DLA to PIP Benefit Plans

posted: 10/05/2011

The benefit called Disability Living Allowance (DLA) will be replaced from 2013 - 14 with a new benefit, Personal Independence Payment (PIP). The government has just published their detailed proposals for how this new benefit will be assessed and asks for public comments.

Disability Living Allowance some people with HIV now recieve comes in two flavours - the care component (with 3 rates of payment), and the mobility component (with 2 rates of payment). The top rate of the mobility component is converted by many people into a leased car from Motability.
 

The government intends to cut 20% from the benefits bill when they make the change from DLA to PIP, so the rules for Personal Independence Payment are tougher than the DLA rules, so PIP will go to people ‘with the greatest need’. This means some people will no longer get the benefit or will get less than now.
 

Most people get DLA after simply filling in a claim form. Everyone getting PIP will face a medical assessment as well as filling in a claim form.

Most people will want something simple to read and understand. The Disability Alliance has a useful factsheet page which is kept updated.

The official explanation and consultation documents

Comments by 6 June

The deadline for public comments on these proposals is 6 June. Leading HIV organisations will be making comments on these proposals.

Hardest Hit March - Wednesday

posted: 09/05/2011

1 in 6 people living with HIV have lived in severe poverty in the past three years. On Wednesday 11th May there is a national march in London and mass lobby of MPs at the House of Commons to protest against the government's planned cuts and changes to benefits.

The cuts and benefit changes will make matters worse for the many people living with HIV who rely on Disability Living Allowance, Incapacity Benefit and Employment Support Allowance.
 

National march and lobby of MPs

People from across the country are coming together on May 11th in London to protest against these cuts and changes and to the cuts to local services which provide key services for people living with disabilities including HIV.
 

People with HIV will be joining the march and lobbying of MPs and if you'd like to be part of this and walk alongside the THT and NAT and other banners, you can find out where and when to meet up by contacting Guy Slade at THT (020 7812 1631). Also register and find out more details on the Hardest Hit website.

Once you've registered, you can email your MP to ask to meet with them as part of the lobby at the House of Commons after the march.

If you arrange a meeting, tell THT, who can advise on what you could say to your MP and ask for.
 

Discrimination and Volunteers with HIV

posted: 09/02/2011

Volunteers do not have the same rights at work as paid workers, and that means disability discrimination at work against a volunteer with HIV remains legal.

The Equality Act 2010 left untouched this loophole in disability rights in the workplace.

This was made clear by the Court of Appeal recently when it threw out a HIV+ woman volunteer’s claim that a Sussex Citizens Advice Bureau had discriminated against her because of HIV, by stopping her working as a volunteer. Her case was backed by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

 

The Appeal Court ruled that disabled volunteers do not have the disability rights protection of paid workers.

This has revived concerns about the unfair treatment some volunteers face at work.
 

Prospects for volunteer equality?

Mrs X wants to appeal to the Supreme Court, but to do this first she has to convince the court that she has a reasonable legal point that the Appeal Court got wrong. That looks unlikely to succeed. The other hope is for law change, but with the Equality Act less than one year old that is not going to be a priority for Parliament.

Volunteers are not ‘employed’ so don’t have paid workers’ rights
The court found she was not protected by disability rights law for workers because she was unpaid and did not have an employment contract. Mrs X was a volunteer with a law degree, a post-graduate qualification and she also hoped to secure a training contract with the Citizens Advice Bureau so she could qualify as a solicitor.
 

No European rights either
The court also found that volunteers were not protected by the European Union’s equal treatment directive.
 

Alex Eastwood, a legal caseworker for Disability Law Service, said discrimination against disabled volunteers was “all too common”, so it was “strange” they were not covered by the law. He said government welfare reforms were likely to lead to disabled people being forced to undertake voluntary work, but without any protection from anti-discrimination laws. He said: “Employers will therefore have no duty to make adjustments for disabled volunteers or take steps to prevent harassment of volunteers.”
 

‘Big Society’ wants volunteers but without equal rights 
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which “intervened” in the case, warned that if such laws do not apply to volunteers, organisations will legally be able to discriminate against disabled people and other groups. An EHRC spokeswoman said: “Given that many employees begin their working life as volunteers, which provides them with valuable experience which they can use as a step up to paid employment, it seems unfair that certain groups of people can legally be denied this experience.”
 

Andy Williams, from solicitors Charles Russell, who represents Mrs X, said the ruling could stop some people volunteering, harming the government’s “Big Society” programme. He said: “If the government’s Big Society vision involves an increased requirement for volunteers, as things stand those volunteers currently have no legal rights whatsoever.”
 

Discrimination may be legal, but it’s wrong
A CAB spokeswoman said: “The law is clear that volunteers do not have the same legal rights and responsibilities as paid employees. That is not the same as saying that organisations should be able to treat volunteers unfairly.” She insisted that CAB was “committed to equality, values diversity, and challenges discrimination” and had a “range of policies to support disabled people to volunteer”, with more than 1,500 disabled people volunteering across England and Wales last year.

What is the law?

The Volunteering England factsheet tells us:

"Discrimination and harassment           Anti-discrimination legislation applies to employment and the provision of goods and services, so doesn’t cover volunteers because they are not employed under the relevant legal definitions. Volunteering England advises organisations to reflect the spirit of such legislation in their volunteer involvement as a matter of good practice, to help ensure that volunteers are treated fairly and equally.
 

Harassment differs from discrimination, and although the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 doesn’t specifically refer to volunteers, it appears that anyone found guilty of harassment could face imprisonment and/ or a fine, as well as civil action by the person subjected to the harassment.

To summarise, if a volunteer were found guilty of harassment then they could face legal proceedings as well as civil action (although their status would be that of an individual, rather than a ‘volunteer’). Similarly, if a volunteer were subject to harassment, then they (as an individual) would be covered by this legislation.
 

Protection from Harassment Act 1997: The case of Majrowski v Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Trust (2006) UKHL 34 suggests that it may not just be the abusive or threatening staff member who may be liable - their organisation may have vicarious liability as well. Majrowski v Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Trust (2006) UKHL 34
 

To summarise, volunteers may have some form of redress against the worst forms of bullying or similar behaviour, but does this does not give them protection against discrimination as such."

Employment rights as a volunteer

Disability Law Service - rights factsheets

Volunteering England factsheet : When things go wrong

Source – Disability Law Service

More Disability Tests for Benefits

posted: 08/12/2010

All 3 million people with disabilities and long term conditions such as HIV, including pensioners and children, who are getting Disability Living Allowance will soon be forced to have medical tests.

Ministers announced yesterday plans to end the automatic right to disability living allowance, worth up to £70 a week for care and up to £50 a week for travel needs. This benefit will soon be called the 'personal independence payment'.

Waiting and testing

Claimants will have to wait for a year for the new "personal independence payment" and then face a series of medical and other tests focusing on "an individual's ability to carry out a range of key activities necessary to everyday life".
 

Medical tests already under fire

The existing system of medical tests that are used to judge people claiming sickness and disability benefits (Incapacity Benefit and Employment Support Allowance) is already under review after mounting evidence that people with serious illnesses like HIV are being judged fit to work, when they are not. The tests for the replacement 'personal independence payment' will be based on these.

Many claim that the disadvantages of the medical tests will outweigh any benefits. The medical tests system is often very wrong and very inefficient. 40% of people who appleal the decision win their appeals.

"We have fundamental concerns that the cost of the administration will mean there is no saving here. Claiming these benefits mean at the moment filling out a very long form. I don't think the answer is a whole new process of interviews, which many disabled people may find intimidating," said Guy Parckar of the Leonard Cheshire disability charity.
 

Do what we say

Welfare support will also be conditional on disabled people acting on government instructions to "better manage or improve their situation if appropriate".
 

Behind the changes - cuts of £1 billion from Disability Living Allowance

Charities said they were "deeply concerned" about the proposals – the government plans to save £1bn from DLA in the June budget.
 

"There's no evidence of widespread fraud and no evidence to back up claims that the benefit acts as a barrier to work," said Richard Watts, of the Essex Coalition of Disabled People.
 

Department of Work and Pensions announcement 

Consultation proposals

Consultation on the proposed changes - response deadline 14 February 2011

Source

Better Benefit ‘Work’ Tests

posted: 24/11/2010

The government has said it will overhaul its controversial medical tests to decide whether the seriously ill and disabled can claim long-term sickness benefits. An independent review found they were "impersonal, mechanistic and lacked empathy", leaving many claimants feeling unjustly treated and distressed.
 

The review, conducted by the academic Malcolm Harrington, an occupational health specialist, looked at whether the 'working capability assessment' was a fair system. There is mounting evidence that people with serious illnesses, like HIV, are being judged fit for work, when they are not. 40% of people who appeal, win their appeals.
 

Testing 94,000 people a month
The tests, first introduced in October 2008, mean 53,000 people are assessed a month for 'employment and support allowance'. The numbers being tested will balloon from next April as another 41,000 incapacity benefit recipients are re-assessed under the ‘work capability assessment’ every month.
 

Long-term ill and disabled somehow pass ‘work’ tests
Harrington found that the assessments, run by a French multinational, Atos Origin, which received £54m from the coalition government for the contract, failed people with mental illnesses and long-term disabilities.
 

‘Impossible’ 28 page form
One form which claimants needed to complete is 28 pages long and almost half the people "found the questionnaire difficult or impossible to complete".
 

Another problem is that people’s ability to work is measured by a computer questionnaire that uses "descriptors" - questions that are apparently unrelated to work. One example is that people are asked whether they had "loaded a dishwasher or washing machine" that day. "It does not bother to ask whether the claimant has a dishwasher or washing machine. That is the danger with computer systems and drop-down menus," said Harrington.
 

Another question asks if you sit and watch TV. Say yes and they assume you can sit for long periods in a chair.
 

"We want to rely much more on healthcare professionals and assessments., said Harrison..

He pointed out that 40% of those found fit for work by the system appealed and won – and added that most people who appealed provided "additional medical information".
 

Radical change needed
Harrington called for a radical overhaul, with jobcentre staff having to take into account health records, the Atos assessments and an individual's own testimony before making a decision about whether someone on sickness benefits should be forced back into work.
 

At present benefits staff rarely dissented from Atos's verdict, he said, and "a lack of procedural justice can lead people to feel embittered and for some this can lead to psychological distress with affects on physical and mental health".
 

Champions to help
The report also recommends the appointment of lay "champions" to guide claimants through the process, and detailed explanations of why a benefit has been refused.
 

Welcome for review
Many working with the poor and vulnerable welcomed the report, saying it was a long overdue recognition of the system's problems. Citizens Advice said its surveys showed a 41% increase in complaints from claimants in the past year alone.

NAT, National AIDS Trust welcomed the findings and recommendations. They say ‘we fully support the call for change to ‘improve the fairness and effectiveness of the WCA’ by improving transparency, empathy and communication within the assessment process for Employment Support Allowance (ESA)’. NAT were among the 400 organisations and individuals to contribute to the independent review, based on their research report Unseen disability, Unmet needs – A review of the impact of Work Capability Assessment on people living with HIV. Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of NAT (National AIDS Trust), said: ‘NAT supports the recommendations of the independent review and we were extremely pleased to see some of our concerns included in the final report.

Government to make all the changes

The government said it accepted Harrington's conclusions and would implement them in full. The work and pensions minister Chris Grayling said: "There were no targets or goals to get people off benefits. This is meant to be a fair process … we are dealing with claimants who we have had very little contact with."
 

Reform delay criticised

However, Harrington did criticise the government for failing to implement a key recommendation quickly enough: that of a "personalised summary of assessments in plain English" to be produced by Atos. The government could only promise that ministers "explored the feasibility of providing a summary" by the end of 2011. Given the planned expansion in the scheme next year, Harrington said, this "was just not good enough".
 

Charities said the "review pinpoints what is wrong with the system". Matthew Lester of the Papworth Trust, a disability charity, said the main concern now was how quickly the government would implement the report's main findings. "Even if they get the main points implemented by April that will mean another 250,000 people being assessed by a system that we already know is unfair."

NAT report

Source (adapted)