jeffs posts
tory Britain are we going to awake from our sleep
FAMILY MADE HOMELESS DUE TO NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN… CHILDREN TAKEN INTO CARE. THERE’S NO DUTY OF CARE TO KEEP FAMILIES TOGETHER. WELCOME TO TORY BRITAIN.
Sorry for the delay in writing my blog this week. After the demo I had to attend a meeting and time quickly drifted away. This sometimes happens so my apologies once again.
Today was freezing cold, horrendous for anyone who are forced to live on the streets, having no roof over their head. Not only do they have the weather to contend with they also have to cope with life on the streets, it’s tough much tougher than we can comprehend. My heart goes out to everyone in this situation and as I know we are all either one or two steps away from this ourselves.
I really didn’t think that I could despise this Conservative government even more than I did previously, but today has deepened my dislike of them. Let’s get it right, they really don’t care about anyone that isn’t a member of their club, and nor would many Tory MPs care about the homeless man that died near the houses of parliment this week. They’ll just exchange platitudes and that will be it.
I also make no apologies for my thinking this way, I’ve experienced too much now to think otherwise and every night I hope that the next day it will get better but it doesn’t.
Gordon arrived with the food parcels as soon as I arrived, he might have arrived a few seconds earlier than myself, I’m not sure but I was tired so my apologies. All food parcels were taken as usual, I shall list todays incidents, it’s probably easier that way.
The first person that I spoke to was an older man who had been sanctioned for not attending a meeting that he didn’t receive an appointment about. For any new readers of my blog this happens a lot, far too often for it to be a conincidence anymore. If you scroll down my posts, I think that I have mentioned this previously in an earlier blog.
I advised him of what to do etc and handed him a food parcel. Also, I gave him advice and solidarity because when a person is in that situation it does feel like your whole world is ending, for some it does. A kind word means more than you’d think.
I spoke to a man who often stops to talk to me. He is sleeping on a friends sofa, it’s his only option he says. He has a few problems with his accomodation so he likes to chat about it, and once again I advised him of his options. He took a food parcel and rushed home to get out of the cold. Cold weather and Asthma do not mix well.
I spoke to a young woman who was very inappropriately dressed for the weather. She looked very upset so I walked over to her and asked her if she was ok. She told me that she had attempted suicide the other day and was not long out of hospital. She had previously failed her ESA examination, and didn’t know how she was going to carry on. Shes also pregnant and worried about her unborn baby.
I gave her a hug, a food parcel and one of our leaflets. I also advised her of what she should do now as a matter of urgency and she assured me that she would do these tasks as well as access local groups for support. I reassured her that she isn’t alone, that we and others do care for her and are there for her. My thoughts are with her.
An older lady walked out of the Jobcentre, she stopped and stated that ‘They make you feel like you are a five year old in there’ and that the security guards are even worse. She finds them very intimidating and I can attest to that fact. Some of them must think that they are in the employ of the DWP, when infact they are employed by G4S and are only one step away from being in the same shoes as the claimants that they intimidate.
A lovely woman walked over and started to talk to us, she told me that her friend had mentioned us. She told us that she claims ESA and also PIP and already has a good support worker. Shes a very clever and articulate woman.
She told us that a representative of a local housing provider had been to see her to ‘advise’ her about Universal Credit which is being completely rolled out in Ashton Under Lyne in March. The representative panicked her and didn’t take into account her health conditions and left her in a state of panic.
Advice was given to her and she is now arming herself with as much information as possible. The representative told her that she has to start saving money to pay her rent due to the wait for Universal Credit payments. Rent is a priority she was told. Thats as may be, but when you have no money how on earth can you save, its impossible isn’t it.
A young man stormed out of the Jobcentre looking very upset. He didn’t want to talk, I hope that he is ok.
I advised a lady who was posting a sicknote to send it by first class postage and to get proof of postage. This will back up her claim if it becomes lost as they often do. Shes had an awful time with her ESA and their crooked assessments.
I spoke to a lady who looked furious upon leaving the Jobcentre. She told me that her advisor was leaving, its an advisor that has worked at Ashton for some time. I used to have the same advisor on occasion and they are one of the more reasonable ones. Anyway today she had to see the person taking over their job. In her words this advisor was ‘horrible, didn’t listen to me, tried to catch me out on everything and I just wanted to get out of there’. I advised her of her right to complain and demand to change advisors.
Yes this is still a legal right and people should exercise this right whenever they encounter a problem like this. If you have a decent MP then go and see them, it doesn’t take long to sort out. Jobcentres hate MPS becoming involved because they know that they will be held accountable to some degree.
A man walked out of the Jobcentre and whispered to Gordon ‘The way they treat us in there is awful’. Says it all doesn’t it.
The last incident could be rather shocking to some readers, but not to others.
When the demo ended we made our way over to IKEA for a free cuppa and some warmth. We were also having a meeting.
As I was walking over to our table I was stopped by a woman and a man that I have spoken to many times in the past. Due to no fault of their own they were made homeless and are getting legal advice about this. This is bad enough isn’t it, but they have children and as a result of their becoming homeless their children have now been taken into care.
They asked for help regarding housing for both themselves and their children,but were told that the duty of care goes only to their children and not the parents.
I have mentioned this subject earlier in the week via twitter my twitter id is @charlotteh71 with fellow blogger Kate Belgrave, and I have also had personal experience of this attitude towards duty of care when my daughter asked for help with rehousing, and I do know that this does happen, it happens a lot in most local authorities up and down the country.
The duty of care used to go to both children and their parents, and it used to be a priority to keep a family together. This priority seems to have gone, most likely due to a lack of emergency accomodation and cost. The irony is that it costs a lot more to place a child into the care system than it does to keep a family together. So now the parents are street homeless and unless they find accomodation they are not likely to have their children returned.
It’s an almost identical situation as in Ken Loach’s film Cathy come home. The government are tearing families apart, children are being taken from good parents, who’s only so called crime is to have a run of bad luck, to loose their job and then their home. These aren’t crimes, this shouldn’t be happening in the first place.
We bought them a warm meal, gave them some good advice and signposted them to local organisations. They have done nothing wrong except to be poor, and in this governments eyes thats criminal.
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I’m sorry if I’ve ranted a bit today, I’m upset. Every week for over 4 years I’ve seen and heard some awful things and it does get to me at times. Everything that I write is a true account and has been witnessed by members of the team, who are wonderful.
How much more will it take before enough people want change? I know that many of us can’t take much more.
Many thanks to everyone that came along today. I know that it’s cold and this winter is never ending but I really do appreciate it and so do the people that are forced to use the Jobcentre.
im not allowed to put up this woman site but there are Wonderfull people out there trying to help
Please share, tweet, talk about or email my blog to your local MP. Even if they are a conservative MP they need to know what is happening to the poorest and most vulnerable of this country.
Also please donate if you can, every penny does count. Thank you
Jeffs posts
is this a true post of our nhs has I find more and more private contractors taking more and more out of the nhs
Stacey Heale is with Greg Gilbert and Aaron Gilbert.
February 13 at 2:49pm · Southampton
·
Greg begins six months of chemotherapy today. This is a daunting prospect after six months of last year taken up with the same. I know the drill, I know what I need to do on these days as his carer.
Today was slightly different though. In between the collection of packages from the chemist, organising future blood tests and watching Greg puking and shivering in a chair as the drugs take hold, I also had to find the finance department because we are having to pay for the cancer drug Avastin.
They were very confused; people don't just rock up and pay for cancer treatment. You either have what is available on the NHS or you don't have it, that's the deal for most people.
I was asked if this was the amount for the full treatment I explained no, this is for one round, I would be coming back in three weeks to pay another £1860.83 and would continue to do this every three weeks for six months. They were horrified.
This is the reality of cancer care and the NHS. We are in the exceptional position to be able to pay for this because of the unprecedented generosity of people but ours is not the usual situation. This is happening right now. Today. Imagine having to know that you couldn't have a drug that would either save your life or buy you more time with loved ones because of money. That's the deal.
Our NHS is more than a British institution or a bastion of ideals, its life and death. It's the life of my partner and the father of my babies. Actively fight for this because we won't have another chance
Posted by jeffrey davies] on 17 February 2018
Michael Gove - top of the great Brexit spenders- and first to use a dodge to bypass Parliament.
write by David hencke
The government is planning a Brexit spending spree this year without any say by Parliament.
Hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayer's money will be spent setting up bodies to replace work done by the European Union some using a Whitehall wheeze devised by a Treasury mandarin to get round scrutiny by MPs.
Michael Gove, the environment secretary, is poised to be the first to use the new system to allow ministers to spend large sums of money on Brexit without the approval of Parliament.
Very simply the dodge involves turning on its head a procedure called an accounting direction - normally used when a senior mandarin -wants to challenge spending by a minister as illegal or questionable. It was most famously used when a senior civil servant questioned aid to pay for Malaysia's Pergau Dam - when he discovered the money was being authorised by Margaret Thatcher as part of a secret defence deal. It was also used to question extra costs on the Millennium Dome under Tony Blair. More recently a civil servants challenged the government paying for a survey requested by a UKIP council in Kent.
Now Whitehall mandarin Richard Brown has devised a scheme which will allow ministers to get round Parliament by using the same procedure to spend money on Brexit without waiting for legislation to be passed by Parliament. The letter is here.
It has been sent to 25 ministerial departments, 20 non ministerial departments and over 300 agencies.
It followed a letter from the Treasury and the Department of Exiting the EU which also allowed ministries to raid the contingencies fund without waiting for laws to be passed.
Both senior civil servants are claiming that the requests for extra cash will be known to Parliament as they have informed the chairs pf the public accounts committee and the public administration committee. Some people might think that in all the huge coverage of Brexit they might be overlooked.
Today Civil Service World reports that a massive £245million has been routed by a supplementary estimate to spend money on Brexit with Michael Gove's Defra department taking the lion's share of £67m closely followed by HM Revenue and Customs with £47m and £42m for the Home Office to work out a new immigration system.
On top the permanent secretary of Defra, Clare Moriarty, has asked Michael Gove to approve £16m of cash for a whole series of projects without waiting for legislation.
These are:
The new national import control system for animals, animal products and high risk food and feed. Scheduled to commence building: mid-January 2018. Estimated cost before Royal Assent: £7m.
- Delivery of new IT capability to enable registration and regulation of chemical substances placed on the UK market. Scheduled to commence building: February 2018. Estimated cost before Royal Assent: £5.8m.
- Delivery of systems for the licensing and marketing of veterinary medicines. Scheduled to commence building: end-January 2018. Estimated cost before Royal Assent: £1.6m.
- Development of a new catch certificate system for UK fish and fish products being exported to the EU on Exit. Scheduled to commence: building end-January 2018. Estimated cost before Royal Assent: £1.0m.
- Development of a UK system to manage the quota of fluorinated gases and ozone depleting substances required under the UN Montreal Protocol. Scheduled to commence: March 2018. Estimated cost before Royal Assent: £0.5m.
- Development of data exchange arrangements to identify the movement of EU and third country vessels in UK waters and the movement of UK vessels in EU or third country waters. Scheduled to commence: April 2018. Estimated cost before Royal Assent: £0.1m
This gives a small glimpse of how complicated the change will be. One mistake and Britain could be thrown into chaos as it has relied on the EU for authorisation and will have to sign up for everything again , including international conventions.
Imagine what would happen if there are errors in the licensing of veterinary medicines for example. It could mean that it will be illegal for your pet to get the proper medicine from the vets.
Also it reveals that large sums of taxpayers money are going to have to go on new bureaucracies to administer all this. So where will be the Brexit dividend?
And all this is being pushed out " under the counter" by mandarins and ministers. If the coverage of errors and waste endemic in Whitehall are anything to go by, Britain could easily face total chaos after 2019. It's going to be a hell raising time as we leave the EU
jeffs posts
‘The DWP launched the assessments by bragging that half a million people would lose their benefits, and last year it slashed employment and support allowance saying it would be an “incentive” get a job.’[Image: Alamy].
Labour’s verdict has been as damning as Ms Ryan’s.
But it also offers a little hope for those of us who are caught in the Tory benefit trap.
Debbie Abrahams MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, commenting on the Work and Pensions Select Committee’s report into the Personal Independent Payment (PIP) and Employment Support Allowance (ESA) assessment processes said:
“This report provides yet more damning evidence that these assessment processes are not fit for purpose and that trust in the system has been completely undermined under this Government. Instead of supporting people, the process is often dehumanising, inaccurate and worsens existing health conditions.
“The widespread distrust of the assessment process by sick and disabled people is no surprise, with a record 68 per cent of decisions taken to tribunal being overturned by judges. Under private contractors the assessment process is getting worse, not better, yet the Government refuses to act.
“Labour will scrap the current PIP and ESA assessments, bringing an end to the Conservatives’ failed privatised assessment system and replacing it with personalised, holistic support which provides each individual with a tailored plan, building on their strengths and addressing barriers, whether health, care, finance, skills, transport, or housing related.”
On Wednesday, the work and pensions select committee released its much-anticipated report into Britain’s disability benefit system and it pulled no punches. The picture it paints is one of incompetence and outright cruelty: assessments riddled with errors and omissions or even fabrications; poor use of medical evidence that often leads to people’s benefits being incorrectly removed; and a “lack of determination” from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to address its failings. As the MPs damningly put it, the disability benefit system has reached the point at which “a pervasive lack of trust is undermining the entire operation”.
From their rollout by the coalition to Theresa May’s cabinet today, the very premise of the Conservative’s so-called reforms to disability benefits has been to shrink the “welfare” budget, part of a wider bid to pull back the state. The DWP launched the tests for PIP in 2012 by bragging that half a million disabled people would lose their benefits by the end of it, and last year it slashed employment and support allowance (ESA) – the benefit for people so severely ill that they can’t work – on the premise it would be an “incentive” for them to get a job.
That’s the most grotesque part of this. When ministers design a social security system based on how much money they can cut, unqualified assessors and bloated appeal bills aren’t a sign of a policy gone wrong – it’s a sign that it’s going exactly as planned.
Posted by jeffrey davies on 15 February 2018
Jeffs posts
TEN FAILED PRIVATE HEALTH CONTRACTS WORTH £2.5 BILLION
Public attention is focused on privatisation and its dangers following the collapse of outsourcing and construction giant Carillion, a profit warning issued by fellow giant Capita and the government’s decision to appoint a special monitor for Interserve contracts.
But the failure of outsourced contracts is not a new phenomenon. The ten examples below show NHS contracts worth around two point five billion pounds that ended badly:
in early 2015, Serco walked away from a contract for GP ‘out of hours’ services in Cornwall after criticism of its service by the Commons Public Accounts Committee, which said Serco’s out-of-hours service was “not good enough” and that the company had struggled to ensure enough staff were available
in 2016, Virgin Care closed a popular medical centre in West Oxfordshire. Virgin Care’s contract had expired and when the company decided not to rebid, no alternative could be found. 4,400 patients had to find treatment elsewhere. Patients were left in tears when the closure was announced
also in 2016, a Cambridge £800m end of life contract run by UnitingCare Partnership collapsed after 8 months, after the consortium ran into difficulties (evidence)
in 2015, A £1bn NHS contract to run Hinchingbrooke Hospital collapsed after private firm Circle failed to make it financially viable and withdrew from the contract. A neighbouring NHS Trust had to step in and form a new, larger trust to take over the running of the hospital
in 2014, Care UK announced that it was exiting its contract to run a GP Practice in Newcastle early. The decision put the care of 7,000 patients at risk. The contract should have run until August last year
in 2014, Serco ended its contract to run Braintree Hospital early because it wasn’t making enough money for the company
in 2014, Care UK agreed to end a contract to run two care homes in Norfolk after concerns were raised over standards failures, including missed homecare visits (evidence)
in 2016, Interserve’s £300m contract to run cleaning, catering and maintenance services for the NHS in Leicester was scrapped 4 years early after serious concerns over standards of cleanliness
in 2017, Primecare ended its NHS 111 and out of hours contract barely a year into a three-year contract after a ‘damning inspection‘
in 2017, Nottingham University Hospitals cancelled a £200m NHS contract with Carillion after allegations of ‘filthy‘ wards
The dangers of outsourcing public services to commercial providers is a hot topic at the moment – but those dangers have been manifesting for years under Tory government.
Posted by jeffrey davies on 14 February 2018
forgotten heroes
Mark Roberts counts being a Gulf War hero among his 23 years’ experience in the Army – and was a personal driver to Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales. But now he is sleeping on the streets.
Why?
Because the United Kingdom does not value its armed forces veterans. After they have served their purpose, they are thrown away like so much rubbish.
Mr Roberts has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder – making him all the more vulnerable.
It’s a good thing the Sunday People is running its SOS – Save Our Soldiers campaign to highlight the issue.
Because people like Mr Roberts won’t get any help from the state for which they fought.
Sometimes they see him curled beneath cardboard in a church doorway. One or two might wonder how this little grizzled man came to be this low.
But what they don’t know about Mark Roberts is that he bravely served Queen and country for 23 years.
And that the once proud man beneath that battered cardboard also acted as a personal driver to Prince Charles and Diana for four years.
Also that he was a Gulf War hero, among the first troops to storm into the 1991 conflict. And that gruelling tours of Iraq and Afghanistan left him diagnosed with PTSD.
They don’t know any of this. But to this country’s shame, the Government and the Ministry of Defence do.
Posted by jeffrey davies on 13 February 2018
Jeffs posts
My understanding is that the software used by the NHS – like that used by many government departments – is bought from large corporations that work on a “one size fits all” basis.
The problem? One size doesn’t fit all.
The simple fact, as it seems to This Writer, is that government – not just the current government, but any government – seems too willing to pay a fortune to huge corporations for off-the-shelf software that doesn’t work.
I mean, who provided the software under criticism in the article quoted below?
A much better policy would be to seek tenders from multiple software writers – including small firms – for bespoke software that actually does the job required of it.
It would be cheaper, it would be better, and above all… it would be safer.
Problems with computers could be blamed for up to 900 deaths in the NHS every year, two academics have claimed.
Computers are embedded across the NHS but many are “bad” and “low quality”, putting lives at risk they say.
From the PC that stores patient records to systems embedded in devices like MRI scanners and dialysis machines, NHS IT is “unnecessarily buggy” and “susceptible to cyber-attack”, according to Harold Thimbleby, professor of computer science at Swansea University.
Posted by jeffrey davies on 10 February 2018
will they won't they
The SNP Leader at Westminster has said the Prime Minister must ‘end the injustice’ for women facing pensions inequality.
Ian Blackford MP raised the issue at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday – in the week that marked the 100th anniversary of the suffragette movement winning the right for some women to vote for the first time in UK elections.
Speaking during PMQs, he said the suffragette movement was about “democracy, equality and fairness for women”. But in the UK today, 3.8 million women will not receive the pension they were told they are entitled to.
Mr Blackford says WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) women are still adversely hit by the Tories’ failure to address the injustice of the acceleration of the increase to the state pension age.
Embed from Getty Images
Commenting, Ian Blackford MP said: “Yesterday we celebrated the suffragette movement in parliament, but today in the UK women are still facing inequality with 3.8 million not receiving the pension they were due through no fault of their own.
“WASPI women are guilty of nothing. They have had the misfortune of being female and being born in the 1950s and live under this UK government who refuses to do the right thing.
Posted by jeffrey davieis on 09 February 2018
Jeffs posts
Scores of healthcare professionals may have been able to continue carrying out disability benefit assessments despite being the subject of multiple complaints about their behaviour, competence and honesty, confidential new documents have revealed.
The official reports, prepared by outsourcing giants Capita and Atos for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), show that up to 180 personal independence payment (PIP) assessors were the subject of at least four complaints each in three-month periods in 2016.
The documents, released under the Freedom of Information Act, show that 161 assessors working for Atos had more than three complaints made against them in a three-month period.
And 19 Capita assessors were also subjected to at least four complaints in a three-month period in 2016.
Neither Atos nor Capita, nor DWP, will say what action was taken against these assessors and whether they are still carrying out face-to-face assessments of disabled PIP claimants.
The revelations provide fresh evidence of failings by the two private sector outsourcing giants in delivering PIP assessments across England, Wales and Scotland.
Disability News Service (DNS) has been investigating claims of widespread dishonesty by PIP assessors for more than a year, and has now heard from about 300 claimants who say their assessment reports contained clear lies.
The new reports include details of the “management information” (MI) the two companies were contractually obliged to provide every month to DWP, so it could check their performance and take action when they needed to improve.
They show how they performed during 2016 in certain areas, such as how long face-to-face assessments took on average; how many face-to-face assessments were carried out; and how many assessments reports were graded as unacceptably poor.
They were released to campaigner John Slater, as part of his efforts to secure confidential DWP information that he believes will expose widespread failings by Capita and Atos, as well as DWP’s failure to manage the contracts properly.
He has been working with Disabled People Against Cuts researcher Anita Bellows, and DNS, to analyse the data since its release last month.
in a letter to Frank Field, the chair of the Commons work and pensions select committee, in December 2017, Atos boss David Haley said his company had received more than 5,800 complaints connected with the PIP contract in 2016.
Atos is likely to have completed about 800,000 assessments that year.
According to the MI reports, Capita completed about 240,000 assessment reports in 2016 and received more than 3,000 complaints in just the 11 months from February to December (there are no figures for January).
Slater said the information released by DWP showed there had been “serious failings in key areas”, such as complaints against the assessors, the quality of assessment reports, and the number of cases where Atos and Capita asked for further medical information (see separate stories).
He said: “It is important to remember that these failings are not simply about producing documents or following processes.
“These three areas directly impact the outcome of people’s PIP claims.
“It is almost certain that people will have been denied PIP or given a reduced award due to an assessment report that wasn’t good enough, because further medical evidence (FME) wasn’t obtained or because of assessors who shouldn’t be doing the job.”
He said DWP had now been managing the contracts for almost five years.
He said: “Problems of the magnitude uncovered by the disclosure of the MI shouldn’t exist after nearly five years if the DWP was doing its job properly.”
He said DWP should have learned the lessons from the “debacle” of the contract with Atos to deliver the work capability assessment, which saw DWP and Atos repeatedly criticised and Atos forced to pull out of the contract.
Bellows said the figures revealed by the reports obtained by Slater were “absolutely shocking”, and she pointed to the number of complaints filed against disability assessors, “and astonishingly against the same assessors”.
Other figures revealed the failure of Atos and Capita to request vital “further evidence” from GPs and social workers, and the number of Capita assessment reports that were found to be flawed.
Bellows said: “This is failure at every stage of the assessment process, and gross incompetence from DWP in overseeing and managing its contracts.”
Slater added: “When I asked for this information to be disclosed I suspected it would confirm the problems regularly reported by people claiming PIP and that the DWP was managing the three contracts poorly.
“The data did indeed confirm this, but I was shocked by what else we uncovered.
“In addition to the deplorable data on FME and the scale of the problem with unsatisfactory assessment reports, I was shocked by the fact that so much of the management information specified in the contract either wasn’t disclosed by the DWP or simply doesn’t exist*.
“I hope that the both the work and pensions committee and the public accounts committee will put the DWP under considerable scrutiny as a result of what has been uncovered.”
Atos has refused to answer a series of questions about the data released to Slater, including what action it took with the assessors who received at least four complaints in a three-month period, and how many of them were still working as assessors for Atos.
But an Atos spokesman said: “Throughout our relationship with the DWP around the delivery of the PIP contract, we have listened carefully to feedback provided by those being assessed and continually adjust our service to help deliver an enhanced experience for all involved.
“Less than one percent of the 844,000 cases we cleared and returned to DWP in 2016 resulted in a complaint.”
Capita also refused to answer the questions, but a spokeswoman said in a statement: “Our assessors are healthcare professionals who are equipped with the required skills and knowledge to carry out PIP functional-based assessments in a professional and empathetic manner.
“We are committed to delivering an excellent service and continue [to] improve this by heavily investing in our training, support, and audit processes to ensure accurate and quality reports.”
A DWP spokeswoman said: “We expect the highest standards from assessment providers, and we work closely with them to ensure PIP is working in the best way possible.
“We always aim to provide the very best service, and this is why assessments are carried out by qualified healthcare professionals who need to have at least two years of practical experience and must be registered with a medical body.
“Anyone falling below the required standards faces having their contract terminated.
“During the period you’ve outlined above, [Atos] and Capita completed a combined total of 945,000 PIP assessments.
“The total number of complaints that assessment providers received was less than one per cent of the total number of completed assessments.
“The PIP assessment providers thoroughly investigate all complaints and take appropriate actions.
“In addition, the PIP assessment providers have a target for customer satisfaction of 90 per cent, which they have consistently met since it was introduced in 2016.”
you can't make these stories up our government really do want you gone rise up rise up all you sick people and go back to work bugger they out for you
*DWP finally released this information to Slater last month, more than a year after he asked for it, following a ruling by the information commissioner.
But he has now been forced to complain again to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and DWP because DWP appears to have failed to provide key sections of the reports.
Posted by jeffrey davies on 09 February 2018
Jeffs posts
The amount of public money handed to private firms to carry out “brutal” disability benefit assessments has soared by around £40 MILLION over the last year, in spite of growing concerns about the fairness and accuracy of the hated tests, the Independent has revealed today.
Figures obtained by the newspaper through Freedom of Information laws show Atos (now ‘Independent Assessment Service’) and Capita pocketed a combined £255million over the last year to carry out assessments for Personal Independence Payments (PIP), which is replacing Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for all disabled adults and people with long-term medical problems.
In total, the two firms have been awarded £824m since 2013 by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for their role in carrying out the controversial PIP assessments.
The shocking revelation comes less than a week after Capita shares plummeted by nearly 50%, after the outsourcing giant issued a dire profits warning, knocking £1.1bn off the value of the company on the share market.
And the Government announced last week that it is to review 1.6 million PIP claims following a humiliating defeat at the High Court, that will see an estimated 220,000 PIP claimants receive backdated and higher awards.
Government figures indicate that neither Atos nor Capita are meeting the required target of 97% of assessments conforming to standards. Audits show 6.4% of PIP assessments were deemed “unacceptable” in the three months leading up to October 2017.
Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Debbie Abrahams MP, accused the Government of “rewarding failure”, adding: “It is damning that the Government are spending more public money on private, profit-making contractors at a time when a record 68% of PIP decisions taken to tribunal are being overturned by judges.”
She also reiterated Labour’s pledge to scrap the disability benefit assessments when in Government.
Dr Jay Watts, from the Alliance for Counselling and Psychotherapy, said: “Atos and Capita are profiting, quite literally, from the suffering of claimants.”
He added: “It is difficult to communicate quite how brutal, fear-provoking and destabilising the process of constant assessment is.”
A DWP spokesperson told the Independent: “We’re absolutely committed to ensuring that disabled people and people with mental health conditions get the support that they need.
“PIP is a modern, dynamic and fairer benefit than the former DLA and focuses the most support on those experiencing the greatest barriers to living independently.
“Approximately 66% of PIP recipients with mental health conditions receive the higher rate of the benefit, compared to just 22% under DLA.”
There are growing concerns over the role of private firms in public services following the shock collapse of Carillion, and Unite has warned of a “Pandora’s Box of Carillion-type meltdowns” if NHS trusts in England continue to outsource contracts to private limited companies.
The Conservative Government was accused of propping up Carillion, after the company was handed £1.3bn of new contracts despite the Government knowing the company was in financial difficulty.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has vowed to put an end to the “outsourcing racket”. Speaking to the Guardian after a showdown with Theresa May at PMQ’s, Mr Corbyn promised to “rewrite the rules to give the public back control of their services”.
He added: “Theresa May exposed the failure of the outsource-first ideology at prime minister’s questions when she said the government was ‘a customer’ not ‘the manager’ of Carillion.
“I’m sorry, but if these are public contracts we should be the manager and not have a middleman like Carillion creaming off the profits.”
Posted by jeffrey davies on 06 February 2018
