Scope's reply to the governments planned concessions to the green paper.

@Trevor_PIP You do seem to quite like quoting (as does @mawempathy) of all of the increases in benefits' claimants, particularly emphasising the increases since the Covid lockdown and asserting a link to fraudulent activity.

You do realise don't you [both of you], that as at c March 2023, there were c 1.9 million people suffering from Long Covid in this country - c 1.8 % of the population and 71% suffering from it over a year later. Why are you choosing to ignore that in your utterances of fraud and lockdown? I'll leave you to do your own research on that - Government has done so, as have the University of Oxford. The information/evidence is there for you to avail yourself of it. Or maybe just remain blinkered and ignorant of the facts. Your conscience, your call.

You might want to more fully inform yourself of the reasons for increases in benefits claimants instead of the usual claptrap that I expect to hear from Government, not the users of a disability support charity. Your comments, and your choice to be ignorant of facts are, I find, utterly offensive and repugnant.

I would bet my life on it you were out their, banging your pans in support of the NHS and carers. These same, dedicated, brave men and women (BTW, never thought of myself in that vein but yes, I was, and I will never regret it, in whatever life I have left, the care I gave the night I caught it, to seven who all tragically passed away) well we've all become a big part of those very statistics you're so ready to spout off about - ie the benefits claimants that you choose to ignore or castigate - many of whom will have been not only very severely affected, but find the damage never allows them to turn their health or life back round to any degree or semblance of normality.

Those, like I, whose health has been decimated by coronavirus for what will be five years in November, always thought would improve over time but the reality is far, far different. You can't be expected to have a clue that that's the reality for many people and that's fine. Be grateful you don't.

That reality which includes excruciating pain and, to spare you the graphics of it, bits and bobs of your body ending up in other areas it shouldn't be. It is beyond belief the horror of exactly what it does. You want to learn? Ask, I don't mind not sparing you the detail.

But please. Please use what facts are already widely available to be responsible and with a bit of humanity, instead of taking a simplistic view that lockdown has just caused everyone to sit on their a**es and become lazy and fraudulent.

Finally, before I'm told to 'play nicely' that needed saying so consider yourself told: sorry, but, most definitely, not sorry. It might suit Government to ignore/leave people behind, we all know of them whether it's the Post Office Subpostmaster's, the infected blood scandal or us, Long Covid sufferers including us, healthcare workers who were denied PPE, but it should be called out loud and clear. Be glad I didn’t lose my voice.

The population of disabled people is something like 16 million, of which around 3 million claim PIP. That's an indication that most disabled people don't claim PIP/have been refused. PIP is notoriously underclaimed. I can't speak about ESA/UC as I have never claimed it. But official DWP figures on PIP fraud is 0.2%. 1000 people may be applying for PIP each day. There is no proof all, or even any of them are awarded.

When I went through my shift from DLA to PIP my then support worker told me she had several people who were so traumatised by the initial first rejection they could not appeal even though they had all the evidence. She admired me for fighting on - but that fight left me with a healthy fear of dealing with the DWP. The number of mistakes in my case were so many that my disability advisor at the time suggested I find a lawyer. That was a 'face to face' review. (Sidenote, but face to face reviews are also not suitable for all disabled people, and if doing everything the same way puts someone disabled at a disadvantage, it is technically in breach of Equalities legislation).

I went to tribunal, which was utterly unnecessary and that lengthy process also cost me in employment terms because it prevented me from completing some academic aspects that ultimately have kept me from pursuing the career path I intended.

My review was done over the phone with my advocate, it was a lot less stressful and there was a lot less fighting. It was a relief to have my case handled in that way. Any disabled person who thinks that the way my case was first settled is 'better' because it was face to face is not well informed about the damage unnecessary appeals do to people's lives.

…I am a disabled person who has managed to get back into work. Only 22% of autistic people are in employment, because of systemic ableism (see the Buckland Report), but I managed it. The majority of people who are unemployed for more than a year do not easily find work - but I was in lockdown with my medically vulnerable relative for two years and I still have a job. The government didn't help me with this specifically, but PIP did help me generally :)

…I am frankly so tired of anyone - whether they be disabled or not - casting sweeping judgement on other people's disability experiences or PIP claims when they have no knowledge about anyone else except themselves.

Also, long Covid is a thing. My sister caught COVID at the very start of the pandemic, before they even really knew what it could do. She was one of the lucky ones in that her employer accommodated her working from home as she recovered, and she is now more or less (but not entirely) back to what she was before the pandemic hit. That's five years. It also impacted her asthma which means she now has more asthma medication than she used to. People who underestimate the impact of COVID are frankly just not helpful to the community as a whole.

In all other respects, lengthy waiting lists and lack of medical access is a big part of why we see people reaching crisis where they might not have done if they had had support.

Let's not scapegoat each other unnecessarily. Some disabilities are not more valid than others. In this space we should be safe from misinformation and other people's prejudices :)