If the letter had come from the DWP then would I have been surprised, but from a supposed legal area this is even more worrying.
If the investigation finds that this is standard practice then a serious review of Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service needs to be urgently undertaken.
If it be found that this was a malicious act by an individual or individuals then they need to be dismissed forthwith.
My sympathies go to Kai’s mother and the rest of the family.
A stock Statement from a DWP spokesman “We’re committed to ensuring that disabled people get the support they’re entitled to, and PIP is available for those who need help with the costs of additional support for their daily living and mobility needs.
“Universal Credit is available for those who need help with day-to-day living costs, and Ms Lyth is receiving her full entitlement.
“PIP decisions are made following careful consideration of the evidence provided by the individual as well as their GP or medical specialist, and anyone who is unhappy with their decision can appeal.”
However, what does it really mean, not much in effect. It is something to say, but is it meant?
More thought and effort should be given to all applications and ‘lessons learnt’ from the many mistakes that are made. Another stock saying and again is it meant, for the lessons never seem to be learnt.
For it is not appeals that should be pushed, but correct Assessments and decisions made, with appeals being there as a backstock.
Where is the caring, common sense and many other aspects in the process.
For myself it appears that the assessors first action is to refuse a benefit claim and in many instances not correctly doing assessments, for in some there are blantant lies emanating from Assessors for which there are being paid to do.
If an assessment is proved to be wrong is the assessor penalised, I doubt it, but the claimant was.
Record numbers of sick and disabled people are winning appeals against cruel decisions to reduce or axe their vital disability benefits, official figures show.
Figures released by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) reveal that a record 72% of negative Personal Indepence Payment (PIP) decisions are overturned in favour of claimants on appeal.
The same percentage (72%) of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) are also successfully overturned at appeal stage, with critics and opponents of the disability benefit assessment system labelling the two benefits as “not fit for purpose”.
MoJ figures show 20,133 people who appealed a decision to change or deny their PIP between July and September 2018, of which 14,581 won their case at tribunal.
Meanwhile, 13,508 people appealed a decision to change or deny their ESA payments, of which 9,684 also won their case on appeal.
Source: Record disability benefit appeal success rates show this ‘cruel’ system is ‘unfit for purpose’ : Welfare Weekly
Hated Government welfare tests have unleashed a “pervasive lack of trust” in the system, MPs warn today. Contracting out assessments for Personal Independence Payments and Employment and Support Allowance fuelled victims’ agony, the Commons Work and Pensions Committee reveals.
In a 71-page report, it calls on ministers to scrap the current arrangements and take tests back in house. Chairman Frank Field said: “For the majority of claimants the assessments work adequately, but a pervasive lack of trust is undermining its entire operation. “In turn, this is translating into untenable human costs to claimants and financial costs to the public purse. No one should have any doubt the process needs urgent change.”
Since 2013, 290,000 rejected claims for Personal Independence Payments or Employment and Support Allowance have been granted on appeal – 6% of all those assessed.
Source: PIP/ESA tests ‘trigger lack of trust in system’ [You Think]
The solicitor general has agreed to appeal the allegedly “unduly lenient” sentences handed down to three people jailed for offences connected with the murder of a disabled man who was imprisoned and tortured to death. But the solicitor general, the Tory MP Robert Buckland, has refused to appeal against the sentence handed to James Wheatley, the man who murdered 24-year-old Lee Irving. His decisions have caused further confusion about the law on sentencing disability hate crimes, and its application by the criminal justice system. Wheatley, 29, from Kenton Bar, Newcastle, repeatedly kicked, punched and stamped on Irving in attacks that took place over nine days, leaving him with multiple broken bones and other injuries. After he died, his body was taken on a pushchair through a housing estate and dumped on a patch of grass near the A1. Wheatley was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to life in prison, and will have to serve at least 23 years. But if the murder had been dealt with by
Source: Solicitor general appeals sentences on ‘disability hate crime’ murder | DisabledGo News and Blog
Within these contracts to Atos and Capita there should be a quality standard in that if an appeal is won by the claimants then these organisations should have to pay back some or all of their fees received. This would go some way the ensure that the assessments were subject to good quality, for if they were then the appeal success rate would not be so high, or is it the benefits themselves are not fit for purpose as well as the organisations conducting the assessments.
A system not ‘fir for purpose’ as it is one fits all. The Government and DWP forget that what ever they introduce it should be for the benefit for the people to whom it is intended and that these people are not objects, but human beings with feelings, emotions and because of their conditions they will have good or bad days, which in the majority of cases will be outwith their control.
Yes, employment of some nature may be good for some, but not all and then what form of employment and for how long. Are there really employers out there who will even accommodate these various forms of employment and will they be understanding and be prepared to provide the required support, be it tailored training, emotional flexibility and many others.
Have the Government and the DWP even looked at what employment is there to be offered, but mainly do they care and perhaps the latter is the one that should concern us all. If, they do not care, then there is no hope.
Huge numbers of disabled people are being wrongly denied Personal Independence Payments (PIP), tribunals are ruling. A staggering 61% of rejected claims for the benefit are overturned on appeal – inflicting unnecessary stress and extra expense on people, say campaigners. The number of successful appeals has mushroomed to around 82 every day, figures slipped out by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) show. One case raised by a Labour MP involved a man with such severe heart pounding during an assessment that paramedics had to be called. But his claim was rejected – a decision which was reversed later. A multiple sclerosis sufferer had her PIP payment slashed despite being unable to drive and able to walk only short distances, with the aid of a stick. Disabled people have also protested at having to wait many months before they are allowed to appeal, suggesting the figures are the tip of the iceberg. The figures come after George Osborne was forced to abandon cuts to PIP after a
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