PIP, official petition to GOV for a fairer PIP system!

Jules9

Hi,

I'm new here, please be kind

Some of you might like to know about an official Petition calling for fairer PIP Assessments and a fairer PIP Claims System, which is on the Official Gov petitions site.

Petition closes April 2021.

Here is the link:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/549906

PIP claimants might be very interested in signing this petition, and then sharing with friends, family, and other Disability groups and organisations. 

Btw, I didn't start this petition, I just saw it on another Disability website forum, and am trying to spread the word.

Thanks!🙂

woodbine

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/76162/pip-official-gov-petition-for-fairer-pip-system#latest

mikehughescq

Along with others I never sign these things but I think it’s perhaps worth breaking down why. It’s not just a “I never sign this sort of thing”. It’s a more measured thought process on my part (I hope). Essentially such petitions are people proposing change usually without fully understanding how things were supposed to work in the first place. If someone wrote an informed, concise petition aimed at one specific, sensible and achievable change then my name would be on it like a shot. Until then...

Here’s the wording of the petition itself and my comments.

“Ensure that PIP applications are completed fairly by appropriately trained medical staff by government agencies. So that would be medical staff employed by whom? DWP? DWP have a long history of dreadful form filling on behalf of claimants. If not DWP then whom? It’s not going to be NHS staff. Not enough hours in the day pre or during a pandemic. That leaves medics employed by DWP. AA was introduced in the early 1970s. DLA was introduced in 1992. Both benefits used medical professionals employed by DWP. Thus we have more than 40 years evidence that “fair” and “appropriately trained medical staff” has aircraft been tried and failed. 

When AA was replaced by DLA it’s worth remembering that disabled persons organisations advocated long and hard that claimants were in the best position to complete their own forms. They were directly involved in the design of the forms and, included in that were those who represented people with mental ill health, and... largely the form was so poor it was widely reviled. 

Ensure that "decision makers" awarding PIP are accountable. DWP decision makers have always been accountable. You can challenge a decision by MR, appeal, complaint and letter before action/JR. I’m never sure wgat more accountability people would want, 

Reintroduce lifetime awards where appropriate. Totally agree but you can’t have accountability for decision makers and none for claimants. Many life AA/DLA awards made no sense at all and ought to have been reviewed at least once. 

Ensure decisions are correct the first time they are made. There is no “correct” here. It’s perfectly possible for two decision makers to look at the same evidence and come to different conclusions. That would always be the case as that’s what humans do so what exactly is being proposed? An algorithm? 

The PIP process is unfair, traumatic and inhumane, denying disabled people their rights I’m not a fan of statements like this last sentence. What “rights” are we talking about? PIP is not and never has been a “right”. 

and putting them at financial risk. I agree but this is arguably relevant to reviews rather than new claims. 

It affects their mental health and puts them through months of distress. Agreed without any reservations.

It overwhelms the court system when incorrect decisions need to be challenged. This is completely inaccurate. Far from being overwhelmed tribunals currently don’t have enough work to do.

It wastes taxpayers' money when decisions are reviewed, Yes, agreed, but nothing within the vague ideas here will change this.

and lines the pockets of private companies.” Reviews have nothing to do with private companies. 

So, I’m sorry but that’s a firm “no thanks” from me. I hope I’ve explained why in clear enough terms. 

BrettW

mikehughescq said:

It overwhelms the court system when incorrect decisions need to be challenged. This is completely inaccurate. Far from being overwhelmed tribunals currently don’t have enough work to do.

Pretty much agree with everything you said in your post but this one confused me a bit. If this is in fact the case that tribunals don't have enough work to do at the moment then why does it seem to take people months to actually receive one?

poppy123456

Waiting times for Tribunals have decreased considerably since the start of the pandemic and i believe the average waiting time is about 6-7 months. Before Covid it was more like 12+ months.