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Sadly it does not surprise me, having heard a lot of stories about what has gone on.
The department has since apologised, claiming the decision was the result of a “clerical error”
This is excuse is getting so thin its totally transparent.
The assessment is checked and cleared by a DWP assessor so it was not questioned and accepted as accurate.
There is a mandatory reconsideration before going to appeal, and again, assumedly, it was decided the results of the assessment was correct.
Mandatory assessments were introduced to lower the number of cases going to appeal and hence a high appeal success by applicants.
As I recall the number of appeals did go down after the mandatory review was introduced, but those who went on to appeal the success rate was still too high.
According to the DWP the reason for this high success rate was the appeal courts seeing for themselves that the initial assessment was wrong. So the rules are changing again to stop personal attendance at appeals and it becoming primarily another paper exercise.
The whole thing is to stop disabled people getting what they need and are entitled to 'encourage' them into work. If a few disabled people die along the way this is acceptable, as the benefits of being in work outweighs the potential detrimental affect of the loss of income or sanctions.
Just look how quickly they moved to stop people with mental disabilities getting certain disability benefits, then the news today that legislation drawn up two years ago to protect children from paedophiles and sexual abusers online but the police are limited in what they can do because of a missing signature required to enact the legislation.
These are the same people who want us to trust them to remove us from the European Human Rights and trust them to ensure we remain protected.
They also want those coming into our country to learn and take on British Values.
Out of the three I don't know which one scares me most:
1) Their determination to impoverish and punish disabled and long term sick, and a few deaths along the way is acceptable.
2) The British public has backed their desire to get rid of the human rights we currently enjoy because they are so trustworthy
3) They want to enforce their view of British Values on new entrants.
'Scope is a charity that exists to make this country a place where disabled people have the same opportunities as everyone else. Until then, we’ll be here.'
Sadly I see a long future for Scope.
@salwil89 I am sure things will change, but not for the better before 2020 and possibly even beyond that. It will not happen while the conservatives are in power and likely to continue worsening.
Friday, when parliament was not sitting, the government made a further change to the benefit system which means young people between 18 and 21 will not get housing benefit if they are unemployed. I would love to compare this with a story on Sunday which shows why this benefit is so important to some young people but also acutely aware it could be a trigger for some people.
Without knowing the full details it is hard to say if there are any exceptions - those coming out of care, young people sent to war and come back disabled with no place to go, Disabled young people who may never work.
May promised to govern Britain for everyone, that said I think it is fair to look at the policies which come out to see who they see as 'no one'.
I would be extremely happy if I am proven wrong.
@salwil89 - while the 249 Billion sounds good it represents over 50% point increase in the rate of employment for disabled people. Landman Economic Report, and Scopes look at this report 'Enabling work: disabled people, employment and the UK economy' Jenny Gulliford April 2015 looked at the far more modest 5% and 10% point increase by 2030 and the challenges of achieving these targets.
When you consider this with the Papworth Trust 'Disability facts and figures' 2016 we seem to be a long way of realising the potential £249 Billion difference in the economy from employing disabled people.
Don't get me wrong, I fully support employing people with disabilities, but I do not believe that we do this by increasing the barriers to work for disabled people. I believe we are a long way off realising this level of employment.
@salwil89 I wish you all the best and hope it works out for you. Check out freeindex if you haven't done so. The main service is free and offers a lot more than some other sites. There is a premium service but if you are just starting out I would suggest waiting until you have started to build a reputation and reasonable income.
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