DWP Plan Harsher ESA Test, PIP Safety Net Pulled, Claimant Death Statistics To Be Published
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Dear Reader
Plans to make the medical test for employment and support allowance (ESA) harder to pass and to increase the amount of bedroom tax some claimants have to pay have been leaked to the Guardian.
Meanwhile, with polling day almost upon us, the DWP have been ordered by the Information Commissioner to publish highly controversial claimant death statistics – but not until well after the election is over.
And we have news of an important protection for PIP claimants at risk of suicide or self-harm that has been removed.
Harsher test and more cuts
The cuts documents drawn up by civil servants and seen by the Guardian relate to ways that the benefits bill could be reduced if the government goes over the national spending cap for welfare benefits.
However, sources in the DWP told the Guardian that these are the same options that will be presented to Conservative ministers wanting to cut £12 billion from the benefit bill if they win the election.
The cuts include:
- Stricter fit for work tests or ‘tighter limits on eligibility’
- Increasing the bedroom tax on certain categories of renters
- Stopping under-25s from claiming ESA or housing benefit
- Freezing all benefits payments
The DWP documents also reveal that IDS has failed to meet his targets for cutting the cost of IB/ESA, DLA/PIP and housing benefit and that ‘welfare reform’ is not saving money. The only way to cut costs now, according to the papers is to make cuts, some of which have been rejected in the past by ministers, which are “very/highly/extremely controversial”.
Little wonder then, that the Conservatives don’t want to reveal them before an election.
Death statistics
ESA ‘death statistics’ cover the number of ESA claimants who have died soon after being found fit for work, as well as those who died after being placed in the work-related activity group.
The decision by the Information Commissioner to order publication was made in February of this year. But it was withheld for months , before finally being sent last week to the DWP and to Mike Sivier, the campaigning blogger who has been pursuing the figures for years.
The time limit of 35 days to publish now runs from 30 April, meaning the Coalition will not have to answer to the public for any rise in claimant death numbers until after the election is over.
The unpublished statistics join a long list of suppressed and delayed reports, as well as refusals to hold enquiries, that would have revealed just how painful life for many sick and disabled claimants has become.
For example, the Coalition have refused to hold an inquiry into the reasons for the rise in food bank use, refused to hold an enquiry into the use of sanctions, refused to carry out a cumulative impact assessment examining how the combined effect of all the ‘welfare reforms’ have affected claimants and have refused to publish details of 49 reviews into benefits related deaths.
Along with IDS fleeing from the sister of a dead claimant, the catalogue of refusals suggests some very guilty minds at the heart of the DWP.
PIP safety net pulled
Just how much regard the DWP has for claimants’ lives can be judged by the fact that an important safety net for claimants at risk of suicide has been removed.
The Personal Independence Payment Handbook, used by health professionals assessing claimants for PIP, advises that where a claimant has a history of suicide attempts or self-harm assessors should ‘strongly consider’ getting additional medical evidence. The aim is to try to carry out a paper-based assessment ‘to avoid distress to the claimant’.
At least, that’s what the PIP Handbook used to say.
This advice has been completely removed from the latest editions of the Handbook, with no explanation as to why vulnerable claimants no longer require protection.
We’ll be quizzing the DWP on the reasons for this change and updating our PIP guide to take account of it over the next few days.
We’ll keep readers posted.
ESA evidence ‘never’ refused
Moving on to ESA, Maximus have said they would ‘never refuse’ to allow claimants to submit up-to-date evidence when being assessed or reassessed for ESA, in spite of claimants telling us that’s exactly what happened to them.
We have been hearing from members whose ESA50 form, in which you have the chance to explain how your condition affects you, was up to two years old when they were finally called for a medical. Yet members claim they were told they could not submit a new form and would instead have to just tell the health professional about any changes to their condition.
Maximus, however, say that you always have the right to download and submit a new ESA50 form. We’ve provided readers with links to download a form and to complain to Maximus if they are told not to send it in.
ESA, DLA, PIP and HB still under threat
Finally, we hope this is our last word on voting for quite some time – unless a hung parliament results in another general election in the near future.
Ours survey last week showed that the vast majority of those who took part are willing to use tactical voting and vote-swapping as ways of trying to prevent the Conservatives running the next government.
And it’s probably just as well, given that the latest survey for the Guardian shows that Conservative voters are themselves more than willing to vote tactically. The polls say they are doing so in ‘breathtaking’ numbers in Sheffield Hallam to ensure that Nick Clegg remains as an MP and can help to create another Tory/Lib Dem government. And most of the tabloids are now advising their readers on how to vote tactically to keep the Conservatives in.
The Tories, meanwhile, still refuse to reveal where £12 billion cuts in benefits will fall if they take office, with IDS claiming yesterday that the Conservatives ‘haven’t done the work on it’ yet. Though having (probably) ruled out cuts to child benefit, this leaves only disability and incapacity benefits - such as PIP, DLA and ESA - plus housing benefit and tax credits left to slash. And, as seen above, making ESA even harder to claim and increasing the bedroom tax are now real possibilities.
But as we write this, only one thing is absolutely certain - this election is still much too close to call.
So, whether and how you vote could make a dramatic difference not just to your own life, but to the lives of everyone at risk of becoming just another DWP death statistic.
Please vote,
Steve Donnison
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BENEFITS NEWS
PIP safety net pulled
Information Commissioner orders publication of ESA death statistics
Benefits cuts plans leaked to Guardian
IDS flees from sister of dead claimant
Maximus deny refusing to allow up-to-date ESA evidence
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Give yourself the best possible chance of getting the right ESA, PIP or DLA decision, whether you’re making a claim, renewing an existing award or asking for a reconsideration or appeal. Subscribe now and get instant access to all our guides.
If you’re not already a member, join the Benefits and Work community before midnight on Friday and you can get 20% off the cost of your annual subscription.
Just type the following code into the coupon box when you pay: 8262
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Offer ends midnight Friday
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