The national deafblind charity, Sense, has called for a suspension of the nationwide Personal Independence Payments (PIP) rollout, with evidence that the scheme, which replaced Disability Living Allowance (DLA), remains inaccessible to many deafblind people and those with multisensory disabilities.
The fear is that the inaccessibility will lead to vulnerable people losing essential benefits.
Sue Brown, Head of Public Policy at Sense said:
“The reassessment of existing DLA claimants has been rolled out to all areas of the country whilst it remains inaccessible to deafblind people. We believe this could lead to individuals losing their benefits through no fault of their own.
“Currently, starting a claim involves using a telephone or filling in a paper questionnaire, both of which are inaccessible for deafblind claimants, or other individuals who are unable to use these claim formats.
“We have reports from professionals who support deafblind people, including interpreters and communicator guides, that DWP staff will not speak to them unless a deafblind person gives consent over the phone first. Many people we support are not able to use the telephone at all.
“The DWP has said that it is developing an online claim process for PIP, however the site is not yet live so deafblind people on DLA will have significant difficulties making a claim. We believe the reassessment of existing DLA claimants on long term awards should not have started until the online claim portal is live.
“We urge the government to ensure the application process for PIP is accessible to deafblind people, or suspend the rollout until it is. They have to prioritise the development of an online portal, make the process fully accessible by using a variety of communication methods, and enable professionals to make a claim on behalf of a deafblind person.”
PIP replaced DLA for people aged 16 to 64 on 8th April 2013. The reassessment of existing DLA claimants with long term awards started on a small scale from July 2015, and from today it is rolled out to all areas of the country. The vast majority of deafblind people have indefinite awards of DLA.
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pennybsl
October 5, 2015
Hope the Government stops being ‘deaf to reason’ as it did over the Access to Work debacle on the past two years.
I recently met a Deaf pensioner who described to me his deaf friend’s horror at losing a mobility car – next week it will be taken away – after an assessment (ignoring strong evidence from the health profession and social services) decided not to award a PIP benefit.
The deaf friend faces being stuck at home all day, four walls, with reduced opportunities to meet friends and family outside his home – and doing an appeal takes months. The implications to his social, mental and physical health, are horrific.
This bureaucratic and faceless authority is frightening and contradicts ‘duty of care’ by a Government Department.
Ruthless decisions by the DWP – is anyone in decision-making human? – which contradicts clear evidence of need – have been heavily criticised by judges who overturned those decisions, with strong comments on by civil servants’ unacceptable barbaric handling.
What is wrong with employing skilled, professional Deaf & Disabled people in the process?
Sense is the latest charity who is spending thousands, even tens of thousands, of donated money fighting the Government on inaccessible issues.
In a sense, people and taxpayers are being robbed at least twice over by the Government in its handling of welfare ‘reforms’.
Tim
October 5, 2015
Quite right. It’s very good to see a charity stand up for the people whom they are supposed to support. Action on Hearing Loss and others take note.
It is morally wrong and legally questionable for the government to retrospectively cancel the disability benefits that people have already been awarded.
Annette thompson
October 6, 2015
Typical make it impossible to claim