Benefits reform: Media coverage BBC and Times

Benefits reform: Media coverage BBC and Times

Shortlink: http://wp.me/p5foE-2Vg

Note: access to much of the content of the Times and Sunday Times online now requires a subscription.  Complementary access to subscription-only content is extended to those regsistered for the prepaid voucher scheme for print editions of the Times and Sunday Times who will need to register their Customer Priority Number on the site.

Times  |  Rosemary Bennett, Alice Fishburn  |  2 July 2010

Sick-note reforms ‘are in danger of collapse’

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article2585543.ece

The academic behind a new benefits system designed to end Britain’s sick-note culture warns today of an impending crisis if radical changes are not made.

He says that ministers should postpone plans to move 2.5 million incapacity benefit claimants on to the new employment and support allowance (ESA) in October until serious errors have been rectified.

“To go ahead with these problems is not just ridiculous. It is, in fact, scary,” said Paul Gregg, Professor of Economics at the University of Bristol.

All new claimants have had to apply for ESA, which includes a tough medical test, since October 2008. But thousands of vulnerable people with terminal cancer, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and clinical depression have had their applications rejected and told to look for work…

Full article here

Times  |  2 July 2010

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article2585558.ece

Emma Webb

Emma Webb, 36, has worked all her life but in 2008 she became ill and her job in retail became a struggle.

She initially thought it was a bad back, caused by years of standing for long periods. Then she began to slur her words and a few months later could barely walk. Her doctor diagnosed ME…

Full article here

BBC News  |  28 June 2010

‘I’m worried about benefit cuts’, says ME sufferer

Andy Micklethwaite, 58, from Derbyshire, has been on incapacity benefit for about three years, but started suffering with ME in 1984.

He had worked for about 10 years in sales support for a firms supplying computer systems before being made redundant.

After that he said he had tried various jobs as his symptoms got worse – including setting up his own business, teaching people introductory computer courses at a local college and invigilating exams before the ME meant he had to stop working…

Read full article here

BBC News  |  Politics  |  28 June 2010

Q&A: Incapacity benefits explained

Ministers looking to make savings have set their sights on the bill for incapacity benefit – but how does the system work at present?

Some 2.6m people claim incapacity benefit, or its successor, the employment and support allowance, at an annual cost of about £12.5bn.

Chancellor George Osborne says that this amount could be cut, while protecting “those with genuine needs”.

So what are the basics?

What are the benefits…

Read full article

BBC News |  Business  |  22 June 2010

Budget: Radical shake-up of benefits to cut spending

The Budget means most claimants will lose money – but some are winners A raft of benefits have been cut or curbed as part of a radical shake up of the welfare system.

These changes are designed to save £11bn per year by the end of the parliamentary term.

That adds up to a quarter of the annual target of £40bn of spending cuts and tax rises by 2014-15…

Read full article here

Two EDMs: Policy intentions toward Carers; Working Carers

EDM 128: New government’s policy intentions toward Carers  Hepburn, Stephen 02.06.2010

EDM 246: Working Carers  Cooper, Rosie 16.06.2010

Shortlink: http://wp.me/p5foE-2U1

From Carer Watch  |  15 June 2010

http://carerwatch.com/

These next few weeks carers are going to be to the forefront with Carers Week imminent. Please take a few minutes to contact your MP and ask him/her to sign the following EDM. Please let Carer Watch know if your MP has signed.

http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=41044&SESSION=905

EDM 128

CARERS
02.06.2010

Hepburn, Stephen

That this House calls on the Government to make an early statement on its policy intentions toward carers; notes the selfless hard work and commitment displayed by the approximately six million carers in the UK; recognises the incalculable difference carers make to the lives of their loved ones; acknowledges that carers save the country an estimated £87 billion each year; and supports an immediate review of the current carers allowance level.

Also:

http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=41169&SESSION=905

EDM 246

WORKING CARERS
16.06.2010

Cooper, Rosie

That this House celebrates the valuable role performed by over six million carers in the UK, in the majority of cases without any financial recognition from the public purse, saving the country an estimated £87 billion per year; congratulates Carers UK for the valuable work it does in supporting carers and highlighting their needs during Carers Week; further congratulates the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers for its continued campaigning for a better deal for working carers; recognises that many carers need to work to make ends meet because Carer’s Allowance only pays £53.90 a week for a minimum of 35 hours caring; urges the Government to match the commitment of the 2008 National Carers Strategy to ensure that carers are not forced into financial hardship by their caring role and to support the recommendation of the Work and Pensions Select Committee 2008 report that ‘DWP should support adults who become carers during their working lives to combine work and care’; and therefore calls on the Government to remove the disincentive to work represented by the cliff-edge earnings threshold of £97 per week that prevents many carers from working at all and stops those in work from fulfilling their full working potential.

 

Early Day Motions (EDMs)

http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/Default.aspx

Early day motions (EDMs) are formal motions submitted for debate in the House of Commons. However, very few EDMs are actually debated. Instead, they are used for reasons such as publicising the views of individual MPs, drawing attention to specific events or campaigns, and demonstrating the extent of parliamentary support for a particular cause or point of view.

An MP can add their signature to an EDM to show their support. They can also submit amendments to an existing EDM. Although majority of EDMs are never debated, the group of EDMs known as ‘prayers’ may be debated. Prayers are motions to overturn Statutory Instruments (laws made by Ministers under powers deriving from Acts of Parliament). Further information on EDM procedure can be found in the Commons Information Office Factsheet Early Day Motions.

Up-to-date and searchable information on EDMs is available from the Early Day Motions database. The database is updated nightly with new EDMs and signatures added to existing EDMs. To look at EDMs from any session going back to 1989/90, select the session you want from the pull down menu in the top right hand corner of the screen. For EDMs and signatures prior to 1989/90, please contact the House of Commons Information Office (020 7219 4272).

To view current EDMs and lists of signatories: http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMList.aspx

Benefits and Work: Tables turned – your chance to shop the DWP

Benefits and Work: Tables turned – your chance to shop the DWP

Shortlink: http://wp.me/p5foE-2TV

From Steve Donnison Benefits and Work

15 June 2010

Dear Subscriber,

Firstly an apology for the problems you may have had opening links in the last two newsletters – and a further apology in case it happens again this time. The links do all work, but something in the depths of the server stops working when many thousands of people visit at once.

We hope we’ve found the fault, but we have no way of knowing until the newsletter actually goes out. So, if the links don’t work right now, please do accept our apologies and call back later when the server has recovered itself.

In this newsletter we’re asking you to make sure the blame for much of the increase in the harassment of disabled people is placed where it belongs – at the door of the DWP and its ministers, with their constant campaign of vilification against sick and disabled claimants.

The Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has begun an investigation into whether public bodies are fulfilling their legal obligations to prevent disabled people from being harassed. If you think the DWP are failing in this duty – and actually making things much worse – email EHRC and tell them so, your details will not be made public. Email:

disabilityharassmentfi@equalityhumanrights.com

And please, let other people know about this enquiry – the more people who contribute the harder it will be for the EHRC to ignore the DWP’s role in hate crimes. If you do contact EHRC, please consider posting something on our free blog to encourage others. There’s also more information and links on the same blog page at Tables turned – your chance to shop DWP and BBC.

Staying with the DWP, we have a mole’s eye view of the misery that employment and support allowance (ESA) is causing inside Jobcentre Plus and a leaked email that reveals that the DWP is in a panic because of the large numbers of GPs who are wilfully or incompetently failing to complete the new fit notes correctly. There is a question mark hanging over the legality of benefits decisions as a result and it’s a story that, until now, has been kept from the press and the public: Leaked email shows DWP fit notes panic (This article is members only)

We also have the first coalition statement on when current incapacity claimants are to be transferred to ESA: Transfer from IB to ESA: coalition timetable latest (This article is members only)

Plus a growing question mark over those four page DLA renewal forms that we’ve been warning members about. Why is it in the public interest for claimants to be kept in the dark about their future use? Read more in DLA short form – what are they hiding?

We also have a full list of DWP 0800 numbers that are free to call from most mobiles. Many thanks to the member who sent us the list, which they received in response to a Freedom of Information Act request: Full list of free to mobile DWP 0800 numbers

Finally, we’ve had lots of good news posts in the forum lately, below are links to some of them:

Success with DLA first time, A Big Thank You !!

ESA Success….YESSSS!

Another heartfelt THANKS to B&W

DLA tribunal success

Good News

Decision changed – appeal cancelled

ESA appeal

I do hope you find these posts cheering – if the server lets you open the links, that is. If it doesn’t please do call again later, we really are trying to get it permanently sorted.

Good luck,

Steve Donnison

(c) 2010 Steve Donnison. Benefits and Work Publishing Ltd. Company registration No. 5962666

You are welcome to reproduce this newsletter on your website or blog, provided you do so in full.

Benefits and Work: Huge new ESA guide plus Your future under the coalition

Benefits and Work: Huge new ESA guide plus Your future under the coalition

Shortlink: http://wp.me/p5foE-2Tq

From Steve Donnison Benefits and Work

14 May 2010

Dear Subscriber,

This is the first ever Benefits and Work newsletter written without a Labour government in power.

In our blog we take a first look at the new secretary of state for work and pensions, Iain Duncan Smith: What future for claimants under coalition rule?

Unlike most of his predecessors in the job, IDS already knows a lot about benefits and has some radical ideas about how the system should be changed – unfortunately, these include the abolition of DLA. Whether he manages to persuade the coalition that his personal preferences should become government policy remains to be seen.

We’ve also taken a look at the first joint statement on benefits by the Tories and LibDems which concentrates, unsurprisingly, on getting claimants into paid employment: Coalition publishes first benefits statement

HUGE NEW ESA GUIDE
In the members area, we’ve published a major new employment and support allowance resource to add to the detailed, step-by-step guides already available on the site: Major new ESA resource to download

The 100+ page guide has been provided by Mark Perlic, freelance trainer and Senior Welfare Rights Officer at Wolverhampton City Council’s Welfare Rights Service. Members will be aware of the excellent guide to DLA caselaw which Mark provided us with back in February of this year.

The new guide is an extremely comprehensive training pack Mark has been using for ESA training days. It covers many of the areas that we don’t, such as:

national insurance contribution conditions;
calculating ESA awards;
ESA in youth;
ESA and other benefits;
case law relating to substantial risk

We’ve also updated all our own ESA guides and published the most recent copy of the ESA Handbook produced by the DWP. We’re leaving the old version on the site so that people can compare the two. If you spot any material changes please email us, preferably with page references.

DECISION MAKERS EXCHANGES
As well as the ESA Handbook, we’ve also obtained copies of the confidential monthly DLA Decision Makers Exchanges from July to December 2009: Confidential decision makers DLA documents published

The editions cover a wide range of issues, including:

whether claiming carers allowance for another person may sometimes be incompatible with a person’s claim for DLA or AA;

why it is never appropriate for decision makers to refer to a “simple” main meal when considering the lower rate of the care component of DLA.

THE FUTURE
At the moment we have many unanswered questions about what life for claimants will be like under the coalition.

Will further compulsion be aimed at ESA claimants as well as JSA claimants?

Will the harsher ESA test approved by Yvette Cooper also get the go-ahead from her successor?

Will the first steps towards scrapping the entire benefits system and starting afresh be taken, as Iain Duncan Smith hopes?

Whatever the answers, you can count on discovering the truth, rather than spin, here at Benefits and Work.

Good luck,

Steve Donnison

(c) 2010 Steve Donnison. You are welcome to reproduce this newsletter on your website or blog, provided you do so in full.

and from 17 May:

Apologies – we are now back online

17 May 2010

Dear Subscriber,

Unfortunately, when we sent the newsletter out on Friday, the site crashed beneath the weight of people all trying to download our new employment and support allowance guide at once.

We finally got the site up and running only to have it crash again for different reasons.

However, we think – hope – we’ve fixed it now. And because we received so many emails from people saying they couldn’t get any of the links to work, we decided the best solution was to reissue Friday’s newsletter, which you’ll find below.

For those of you who did, finally, manage to get the links in the last newsletter to function, we’ve got three new items for you to read.

The first is the news that a doctors union has warned GPs that they should not try to prevent patients from recording consultations, if they so wish: GPs can’t stop patients recording consultations

The second is the claim that the Youreable forum, which closed before Christmas, is set to reopen: Youreable to rise from the dead

And, finally, we have some cheery feedback from members, like this:

“I have subscribed to Benefits and work for the last 18 months and have just been awarded higher rate mobility and higher rate care. This is beyond my wildest dreams and is all down to the information you provide on your website. It is the best money that I have ever spent.”

Beyond my wildest dreams

Good luck,

Steve Donnison

PM’s response to AA and DLA Petition

1] PM’s response to AA and DLA Petition

2] Update from Benefit and Work’s Steve Donnison

Shortlink: http://wp.me/p5foE-2J0

This petition is now closed, as its deadline has passed.

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/AttendanceA/

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to recognise the vital support that Attendance Allowance (AA) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) provide to disabled people, and to ensure that these benefits are secured and are not removed as part of any future reform of the social care system in England.

Submitted by Peter Hand of Mencap – Deadline to sign up by: 07 December 2009 – Signatures: 23,707

http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page22353

Read the Government’s response

The Government understands that disability benefits provide an important means of financial support for severely disabled people who have extra costs as a result of their disabilities.

We also know that the care and support system that we have at the moment is not sustainable. By 2026, population estimates show that there will be double the number of people aged over 85 that there are now, and the number of people over 100 will have quadrupled. In 20 years’ time, we expect over 1.7 million more adults to have a need for care and support. We need to reform the care and support system radically to meet these future pressures.

In a reformed social care and support system, which offers more support to older and disabled people, we are looking to see if bringing together the new care and support system and some disability benefits into a single system may be a better way of providing support. However, we will only do this if we can better support the needs of older and disabled people, and we have ruled out bringing Disability Living Allowance for those under the age of 65 into the National Care Service.

Whatever the outcome of the consultation, we want to ensure that people receiving any of the relevant benefits at the time of reform will continue to receive the same level of cash support under our new and better care and support system.

If consultation shows that integrating some disability benefits into a simplified system is the right approach, we would want to ensure that the future care and support system retains and builds on the main advantages of the current disability benefits system. We know that disability benefits are popular because they provide a universal entitlement which does not depend on where a person lives, they provide a cash budget which can be spent on the services someone wants, and people often use them in ways that help them to stay independent and well for longer.

These three aspects – a universal system that is consistent across the country, flexible methods of payment through personal budgets and investment in prevention – will all be important components of the new system.

 

2] Update from Benefit and Work’s Steve Donnison

From Steve Donnison  |  Benefits and Work

DLA short form con update plus keeping ESA after losing appeal

04 February 2010

Dear Subscriber,

In this edition we have an update on the four page DLA renewal form – and we’re definitely advising people to treat it with enormous caution, given the feedback we’ve had from members.

Moving on to employment and support allowance (ESA), the latest statistics for both claims and appeals make very dismal reading indeed, with almost 7 out of ten claimants who have an assessment being found fit for work and fewer than 4 out of ten winning their appeals.

Not that losing your appeal necessarily means you have to stop claiming ESA. The confusing mess that is the ESA regulations, combined with the increasing delays in administration, is allowing some claimants to claim ESA again immediately after losing their appeal against being found fit for work. This is happening even though there has been no change in their condition, as we explain.

The DWP are taking advantage of the backlog in administering ESA wherever they can, however. We have a copy of guidance issued to decision makers this week to ensure that, where there has been a delay in medical assessments, the DWP pockets cash that should be being paid to claimants.

This week we also get our first look at the new ‘fit notes’ that will replace sick notes from April. We were left completely under whelmed by the idea that a few tick boxes are sufficient to ensure a gradual and safe return to work for people with serious health conditions.

Equally under whelming was the discovery that RNID are quietly proposing to axe the casework team that, over the years, has built up unique expertise in helping deaf claimants get their benefits. RNID’s reason for doing so sounds like the kind of corporate-speak that used to be the sole preserve of the private sector, but is gradually taking hold in parts of the voluntary sector.

On a cheerier note, we have the tale of the claimant so fed up with what he regards as the poor standard of medical assessments that he flatly refused to have another one if he couldn’t tape it. In the end he got his medical cancelled and his incapacity benefit renewed. Please don’t try this yourselves – you’ll almost certainly end up losing your benefit.

But isn’t it comforting to know that, at least occasionally, utterly foolhardy stubbornness can face down even Atos Healthcare and the DWP?

Good luck,

Steve Donnison

EMPLOYMENT AND SUPPORT ALLOWANCE TRAINING
Has your agency had employment and support allowance training yet? With the transfer of incapacity benefit claimants beginning in pilot form in October 2010 and starting in earnest in February 2011, even if few of your clients have been affected yet, many are likely to be in the future. Find out more about our employment and support allowance training

http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/training/courses

FREE ARTICLES – BUT YOU NEED TO BE REGISTERED
These articles can be read by anyone, but you do need to register first. Find out more about the free stuff available when you register:

http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/free-stuff

RNID to axe benefits casework team
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/latest-news/1184-rnid-to-axe-benefits-casework-team

RNID is proposing to axe its highly valued casework team without seeking the views of service users, possibly within three months.

Almost 7 out of 10 refused ESA
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/latest-news/1179-almost-7-out-of-10-refused-esa

As more statistics emerge about the work capability assessment (WCA) for ESA, the picture is becoming increasingly grim for claimants.

Fit notes are coming
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/latest-news/1178-fit-notes-are-coming

From April 6th 2010 GPs will no longer issue sick notes to their patients. Instead, they will issue a ‘statement of fitness for work’ or ‘fit note’ as it will generally be known.

ESA return to work rip-off
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/latest-news/1177-esa-return-to-work-rip-off

The DWP have issued instructions to decision makers to ensure that claimants lose out because of long delays in arranging employment and support allowance medicals.

SUBSCRIBING MEMBERS ONLY
Not yet a subscribing member?

Find out how to subscribe to Benefits and Work and get instant access to all our downloadable claims and appeals guides, DWP materials, members news items and more.

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/join-us

Staying on ESA forever, even after losing an appeal
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/members-only-news/1183-staying-on-esa-forever-even-after-losing-an-appeal

Confused regulations combined with the increasing delays in the benefits system mean that it may be possible for claimants to remain on the assessment phase rate of ESA indefinitely, even after losing one or more appeals

DLA short form con update
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/members-only-news/1182-dla-short-form-con-update

Fears that the new DLA short form is simply a way of preventing claimants giving evidence appear to be justified, as we hear from more members who have completed it.

Claimant refuses untaped IB medical – and wins
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/members-only-news/1181-claimant-refuses-untaped-ib-medical-and-wins

A Benefits and Work member who refused to a attend a medical for incapacity benefit unless he was allowed to record it had his medical cancelled and has been found incapable of work.

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(c) 2010 Steve Donnison. You are welcome to reproduce this newsletter on your website or blog, provided you do so in full.

Benefits cruelty of cancer patients

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Yahoo! News  |  Benefits cruelty of cancer patients  | 06 December 2009

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20091206/thl-benefits-cruelty-of-cancer-patients-d831572.html

Seriously ill cancer patients are being forced to undergo “cruel” back-to-work interviews despite the fact they should be exempt, charities have warned.

Those who are terminally ill or undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy are being threatened with benefit cuts if they do not attend the meetings, according to Macmillan Cancer Support and Citizens Advice.

The “fit for work” interviews are for people seeking the employment and support allowance (ESA), which replaced incapacity benefit and income support in October 2008.

The drive behind ESA is to focus on what people can do rather than what they cannot do, as a means of getting them back to work.

However, cancer sufferers undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy or who are terminally ill are automatically exempt from the interviews.

Macmillan and Citizens Advice condemned the ESA process, saying it was “failing seriously ill and disabled people”. Macmillan’s benefits helpline has taken more than 600 calls about the issue since May.

A joint report – Failed by the System – found evidence of cancer patients with just months to live being told they had to undergo medical examinations and be questioned. Others having radiotherapy and people in hospital have also been refused ESA when they should automatically get it, the study found.

It also noted examples of people with cancer being told they are fit for work even when they are suffering from the long-term effects of the disease.

The charities said poor knowledge of ESA rules among Jobcentre Plus and Department for Work and Pensions medical staff is resulting in claims being handled badly. Poor administration systems and a lack of understanding about cancer are fuelling the problem, they said.

Mike Hobday, head of campaigns at Macmillan, said: “It’s cruel and completely unacceptable that people who are terminally ill or going through gruelling treatment are being made to jump through hoops to get money they should receive automatically. The safeguards to protect cancer patients clearly aren’t working, and the ESA system is riddled with problems.”

Jobless to be offered ‘talking treatment’ to help put Britain back to work

Shortlink:  http://wp.me/p5foE-2tv

“We run your life, so you don’t have to” courtesy Gordon’s Good Idea

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/dec/04/jobless-therapy-talking-cbt-unemployment

 

Guardian  |  Allegra Stratton, Political correspondent  |  04 December 2009

Jobless to be offered ‘talking treatment’ to help put Britain back to work

Jobcentres will bypass doctors to refer claimants for cognitive behaviour therapy at up to 300 centres

The government has announced mental health co-ordinators will be based in Jobcentres.

Jobless Britons are to be offered therapy to help them get back into work, under a “talking treatment” programme to be announced by the government over the next few weeks.

On Monday the Department for Work and Pensions will announce that mental health co-ordinators will be based in Jobcentres. The plans, which will make mental health treatment and particularly cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) central to the fight to get Britain back to work after the recession, will eventually see centres providing CBT set up around the country.

In the medium term, Jobcentre Plus will be encouraged to send unemployed people for CBT without the need for a doctor’s referral. Within five years the government wants 250-300 therapy centres set up across the UK.

Sessions of CBT – which encourages people to look for potential solutions rather than the causes of difficulties – are today available to patients referred by their doctor, but the government wants to build on 60 pilot schemes to provide therapy centres in most primary care trusts. Successful pilots have shown that a mix of ages and ethnicity is to be encouraged so centres can offer group therapy with a cross-section of people.

The chancellor, Alistair Darling, has signed off the commitment which will cost £550m a year redirected from what the government hopes will be a fall in unemployment. There is no new money involved.

Under the plans, unemployed people would be eligible for eight therapy sessions immediately. Within five years anyone, including people in work, would be allowed to “refer themselves in” for treatment.

One in four people are likely to experience a mental health problem and the effects on the jobs market are acute. Some 6 million adults in the UK have been diagnosed with depression or anxiety, many of whom are on incapacity benefit.

The move follows years of lobbying by Tony Blair’s “happiness tsar”, economist Lord Layard. Provision of cognitive behaviour therapy on the NHS was his earlier triumph but Layard has continued to lobby for it to be central to the jobs strategy.

Layard and others were concerned that people with mild depression attributable to unemployment or working difficulties and referred for CBT by doctors were rarely asked to consider work-related issues. Likewise Jobcentres did not prescribe therapy for those for whom varying degrees of depression were a barrier to work. The former work and pensions secretary, James Purnell, said: “Mild depression doesn’t have to be a barrier to work.”

About 40% of long-term sickness benefit claimants have depression. Work is being done on whether some people should have CBT before they go on to employment support allowance, which an official described as “an eight-week period which prevents people even going into long-term disability”.

The official said: “We want a service where everyone who needs it can get access to basic talking treatments. The pilots are proving so successful that, whilst there are short-term costs, we expect the programme to save money in the long-term by helping people back into work, cutting the benefit bill and lowering costs in the NHS.”

Ministers are worried that past recessions have led to huge rises in the numbers of long-term unemployed.

What is CBT?

Cognitive behaviour therapy doesn’t attempt deep psychoanalysis but instead works to recommend to a patient practical steps to overcome the depression that has proved debilitating for them.

Created in the 1960s by the American psychiatrist Aaron Beck, it operates on the assumption that since emotions are based on patterns of thinking, if the patterns of thinking can be changed so too can the emotions. To the end of changing those patterns, patients are given targets and homework to isolate what makes them blue, and then they can set about managing that trigger.

The government’s adviser on these issues, Lord Layard, believes that a short course of CBT delivered by a therapist with only basic training is all that is required to cure a substantial proportion of those out of work because of depression or mental health problems.

He recommends double the figure the government is suggesting – 16 course sessions – which he costed at £750 a head, something he pointed out was about the cost to the state of someone remaining on incapacity benefit.

Critics accuse CBT of being the ultimate quick-fix solution for a quick-fix age, driving real problems that had possibly surfaced for a reason, deeper into someone’s psyche with unknown later effects.

———————

See also:

BBC News  |  07 December 2009

Depression targeted in government policy shift

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8396147.stm

“10-year strategy expected to call for better identification of those most at risk and wider access to psychological therapies for patients.”

———————

New Statesman

http://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2009/11/cbt-treatment-health-face

Textual health  | Alyssa McDonald | 26 November 2009

———————

From October 09

On Sunday, the Observer reported on cutbacks faced by Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (Iapt) programme which is failing to meet government tarkets:

The Observer | 4 October 2009

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/oct/04/mental-health-therapy-cbt-psychiatry

Flagship mental health scheme faces cutbacks

Only 400 therapists have been trained out of the 3,600 needed for the scheme

by Jamie Doward

“A flagship government strategy to train an army of therapists to get the nation off antidepressants and into work could be dramatically scaled back amid claims it is experiencing problems.”

The government claims the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (Iapt) programme will treat 900,000 people and help about half of them to make a full recovery. It also aims to get 25,000 people suffering from anxiety and depression off sick pay and benefits by 2010/11.

But the Observer understands there are now concerns about whether these targets can be met.”

Read full article here

————————-

Related material

Tories would force jobless to work  |  Sunday Times  |  4 October 2009
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6860233.ece

Cameron to slash benefit payouts to 500,000 now deemed ‘unfit to work’  |  Times |  5 October 2009 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6861137.ece 

Iapt documents: http://www.iapt.nhs.uk/publications/

See also: The Elephant in the Room Series Two: More on MUPS

See also: Lords Debate on CBT

“They run your life, so you don’t have to” courtesy Gordon’s Good Idea

Benefits and Work: November and December 09 updates

Benefits and Work: November and December 09 updates

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From Benefits and Work’s Steve Donninson:

27 November 2009

New DLA form con trick

In this newsletter we warn about the possible dangers of a seductively short new DLA renewal claim form which has the potential to wipe out your entire award in a couple of ticks. Is it just a DWP con trick?

On a cheerier note, we look at how some people manage to get many thousands of pounds from the DWP as compensation for poor and insulting treatment. Persistence, it seems, does sometimes pay.

We also have the bizarre news that within days of us ending our 100 day campaign to save DLA and AA it was taken up by…the Conservative party. It’s true, of course that it was the Tories who introduced DLA in the first place, but somehow we never expected to find ourselves becoming the unofficial Conservative party think tank.

Not entirely unconnected with this news is the fact that the Daily Mail has suddenly begun writing in defence of DLA and AA claimants – so long as they’re over 65, that is.

Elsewhere, Holiday Whitehead, our resident barrister, has been answering some of your queries about employing carers following our article last month about a disabled employer’s shock £35,000 tax bill.

Finally, we have another shot of good news from happy members, including people who have successfully appealed their ESA refusals. We particularly liked the tale of one of our members who was refused help from a CAB with her DLA challenge on the grounds that – thanks to Benefits and Work – she knew more than they did!

Good luck,

Steve Donnison

Tories launch save DLA and AA campaign
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/latest-news/1138-tories-launch-save-dla-and-aa-campaign

 The Conservatives have launched a save DLA and AA campaign within days of the Benefits and Work campaign ending, leading to labour accusations of ‘scaremongering’ and ‘gutter politics’.

I got full mobility and personal care!
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/latest-news/1137-i-got-full-mobility-and-personal-care

More feedback from happy members, including successful ESA claims and appeals and DLA claims.

Tabloid support for DLA and AA campaign
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/latest-news/1135-tabloid-support-for-dla-and-aa-campaign

The Daily Mail has today published an article highlighting a ‘rebellion’ by Labour MPs ‘over plans to end benefits for needy pensioners’.

Benefits advice stopped
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/latest-news/1136-benefits-advice-stopped

The Law Gazette is reporting that claimants needing benefits advice under the legal aid scheme are being turned away because legal aid funding has run out.

MEMBERS ONLY

Not yet a member?
Find out how to join Benefits and Work and get instant access to all our downloadable claims and appeals guides, DWP materials, members news items and more.
www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/join-us

How some claimants get thousands of £££ in DWP compensation
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/members-only-news/1141-how-some-claimants-get-thousands-of-ppp-in-dwp-compensation

Many people are treated with outrageous unfairness by the DWP. Most just endure it, some complain and get nowhere, a tiny number get compensation of up to £10,000. How do they do it?.

Your queries about employing carers answered
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/members-only-news/1140-your-queries-about-employing-carers-answered

Holiday Whitehead, our resident barrister, answers some of your queries about employing carers.

Is new DLA form a con trick?
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/members-only-news/1139-is-new-dla-form-a-con-trick

A new short DLA renewal form appears to be being used to con claimants into not giving evidence about their condition and then refusing them an award, as a Benefits and Work member recently discovered to their cost. Astonishingly, a letter accompanying the form also advises people to fraudulently allow their current DLA claim to continue, even if they know that they are no longer entitled to any money.

If you have problems accessing the site or logging in, visit the Help with the site page, where you can find possible solutions and contact details for our technical support.

http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-with-the-site

(c) 2009 Steve Donnison. All rights reserved

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04 December 2009

Are claimants at risk from assessment rip-off?

We hadn’t intended to bring out another newsletter until next week. But then a confidential letter detailing the new, increased, pay rates for Atos doctors and nurses came sliding from our fax machine and we decided we’d better publish it immediately.

So, in a brief newsletter, we reveal just how much those doctors and nurses are making from the taxpayer for creating ESA, DLA and IB medical reports. From what we’ve learnt, it seems safe to assume that Atos assessors won’t be shopping at Iceland this Christmas.

Harrods, on the other hand, may need to get in a few extra hampers.

In a not unrelated story we look at the problems caused by the DWP carrying out assessments much later than they should be. Are taxpayers being ripped-off and claimants being put at risk?

(The answer is ‘Yes!’ , in case you’re in any doubt).

We also have news of the early day motion in support of DLA and AA put forward by a liberal democrat MP. Do check to see if your MP has signed it and, if they haven’t, please do pursue them with infuriating persistence.

Finally, we have the tale of the claimant whose ESA has been stopped largely, it seems, because of his sad inability to travel back and forth through time at will.

Who’d have thought you’d need a tardis to be a successful ESA claimant?

Good luck,

Steve Donnison

91 MPs sign motion against DLA and AA cuts – has yours?
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/latest-news/1142-91-mps-sign-motion-against-dla-and-aa-cuts-has-yours

91 MPs have so far signed an early day motion urging the government to drop proposals to cut disability living allowance and attendance allowance to fund the new National Care Service. Benefits and Work is urging members to put pressure on your own MP to sign, if they have not done so already.

ESA for Time Lords
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/latest-news/1147-esa-for-time-lords

A Benefits and Work member has had their employment and support allowance suspended, seemingly on the grounds that they are unable to travel through time.

MEMBERS ONLY
Not yet a member?

Find out how to join Benefits and Work and get instant access to all our downloadable claims and appeals guides, DWP materials, members news items and more.
www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/join-us

Are claimants at risk from ESA assessment rip-off?
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/members-only-news/1145-are-claimants-at-risk-from-esa-assessment-rip-off
Taxpayers are unfairly paying out many thousands of pounds, and claimants health may be being put at risk, due to employment and support allowance assessments being carried out scandalously late

Can Atos doctors earn more than Gordon Brown?
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/members-only-news/1144-atos-doctors-can-earn-more-than-gordon-brown

Benefits and Work has obtained a copy of a confidential letter which reveals exactly how much Atos medical assessors receive in taxpayers’ cash for carrying out different types of benefits medicals. Astonishingly, some may at times be on a higher rate of pay than the prime minister.

If you have problems accessing the site or logging in, visit the Help with the site page, where you can find possible solutions and contact details for our technical support.
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-with-the-site

(c) 2009 Steve Donnison. You are welcome to reproduce this newsletter (but not the articles it links to) on your website, forum or blog.

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04 December 2009

Apology and BBC Scotland

Just to say sorry, the members only links weren’t working when we sent out the newsletter this morning. We hope we have now fixed them. But if you still have problems, there’s a link to the latest articles in the Members Only news box at the bottom of the home page.

Also, we forgot to mention that BBC Scotland are very keen to talk to ESA claimants about the difficulties of claiming. More details in the forum at:

http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/forum?func=view&catid=10&id=13374

Alternatively, just in case we’re still having a bad link day, here’s what they’re asking:

Just how difficult is it to get ESA? BBC Scotland wants to know!

BBC Scotland are making a half hour radio documentary about the difficulties people face when trying to claim ESA – in particular with the health assessments carried out as part of the process. The programme aims to highlight problems with the new system and to investigate why people with genuine illnesses and disabilities are being declared fit to work.

If you’ve had a problem claiming ESA and are willing to talk about your experience, then please contact Kathy Long on 0141 422 7277 or Fiona Walker on 0141 422 7863. Or email: kathy.long@bbc.co.uk  / fiona.walker@bbc.co.uk

All information will be treated in confidence and contributions to the programme may be made anonymously if preferred.

Good luck,

Steve Donnison

If you have problems accessing the site or logging in, visit the Help with the site page, where you can find possible solutions and contact details for our technical support.
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-with-the-site

(c) 2009 Steve Donnison. You are welcome to reproduce this newsletter (but not the articles it links to) on your website, forum or blog.