Wash, dress and make a cuppa? You're fit for work.

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Successful

ESA appeal

I have to say that, when it came to the appeal, my subscription to B+W was the

best £20 or so I ever spent.

More good news from the forums at the end of this newsletter.

Wash, dress and make

a cuppa? You’re fit for work.

Dear Subscriber,

It would be nice to start a newsletter with good news for a change.

For example, that the ‘imaginary wheelchair’ test we’ve been

going on about for over a year was just a figment of our own imagination rather

than a threat to both employment and support allowance (ESA) claimants now and

disability living allowance (DLA) claimants in the future.

Or that things are getting easier for people with mental health conditions who

need to claim benefits.

Unfortunately, we’ve obtained a copy of the handbook that is even now

being used to train Atos health professionals to carry out the harsh new work

capability assessment – the medical test for ESA - due to come into force

on 28 March.

And good news it certainly isn’t.

It’s over 170 pages long and we haven’t worked our way through all

of it yet.

But we can already tell you that if you are claiming ESA on mental health

or learning difficulties grounds, the guidance to doctors is not going to make

it easier.

In fact, if you can wash, dress, make tea and travel alone to your new ESA

medical you’ve probably scored

zero for six of the seven mental health activities before you arrive. (Members

only)

In relation to physical health, we’ve looked very closely at the guidance

given to Atos health professionals assessing claimants with mobility

problems. And we can now offer much more detailed evidence to support our

claim that people with mobility problems will be subject to an ‘imaginary

wheelchair’ test. (Members

only)

The imaginary wheelchair test won’t just affect ESA claimants. It

is also likely to affect DLA claimants if the plans in the welfare reform bill

to scrap DLA and force people to claim PIP (personal independence payment) are

made law. Mobilising is intended to replace walking as the test for

mobility in PIP as well as ESA.

Our step-by-step guides to claims and appeals for the new work capability

assessment, plus a copy of the handbook being used by Atos doctors and nurses,

will be available for members to download from 28 March. If you’re

not already a member, find out how

to subscribe to Benefits and Work and give yourself the best possible

chance of getting the right decision.

And, sadly, there really is no longer any chance of the new test being thrown

out at the last minute: a

challenge to the new regulations by the house of lords ended in feeble

surrender.

In the course of the debate, conservative minister Lord Freud even claimed that

disability organisations had engaged in discussion over the details of the new

test and were in agreement with them at the time, only changing their position

more recently when they looked at the financial implications.

For sick and disabled claimants forced off ESA and onto jobseeker’s

allowance (JSA), the financial implications could be especially dire as a

result of new

regulations for forced work schemes. These will be aimed at some JSA

claimants with “little recent experience of employment” and “

little or no understanding of what behaviours are required to obtain and keep

work.” The new powers to force claimants to work up to 30 hours a

week for four weeks or lose their JSA for 13 weeks, come into force at

the end of April.

However, even if the news is almost uniformly bad, that doesn’t mean that

everyone is accepting the cuts without a fight. We’ve covered the

rising level of opposition in two recent articles:

Opposition

to welfare reform is growing

Opposition

to welfare reform update, 17 March

In particular, it’s encouraging that the TUC are making a range of

provisions for disabled people who want to join the March for an Alternative on

26 March. There are also plans for a disabled people’s rally

against benefits cuts on 11 May.

And for those who feel the need to vent their spleen or to educate our

rulers, a committee of MPs want your views on welfare reform.

Finally, before we look at some good news from the Benefits and Work forums,

there is one shred of possibly positive news from parliament. Following

our piece in the last newsletter warning that mobility payments might end at

pensionable age for PIP claimants,

Eagle has issued a denial. However, the welfare reform Bill

still says that PIP will end at pensionable age – so it really all

depends on the extent to which you trust the assurances of a politician.

Good news from the

forums

High

rate care for 8 month old son

From

zero points to support group on ESA appeal

18

points at ESA tribunal

4

days for a successful DLA result

ESA

appeal won over the phone

DLA

renewed for 5 years

17

days for DLA award

Successful ESA renewal

DLA renewal in nine days

High

rate care and mobility after 31 weeks

High

rate mobility after two refusals

High

rate mobility without a medical

High

rate care and mobility indefinitely on renewal

PASS IT ON

You are welcome to reproduce this newsletter on your blog, website, forum or

newsletter.

You can also

read

this newsletter online.

Good luck,

Steve Donnison

Benefits and Work Publishing Ltd

Company registration No. 5962666

If

you’re not already a member, find out how

to subscribe to Benefits and Work and give yourself the best possible

chance of getting the right decision.

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© 2011 Steve Donnison

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