The Department for Work and Pensions has been accused of being ‘at war’ with the people it is supposed to protect
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is facing heavy criticism from an MP over her son’s Personal Independence Payments (PIP). She said the department had cut his funds ‘entirely’ despite his health worsening.
During a debate in the House of Commons about the government’s latest benefit reform bill last week, the DWP came under heavy criticism from Labour MP Alison Hume. She criticised the department and suggested they were often antagonistic towards those they are meant to support.
She said: “The DWP is too frequently at war with the people it is supposed to protect. Too frequently, it lets down the most vulnerable in our community, and it mostly gets away with it.”
A ‘hostile’ culture to disabled people
She said there was a pressing need for change within the DWP. At this point, she shared her personal ordeal, highlighting what she said was the department’s adversarial approach towards disabled claimants – but said the DWP offered to reinstate her son’s benefits if she dropped a tribunal.
She added: “That experience cemented in my mind something that I believe to this day: the culture of the DWP is hostile to disabled people. That culture must change if we are to have any chance of building a sustainable, fair and compassionate welfare system for the future.”
She then made the claim that despite a decline in her son’s health, the DWP entirely stopped his benefits following the submission of new evidence for his reassessment. She said: “In May, after reporting a deterioration in his health, he submitted new evidence to support reassessment for a higher rate of PIP, which led to the DWP removing his award entirely.
“He was left with no income or support despite his ongoing need for care.”
Less support for those returning to work
Speaking on the challenges faced by those with fluctuating health conditions, Ms Hume pointed out that rejected PIP applicants often resort to the health component of Universal Credit. She drew attention to the fact that such people may return to work during brief improvements in their health.
But she cautioned that when they experience another downturn in health and need to rely on Universal Credit again, under the government’s proposed bill, their financial support would be diminished.
She argued: “That completely ignores the realities faced by disabled people and their experience of their conditions. Without the protections provided for in amendment 38, we would create a two-tier system where people with unpredictable conditions would be valued less than those with more predictable ones.”
‘Genuine support’ for disabled people
A DWP spokesperson commented: “While we were not provided with the details to look into this specific case, we will consider all the available evidence when making decisions and people have the right to challenge them and provide additional information.
“We’re reforming the welfare system so people are genuinely supported into work while putting it on a sustainable footing. We are putting disabled people at the heart of a ministerial review of the PIP assessment to make sure it is fit and fair for the future, and we will work with them and key organisations representing them, to consider how best to do this.”