Legal Action against Disability Benefit Cuts, which may cause Debt
1 Year in to the E&SA Work Related Activity Group
Charities threaten legal action over benefits cuts for disabled
The Guardian, 2 July 2011
Coalition of 270 groups may seek judicial review claiming welfare cuts ignore impact and breach equality
The government faces a legal challenge from charities over its plans to cut benefits for disabled people by more than £2bn.
The Disability Alliance has warned the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that it will take legal action to obtain a judicial review of ministers' plans to replace the Disability Living Allowance.
The alliance, a coalition of 270 disability charities, said ministers had not properly assessed the negative impact of the benefit cuts, adding that the reforms did not comply with the Equality Act.
It has issued a "letter of claim" to the DWP calling on it to demonstrate that it has fulfilled its legal obligations to properly analyse the impact of welfare reforms on disabled people. If the department does not comply, the letter also warns that ministers face legal action.
Neil Coyle, Disability Alliance director of policy, said the government may be in breach of both domestic and European legislation, including its responsibilities under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
"We are giving formal notice that unless the concerns that disabled people have legitimately raised are addressed in the context of the welfare reform bill, there is a strong legal case," Coyle told the BBC.
"Our legal advice... is that the government may be in breach of both domestic and European legislation if it fails to consider the impact on disabled people of the plans to cut £2.17bn from DLA expenditure."
The alliance contends that the government's welfare reform bill will disproportionately disadvantage disabled people and their families.
Among its main concerns are proposals to abolish the care component of DLA at the lowest rate of just under £20 a week, which is received by 652,000 people, and to end mobility support for disabled care home residents, without clarifying how the impact of this loss in support would be mitigated for the 78,000 disabled people affected or their families.
Coyle said disability charities were threatening to take legal action because the government had ignored the concerns they raised in the formal consultation on the welfare reform bill, which ended in February.
Coyle said more than half of the disabled people who use the DLA to help them to work say they would have to give up their job if the benefit was cut.
"For many disabled people, it helps to pay for an adapted vehicle, so if you can't afford to run a vehicle, and that's what you're using DLA for, there's a strong chance you won't be able to continue in work," he said.
"One in seven disabled people have been telling us that without DLA they won't be able to manage their health condition or impairment, and they're more likely to have hospitalised periods, which cost far more to the taxpayer than paying, for example, £19.55 a week, which is the bit of the DLA expenditure the government is targeting for ending."
The DWP said: "We are following the usual processes and are working with disability organisations on DLA reforms, including with the design of the assessment.
"It is premature to talk about a judicial review as the regulations do not go through until 2012."
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Disabled People Face More Debt, Says New Report
samedifference1, 30 June 2011
People with disabilities are facing unnecessary extra difficulties when trying to tackle debt problems because creditors are failing to recognise their specific needs, according to the charity Citizens Advice.
About one in five people seeking advice concerning debt problems from Citizens Advice bureaux across England and Wales are disabled or have long-term health problems, and last year Citizens Advice helped more than 72,000 disabled people with debt issues.
But the charity's Double Disadvantage report shows that disabled people also face additional detriment on top of their debt problems, including poor, untailored and inconsistent communications from creditors; aggressive and inappropriate selling practices; and unfair practice relating to debt collection or enforcement.
It also found that cuts to specialised debt advice services would hit disabled people disproportionately hard.
The charity said one recent client received standard bank statements and other communications in his preferred braille format, but other letters such as those to inform him he had gone overdrawn would arrive in a standard print format.
One woman who was blind and who also had extensive care and mobility needs was approached by a firm offering her a mobility scooter. She told the representative she could not afford any finance, but the firm arranged a home visit anyway. When the sales rep arrived she said again that she could not afford any finance, but felt pressurised and took out the credit agreement.
A mobility scooter was delivered and within a short while began to malfunction, but the firm said they could not find any fault. It then broke down completely, but the firm would not respond to further calls. The lady was left housebound and still paying for the finance, which made it increasingly difficult for her to meet her other financial commitments.
Citizens Advice warned that compliance with the Equality Act 2010 is far from embedded in the day-to-day business practices of all creditors, and it is urging firms to adopt an equality focus on dealing with people in financial difficulties.
Chief executive Gillian Guy said: "Being in debt can be very disempowering for consumers, but our research shows that disabled people in debt face a double disadvantage. They are disempowered by both their financial difficulties and the failure of creditors to take account of their needs through reasonable adjustments.People with disabilities are facing unnecessary extra difficulties when trying to tackle debt problems because creditors are failing to recognise their specific needs, according to the charity Citizens Advice.
About one in five people seeking advice concerning debt problems from Citizens Advice bureaux across England and Wales are disabled or have long-term health problems, and last year Citizens Advice helped more than 72,000 disabled people with debt issues.
But the charity's Double Disadvantage report shows that disabled people also face additional detriment on top of their debt problems, including poor, untailored and inconsistent communications from creditors; aggressive and inappropriate selling practices; and unfair practice relating to debt collection or enforcement.
It also found that cuts to specialised debt advice services would hit disabled people disproportionately hard.
The charity said one recent client received standard bank statements and other communications in his preferred braille format, but other letters such as those to inform him he had gone overdrawn would arrive in a standard print format.
One woman who was blind and who also had extensive care and mobility needs was approached by a firm offering her a mobility scooter. She told the representative she could not afford any finance, but the firm arranged a home visit anyway. When the sales rep arrived she said again that she could not afford any finance, but felt pressurised and took out the credit agreement.
A mobility scooter was delivered and within a short while began to malfunction, but the firm said they could not find any fault. It then broke down completely, but the firm would not respond to further calls. The lady was left housebound and still paying for the finance, which made it increasingly difficult for her to meet her other financial commitments.
Citizens Advice warned that compliance with the Equality Act 2010 is far from embedded in the day-to-day business practices of all creditors, and it is urging firms to adopt an equality focus on dealing with people in financial difficulties.
Chief executive Gillian Guy said: "Being in debt can be very disempowering for consumers, but our research shows that disabled people in debt face a double disadvantage. They are disempowered by both their financial difficulties and the failure of creditors to take account of their needs through reasonable adjustments.
"Regulators also have a key role to play to support people and protect them from bad practice. They need to provide a clear steer on how to implement the rules governing consumer credit and retail banking to make sure disabled consumers' needs are taken into account.”
Citizens Advice carried out the research in conjunction with the Financial Inclusion Fund disability project, a partnership between Citizens Advice, the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), Action on Hearing Loss, Contact a Family and Mencap to give free holistic debt advice to blind and visually impaired people, people who are deaf or hard of hearing, parents of disabled children, and people with learning difficulties.
The Financial Inclusion Fund has now ended, but has been replaced with the Face-to-Face Debt Advice Programme, which has funding until at least April 2012. But it remains unclear whether this much-needed specialist support will continue beyond this.
Guy added: "Many of the clients we spoke to would not have engaged with their creditors without the help and support from specialist advisers who understood and met their needs.
"It is essential that all future plans to fund debt advice services are equality proofed. This means providing advice through a variety of channels, not just funding the cheapest option. One size does not fit all.”
Government cuts to the disability living allowance could also result in further hardship for some people living with disabilities. From 2013 a new single benefit called the universal credit will replace means-tested benefits, while the personal independent payment will replace the non-means-tested disability living allowance. The aim is to simplify payments to the unemployed, ill and those on very low incomes.
Although the government has claimed that 2.7 million households will be better off through the introduction of the universal credit, it admits 1.7 million will get less money than they now do. For example, people who suffer sudden illness – such as a diagnosis of cancer or a stroke – can currently claim disability living allowance after three months. But following the introduction of PIP in 2013 they will have to wait six months
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The ABC of ESA, 1 Jul 2011
Im afraid this post will just apply more pressure to those already stressed at being placed in the WRAG or work related activity group
Sorry its a bit late but not been feeling too good
From 1 June 2011 some people getting Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) can be made to do work related activity and have their benefit cut if they refuse or fail to comply. Until that date most ESA claimants have had to take part in work focused interviews but have not had to agree to undertake any activities.
You can only be required to undertake work related activity if you:
- get Employment and Support Allowance with a work related activity component; and
- have to take part in work focused interviews
- You cannot be required to undertake work related activity if you:
- are a lone parent with a child under 5
- get Carers Allowance
- get a carer premium with your ESA
- get ESA with a support component
Restrictions
Any work related activity you are told you must do must be "reasonable" in relation to your circumstances (laughter obviously not in the original document)
You cannot be required to:
- apply for a job or do any actual work as an employee or as self employed
- undergo any medical treatment
- And if you are a lone parent with a child under 13 you can only be required to do work related activity during your child's normal school hours.
What is work related activity?
The 2007 Welfare Reform Act just says it is "activity which makes it more likely that the person will obtain or remain in work or be able to do so." The notes for that Act suggest it might include work trials, training, jobsearch assistance or help to manage your condition.
It is up to the adviser who runs your work focused interviews to specify what they think would be most helpful. Hopefully you will be able to come to some agreement with your adviser. But if not you can be required to do what they think would help you get back to work, even if you do not agree.
Your adviser will either be from Jobcentre Plus or one of the providers running the Work Programme if you have been referred to or volunteered for that.
Jobcentre Plus has a "menu of flexible support" so you might be offered some activities from that. It includes things like:
- Basic Skills Support, Occupational Training, Sector-based training and Service Academies
- Work Experience
- Flexible Fund, Discretionary funds
- Volunteering, Work Together
- New Enterprise Allowance (including mentoring and financial support), Enterprise clubs, Self-employment guidance
- Jobsearch Advisor Support, Job vacancies database, Online support, Careers Advice, JCP Group Sessions
Work Programme providers are expected to "tailor the right support to the individual needs of each customer". The Work Programme has only just started (as at June 2011) so we don't yet know what sort of activities it might offer.
There is also a programme called Work Choice which is for "disabled people who face the most complex and long-term barriers to employment and who may require high intensity support in the workplace.” It replaced other schemes like work preparation and Workstep programmes.
Action plans
Any work related activity you have agreed or been told to do must be recorded in a written action plan by your adviser. You get a copy of the action plan. It must also tell you if you have to do it by a specific date or within a specified time. Any requirement to do the activities within a particular time must be reasonable.
Your action plan will also tell you what evidence you must provide to show you are doing the work related activity.
You can ask for the action plan to be "reconsidered" if you do not agree with it. The adviser will look at it again and let you know in writing what they have decided
You cannot appeal against an action plan or a reconsideration decision.
Failing to carry out work related activity and benefit reductions
If you do not carry out the activities you have been told to do in an action plan your benefit will be reduced unless you can show within 5 days that you had "good cause" for the failure.
This is called a sanction.
A Jobcentre Plus decision maker will look at whether you had good cause. They must take into account your health and should look at all the relevant circumstances. See our page on ESA sanctions for more information.
If the decision maker decides you did not have good cause your ESA is reduced by:
- 50% of the amount of the work related activity component for the first four weeks
- 100% of the amount of the work related activity component after the first four weeks
You can ask for a decision about a sanction to be looked at again or you can appeal.
How long does a sanction last?
A sanction will end when you:
- carry out the work related activity as required; or
- you become a member of the support group; or
- you stop being entitled to ESA
The Personalised Summary Statement
Those who had an ESA50 issued on or after 14 March 2011; and have a WCA on or after 6 June 2011; and the WCA is based on the amended descriptors (that came into effect on 28 March) will get a Personalised Summary Statement (PSS) which will form part of the ESA85.
It is completed by the Health Care Professional (HCP) who carried out the assessment. It is:
"a statement of facts and findings made by the HCP and is personal to the claimant. It gives the HCP the opportunity to justify their recommendations on the LCW and LCWRA activities and descriptors and explain where the recommendation conflicts with the claimant's view of their condition".
The PSS should cover all health conditions and look at the combined effect of multiple conditions. It should not use stock phrases from the computer system. It will form part of the evidence taken into account by decision makers.