benefits

Minister mulls ‘unprecedented privacy intrusions’ to tackle benefits fraudsters

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/totally-unprecedented-privacy-intrusions-and-punishments

Campaigners warn DWP proposals could be counterproductive and create a two-tier justice system

PLANS to ban benefit fraudsters from driving and seize money from their bank accounts will create a two-tier justice system that destroys innocent lives, campaigners warned today.

The elderly, disabled and hard-up families would face “totally unprecedented privacy intrusions and punishments” under proposals by the Department for Welfare and Pensions (DWP).

Employment minister Alison McGovern insisted that banning benefit cheats from driving would be a “backstop” used in “extreme” cases ahead of the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill’s introduction to Parliament today.

But director of privacy and civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch Silkie Carlo said: “We must be extremely cautious about the government creating a second tier justice system, reserved for people who rely on welfare, that side-steps fair hearings in courts to take away people’s funds and freedoms.

“The public and Parliament will rightly be very sceptical about empowering the government to go directly into anyone’s bank accounts to take our money and even our driving licences, least not to target the elderly, disabled and people on the poverty line whose lives could be destroyed by mistaken punishments.”

Public and Commercial Services (PCS) national president Martin Cavanagh said: “While PCS understands the government’s desire to deal with benefit fraud, it should not be their main priority right now, and these proposals will be counterproductive.

“The reality is that is public funds lost to benefit fraud are a drop in the ocean compared to revenues lost through tax avoidance and evasion. This should be the government’s focus if they are serious about boosting the economy and bringing monies into the Exchequer.

“PCS is at a loss to understand how taking away driving licenses, thereby reducing opportunities to work, can help achieve their stated aims.”

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The original article gets better, see for yourself at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/totally-unprecedented-privacy-intrusions-and-punishments

Continue ReadingMinister mulls ‘unprecedented privacy intrusions’ to tackle benefits fraudsters

Labour doubles down on slashing billions from DWP’s disability benefits bill

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https://www.bigissue.com/news/social-justice/dwp-disability-benefits-bill-high-court-ruling/

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall speaking in parliament. Image: House of Commons/ Flickr

The Labour government has indicated that it will stick with Tory plans to cut disability benefits after a High Court judge ruled the previous government’s consultation into the plans was unlawful.

The proposals would cut around £400 a month from the disability benefits of hundreds of thousands of new applicants by 2029, compared to what they would receive under the current system.

Earlier today (16 January) Mr Justice Calver ruled in favour of disability activist Ellen Clifford, who had brought a judicial review of the public consultation that was held by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in autumn 2023. 

The proposals would change the way the work capability assessment (WCA) functions, by reducing the weight attached to difficulties with mobility and getting around in considering applicants’ level of disability. 

Responding to today’s verdict, a government spokesperson said: “The judge has found the previous government failed to adequately explain their proposals. As part of wider reforms that help people into work and ensure fiscal sustainability, the government will re-consult on the WCA descriptor changes, addressing the shortcomings in the previous consultation, in light of the judgment.

“The government intends to deliver the full level of savings in the public finances forecasts.”

It is not clear if Labour will consult on all the proposals in the original consultation, some of which were subsequently dropped, or whether it will only consult on the proposals that the last government chose to take forward.

The High Court ruling doesn’t force the government to ditch the proposals, although it would make it very difficult to proceed with them without holding a new consultation first. 

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Article continues at https://www.bigissue.com/news/social-justice/dwp-disability-benefits-bill-high-court-ruling/

Continue ReadingLabour doubles down on slashing billions from DWP’s disability benefits bill

DWP’s ‘misleading and unfair’ consultation on disability benefit reforms unlawful, High Court rules

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https://www.bigissue.com/news/social-justice/dwp-disability-benefits-reforms-consultation-ruling/

A meeting of the child poverty taskforce. From left to right: Mayor of the North East Kim McGuinness, work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall and education secretary Bridget Phillippson. Image: Department for Education/ Flickr

Tory ministers presented reforms to disability benefits as a way to support disabled people into work – and they would have seen many worse off by at least £416.19 per month

The Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) consultation into plans to slash billions of pounds from disability benefits has been ruled unlawful in a damning High Court judgement.

In a judgment published this morning (16 January), Mr Justice Calver said that the judicial review, brought by disability activist Ellen Clifford, had “surmounted the substantial hurdle of establishing that the consultation was so unfair as to be unlawful”.

Repeatedly describing the DWP consultation in autumn 2023 as “misleading”, “rushed” and “unfair”, he said:

• The consultation documents failed to highlight the “substantial” loss of benefits facing those affected by the proposals.

• The consultation gave the “misleading impression” that changes were required to ensure deaf and disabled people could access employment support, when they could already choose to access this voluntarily.

• Despite the consultation presenting the changes as being solely about helping disabled people into work, in reality “costs savings was at least one of the two bases, if not the central basis, on which decisions would be taken on which policies would be taken forward by the government”.

• The eight-week consultation was unlawfully short in the circumstances.

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Article continues at https://www.bigissue.com/news/social-justice/dwp-disability-benefits-reforms-consultation-ruling/

Continue ReadingDWP’s ‘misleading and unfair’ consultation on disability benefit reforms unlawful, High Court rules

DWP wants to reform benefits to cut costs, not help disabled people into work, court hears

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https://www.bigissue.com/news/social-justice/dwp-benefit-reforms-disabled-people-judicial-review/

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall speaking in parliament. Image: House of Commons/ Flickr

The High Court has heard a legal challenge against a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) plan to reform disability benefits under the guise of helping people into employment

“We are determined to have a welfare system that encourages and supports people into work, while providing a vital safety net for those who need it most.”

So began the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) consultation into changing disability benefit assessment rules – changes that are predicted to cut the financial support given to around 450,000 disabled people by 2029, but which the consultation presented entirely as helping them. 

But contrary to this rose tinting, internal DWP documents revealed at a High Court hearing last week suggest the proposals were at least as much about the Tories’ determination to cut benefits spending as they were about helping disabled people into work.

In fact, DWP officials warned that evidence was needed to justify their line that the measures were about supporting disabled people rather than saving money, while the government rushed the consultation through in time for the savings to be counted in last year’s Autumn Statement.

DWP officials were also aware of the potential mental health impact of cutting benefits to some claimants who would be affected by the measures.

And while an official impact assessment into the plans has still not been published, the court disclosures suggest up to 100,000 disabled people could be pushed into absolute poverty by the changes – although the exact basis of this figure is uncertain. 

The revelations came as a result of a judicial review into the legality of the consultation that was heard last week. The case has been brought by disability campaigner Ellen Clifford, a member of Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC). 

And while the consultation took place under the last government, the current Labour government has not dropped the planned cuts – and has fought the judicial review at every step. 

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Read the rest of a detailed report at https://www.bigissue.com/news/social-justice/dwp-benefit-reforms-disabled-people-judicial-review/

Keir Starmer confirms that he's proud to be a red Tory continuing austerity and targeting poor and disabled scum.
Keir Starmer confirms that he’s proud to be a red Tory continuing austerity and targeting poor and disabled scum.

Continue ReadingDWP wants to reform benefits to cut costs, not help disabled people into work, court hears