On Monday 27th May the Independent published an article under the heading How benefits crackdown ‘humiliates’ Britain's disabled Army war veterans. The article opens:
The WCA was devised when the Labour Party decided to phase out Incapacity Benefit and replace it with Employment Support Allowance by having a test designed to ascertain whether Incapacity Benefit recipients should be switched to receiving either full unconditional Employment Support Allowance, because they were judged as expected to remain “unfit to work” or a lesser conditional level of Employment Support Allowance payable to those who although adjudged not presently fit to work when tested were expected to become fit to work or with Job Seekers Allowance in the cases of those given the WCA and adjudged immediately fit to work.
The PIP test – the process which Cameron had actually declared would not apply to ex – servicemen - does seek to ascertain how someone’s disability or injury limits their ability to live “normally” and provides additional support towards mobility etc. People both in and out of work are eligible.
Bodies representing ex-servicemen obviously believe those injured or disabled on active service should be exempt from all "degrading" welfare conditionality tests– those relating to the extent of their disability and also those relating to their “fitness for work”. It will be interesting to see whether a “public campaign” along those lines develops, and what the reaction of Number 10 and the DWP to it is.
And what the logic and arguments for “agreeing with” or “disagreeing with” the campaign to exempt former service personnel from conditionality tests which are "degrading" are, depending on which way Number 10 and the DWP decide to go.
Degrading back-to-work welfare assessments that are stripping former soldiers of their benefits have been denounced by leading veterans’ charities. Thousands of ex-servicemen are being pushed to the breadline after being judged fit for work by the government-appointed company Atos. Severely wounded veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, who were once entitled to incapacity benefits, are being told they no longer qualify under new assessments carried out by Atos on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).Today the Daily Mail has also published a similar article:
Anger as record number of maimed troops are denied disability benefit in Government's controversial assessmentsOne Daily Mail reader reacted to the story thus:
A record number of wounded war veterans have been denied disability benefits in the past year after undergoing tests carried out by the Government’s controversial assessment company. Hundreds of injured ex-soldiers are being declared fit for work by Atos Healthcare in spite of physical and mental injuries they suffered in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Last night, the Royal British Legion (RBL) announced a 72 per cent annual rise in former soldiers having their applications to receive Employment Support Allowance (ESA) turned down.
"Both IDS & Cameron publicly stated last year, that any service personnel injured on active service would be exempt from the ATOS procedure and that both their benefits and any War pensions would remain unaffected.... How do you know when a Politician is lying?......Their lips move!And actually when the Indie piece appeared it had brought to mind a memory of David Cameron making some form of pledge concerning the benefits treatment of injured ex-servicemen. And sure enough I was able to retrieve Severely injured troops exempted from extra disability tests under new benefits from The Guardian on 18th July 2012.
- JoeBlogs, Bournemouth, 02/6/2013 10:52"
Severely injured soldiers are to be exempted from tough new disability test as David Cameron moves to ensure that controversial welfare reforms do not apply to the military.But in fact despite the G using the phrase “new disability benefits” that Guardian piece was all about a pledge from Cameron that injured ex servicemen and women would not be subjected to the “new test” related to the introduction of the Personal Independence Payment – the successor to Disability Living Allowance, and NOT a pledge to exempt them from the Work Capability Assessment.
Downing St has persuaded the Ministry of Defence to ensure only the results of existing military tests – covering the most badly wounded troops – will be needed for assessments for the new disability benefits.
Seriously injured troops will also be given a guaranteed disability payment worth around £131 a week under the reforms.
The WCA was devised when the Labour Party decided to phase out Incapacity Benefit and replace it with Employment Support Allowance by having a test designed to ascertain whether Incapacity Benefit recipients should be switched to receiving either full unconditional Employment Support Allowance, because they were judged as expected to remain “unfit to work” or a lesser conditional level of Employment Support Allowance payable to those who although adjudged not presently fit to work when tested were expected to become fit to work or with Job Seekers Allowance in the cases of those given the WCA and adjudged immediately fit to work.
The PIP test – the process which Cameron had actually declared would not apply to ex – servicemen - does seek to ascertain how someone’s disability or injury limits their ability to live “normally” and provides additional support towards mobility etc. People both in and out of work are eligible.
Bodies representing ex-servicemen obviously believe those injured or disabled on active service should be exempt from all "degrading" welfare conditionality tests– those relating to the extent of their disability and also those relating to their “fitness for work”. It will be interesting to see whether a “public campaign” along those lines develops, and what the reaction of Number 10 and the DWP to it is.
And what the logic and arguments for “agreeing with” or “disagreeing with” the campaign to exempt former service personnel from conditionality tests which are "degrading" are, depending on which way Number 10 and the DWP decide to go.
1 comments:
Heh heh, good footwork by the government there.
"We're not going to make you go through a humiliating and unnecessary rigmarole if you want to claim Benefit X... we're going to make you go through a humiliating and unnecessary rigmarole if you want to claim Benefit Y."
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