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8 December 2011
Liz highlighted some of the challenges facing disabled people, including the current welfare reform bill as well as the negative media coverage of disabled people.
She also mentioned some of the successes in the disability movement over the past few years. These include more disabled people working and attending university as well as the pioneering of independent living.
In the 80's the first Centre for Independent Living was created. In the 90's we had the Disability Discrimination Act and the Direct Payments Scheme. There has also been a shift in attitudes over this time.
However she still has concerns. There is a potential lost generation of young disabled people who are losing out on the job market. In addition 300,000 people are likely to lose their jobs through ill health or disability.
There are also still problems with disabled access to restaurants, housing and transport. Fewer disabled people have bank accounts or internet access.
Liz then went on to discuss ways in which we could influence change. She wants a situation where resources for disabled people are removed from bureaucracy and placed in the hands of users and where discriminatory policies, such as the denial of the right to jury service if you have mental health issues, are removed.
She welcomes the unification of Disability Alliance, the National Centre for Independent Living and Radar into Disability Rights UK and raised a number of key proposals for the future. These include reforming access to work to provide for those doing work experience and internships and introducing measures which enable employment, such as apprenticeships and portable social care packages.
National Express gave a talk about the their service in relation to disabled users. Their aim is that their coach fleet be fully accessible by the end of 2012, ahead of legislation requirements for 2019. They have also carried out, as high priority, disability awareness training for all staff.
National Express have a disabled persons travel helpline - 08717 818179, which is open from 8 am to 8 pm seven days a week (textphone 0121 455 0086)
The panel consisted of
Questions put to the panel
Q1. What awareness of fluctuating conditions is there in the Welfare Reform Bill?
A1. Fluctuating conditions are the hardest thing to address in the new PIP assessment. There is an attempt to do this by making the test over a 12 month period and scoring points where you cannot carry out the descriptor for an activity for more than 6 months, aggregated over the 12 month period.
Q2. I took part in the initial trials of the personal independence payment (PIP) assessment and it does not appear to deal with autism very well.
A2. The feedback from these trials indicated that this assessment was not fir for purpose. Changes were made to the second draft of the assessment regulations. These changes were also made based on advice from the National Autistic Society.
Q3. Is it true that the PIP assessment works along the same lines as the work capability assessment (WCA) for employment and support allowance (ESA)?
A3. The PIP assessment looks superficially similar but whilst the WCA asks questions related to functionality the PIP assessment is more holistic.
Q4. When will we be told the proposed PIP threshold weightings (the pass mark for the assessment)?
A4. This will be published before the report stage in the New Year.
Q5. Regarding Lord Freud's comments on unhelpful statistics for the media. Who in the DWP made the decision to release these as they lead to hate crime?
The DWP will find out more about this issue and report back. DWP puts out press releases and statistics. It also checks items in the press/media and attempts to correct errors but has no say in what the media actually print or broadcast.
Q6. We need the PIP threshold weightings before we can comment on PIP.
DWP appreciates this but cannot publish this information until the New Year.
Q7. How do you ensure that sample cases for the PIP trials are representative?
DWP attempts to make the consultation as broad as possible. Information is in a variety of formats. However although the DWP is strong at contacting large organisations it is weaker at contacting smaller organisations. Where possible it tries to solve this by networking. Any organisation is welcome to be added to the DWP mailing list.
Q8. Regarding adverse media coverage of disabled people, positive case studies have a role in combating this.
A8. See Q10.
Q9. Regarding those placed in the ESA work related activity group, how much are claimants made aware of rights under the Equality Act , Access to Work. Also are jobseeker's allowance (JSA) claimants given access to disability rated support?
A9. There has been a big shift in the DWP approach as their client base has changed (more disabled people on JSA, more lone parents). The claimant is now assessed as an individual and all factors are taken into account. JSA advisors can access a greater menu of support for claimants.
Every jobcentre has a Disability Employment Advisor who has claimants referred who need more specialist support.
We are not sure what training there is regarding unseen disabilities but we can look into this.
The Work Programme external providers are not paid until they place a claimant in at least 13 weeks employment. Access to Work is an incentive to help achieve this.
Regarding ESA, the Government has accepted the recommendations of the Harrington review and has already implemented many of these.
Q10. Regarding question 8 Is there a role for the DWP in putting out positive case studies?
A10. DWP try to find case studies for the media but they may select their own. This issue will be fed back, by Roger Pugh, to the DWP Head of News.
The work programme also issues positive case studies.
Q11. What about access to Motability under PIP? Also where is the work for disabled people to do?
A11. Motability is not part of the DWP. It is a charity. Under PIP the mobility component enhanced rate will probably passport to Motability.
DWP needs to put measure back to work support in place ready for the shift from recession when the labour market will improve.
Q12. What about those who are likely to lose their jobs following the recommendations contained within the Sayce review?
The response to the Sayce review is due shortly.
Q13. Regarding Q9, how do you account for the fact that i was refused permitted work and told I didn't want to work because I was too fat and lazy?
Roger Pugh would like to discuss this issue in private with the questioner before taking action.
Q14. Under changes to benefits fewer people will be defined as disabled. What is the DWP doing to provide support in these cases?
See A9.
Q15. This questioner, who is a disabled employer has found that Access to Work is becoming more bureaucratic and believes that this acts as a disincentive when it comes to employing disabled people.
DWP will take this away.
Q16. The DWP keep treating personal budget direct payments as income when they shouldn't.
DWP will take this away. Under universal credit these will also be disregarded.
Baroness Grey-Thompson is currently working on the Welfare Reform Bill in the Lords. She is also working with Radar on a project aimed at getting disabled people fit.
She gave a brief and amusing biography about herself. She was born with Spina Bifida and could walk until she was six. She was glad that she had move into a wheelchair because it gave her more independence and allowed her to attend mainstream education. From there she eventually got a degree in politics.
Being a former paralympian she entered the Lords because of her campaigns regarding sport. She was also interested in welfare rights for disabled people.
In addition to the Welfare Reform Bill she also works on the Legal Aid Bill, lobbying to protect legal aid for disabled people. She is also still involved with Transport for London and is concerned accessible transport for disabled visitors to the Olympics in 2012.
Note: Radar is holding a Doing Transport Differently event on 7 December 2012.
Concerns were raised from the floor regarding Atos involvement with the Paralympics. She replied that this issue cannot be raised at the same time as she is involved in the Welfare Reform Bill. In addition you could not expect disabled athletes to boycott the games because they have a limited window of opportunity time wise. We should instead concentrate on educating disabled athletes on awareness of disability issues because of the isolated nature of training regimes.
Maria Miller's conference speech
You can view a full transcript of Maria Miller's speech on the DWP website.
Questions put to the Minister.
More questions put to the Minister.
Yet more questions put to the Minister.
Chris talked about the work he and his colleagues at Unity Law are doing utilising the Equality Act to improve disability accessibility.
The work is done on a no win no fee basis. He does not believe that the legal aid system is fit for purpose in the area because, under it, claimants ofetn have to pay some contribution and also the aid limitations restrict the help available.
Unity Law often use judicial review to challenge public decision. An example of this would be the DA legal challenge.
Other case include defending wheelchair users in Darlington who have been badly treated by the local bus company.
He also announced that there will be, in future, an A2B campaign aimed at highlighting issues in public transport for disabled passengers. Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson will front this campaign.
Is the WCA improving? (Atos and DWP)
The workshop began with an overview of the work of Atos on the work capability assessment (WCA) presented by James Clark from the DWP.
Dr Dave Beswick, Medical Director at Atos talked about some of their initiatives. These include:
Questions put to the Atos panel
Q1. Regarding the customer satisfaction survey, why can't claimants be sent this after they have been assessed?
A1. It was originally felt that the customer might be influenced by an adverse decision. A decision to change this method of information gathering cannot be made by Atos.
Q2. What triggers referrals to Atos
A2. All ESA claims are referred to Atos.
Q3. The ESA50 is not fit for purpose. The form is does not highlight middle descriptors and both misleads claimants and does not reflect legislation. Is there any intention to remedy this?
A3. We will look at this again.
Q4. The decision to shorten the time frame for the return of ESA50 from 6 to 4 weeks was wrong.
A4. This was decision to speed up the assessment process. There are still protections in place for those who return forms late with good reason, such as those with mental health conditions.
Q5. When are data results on the reconsideration process published?
A5. We don't know the date yet.
Q6. Harrington recommends that the decision maker makes contact with claimants. Is this being done?
A6. Yes. The DWP contacts the claimant about any adverse decision and also requests additional medical evidence.
Q7. Is there an update on the Mental Health Champions initiative?
A7. 60 champions have been recruited.
Q8. Does ESA50 state that you can supply medical evidence.
A8. It's on page 1 of the ESA50.
Q9. The decision to shorten the time frame for the return of ESA50 from 6 to 4 weeks does not allow time to gather medical evidence.
A9. The ESA50 is just one part of the process of information gathering. Evidence can be supplied at a later date.
Q10. How are medical protocols developed? Those related to rheumatoid arthritis are deficient and out of date.
A10. Protocols are reviewed every three years. This involved a research of relevant literature, an internal then an external review.
Q11. I have concerns that the ESA85 report is a cut and past job. Can the claimant be sent the form for verify it?
The LIMA system does not cut and paste but it does bring forward information. The Healthcare professional can remove what does not apply.
Time constraints, as well as expense mean that the report cannot be sent out.
Q12. The decision to shorten the time frame for the return of ESA50 from 6 to 4 weeks is wrong because it is better to gather evidence at the outset of a claim.
A12. We will feed back these strong feelings.
Q13. Is the decision to shorten the time frame for the return of ESA50 from 6 to 4 weeks influenced by IB migration and is this migration on target?
A13. IB migration is on target.
PIP assessment (Scope, DWP and Disability Alliance)
DWP outlined that the government’s aim in introducing PIP was to help disabled people participate in society and that PIP would be targeted at those who were least able to participate.
This required the development of an assessment for the new benefit which would enable an accurate, objective, consistent and transparent consideration of disabled people.
It would involve assessing the impact of impairments on an individual’s ability to carry out specified everyday activities acting as proxies for ability to participate.
The first draft of the PIP assessment proposals was published in May 2011. However, as a result of consultation and extensive testing significant changes had been made.
These included:
In addition, the need to use aids and appliances would attract points with those aids of greater costs such as wheelchairs attracting higher points.
However, a formal three to four week consultation on the second draft assessment proposals would start in the New Year.
Final PIP regulations were not likely to be published until the end of 2012.
Employment and skills opportunities (Liz Sayce, Robyn Steward, Andrea Lewis and Tony Stevens)
The slides for the presentation made by Andrea Lewis and Tony Stevens are available here. Liz Sayce talked about improving the transition of disabled students into work through the use of Access to Work.
Robyn Steward described her experiences as someone with aspergers, highlighting the support she had received. Her website is here.
