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Influencing DLA reform
Posted Thursday 17 February 2011
Today, Mind has submitted a joint response to the Government’s consultation on reforming Disability Living Allowance, along with the Centre for Mental Health, Hafal, Rethink, the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Scottish Association for Mental Health. We decided that combining our experience and expertise on this issue was the best way to try to influence the reform process.
The key changes that the Government is proposing are:
- Changing the name of DLA to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- Introducing a new assessment of eligibility (likely to be a face-to-face meeting with a healthcare professional)
- Reassessing people more frequently and regularly
- Requiring people to have experienced a disability for longer before being eligible to apply
- Changing the ‘Care’ component to ‘Daily Living’ and reducing the number of levels of payment from three to two
- Recognising that the ‘Mobility’ component should take account of people who have trouble getting around for non-physical reasons
We welcome some of these changes, such as the last two mentioned above, but we are very concerned that the reform process is being driven by a 20% savings target, rather than making sure that all those who need support can access it.
We are also concerned that the Government has not fully considered the knock-on impact of removing DLA from people in terms of their wellbeing and the potential costs to health and social care services.
You can read more of our concerns and comments in our submission to the consultation.
As part of our campaigning work around DLA reform, I went with Lee (a Mind supporter who claims DLA) to a meeting in Parliament to talk to Conservative MPs about why DLA is so important and what the impact of losing DLA might be. Lee has produced a video blog about his experience:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh0A1VwrkK0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6p5r50Bmdo
The Welfare Reform Bill has also just been published – there’s a lot to be concerned about but we have already helped to convince the Government that its plan to reduce the Housing Benefit of people on JSA for more than a year is wrong, and they have dropped this proposal.
We will be campaigning hard over the next few months to try and ensure that the changes are fair to people with experience of mental distress.
This campaigning will include getting our supporters involved in trying to influence the reform process. Keep an eye on our Benefits and Welfare Reform pages for updates.
Tom Pollard, Policy & Campaigns Officer
16 Comments
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I have recently been declined the lowest rate of dla, without even having a medical assessment! I have suffered from boughts of depression since my 9 year old son was born! Been on and off medication, back on medication was I right to be so truthful in telling them thati attend a stress and depression awareness course as I was referred to by my cpn! It apears that you get nothing for being truthful, though there are many people with dla who use walking sticks during the week and walk a mile without stopping to a local school twice a day, yet on a weekend walks independently of these sticks and with ease and shopping bags!
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Hi Emma, I'm sorry to hear you were declined - it might be worth emailing the Mindinfoline on info@mind.org.uk and they might be able to put you in touch with more services or someone who can help you apply for dla again?
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Just watched the two videos on DLA. From Lee. I can relate so much to what he was saying. Been there done it a few times. Lee said he didn't know why he was awarded Middle rate DLA and lower rate mobility. So heres something for him to think about. Unlike me Lee, you had a CPN on your side who was able to speak on your behalf to officialdom. Many people's experience tells them they will listen to the 'suits' whilst being able to dismiss much of your own experience. They trust the suits whereas, you are probably seen as a bit bonkers to them. Imagine those who have to go through this process scared and alone. I did. Except for the day of my appeal hearing having had my DLA removed. A friendly social worker accompanied me. Apart from the fact that the appeals panel got mixed up, thinking I was a different claimant by asking questions totally irrelevant to my case. The social worker had to point out that the case they had before them was the next sorry sod in the Que.
Not having any real support or being told what to expect, I, astonishingly, (like Lee) was awarded middle rate DLA and lower rate mobility. I was only expecting to get Lower rate at best! However, similar to the previous poster above, I actually did belive they had made a mistake and contacted the DWP to tell them this at Blackpool. I was assured over the phone that it was not mistake and that the tribunal had actually awarded me middle rate. I also wrote to them and contact the social worker who accompanied me at tribunal. No one seemed to surprised at the middle rate outcome. So the money I had kept aside thinking that at some point they would ask for it back got spent on things that enhanced my life and well being.
However, a few weeks later I received an official letter fro DLA saying that they had been looking through my file and had indeed found a mistake as to my DLA payments that corresponded with what I had told them. I was asked how I intended to pay the money back. Fortunately, I was up on my rights and told them that I had in fact officially informed them of their mistake and that, apart from having pent the money, I was under no legal obligation to pay anything back. I never heard from them again but I was dropped down to lower rate DLA.
It was a couple of years later and having read and heard of other people's experiences that I now belive that the tribunal did not make a mistake and that I was perfectly well entitled to what they had initially awarded me. I now suspect that it was only because I was not aware of what the tribunal awarded me on the day that I thought it was a mistake. But because I contacted DWP telling them that I thought the payments were too much that they took my words over that of the tribunal. After so long to come to realise this, the thought of dealing with the DWP again made me feel ill. In fact having to deal with them had become symptomatic with my depression.
So indeed it seems you can be truthful with them but they will find any which way to claw back your entitlements and tick that box. After all, thats all you are to the system it seems, a tick in a box. But dosen't it just underline how we need support we can trust and rely on about the depth of our real needs. because we have been so pilloried into believing we're trying to pull the wool when in fact we are entitled. We have to belive this to survive the system.
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What happens to those of us discharged and deemed untreatable?
I will lose all my benefits as i have no medical support yet i am ill and no one beleives me. depression on and on and on, why am i taking medication that never gets reviewed, it doesn't work! i dread every day
i want the blackness to go but it goes on and on and on. i am now self medicating just to get a BIT of relief. I have lost so much through this
just do your worst Govt I'm past caring now -
Where the hell is this amazing amount of help others seem to be getting.... Yes after time in hospital for mental health i got housed and benefit but no one is telling me exactly what im taking tablets for... It seems also except for seeing my doctor every time it all gets to much its a tad late as i have already upset everyone around me... Im constantly get jibes and ribs for not being in work but I cant even get my act together at home... I would love to be working one day but after ten years of not working or even realizing that there was a real world out there its like moving slowly through a swamp with no end... I have applied for jobs off my own back and I dont even get a reply to say why im not wanted for the position ive applied for... I have now got a partner who is wonderful but is also very much in the dark in the ups and downs of mental health he is learning the hard way by riding the boat with me as things happen (tears here) I see him working hard paying the rent and scraping things together for when my kids visit who are 12 and 14 in a one bed flat and all i can offer is being a pain in the butt that who has had it pointed out though very intelligent has never had any support net work to help me handle even the small things in life... Today i have not left the house tomorrow i might take the dog for a walk but it all depends on if when i look out of the window if I can handle bumping into the neighbors or any other small minded twat who wants to pry and tell me how i should live my life... And now the government want to join the list of people who do not see the truth.. what happens if I cant sit there and tell someone setting up the new system why today im fine but tomorrow I will be smashing up the kitchen with a hammer coz its pissing me off and the washing up has not been done coz it seems like it lives in another world all of its own... And yes I can walk to the shop today but if you want to get me out the door tomorrow i may well be kicking and screaming i dont want to go... Im already in a corner as my man earns to much apparently for me to claim income support or housing benefit and If I loose DLA aswell There would be no way we could live we are just scraping it together at the moment.. borrowing from parents who should be living there own lives and not helping us have the kids to just see me and thats not even my parents my dad disowned me because im a bum not ill apparently and leaving my kids with there dad was an evil no woman should do even if i thought it was best they had the one parent who could keep it together... And im sure my mum is blond... and not in the world ever... Nothing bad ever happens with her it dont exist....
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Dear Joanne, I'm sorry to hear that no one believes you are ill. I do hope you will speak with friends and family, if you are able, about your worries. Do contact the Mindinfoline on info@mind.org.uk and they can help you find someone to help you when you go for your next assessment. In terms of your medication, please speak with your GP or CPN and let them know it's not working; there may be more options you can try. Mindinfoline can also help you find services in your area.
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Hi Biker101, Please email Mindinfoline on info@mind.org.uk or call them on 0845 766 0163 and hopefully they will be able to find you some services in your area. It sounds like you are having a really tough time with your parents and worries about the changes. Can you ask friends for support? Your local Mind may be able to help you with job applications, too. Do have a read of our info on work http://ow.ly/3YpUd and talking treatments http://ow.ly/3YpWK which might help.
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I get DLA, and have done since 2007. I have seen so many different psychiatrists, and I don't really know what is wrong with me. There is absolutly no help from the mental health team what so ever, as I have had my CPN taken away from me. Luckily my husband is my carer. However since this bill has been announced it has made my depression and anxiety worse. I feel I can't cope with the prospect of losing my final piece of stablity. How can people with mental health problems go back to work, when there is no real support from the mental health team. I feel like since this government has come into power I have been worried sick about the future.
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I am an out- patient at a mental health unit where I see a psychiatrist for severe anxiety and depression and take medication. If I applied for DLA or a similar benefit (Iam not on these benefits but on carers allowance) would I automatically be entitled as I am under a psychiatrist or would I have to be assessed?
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Re the post by joanne/L on 17 Feb
"What happens to those of us discharged and deemed untreatable?
I will lose all my benefits as i have no medical support yet i am ill and no one beleives me. depression on and on and on..."All of a sudden the words "untreatable" and "discharge" have been mentioned in regard to my treatment options too
After seeing a new doctor last year, he said he would refer me for counselling with an outside organisation and I should phone them to arrange an appointment. Several weeks later they had received no letter of referral and I was told by him to "self-refer". This has taken four months for ME to arrange and in the meantime I am seeing my original doctor again, who informs me that he cannot give any information about me to the counsellors and they cannot give any information about me to him because of patient confidentiality.
I am really concerned now because there is no continuity of treatment from medication to counselling and because I have had to "self-refer", the counselling effectively falls outside of any "official" care and treatment I receive from the mental health team, which, for the purposes of my next assessment for ESA probably means it doesn't count.
I expressed my concerns about this - the prospect of being refused benefit, and how the fear and apprehension was making me feel worse and worse - that I will be unable to face another appeal, that will probably take nearly a year to process, or survive on the absolute minimum paid during that process - only to be told that it was not their place to decide who gets benefits. "If" I am discharged back to the care of my GP (who presumably refers to a specialist because my treatment falls outside their expertise) and I have any problems, I can ask to be sent back!
It seems that treatment services and support is gradually being withdrawn. Time was when I had a consultant, CPN and case worker all trying to help me get better - not now.
The coalition's default position seems to be that if you are ill and cannot work (even with medical evidence to that effect) they will not believe you and even if you are genuinely ill, it's your own fault and they will treat you as if you are scrounging scum. As far as they are concerned "untreatable" and "discharged" means "cured".
For those of us with one of the "invisible" illnesses life is going to be intolerable.
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I see this as the end of the road, i was classed as too ill for treatment by a Pyschotherapist many years ago and was discharged from the NHS 8 years ago and at that time lost my CPN and all access to any medical help at all even my relationship with my GP is strained because of this as without my CPN there is nothing else they can offer or do to help.
Many years ago after a medical i was given a letter by the government stating my Disability benefits were for the rest of my life as they deemed me a danger to myself and to the general public and too ill to be able to work again. This i have always fought against and have tried and tried and tried to get a job even thoe i know it may make me ill again. After going on a 2 year training program i had a discussion with a top man for the center who told me i was waisting my time - he told me "that no one would employ me as i was deemed unemployable and anyway there is a blacklist for people like me and i was on it"
The government backtracked the for life rule years ago and i have had 2 or 3 more medicals since then and again they keep giving me my DLA [low rate mobility] and Income support for 3 years at a time.
Since all the strains were taken away from me i have been able to manage my health and well being quite well, and thanks to my wife who stays with me constantly i can lead a fairly normal life - from being housebound for many years i now go out for a 1 or 2 hours walk in the countryside each and everyday.
I am highly intelligent and can hold a good conversation on my illness as i have suffered with it for over 41 years and have not worked for 24 years i know what can trigger what i call danger episodes where i would be a great danger to other people and i know what i can do to limit these feelings - staying the hell away from other people.
As a result i have no friends and my family do not talk to me - the only people i see are my wife my son and my father.
My household income is £560 per month and £75 DLA HB £570 per month. Housing Benefit is £80 per month short already i make up the difference from my IS.[We moved here for my health and it was at the time a great price to pay as it has helped me a lot]. I use the £75 per month on travelling expenses to get out and about without it i would be housebound. Gas & Electric is now £136 per month so before i begin the month i am already £216 short out of my IS leaving £244. Water rates £60 per month and Council Tax £23 per month. [and no i do not get all my council tax paid because i have a non dependant son living with us with no income who can not claim any benefits as he has Aspergers and will not talk to anyone and the NHS refuse to help him ' as they do not do home visits' also unlike popular beliefs we are not scroungers i would not encourage anyone to be on benefits] Internet and telephone £56 per month £139 leaving me £77 per month left 'Question what do we eat'
So yes i agree Government you are targeting the wrong people - you are cowards attacking the weak who can not defend themselves will you not be happy until we are homeless and in the gutter - and then dead.
Why can someone with a limp who can go out and lead a normal life get so much more Full Mobility, Full Care, Carers Allowance, this enables them to get free road tax - and if used for a CAR - they get free insurance, free breakdown cover, free servicing, free repairs. The list goes on.....Why if they are so disabled they need all this money do they then receive VAT exempt Camper Vans and go on holiday 6 months of the year are they not supposed to be bed ridden using the money to cover the cost of daily help with washing etc. You see them all in coast towns parked in the disabled bays with blue badges up in the window.
Why are the physically ill awarded a good quality of life while the Mentally Ill are punished. Neither of us can work - we have the same bills to pay surely this is discrimination.
Take all my money if you want it so bad - it will not make my lifelong illness go away. This is definitely the end of the road for me and like everyone else and this is the scariest thing i am past caring.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/feb/22/new-disability-test-is-a-complete-mess
they know it doesn’t work, they even admit it but still carry on with itLosing services and the means to live means absolutely nothing to this government, they'd rather we didn't exist
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I have recently had my DLA reduced from higher band care to middle band care. I received this news from Income support because DLA couldn't be bothered to actually write me a letter. Accordingly my income support has been lowered as well. At least Income Support have the decency to display all received benefits. That's how I found out about my reduced DLA. I phoned the DLA, although phone calls are difficult as I have audio hallucinations and can't always be sure of whether I am hearing something real or not, and they feigned surprise that I had not received a letter. It's amazing how it is only government letters which get lost in the post!
My case proves the random nature of decision making. As my condition is exactly the same as it was 3 years ago, when I recieved the higher band, I filled out the form with exactly the same times and details. I have kept copies of these two forms. The infomation is essentailly the same yet the outcome different. I am aware of the decision making bench marks and know they have cynically bumped me down. I would use this information when I ask for a review but now I will have to wait until the 'new' letter is sent out. Apparently it takes 2 weeks to send out a new letter! If i find out that the review period is up due to their, in my view deliberate policy of, incompetence I will go mad. This is what they do to people. I feel sory for people who have learning difficulties because the DLA must be treating them appallingly with impunity (unless they have a good support network). It is an absolute disgrace. This is nothing more than cynical manipulation of the mentally ill with no regard for the terrible fallout it leaves behind.
One more thing. I noticed that Lee, in his great video, mentions that he has to suppliment his rent from his Incapacity Benefit/DLA. This is unfair. Lee said he gets Middle band care and as such he should be entitled to Income Support because a premium is added to 'how much the law says you need to live on'. Incapacity Benefit will never reach this amount for someone on middle band so Income Support will top it up. Once this is done Housing benefit and Council tax benefit should be paid in full by the council. When I get my Housing benefit and Council tax benefit statement it always says paid in full due to receipt of Income Support. Lee should have been informed of this but it comes as no surprise that he wasn't. I hope you read this Lee as you are paying out rent and tax you should not be paying. I hope this helps.
all my best wishes to you all,
Matt
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I understand your worries i get middle rate care and low rate mobility and feel exactly the same. All i would say is fight them when the new pip thing kicks in thats what i'm going to do get every shred of evidence about your case and appeal.
Dont let them win.
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I'm going to my appeal soon.
I suffer with extreme anxiety
I have been dropped from high to low rate and I have lived in Hell since a yr ago when the decision was made .
The Dla recived a report from a doctor I'd never met her report was compiled of a few bits of information she had available witch amounted in me being fit an well ?
I'm on a lot of medication with amounts to around 16 tablets a day for anxiety ,irritable bowel and panic attacksMy medication is very strong and is given to pensioners when they become aware there dying......But Am 24yrs old ? and my problems have escalated for the last 10yrs am planning on going to this appeal and kicking arse a have got a lot of evidence and hope it goes well but reading what others have said it could go either way .Am scared because I know its just not possible for me to live without the help from Dla and may as well be dead if I'm not successful.
A have took comfort in the fact am not alone
......This is for everyone who needs it -If you are suffering from a mental health problem you only need prove you need the help you haven't actually got to be reciving it ......I hope that helps wish me luck I'll need it -
Fight for your rights people.
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