Politics of the United Kingdom

Disabled people in Bristol could be forced to live in care homes if it is cheaper than providing support for them in their own homes.

Bristol City Council's proposed Fair and Affordable Care Policy says disabled people whose in-home care exceeds the local authority rates could be placed in nursing or residential homes under a new scheme.

The policy is currently out for public consultation until 31 January 2024.

Bristol City Council has stressed that should changes come into effect, discussions will be had with the disabled person they impact, before decisions are made.

However, the proposal has been fiercely challenged by disability equality organisations including Bristol Reclaiming Independent Living (BRIL).

Mark Williams, from BRIL, said he was 'stunned' when he first saw the draft policy.

He told ITV West Country: "At the moment the main people that we're really worried about are autistic people and people with severe learning difficulties because they are more likely to have high support needs and so risk having their support cut and being moved to care homes.

"It is very worrying if Bristol is bringing the policy that other councils would do the same."

BRIL is holding an open online meeting about the threat the new policy poses to independent living on 5 January.

The policy also received significant backlash from Disability Rights UK when it was first discussed in April 2023.

The charity said: "[We] believe that the policy fails to uphold the rights of disabled people in Bristol to receive the care and support they need based on personal preference. And the right to live independently at home with choice and control over care and support.

"The draft policy, as stated, is incompatible with the rights we are granted under the Care Act 2014."

A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said the proposed policy was co-developed with the Bristol City Council Adult Social Care Equalities Forum and the policy stresses that all decisions will be made in collaboration with the disabled person they impact.

---

The consultation: https://www.ask.bristol.gov.uk/fair-and-affordable-care-policy-consultation

Listen

A disabled man who swallowed poison in a jobcentre in an attempt to take his own life, after becoming “overwhelmed” by the harmful actions of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), has pleaded guilty to possessing a chemical weapon.

David Rollins had emailed Disability News Service (DNS) earlier that day – 23 June – to say he intended to take his own life, and that he wanted to draw attention to the harm caused by DWP and its assessment providers Maximus and Capita.

He had been waiting for a decision on his personal independence payment (PIP) claim and had also just been told he needed to have a work capability assessment (WCA), and he feared losing both PIP and part of his universal credit.

He has spent the last six months on remand in prison, after recovering from the suicide attempt, but he has now been released on bail before he is sentenced next month.

He had already pleaded guilty to intentionally or recklessly causing a public nuisance, but on Monday, at Leicester Crown Court, he also pleaded guilty to possessing a chemical weapon.

A further charge of developing or producing a chemical weapon will lie on the court’s files.

Rollins, from Orchardson Avenue, Leicester, had told DNS in the 23 June email: “I already know from the experiences of my friends where this is going, and I will not starve to death.”

He added: “The DWP and Capita and Maximus will deny any association with my suicide so this letter is one of the ways I intend to make it clear to them and the public.

“Without the encroaching sense of impending dread caused by the prospect of losing half of an already stretched income I would not be doing this.

“Without a pip and esa assessment either or both of which will destroy the life I have struggled to build I would not be doing this.”

DNS editor John Pring had emailed a response, asking Rollins not to take his own life, and directing him to organisations that could offer support.

Pring then contacted Leicestershire police to ask for an officer to check on his welfare, but by the time they arrived at his flat, Rollins had arrived at Leicester’s Wellington Street jobcentre (pictured), where he took the poison.

He emailed from a hospital bed that evening to say he had taken this action because of the stress of waiting for both his PIP decision and a WCA.

He said he had informed DWP’s universal credit department that he was at high risk of suicide and so should not be put through a WCA – which has been associated with countless suicides since its introduction in 2008 – but “they sent a robot reply and the form anyway”.

He added: “I’m exhausted being a drop in the huge ocean of claimants unfairly refused disability benefits.”

He has told DNS that he was becoming “overwhelmed by the dwp”.

After taking advice, DNS decided not to publish a news story in June*, because of the risk that other disabled people experiencing mental distress caused by DWP would take similar action in the hope of DNS writing about their suicide note after their death.

In his email, Rollins had described his own work over the last 10 years supporting other disabled people with their benefit claims.

He said he had seen an increasing number of benefit appeals reach the tribunal stage over those 10 years that “clearly should not have done so”, mostly because Capita and Maximus assessors had “lied and misled” DWP, while he said DWP’s PIP, employment and support allowance and universal credit departments had “acted openly in tacit agreement, underscoring and zero-ing claimants”.

He said he was tired of seeing friends “forced to survive on almost nothing while they wait even longer than ever for successful Tribunal results”, with a backlog, he said, that meant they would wait a year for their appeal to be heard.

He said one disabled person with cerebral palsy he was supporting had just received a mandatory reconsideration notice from DWP that confirmed his previous PIP award for enhanced daily living and mobility had been removed completely, even though it had previously been awarded by a tribunal.

Rollins said: “I had to tell him we would win at tribunal in a year’s time again.”

He added: “Most of my claimants and friends have fibromyalgia and poor mental health like myself, we all have the same dread of DWP letters, we know that the DWP will dismiss our overwhelming symptoms and multiple diagnosis with a zero across the board outcome.

“This is a drop in the ocean. I am a drop in the ocean.”

DWP declined to comment.

Leicestershire police also declined to comment.

*DNS will not report on suicide notes emailed to the editor by claimants aiming to highlight the harm caused by DWP. This is because of the risk that running such reports could encourage other people in mental distress to take similar action

A note from the editor:
Please consider making a voluntary financial contribution to support the work of DNS and allow it to continue producing independent, carefully-researched news stories that focus on the lives and rights of disabled people and their user-led organisations.
Please do not contribute if you cannot afford to do so, and please note that DNS is not a charity. It is run and owned by disabled journalist John Pring and has been from its launch in April 2009.
Thank you for anything you can do to support the work of DNS…
Donate

Listen

Countless tributes have been paid by friends, fellow campaigners and colleagues following the death of Alan Benson, an “astounding campaigner and ambassador” who played a major role in the fight for an accessible transport system.

As well as being co-chair of Transport for All, he was a long-serving deputy chair of London TravelWatch, a founder member of the Campaign for Level Boarding, and co-chaired the Department for Transport’s inclusive transport stakeholder group.

Transport for All (TfA) said it was “heartbroken” by his death on Sunday and described him as “an astounding campaigner and ambassador for the disabled community”.

Benson (pictured) was awarded an MBE for services to public transport for disabled people last year.

He described at the time how his activism began when – as a powerchair-user – he was left stranded on a train platform in the run-up to the London 2012 Paralympics.

He had secured a degree in computing and economics, and a masters in management innovation and change, and used those skills mostly in jobs in further and higher education before moving to London in 2011.

He told TfA last year: “I moved to London and started regularly commuting around 2012, when the plans for the Paralympics were in full swing, and there was this huge push from the government to present London as an accessible capital.

“And then, while there was all this publicity about the legacy of the Paralympics, how accessible our transport was, what an example London was going to be, I was left stranded on a train platform.”

After attending a couple of parliamentary meetings on accessible transport and contributing to a Channel 4 investigation, he was introduced to TfA and became a board member.

He then played a key role in a series of TfA campaigns, including the battles to make Crossrail accessible; to ensure reliable, accessible patient transport; and to improve access to rail stations.

He told TfA in 2022: “The campaigns I remember are the ones that make the greatest amount of change, even if they’re not obvious, even if most people won’t see them.

“So, for example, there is now a new standard of lift signage across the London Underground: it makes a lot more sense, is less technical, more human, more accessible. And a lot of people won’t have noticed this change.

“But for many disabled people, this makes a huge difference to their ability to navigate stations and move through the world freely.

“I’m also really proud of the training we did with senior staff at the Underground.

“Often the most important work we do is changing attitudes, changing industry standards, because this is what results in lasting, widespread change.”

He stressed the importance of collaboration and co-production and the support of other campaigners, organisations, charities, transport operators and allies.

Last year, he was given the freedom of the borough of Richmond, where he lived, and the council’s leader, Gareth Roberts, spoke this week of his “remarkable contribution to the lives of disabled and older people, particularly in London” and his “immeasurable legacy”.

The user-led charity Ruils, which is based in south-west London, paid tribute to the “major role” he played – which included nearly seven years as a board member – and said it would miss his “drive, determination and wry humour”.

His influence and popularity were reflected this week in the many online messages of condolence from fellow disabled activists and industry professionals.

Among the messages left on an online tribute page, many spoke of his kindness, generosity and sense of humour, as well as his “massive contribution to improving transport accessibility”.

One said: “Heartbroken. Alan was the most fearless of campaigners – his legacy will live on and we can but try our best to carry on with his work the best we can – he has changed the life of so many.”

Another described him as “one of the kindest, wisest and best people you could ever meet”.

Among the messages from industry figures, Andy Lord, London’s transport commissioner, said the news of his death was “absolutely devastating and heart-breaking”.

Peter Wilkinson, managing director of passenger services at the Department for Transport, said: “Alan was a star and a truly committed and passionate champion of passengers. He will leave a giant hole behind him.”

London TravelWatch – London’s statutory transport watchdog – said it was “devastated” by his death and that he was “held in deep affection by everyone here”.

Tony Jennings, a fellow co-founder of the Campaign for Level Boarding, said Benson was “a friend and a pragmatic disability rights campaigner, who worked tirelessly in collaboration with the transport industry to help improve accessibility and remove the barriers.

“He was a supportive advocate for disabled people and generous with his time, leaving a legacy for other campaigners and activists to continue the fight for equal access.”

He said they shared a “passion for cricket and cake”, with Benson a loyal supporter of Surrey, who would frequently post on Twitter about his frequent trips to the Oval.

He said: “He will be greatly missed by family, friends and the disabled community.

“Strength to Yvonne, his soulmate and constant support at this terribly sad time.”

Another accessible transport campaigner, Doug Paulley, described Benson as “a true diplomat, committed campaigner and gentleman” and said his death was “a giant loss”.

He said: “I got to know him through the First Bus case, where he was a stalwart supporter, and have conspired with him ever since, along with his lovely partner Yvonne.

“But he also had become a firm friend, with his cheeky and impish sense of humour yet kindly advising and reeling me in where required.

“I mourn his loss for me, for disabled and other groups he supported, but particularly for his friends and his lovely partner.”

Time: 12pm noon
Date: Monday 30 October 2023
Place: Caxton House, 6-12 Tothill Street, London, SW1H 9NA
Hashtag: #NoMoreBenefitDeaths

Join Disabled People Against Cuts and allies to protest against the government’s proposals to tighten the Work Capability Assessment.

These proposals threaten to remove essential income from Deaf and disabled people and to subject many more of us to distressing and punitive work search activities and benefit sanctions.

Their argument is that Deaf and disabled people can work from home now. They want to remove assessment points for social anxiety, communication difficulties, mobility issues and bladder/bowel incontinence.

We know that working from home does not overcome these barriers.

Research has shown that disabled people benefitted less from home working than non-disabled people, because we are less likely to be in the kind of jobs that can be done from home.

If the WCA is tightened in the way they propose, many more Deaf and disabled people unable to find sustainable paid employment will lose benefits [ESA support group/Universal Credit LCWRA component] and lose protection from conditionality and sanctions.
Monday 30 October is the last day that the government’s consultation on their proposals is open.

The consultation will not only inform immediate changes to the WCA.

The consultation will also feed into the Tories’ long-term plans to:
– scrap the WCA
– remove ESA/Universal Credit LCWRA altogether
– replace them with a new Universal Credit health component that will be dependent on eligibility for Personal Independence Payment
– subject all Deaf and disabled people to conditionality and sanctions at the discretion of individual work coaches.

These plans will be a disaster for anyone who faces barriers to paid work.

They will unquestionably lead to a considerable increase in avoidable harm and more benefit deaths.

And we **cannot ** trust Labour not to keep any changes to tighten the WCA if elected.

Please support the protest however you can and let people know about the consultation and the government’s despicable plans.

For help with travel costs for DPAC members email: [email protected]

Consultation here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/work-capability-assessment-activities-and-descriptors

Template response from DPO Forum England here: https://dpac.uk.net/2023/10/template-response-to-the-wca-consultation/
Government white paper setting out their long-term plans here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-support-the-health-and-disability-white-paper

Labour has finally admitted that it is not currently planning to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) into UK law if it wins power at the next general election.

The admission was made by the party’s shadow minister for disabled people, Vicky Foxcroft, after concerns over Labour’s failure to include the pledge in an influential policy document.

Activists from Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) were outside the Labour conference in Liverpool this week (pictured) to raise awareness of the issue among party members and to call on a Labour government to “make UNCRPD law”, a policy that is part of the new Disabled People’s Manifesto.

Disability News Service (DNS) reported last month that Labour policy documents failed to include its previous pledge to incorporate the convention into UK law.

Instead, the National Policy Forum (NPF) report, which will form the basis for Labour’s general election manifesto and was approved by delegates this week, refers only to the party honouring its “commitments” to the convention and ensuring that its “principles are reflected across government”.

There is no mention in the report of implementing the convention into UK law, which disabled activists believe would have a transformative impact on disabled people’s rights, for example by providing rights to independent living, inclusive education, an adequate standard of living, and freedom from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

Vicky Foxcroft, Labour’s shadow minister for disabled people, who has repeated the pledge to implement the convention into UK law at least twice in the last 12 months, would only tell a Disability Labour fringe event this week that the party would “honour our commitments” to the UN convention.

She later told DNS that “the wording in the NPF is the wording at the moment.”

That wording is: “We will honour our commitments to the United Nations’ Convention for the Rights of Disabled People and ensure its principles are reflected across government to create policies which remove barriers to equality and focus on disabled people’s representation at all levels of government.”

Foxcroft then added: “We’ve still got time until the next [election].

“I think it’s one of those where in government you have to hold us to account in terms of whether we are actually committed to it.”

When DNS asked for a definitive position on whether a Labour government would – currently – implement the convention into UK law, she admitted: “It doesn’t say that at the moment.”

Rick Burgess, from Manchester DPAC, one of those protesting outside the conference on Tuesday, said the current situation, without UNCRPD implemented in UK law, means that “ultimately, our rights remain negotiable on a case-by-case basis”.

If the convention was incorporated into UK law, disabled people would be able to use the legal system to defend their rights, and policy-making processes would have to pay regard to the convention.

He said: “It lifts everything to a higher level of rights-based policy-making.”

Burgess said DPAC was “calling for the UNCRPD to be brought into law by whoever wins the general election”.

He said: “It’s particularly important with Labour because they did have a commitment to bring it into law and they seem to have dropped that.

“Between now and the election we have to try and get a promise that we can hold them to, that they will bring it into law.”

He said there was now a “window of opportunity” because it was always harder to extract such promises from parties once they are elected.

He said: “Disabled people will support them if they make it law.”

Another DPAC activist at the protest, Rhi, from Liverpool, said attention had rightly been focused on the Conservatives in government but it was also important to push Labour because it had “back-stepped on commitments they have made”.

She said the convention had a vital role in areas such as accessible housing – which she said was a “real problem” – and social care.

Byline Times digs into a new hard-right outfit boosted by Lord Bailey of Partygate

The government said it is prepared for a range of scenarios amid mounting worries over the financial stability of Thames Water.