GDP (from around £2 billion to £1.67 billion)

·         £79 million in tax receipts

·         Up to £324 million contribution to GDP from disabled people’s ability to undertake paid work.

Jane Young, an independent disability consultant who co-authored the report, said:

“It’s not just disabled people who will lose out under the Government’s welfare reform plans. Changing from DLA to PIP means fewer people qualifying for Motability cars to the tune of about 31,000 fewer vehicles a year. Less demand means fewer jobs for the car manufacturing industry, a lower contribution to GDP and the exchequer, and a knock on effect on the availability of cars in the second hand market, which also contributes to the economy.”

The report also raises concerns about future investment in the UK by car manufacturers, given the demand for new cars is going to drop as the government phases in its plans.

Rob Parsons, an Open University lecturer who also contributed to the report, added:

“We must remember, of course, that part of this picture is the impact of these changes on disabled people themselves.  85% of Motability car users say the car has a positive impact on their ability to access health services, whilst more than 1 in 3 of those able to work say it maintains or improves their ability to undertake paid employment. 7% of customers’ families say it enables a family member to gain or keep a job.

“We’ll see disabled people less independent, less likely to be able to get or keep a job and more likely to close businesses or give up self-employment. Having welfare reform plans which interfere with employment prospects is nonsensical. The Government should think again.”

The report is calling on the Government to give further consideration to the wider consequences of disability benefits reform, including consulting more widely, before finalising the regulations under the Welfare Reform Act.

For more information or to obtain a copy of ‘Reversing from Recovery’, the full report or summary version, contact:

Jane Young:  jane.young@wearespartacus.org.uk;  07775 892344, or

Bethan Morris:  beth.morris@wearespartacus.org.uk   

Notes for editors:

• ‘Reversing from Recovery’, both the full report and the summary version, will be available to download fromhttp://wearespartacus.org.uk after publication (25 June 2012)
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is a benefit that helps individuals meet the additional costs that come from living with a disability and is payable to people in work as well as out of work
• Details of the Government’s proposals for PIP, including projections of the number of people expected to be eligible for the enhanced mobility rate, can be found in the DWP consultation document, ‘Personal Independence Payment: Assessment thresholds and consultation’ (January 2012), available at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations/2012/pip.shtml
• The Motability publication, ‘Economic and social impact of the Motability Car Scheme’ (2010), is available for download athttp://www.motability.co.uk/documents/PDFs/OEReport.pdf
• The WeareSpartacus campaign group is an internet-based group of disabled and sick people from around the UK which campaigns for welfare benefits and social care services that enable disabled and sick people to live independently and with dignity.

Keep The Aspidistra Flying - By Hossylass

It looks like we will, after all, have to keep the aspidistra flying and continue to hope that society will charitably provide the finances that society resists paying for under compulsion.

What that basically means is that the poor will continue to give a disproportionately larger amount of both their incomes and their disposable incomes than the rich to charitable causes.

And as charitable causes go there are many. Most of them are honourable, many are heart-breaking, and a significant few are downright dishonest.

But assuming that the givers are aware of the final destination of their hard earned cash, and then the choice to give is theirs. Paying tax is not their choice, it’s part of a social contract. The givers (or the bludgeoned, depending on how you feel) in the main accept that taxes, like death, are unavoidable.

But some don’t. Yeah, you know who you are. The huge corporations worth billions, with vast turnovers that pay a paltry 6% tax.

The people at the top, who earn so much that it is but a game to them, to be richer than their mates, and  to avoid as much tax as possible.

The footballers who manage to pay only 4% tax, on salaries that are almost beyond the ken of the normal working man. The normal working man that incidentally pays their wages, turning up every Saturday, standing in the rain and eating a pie, that if it hasn’t been made in Wigan or St. Helens, is probably gristle wrapped in trans fatty acids and sawdust.

Yes Wigan, football and tax have a lot to answer for, which may be why the Orwell judges chose to pick Rangers Tax something or other to win the Orwell Prize for blogging. Now the blog may be brilliant, it may be the most socio-politically accurate portrayal of Britain today.

I’ll never know though, because on the seven times I tried to read it, I fell asleep. This may be due to my condition, it may be a very good reason to not have me as a judge, it may be that I think Rangers are a bit poo and if they can’t sort out their finances and their midfield then that’s their problem. 

It may be that I have had much more fun on the piss with Celtic fans. 

Yep, it may be that I am disengaged by the title of the blog.

I was however engaged by the three northern lasses who put up blogs that really did feel Orwellian.

Wiggy’s blog gives the law as people want to read it, full of reason, explanation and common sense, and not too many long words. Did I feel patronised? Did I shites. I felt engaged, intrigued and wanted to read through the night.

I struggled to understand Lisa’s blog at first, until I eventually found the bits I should have been reading. Then I was hooked. I was hooked by the fact that Lisa just blogs how it is. She never feels the need to write in a stuffy, pretentious fashion.  I laughed with her as she laughed at herself, and railed with her when she railed at the world. Thanks to Orwell I had an enjoyable few hours in some-one else’s world. Thanks to Lisa for sharing.

As a disabled person Kaliya’s blog is pretty much essential reading, more so if you have a condition that is rare, odd or generally unbelieved. This increases tenfold if you have the same condition as Kaliya, and goes a bit quantum if you bought a car off her. Guess which boxes I tick.

But regarding Orwell, Kaliya also ticks all the boxes. She takes her own particular circumstances and relates them, comparing her small picture to the very big picture.  And Kaliya has the capability of seeing some very big pictures. That’s because her eyes are positioned very far apart.  Or because she sees things as they really are.

And that is what all three of these bloggers have. Really wide apart eyes. They really see things as they are, a bit like that book “The Lies We tell Children”. Adults are told lies too, misinformed, pushed into beliefs that have no foundation.

The economy is not the fault of the little people, nor the disabled, nor immigrants nor the unemployed. It’s not single parents, or drunks or drug addicts. It’s the fault of the world banking system, the financiers and the greed that infests their lives.

The cuts will hurt millions and save millions. Sadly its billions that are needed, the billions that are tucked away in off-shore banks, the billions unpaid in tax. The country would not have to cut a single penny if the billions that are stashed away in tax avoidance were paid.

And because those billions are stashed away, Kaliya will still have to try and raise the funds for her much needed power-chair from the little people. Ironically the Orwell Prize money would have meant she could have bought it. This week. In the colour that she wants.

We shall instead have to keep the aspidistra flying in the way of fundraising, and thank the Orwell Prize and the three doughty northern lasses for allowing us not just to peer myopically into their worlds, but understand that we are all essentially part of that big picture.

(Note: None of the bloggers have, to my knowledge, anything other than perfectly placed eyes. Apologies to those who may feel offended, especially those who are offended on behalf of others – for you I am really sorry.)

In Defence Of Iain Duncan Smith - By Hossylass

As if.

To be honest, I think that IDS is indefensible.

I have this to say to him, and all those other MP’s who “met a man”;

to all those neighbours who are expert medical consultants, but prefer to be bin collectors, lorry drivers and administrators;

to those Atos Doctors who don’t even try to be fair;

to social service workers with preconceived ideas;

and to those who should know better but can ignore their own knowledge in favour of easier to enjoy bigotry;

this is for you.

So, so you think you can tell,

Heaven from Hell, 
blue skies from pain. 
Can you tell a green field,

from a cold steel rail? 
A smile from a veil? 
Do you think you can tell? 

And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts? 
Hot ashes for trees? 
Hot air for a cool breeze? 
Cold comfort for change? 
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war,

For a lead role in a cage? 

How I wish, how I wish you were here. 
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year, 
Running over the same old ground. 
What have you found? The same old fears. 
Wish you were here. 


Living in a country that promotes people to consider themselves capable of judging blue skies from pain and a smile from a veil, and to condemn those who are judged to be “undeserving”.

Spinning lies on the spinning wheel of hatred, convincing the public that 75% of people are faking, and then patting yourselves on the back for "saving" billions.

Removing benefits from sick and disabled people and spinning it that they are “trapped on benefits, which is not fair on them”  is like raping a 10 year old girl and then telling her that at least she won’t still be a virgin at 50.

Indefensible doesn't even come close.

Lyrics by Pink Floyd.

The Road To Wigan Pier - By Hossylass

If you are expecting Orwell from me, you can forget it. I’ve been to Wigan, and on one un-momentous evening, to Wigan pier. Actually I have to confess to having been to Wigan a lot, though I can’t for the life of me remember if George actually went there or just liked the the word wigan.

I admit to liking the title though.  I am pretty sure I liked the book, but not sure I could read it now.

It’s that ole love of my life crippledom and foggy finking that stops me devouring anything more complex than a blog, which is why I am pretty ecstatic that Benefit Scrounging Scum has been shortlisted for the Orwell blogging prize.

At this point I will declare an interest  - BendyGirl is my phone mate. A little tiny bit like a soul mate or a best mate, but it’s a relationship where we cannot see each other’s  expressions  - a fact that I think we are both quite chuffed about. Also there is a real chance that the physical meeting may cause distortions in the time-space-disability continuum.

It’s not a healthy relationship for any  given definition of healthy (we are not) or relationship (yeah, right). Examples being BendyGirl frightening me witless by dropping off the phone when her larynx collapsed, and me having an instantaneous and drastic asthma attack by slurping what I thought was water and turned out to be soluble aspirin. However these types of incidents are rare, no more than once a week anyway. The more common “talking on the phone” injury is dislocated ribs.

I’ll be honest here, our lives are crap. Other disabled people’s lives are crappier.  And trying to save the Welfare system from your bed/chair/floor is about as much fun as trying to retrieve Grandma’s antique wedding ring from a blocked toilet using only your teeth, whilst simultaneously being rogered up the arse by an angry elephant with herpes.

But oddly, as depressing and exhausting life may seem BendyGirl is my laughter, my moral guidance and my sanity. And for those who know her well, you now have a pretty good idea how baseless, coarse and mental I am.  If BendyGirl is the datum point, you have to work backwards from there quite a long way. And that is where you will find me, grinning and gurning like an evil toad on acid.

I am deeply suspicious of everything, and everyone. As luck has it, this is exactly what you need when debating disability related politics. BendyGirl can sniff out the morally inept, the cruel and the legally  dubious  -  I am usually busy sniffing out the money behind it, or rather who’s up who and who aint payin’.  But BendyGirl is a moral compass, a natural wit and a superb debater who is dedicated enough to write a regular and entertaining blog about life in a broken and borked body.

So if you are thinking when you read that a disabled writer has been short-listed for the prestigious Orwell Prize for blogging something along the lines of Variety Club Sunshine coach, please readjust your thinking.

Its far more akin to St. Trinians meets Private Eye, and please don’t ever say I didn’t warn you.

Read it here;  http://benefitscroungingscum.blogspot.co.uk/