DWP still pretending to care about disabled claimants mental health

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are still pretending to care about the mental health of people going through the benefits system – despite their actions showing otherwise.

DWP bullshit again

Labour MP Sarah Hall asked the DWP a written question about mental health:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of social security assessment and application processes on the mental health of claimants.

The department’s response was the typical non-answer.

Minister for Disabled People, Stephen Timms, answered:

The Pathways to Work Green Paper set out our commitment to get the basics right and improve the experience for people who use the system of health and disability. This includes exploring ways to improve trust and transparency in PIP and WCA through reviewing our approach to safeguarding, recording assessments to increase trust in the process, and moving back to having more face-to-face assessments while continuing to meet the needs of people who may require different methods of assessment.

Timms continued:

We have also launched the Timms Review, the first ever full review of PIP, to ensure we have a system that supports disabled people to achieve better health, higher living standards and greater independence, including through employment. The Review is being co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, carers, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, so a wide range of views and voices are heard.

The Review will consider how PIP can enable disabled people to live independently; whether the assessment effectively captures the impact of long-term health conditions and disability in the modern world; and whether it should consider any other evidence. It will also look at how the assessment could ensure people access the right support at the right level.

Oh, the Timms review? The one that already looks like a stitch-up?

No meaningful research

What’s clear from this copy-and-paste answer is that they still haven’t done any real assessments of the impact the process has on people’s mental health. They also don’t intend to do any meaningful research into this.

This is despite them being given proof for a very long time that the system does negatively impact mental health. This includes a whole bloody book by John Pring. Just this February, it was uncovered that 1 in 5 privately contracted benefit assessors aren’t safeguard trained.

They’re also very light on what “reviewing our approach to safeguarding” actually means. The department has been pulled up by multiple committees on the way they treat claimants. The Public Accounts Committee hauled them up for demonising claimants instead of fixing their own system. The department was also forced to admit that the ESA helpline was so bad it was driving claimants to self-harm. 

Then there’s the absolute bullshit that face-to face assessments will help people’s mental health, when the assessments are found to be stressful and inhumane.

By citing all of their previous work, they’re attempting to boost their own credibility. But the Pathways to Work Green consultation was completely ignored. The Timms Review is currently underway, but it’s also being rushed and ignoring the needs of disabled people in favour of saving money. Timms mentioning this essentially confirms that the review will strip back support.

At the end of the day, the DWP don’t give a fuck about claimants’ mental health, if they did they would’ve done more to protect them years ago. All they care about it saving money, no matter how many disabled people die.

Featured image via the Canary