Revitalised by Recognition

 

'The Sun' card. Source: Rider-Waite Tarot pack

Negative life-experiences, properly re-evaluated, can help us define what we really want out of life. I believe I gained that insight at least partially from reading Dorothy Leeds’ Secrets of Successful Interviews: How to Get the Job You Really Want in 1998, as well as from earlier, 1984-86 experience of psychotherapy. (Secrets of Successful Interviews has clearly been since reformulated and updated as Marketing Yourself: The Ultimate Job Seeker's Guide.)

That insight was made more alive for me by way of the interviewing skills of a recruitment agency's founder, Jacquie, in 1999. She asked me about the supports I would require in my ideal job. I recited a work placement experience in which my line-manager had been the CEO of my employer (whom I had previously known through shared volunteering in childminding), my workbase was my training provider’s facilities and line-manager never visited me on placement except for three interviews with training provider’s Placements Officer in an 8 week placement. “I would like good supervision,” I stated, while I recalled that the CEO too busy with other things never really gave me that and later emphasised my failure to meet deadlines.

“Don’t you really mean that you would require recognition?” Jacquie replied, and I resonated with that insight.

 

I recall that interview insight as I reflect on the resurgence I gained recently by the revival of my rapport with Hereford Times letters pages, and the impact on me from a research-oriented telephone interview I received yesterday by way of referral by Alison Mann as Kundalini Yoga teacher to both the researcher and me.

In the telephone interview, I was asked about my resilience under lockdown, and we clarified the definition of ‘resilience’. I said that I take the approach that I’m a survivor, whatever has happened to me in the past, and I have a lot more scope as a state pensioner on more-than-’working age benefits’ and free of the shackles of a Universal Credit ‘Claimant Commitment’ that is oriented to getting the claimant off the unemployment register more than it is to helping the claimant get the job they really want.

I referred to a sense of life purpose as an essential ingredient in my resilience — my capacity to bounce back from whatever happens to me: “I’m an expert witness, applying verbal literacy skills and ‘expert witness’ testimony, rather than a victim of life’s circumstances and waste of space.”

I felt revitalised by that interview, whereas I would no doubt feel drained by interactions with someone who probably had no experience of recruitment experience from the recruiter’s point of view and yet professed to providing “the help you need, when you need it.” (Namely, a Universal Credit 'workcoach'.)

Thus, last night I responded to a friend’s feedback on my latest Hereford Times published letter that provided the impetus for blog posts:

After a very stimulating research conversation with University of South Wales counselling course student re lockdown and access to wellbeing promoting therapies such as Yoga this afternoon, I had a fresh burst of blogging impetus, in which I gave loads of info related to what I told the student/researcher: that for far too many people, financial lockdown has long preceded Covid-19 lockdown.

https://newsforwardsfromalanwheatley.blogspot.com/2020/10/agenda-for-caring-economy.html

And before that blog post, I noted that the print issue of New Internationalist magazine referred to in the 'Agenda for a Caring Economy' posting, is not on the New Internationalist home page, but there is this reference to related online article about the skewed values of the Global Economy

https://newsforwardsfromalanwheatley.blogspot.com/2020/10/global-economy-as-debtors-prison-newint.html

 

Perhaps one of the greatest tragedies of the current economic system is that while the caring that props up national economies is an underrecognised form of modern slavery, carers and the people who need their care are treated as expendable. That is instanced by, say, the fact that downgrading a claimant's entitlement to Personal Independence Payment that replaces Disability Living Allowance also downgrades the carer's prospects of getting Carer's Allowance.

Alan Wheatley

Scandal of disabled and ill people denied benefits

I thank Hereford Times for Peter John’s special investigation ‘Scandal of disabled and ill people denied benefits’ (December 12 print edition, p4).

I believe it will be helpful for me to add from my experience as a successful disability benefit tribunal appellant, former Green Party spokesperson on such matters, and former activist with Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group (KUWG) before moving to Hereford, and regular reader of specialist Disability News Service.

A vital issue regarding assessments for eligibility for the disability benefits Employment & Support Allowance and Personal Independence Payment is captured in the golden motto of KUWG: “Never attend anywhere official alone.” The presence of a ‘McKenzie Friend’ at the face-to-face assessments provides the claimant with a potential witness as well as moral support. Unpaid case workers from KUWG had an excellent record of supporting claimants all the way, and attending with case worker often stopped the need for tribunal in the first place.

It is also essential with regard to the ‘Work Capability Assessment’ (WCA) for Employment & Support Allowance eligibility, that the claimant and/or their form filler understands the ‘descriptors’ of both the ‘Work Capability Assessment’ itself and the related ‘Low Capacity for Work Related Activity’ (lcwra) and how these relate to the claimant’s condition. Descriptors for the latter define whether the claimant enter the sanctions-free-zone of ‘Support Group’ entitlement that also comes with more income. KUWG subscribed to specialist guide papers regarding ESA and PIP assessments.

The matter of claimants being routinely re-tested as Disability United spokesperson points out is inappropriate. My ESA tribunal in December 2009 put me into the Support Group; the £1200 back money was not processed into my a/c till end of February 2010, and the issue of re-assessment papers that August left me bent double with shock after being a decades long disabled jobseeker. I eventually managed to make my 2012 WCA my last bout of ‘Russian Roulette’ procedures before 2018 retirement via appeal to DWP copying in my MP.

In closing I add that Tory Government’s response to the cost of the tribunal system [and appellant’s DWP-shaming success rate] has not been to reduce the pressures on the assessor companies to rule claimants ineligible,(1) but to attempt to remove the tribunal panel’s live access to the claimant. Specialist lawyer Steve Donnison has said of making the assessment entirely on the basis of ‘the papers presented’: “Appeal panels have to make a decision about the honesty and credibility of an appellant. It’s far easier for them to make this judgement if the claimant is in front of them answering their questions.”

This disadvantage is exacerbated by the fact, which advocates stress, that many claimants appealing a decision aren’t actually aware of the criteria for being eligible for benefits. “And when the appeal is by paper, the tribunal has no way of filling in the gaps in the evidence,” Donnison adds. “So they can’t make an award.”(2)

Alan Wheatley

Notes

    1. https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/wca-death-doctor-dwp-put-immense-pressure-on-atos-to-find-claimants-fit-for-work/
    2. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/12/online-benefits-appeals-tribunals-disabled

Benefits & Work Publishing review GE2019 party manifestos for benefit claimants

I forward the below from Benefits & Work Publishing Ltd Newsletter, to which I've added some explanatory text for the acronyms such as ESA.


Alan Wheatley

Benefits & Work Publishing Ltd logo, with link to
https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/4128-the-manifestos-are-out-but-will-they-influence-your-vote

THE MANIFESTOS ARE OUT

We’ve taken a look at each of the main parties’ manifestos, with the exception of the SNP which is out too late for this newsletter.

If you are voting solely on what each party is offering, then there is little doubt that Labour have made the most effort to capture sick and disabled claimants votes.

Their undertaking to immediately stop all new transfers to UC, and then scrap the benefit completely when they come up with a new system, would be an enormous weight off many claimants minds.

As would the plan to end the current work capability assessments (WCAs) [toward disability-related Employment & Support Allowance/component of Universal Credit] and PIP [Personal Independence Payment, re additional living costs of having a disability] assessments and take everything back in-house.

Increasing ESA [Employment & Support Allowance] by £30 for claimants in the work-related activity group (WRAG) and raising carers allowance to the level of JSA are two other potentially popular moves. [Alan adds that those in the Work-Related Activity Group -- WRAG -- of ESA claimants are especially prone to the perils of benefit sanctions, as witnessed at https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/account-of-sanctions-desperation-leaves-disabled-peer-in-tears-at-wrag-research-launch/
]

Both Labour and the Lib Dems say they would scrap the benefits cap, the two child limit and the bedroom tax.

And, like Labour, the Lib Dems would end WCA’s and reverse the cuts to ESA for claimants in the WRAG.

Both have more offers in their manifestos.

The Green Party take a different approach, saying they will introduce a “Universal Basic Income (UBI), an unconditional financial payment to everyone at a level above their subsistence needs”

The adult rate of UBI would be £89 a week with an additional supplement for disabled claimants.

They would also replace UC and benefits sanctions.

The Brexit Party are not trying too hard to capture the claimant vote. They are simply offering to have a five week maximum wait for payment of universal credit and undertake a review of the benefits system, followed by reform.

The Conservatives possibly get the prize for irony when they say in their manifesto that “. . .we will continue our efforts through the tax and benefits system to reduce poverty, including child poverty.”
Other than that they have little to say to claimants, except that they will “reduce the number of reassessments a disabled person must go through” and “publish a National Strategy for Disabled People before the end of 2020”.

Will the manifestos influence your vote?

Post a comment in our manifesto round-up (see Benefits News below) and let us know what you think.

....

---

BENEFITS NEWS
Only 40% of universal credit claimants get their full entitlement
Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show that only 40% of universal credit (UC) claimants get the full amount they are entitled to.
Fight to outlaw mandatory reconsiderations has begun – can you help?
The fight to outlaw mandatory reconsiderations has begun, thanks to Benefits and Work members, but more help is needed.
The manifestos are out, but will they influence your vote?
Well, with the exception of the SNP, all the party manifestos are out now. Will their offers to claimants make a difference to how you vote?
BBC and Channel 4 both to air Jobcentre friendly documentaries
Campaigners have criticised the BBC and Channel 4 for airing similar ‘fly-on-the-wall’ documentaries based inside jobcentres, which are likely to cover-up the misery caused by Universal Credit (UC).
UC fraudsters becoming bolder in targeting claimants
A housing association in Teesside has issued a warning to tenants about universal credit fraud scammers who are going door-to-door offering bogus loans to tenants.
Bedroom tax supreme court defeat for DWP
The supreme court has ruled that, for a small number of cases, the bedroom tax is a breach of human rights and should be ignored by tribunals.

Disability News Service: PIP assessor told claimant to ignore her ‘irrelevant’ suicide attempt… then challenged her son to a fight

(Forwarding note by Alan Wheatley: The golden motto of the Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group is: "Never attend anywhere official alone." In the light of the following, it is clear that that should apply especially if it is in one's own home!)

By John Pring on 24th October 2019 Category: Benefits and Poverty

Personal Independence Payment assessor told claimant to ignore her ‘irrelevant’ suicide attempt… then challenged her son to a fight

The assessor then left the front door open and kicked the safety gate that
protects their three dogs off its hinges, damaging the wall of the house (pictured).

A benefits assessor told a disabled woman to ignore “irrelevant” information about a suicide attempt, shoved her son after he was asked to halt the assessment, challenged him to a fight, and then damaged their house as he left.

The shocking incident in Cardiff last week has left Cheryl Matthews terrified that the healthcare professional who carried out her face-to-face personal independence payment (PIP) assessment for the outsourcing giant Capita could return to her home.

As he left the house, the assessor even told her 22-year-old son that he intended to return for a fight.
Capita has confirmed that the assessor has been suspended as a result of the incident, but the company has refused to say if it will now re-examine the other face-to-face assessments he has carried out for the company on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
But within two hours of her lodging her complaint, Capita had already offered her £600 compensation.

South Wales police is now investigating allegations of criminal damage by the PIP assessor.
Matthews, who works as a customer service agent and has several long-term health conditions, including one that could cause a fatal aneurysm if she becomes anxious, has struggled to sleep since the incident last Wednesday.

She already receives the PIP standard rates for daily living and mobility, but she had requested a new assessment after her health worsened in recent months....

More at
https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/pip-assessor-told-claimant-to-ignore-her-irrelevant-suicide-attempt-then-challenged-her-son-to-a-fight/
 

Benefits & Work Publishing Ltd Newsletter, 18 Sept 2019

The latest Benefits & Work Publishing Ltd Newsletter is out, and offers 20% discount on B&W Publishing Ltd guides to claiming various benefits. The 20% discount offer expires "at midnight this Friday."

Award of PIP
“Friday morning, the dreaded brown envelope made an appearance through the letterbox. To our surprise, it stated that my wife had been awarded the enhanced rates of both components as an "ongoing" award. This was the last thing we expected as she did not have to attend a face to face meeting and the only health professional i could mention on the form was her GP.......and she is new to the practice & i would imagine not fully aware of her health condition. Having been on the lower rates of DLA for over 20 years, this is the last thing we expected. Thanks to all at B&W for the assistance over the years.......could not have done this without your guides and help.”
 

USE YOUR 20% OFF ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP COUPON BEFORE MIDNIGHT FRIDAY: 26857

• PIP [Personal Independence Payment] Claim Success At All Time Low; 
• PIP and ESA [Employment & Support Allowance] Appeal Success At All Time High; 
• Over Half ESA Claimants Put In Support Group

You can read this newsletter online.

Also includes info on

• New DWP [Department for Work & Pensions] Secretary of State Denise Coffey — including the fact that she is one of 72 MPs who is a landlord, and her parliamentary voting record
• Tribunal Service Webchat

I close this link item by copying and pasting from that Newsletter:

TRIBUNALS SERVICE WEBCHAT
 
As part of its ongoing, cost-cutting plunge into online appeals, the Tribunals Service has launched a webchat provision.

Webchat is in addition to telephone support.
It means that claimants completing an online form to lodge an appeal, for example, can get support in a pop-up window without having to leave the page they are working on.

People using paper forms connected to their appeal are also free to use webchat, by visiting the gov.uk site.

Questions about why waiting times are growing whilst the number of appeals is falling will probably not be appreciated, however.

Good Luck,
Steve Donnison

 Reminder:
You can read this newsletter online.
https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/4087-18-september-2019-update


Alan Wheatley