2017 will be a year of unrest for DWP vow campaigners
Disability campaigners have vowed to picket assessment centres in Scotland after it was revealed some 2,000 disabled people were wrongly judged to be fit by the DWP over the latest three months.
A group led by Peter McCaig, who previously staged a sit-ins in Atos-run assessment centres in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee as well as protesting outside numerous jobcentres, said it would respond “vociferously” to what it said was an unrelenting campaign of intimidation against society’s most vulnerable.
According to DWP statistics released last week, most appeals against disability benefit fit-to-work decisions were successful in the period June 2016, where 58% of appeals were upheld.
Worryingly the number of appeals is also rising compared to the previous quarter, up from 3,400 to 3,600 – despite a falling overall caseload from 145,200 to 96,300.
According to campaigners this shows the assessment processed is flawed and “unfit for purpose.”
“The DWP and the UK government believe the longer this campaign against the vulnerable persists then the more campaigners like myself will become disheartened,” McCaig told TFN.
“That’s absolutely not the case. In fact we plan to increase the number of protests, creating as much disruption as possible in the forthcoming year.
“We aim to shame the DWP and those who work on its behalf. The assessment system is not only morally wrong but flawed as a system. Yet there are people’s lives at stake.
The assessment system is not only morally wrong but flawed as a system - Peter McCaig
“Until disabled people are treated with dignity and respect we will oppose this cruel government at every turn. Our message is we will never forget or relent. We will continue to fight for our rights as disabled people.”
Commenting on the DWP figures, Rossanna Trudgian, head of campaigns for the learning disability charity Mencap, said: “The current Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is part of a badly broken system.
“The number of incorrect decisions isn't getting better and remains distressingly high - and behind every single statistic is an individual story of personal misery and anxiety for a sick or disabled person in the UK today.”
Labour has said it would scrap fit for work tests if it wins the next election.
A DWP spokesman said: “Only a small proportion of all ESA Work Capability Assessment decisions are overturned at appeal — just 4%.
“In the majority of successful appeals, decisions are overturned when someone provides new evidence to support their claim.”
