How can you tell if the DWP lying? When they deny something but then also allow it at the same time….Here we have an example of their hypocrisy and they never fail to disappoint do they.
The team over at Benefits and Work submitted a freedom of information request asking the DWP if they are paying bonuses for detecting benefit fraud and if staff have to reach targets for criminal prosecutions. Rather predictably they denied both in a statement given in response to the FOI;
“The DWP does not operate any bonus or incentive schemes aimed specifically at staff who are involved in detecting and investigating benefit fraud and overpayment cases. There are also no targets for Investigators to achieve a prescribed number of criminal outcomes.”
Adding:
“I can confirm that DWP operates an in-year reward and recognition scheme for all DWP teams and Individuals to be recognised for displaying exemplary behaviours or making a significant contribution to team performance. This applies to all colleagues across DWP.”
Their response does appear to rule out that there is a formal bonus system for detecting fraud or recovering money. But it does not rule out the possibility that teams or individuals can receive rewards for recovering large amounts of money for the DWP or prosecuting large numbers of claimants.
We await further details of this.
However we are wise to their lying ways, knowing that if they can get away with doing something by simply changing the wording they will.
It is not acceptable in any way shape or form to issue bonuses or rewards for targets such as these. They create a system when a bonus or reward becomes more important than the wellbeing of already vulnerable claimants. They lead to false accusations, sanctions based upon lies knowing at the same time that many are unable to challenge their decision because they’re not strong enough to do so.
Rather unsurprisingly the government has recently announced their proposed plans to reform work capability assessments. Using the guise of their new so called “mission to “support people into work”.
Why will these changes cause distress and harm?
Putting even more pressure upon already vulnerable disabled people causes an anxiety like no other. Imagine having the fear that you could be sanctioned for being physically or mentally unable to comply to job search requirements constantly hanging over you.
It’s already hard enough trying to cope with day to day life when disabled and putting more pressure upon them will, I fear push many into illness or worse.
Disability charities and campaigners have been calling for reforms to work capability assessments for a long time now. These assessments cause huge distress for disabled people as a whole and those with mental health conditions.
The DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) announced earlier this year that they planned to scrap said health assessments by 2028. Instead they’ve pushed forward these changes with gusto.
According to prime minister Rishi Sunak said: “Work transforms lives – providing not just greater financial security, but also providing purpose that has the power to benefit individuals, their families and their communities.
He went on to say “That’s why we’re doing everything we can to help more people thrive in work – by reflecting the complexity of people’s health needs, helping them take advantage of modern working environments, and connecting them to the best support available.
He also forgot to mention the truth that work does not transform lives for disabled people, it’s not a cure for disabilities and these plans will make life as a whole worse because of the added pressure that will be put upon them to comply.
Despite what Sunak claims minimum wage and zero hour employment do not give people financial security. They barely earn enough money for able bodied people to live on let alone disabled people who need more financial support to survive from day to day.
Sunak talks about ‘modern work environments’ whatever they may be as if they’re the answer to everything but in reality it’s very different.
I doubt he knows what these ‘modern work environments’ are after all he’s never had a real minimum wage job himself. He hasn’t got a clue.
I suspect that once in operation the DWP will ram up the pressure for job search requirements for disabled people to a level unseen before.
What support will the government supply for disabled people?
From experience not much if any at all. The government and DWP like to spin proposals like these round using fancy words and language which is meaningless and nothing but word salad.
To be honest I don’t know anyone that has a minimum wage or zero hour contract that can positively say that their work has provided them more financial security.
Thousands of people that are forced to claim Universal Credit (UC) are dependent upon food banks and the kindness of family and friends to survive.
The UK now has more children living in poverty than we have seen in modern times. We also have more disabled people having to go without meals or care that they desperately need.
NHS hospitals and services are being run to the ground, we have schools at risk of collapsing because the government failed to fix the concrete problem years ago and they expect us to believe that they care about disabled people.
Truth is as I’ve said many times before they don’t care. All the government cares about is saving money and not spending any on disabled people.
The government also likes to throw around ‘benefit fraud’ especially when related to disabled people. It’s extremely hard to qualify for disability benefits in the first place and even more so trying to ‘fool’ the system.
They need to concentrate on their tax dodging pals instead.
Not all disabilities are visible and everyone with a disability should be treated with kindness and support both emotionally and financially.
I know that this will never happen but I can dream can’t I.
Anela Anwar, chief executive of the anti-poverty charity Z2K told the Big Issue “Disabled people are already disproportionately likely to be in poverty, and these proposals will only make this worse. The Health and Disability White Paper recognised that the work capability assessment is not fit for purpose – yet DWP is now consulting on plans to make it even stricter.
“This will inevitably lead to seriously ill and disabled people losing vital income, and being forced to look for work they can’t do or be sanctioned. Government must think again and provide financial stability and support to seriously ill and disabled people on low incomes, not yet more cuts and threats.”
The consultation’s proposals include reflecting “improved employer support in recent years for flexible and home working” – meaning a person with a disability is more likely to be approved as ‘fit to work’ during a work capability assessment.
These proposed changes are due to come into force in 2025. Soon after the government will proceed with their plans to scrap the work capability assessments. People will instead be assessed for a new health element of universal credit during personal independence payment (PIP) assessments.
Thanks to the Big Issue and DPAC and DNS for previously reporting upon this.
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A 87 year old woman died after developing hypothermia at home after expressing concerns that she was worried about paying her energy bills.
Barbara Bolton, 87, had previously told relatives she had felt cold after they had visited her at her home in Bury to check on her wellbeing. Sadly as a result she was rushed to Fairfield hospital where she was then diagnosed with hypothermia.
However despite the good care given by NHS medical professionals, her condition sadly deteriorated and as a result of her worsening condition she sadly died several weeks later.
Therefore an inquest into her death was opened at Rochdale Coroner’s Court, details can be found here.
Hospital notes given to the inquest indicate that her illness and subsequent death was linked to the fact she couldn’t afford to put her heating on.
Her son, Mark Bolton, 61, said his “proud” mum had refused his offer to help to pay her power bills as reported in the Mirror. She had been heating her home by using a single gas fire in her living room and used portable electric heaters to warm the rest of her two-bedroom house.
Ms Bolton had previously worked as a pharmacy assistant at her local Tesco until the age of 82 and she had lived at her home on Dawson Street in Bury for several decades.
Her son Mark told the inquest that he spoke to his mum every night and that she had told him that she was worried about her heating bills, despite assurances from him that he would cover the costs.
Mark said “She was concerned about all her bills because she was a pensioner. She was careful, she was mindful of the prices and worried about them going up,” he said.
Mark told the coroner that he had always told her to ‘just keep your heating on’ and ‘don’t worry about the bills mum.’ “But she was very stubborn and proud about paying her own way,” he said.
He told the hearing that his mum had ‘felt cold’ when she was found sat at her kitchen table by one of her grandchildren, who had gone round after the family had not been able to contact her.
Police coroner’s officer Jane Scullion told the hearing: “Barbara was admitted to hospital on December 11, 2022, with hypothermia, and a chest infection.
“During that time she continued to deteriorate. After a discussion, she was placed on end of life care and passed away.”
Assistant coroner for Manchester North Julie Mitchel adjourned the inquest and has requested statements from her doctor and asked for a medical cause of death to be provided.
“Her death was particularly accelerated by hypothermia and there is a possibility of self-neglect due to the lack of heating so her death has been referred to the coroner,” she said.
Hypothermia is caused by prolonged exposures to very cold temperatures and requires immediate medical intervention. Causes include not wearing warm clothes in winter, falling into cold water and living in a cold house.
Sadly I fear that her death caused by living in a cold house isn’t the first and will certainly not be the last. Thousands if not more people are being forced by an uncaring, cruel government to live in cold and in many cases, damp houses as a result of the ever increasing energy costs.
For those saying that she should have jut accepted the help offered, it isn’t always as easy for various reasons. Admitting that you’re poor and can’t afford to heat your home is a very difficult thing to have to admit, and as a parent this can be even harder.
Society deems that parents should look after their children and not the other way round, and asking your children for help can make a parent feel like an absolute failure, and she wouldn’t have made her decision lightly.
This nightmare isn’t going to end soon, I wish it was.The reality is that thousands, including myself are counting down the days until spring arrives and warmer weather returns, it can’t come a minute too soon.
The government has absolutely no intention of changing things for the better, they prefer to spend their time trying to cover up senior ministers deception and lies rather than help those in need.
It’s one rule for them and one for us and the death of Ms Bolton and others won’t bother them in the slightest.
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The DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) Independent Case Examiner also known as ICE has revealed that they are overwhelmed by a huge amount of complaints from claimants.
This was revealed when they responded to an MP’s written question recently in parliament.
ICE is an organisation used by the DWP to deal with claimant’s complaints against the DWP. This is the next step when a claimant has exhausted the DWP’s internal complaints procedure and is still not satisfied with the response given.
Complaints against the DWP can be for various reasons including and not excluding others;
A failure by the DWP to follow proper procedures
Excessive payment delays for benefits
Sub standard customer service given to claimants.
It’s also noted that there has been a 17% increase in the number of complaints made to ICE in the year 2021to March 2022.
In itself may not be seen as a huge increase, however it is an increase and should be dealt with in the utmost urgency
However the huge increase in complaints arises in the proportion of cases that ICE has agreed to look into. This has increased by an astonishing 68% in the last year.
This therefore means that ICE is receiving a huge increase in complaints where it believes that there is a case to answer than in previous years.
As a result of this increase there are now 1,249 cases waiting for an ICE investigator to be allocated. The average time for a complaint to be dealt with currently takes is 53 weeks,so in total this means that it takes over a year before an investigation begins.
Personally I don’t know any person making a complaint against the DWP that can afford to wait that long albeit for financial and other complaint reasons.
It takes a great deal of courage to make a complaint against the DWP and as a result many don’t make complaints when they should do.
The complaints procedure is complex and very stressful for everyone making a complaint against the DWP and as a result it can impact a person’s health and ability to manage their daily life’s.
It comes as no surprise that legal justice that claimants are entitled to is subject to long indefensible delays without question.
It’s also noted that the DWP can make a decision to apply cruel, harsh and often unwanted sanctions on the most vulnerable and in need of help whilst their real and valid complaints.
Once again it’s one rule for claimants and yet another for their oppressors.
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It was recently announced during a Commons debate in parliament that Universal Credit sanctions (UC) are “back with a vengeance”. This comes after the figures for the last quarter have been revealed.
According to the released figures the sanction rates are now 250% higher than they were for the three months before the pandemic.
It’s extremely worrying that the figures have risen so much in such a short amount of time makes me very concerned about the welfare of UC claimants.
The huge increase allows for the ever increasing number of UC claimants. In layman’s terms it amounts to 2.5% of UC claimants being sanctioned each month which is almost double the amount when compared to 1.4% before the pandemic.
Let’s not forget that in June 2022 £34 million was taken away from claimants as a result of being sanctioned. This was followed in July 2022 by £34.9 million and then in August taking the total to over £36 million.
When you do the maths this totals to £100 million which has literally been taken from vulnerable claimants that were already struggling to pay for basic necessities.
Upon questioning these figures Guy Opperman minister for employment speaking on behalf repeatedly avoided answering a question which asked why the number of sanctions had increased so rapidly.
The only other possibility being that the DWP may have changed its policy on applying sanctions but neglecting to inform everyone that would be affected by this. After all it’s not the first time that they’ve done this.
The only answer that Opperman eventually gave was “The hon. Gentleman asked specifically about the rise in the number of sanctions. Some 98.2% of sanctions are for missing a meeting with a work coach.”
Opperman declined to give an explanation as to why twice as many claimants are now supposedly choosing to miss appointments with their DWP advisor.
Of course this makes no sense because claimants are desperate to receive their UC payments. Methinks Opperman’s not being honest which comes as no surprise at all.
However Anne McLaughlin, SNP MP for Glasgow North East didn’t hold back from being honest in informing the commons the advice that she gives every UC claimant that has come to her after being sanctioned.
She went on to say;
“If you have your benefits sanctioned, do not take it lying down. Contact me and I will fight this for you, because this is wrong and nobody should have to live on less than the minimum income.”
This is of course correct, everyone that finds themselves in this position should fight it. The reality is that many don’t because they don’t have the strength to do so.
I have spoken to many people that had taken the decision to stop claiming UC because they can’t cope with it leaving them with little or no income to live on.
More MPs need to speak up about this in parliament but I won’t hold my breath. Only a few MPs including Debbie Abrahams actually speak up about this but others need to follow.
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TRIGGER WARNING. Contains mention of suicide and trauma.
A collection of stories that highlight the amount of cruelty that UC (Universal Credit) claimants are forced to endure has been recently published by Disability News Service (DNS). Sadly these stories won’t be a surprise for UC claimants
One such story article describes the death of a disabled woman who was left traumatized by the overbearing daily demands made by the UC system.
Upon applying for UC the DWP (Department of Work and Pensions)were told of the mental distress that the system was causing which in turn led to suicidal thoughts and an overwhelming fear of the DWP and the universal credit system.
Despite their knowledge of this the DWP continued to harass her.
Tragically she took her own life four days after being told she would need to attend a face-to-face meeting with a DWP work coach.
Another example describes how disabled claimant Philip Manion struggled enormously when he saw his UC payments cut from £1,260 to £500 due to a mistake made by the DWP.
Philip tried to attend a meeting to rectify this mistake but instead he was taken out of the Jobcentre by seven security guards. Their reasoning for this was because he found he was unable to log into his online journal from his mobile phone.
To add even more insult to injury he was then recorded as having failed to attend the meeting, despite attending and all of his UC payments were stopped.
Disability News Service went on to describe how former nurse Shirley Rudolph spent 10 years caring for her husband and was placed in the limited capability for work category due to suffering from generalized anxiety disorder.
Rudolph’s husband died in July and she subsequently informed her work coach that she wouldn’t be unable to attend their scheduled meeting because she was making arrangements for her husband’s funeral.
Rather unsurprisingly her work coach wasn’t sympathetic and moved her appointment to the following week. At the same time they sent Rudolph a job application to complete immediately.
As a result of the distress and the pressure Rudolph was forced to undergo she chose to end her universal credit claim and is now surviving on her NHS pension alone forcing her to struggle immensely.
Although horrible this comes as no surprise to many disabled UC claimants that find themselves hounded by the cruel UC system that deliberately targets disabled claimants forcing them to unfairly comply with rules that they are unable to achieve.
It goes without saying that no one should be forced to live like this disabled and non disabled, but sadly I can’t see this stopping for the foreseeable future.
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Vodafone Group PLC has announced a new social broadband tariff for households giving them connectivity for £12 a month. They will also give small businesses free broadband for a year as part of their new cost-of-living package.
The new Vodafone Essentials Broadband deal will be available to anyone in receipt of Jobseekers’ Allowance, Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, Disability Allowance or Personal Independence Payment.
As part of their new cost of living package they will be also offering small business owners and any new or existing customers that are eligible to upgrade free business broadband for 12 months on a 24-month plan.
Vodafone have based these new packages on research that shows that people are reliant upon connectivity to help them cope better with the cost of living crisis..
These new packages will also enable people to connect to the internet which is essential for people claiming Universal Credit and job searching.
Having access to the internet has become an essential part of daily life and life without internet access can be very difficult.
Vodaphone Chief Executive Ahmed Essam says “The rising cost of living is putting a million families at risk of falling on the wrong side of the digital divide,”
He goes on to say “We must not allow this to happen. So as part of our everyone.connected programme, today we are launching Vodafone Essentials Broadband at just £12 a month, the cheapest on the market, and 12 months free broadband for small businesses.
“Vodafone is the only network provider to offer social tariffs across fixed and mobile, meaning eligible customers can access mobile and broadband connectivity for 72 pence a day.
“These new tariffs complement Voxi for Now and the 750,000 free sims we’ve donated so far as part of our everyone.connected programme.
“We’re on track to meet our commitment to donate a million connections by the end of this year and will continue to put the cause at the heart of our business until the problem no longer exists.”
Original source Martyn Landi, PA Technology Correspondent
Vodafone Group PLC has announced a new social broadband tariff for households giving them connectivity for £12 a month. They will also give small businesses free broadband for a year as part of their new cost-of-living package.
The new Vodafone Essentials Broadband deal will be available to anyone in receipt of Jobseekers’ Allowance, Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, Disability Allowance or Personal Independence Payment.
As part of their new cost of living package they will be also offering small business owners and any new or existing customers that are eligible to upgrade free business broadband for 12 months on a 24-month plan.
Vodafone have based these new packages on research that shows that people are reliant upon connectivity to help them cope better with the cost of living crisis..
These new packages will also enable people to connect to the internet which is essential for people claiming Universal Credit and job searching.
Having access to the internet has become an essential part of daily life and life without internet access can be very difficult.
Vodaphone Chief Executive Ahmed Essam says “The rising cost of living is putting a million families at risk of falling on the wrong side of the digital divide,”
He goes on to say “We must not allow this to happen. So as part of our everyone.connected programme, today we are launching Vodafone Essentials Broadband at just £12 a month, the cheapest on the market, and 12 months free broadband for small businesses.
“Vodafone is the only network provider to offer social tariffs across fixed and mobile, meaning eligible customers can access mobile and broadband connectivity for 72 pence a day.
“These new tariffs complement Voxi for Now and the 750,000 free sims we’ve donated so far as part of our everyone.connected programme.
“We’re on track to meet our commitment to donate a million connections by the end of this year and will continue to put the cause at the heart of our business until the problem no longer exists.”
Original source Martyn Landi, PA Technology Correspondent
Vodafone Group PLC has announced a new social broadband tariff for households giving them connectivity for £12 a month. They will also give small businesses free broadband for a year as part of their new cost-of-living package.
The new Vodafone Essentials Broadband deal will be available to anyone in receipt of Jobseekers’ Allowance, Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, Disability Allowance or Personal Independence Payment.
As part of their new cost of living package they will be also offering small business owners and any new or existing customers that are eligible to upgrade free business broadband for 12 months on a 24-month plan.
Vodafone have based these new packages on research that shows that people are reliant upon connectivity to help them cope better with the cost of living crisis..
These new packages will also enable people to connect to the internet which is essential for people claiming Universal Credit and job searching.
Having access to the internet has become an essential part of daily life and life without internet access can be very difficult.
Vodaphone Chief Executive Ahmed Essam says “The rising cost of living is putting a million families at risk of falling on the wrong side of the digital divide,”
He goes on to say “We must not allow this to happen. So as part of our everyone.connected programme, today we are launching Vodafone Essentials Broadband at just £12 a month, the cheapest on the market, and 12 months free broadband for small businesses.
“Vodafone is the only network provider to offer social tariffs across fixed and mobile, meaning eligible customers can access mobile and broadband connectivity for 72 pence a day.
“These new tariffs complement Voxi for Now and the 750,000 free sims we’ve donated so far as part of our everyone.connected programme.
“We’re on track to meet our commitment to donate a million connections by the end of this year and will continue to put the cause at the heart of our business until the problem no longer exists.”
Original source Martyn Landi, PA Technology Correspondent
The poor side of life 