Mark Hoban: A message isn’t scaremongering if it’s true

Mark Hoban, sending even his colleagues to sleep in another Parliamentary debate.

Mark Hoban, sending even his colleagues to sleep in another Parliamentary debate.

Employment minister Mark Hoban has accused Parliament’s public accounts committee of “scaremongering” after it attacked the Department for Work and Pensions’ work capability assessment.

He said, according to the BBC: “Rather than scaremongering and driving down the reputation of the WCA, critics might like to acknowledge the fact that independent reviews have found no fundamental reforms are needed to the current process because of changes we’re making.”

That sounds a lot like self-justifying nonsense to me.

I wonder whether we may reasonably expect any better of him, when we know he edits comments on his own Facebook page to remove anything remotely critical. If you don’t believe me, just you go there and try it!

But okay, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and try examining the committee’s criticisms at ground-level. We all know my partner, Mrs Mike, has been – and is continuing to go through – the assessment system. Let’s go through the committee’s conclusions with reference to her example.

The first conclusion was that “the decision-making process for new Employment Support Allowance applications and Incapacity Benefit reassessments all too often leads to the wrong decisions and is failing far too many people”. The decision after Mrs Mike’s assessment was that she should go into the work-related activity group for ESA. It was only after she had an interview with a WRA provider – six months after the assessment – that they told us the decision was wrong, she should be in the support group, and we should seek reassessment. So in our case, I find that the committee’s conclusion was ACCURATE.

Conclusion number two: “The Work Capability Assessment may unduly penalise people with specific health problems. The one-size-fits-all approach is not appropriate for particular groups, for example, people with mental health, rare or variable conditions. The process is too inflexible and makes it extremely difficult for individuals with particular conditions to demonstrate the impact of their conditions on their ability to work. Too often the process is so stressful for applicants that it can impact on their health.” Mrs Mike has fluctuating conditions – fibromyalgia, mental health problems, and a back condition that causes pain, although the level of that pain can vary from day to day. As I have demonstrated in my response to the first conclusion, she was put into the wrong group – in the opinion of a work-related activity provider employed by the Department for Work and Pensions. That’s pretty conclusive! I was present at the work capability assessment interview and can assure any doubters that it is an extremely stressful process – not just physically, because claimants have to prove the limits of their physical abilities, but also emotionally. It took her days to recover her composure after the assessment. There are continuing issues to do with mental health, as the current nature of the process – leaving people waiting for months at a time before a decision, or until they can move on to the next step, then the disappointment of being told there was a mistake and they have to go through the whole process again – seems engineered to create mental instability. Therefore I must find that in this case also, the committee’s conclusion was ACCURATE.

The next conclusion states: “The Department does not know the full cost to the taxpayer of the overall decision-making process for Work Capability Assessments. Whilst some costs are known, such as the £26.3 million paid to HM Courts and Tribunals Service for its work on appeals, there is little information on the cost and impact on the National Health Service or on some of the internal interactions within the Department.” Whilst it is true that Mrs Mike has been to see her doctors (physical and mental) since her assessment took place, and throughout the ensuing mess, I would not try to put a price on that extra process. Therefore I cannot say for sure whether this conclusion is accurate or not. However, we all know that a high proportion of appeals are won – more than 90 per cent of those in which the claimant has sought legal representation, in fact, so it is reasonable to believe that the government is paying a high price to the courts. On that basis alone, it is reasonable to question whether the government is getting value for money.

Conclusion four: “The Department has failed to develop a competitive market for medical services. The market for medical service providers is under-developed and Atos Healthcare is currently the sole supplier for all the Department’s medical assessments. It has also been awarded two of the three current contracts for the Personal Independence Payment. The Department is too relaxed about the risk to value for money resulting from a dependence on a monopoly supplier, and on the limitations this has on the Department’s capacity to remedy poor performance.” Personally, I am unhappy with the thought that a profit-centred marketplace should be created around people’s health. This is why I opposed the Health and Social Care Act that has caused so much harm to the NHS in England since it became law. However, the point that it is hard to remedy poor performance when a single company holds a monopoly on assessments is reasonable. Mrs Mike’s assessment was carried out by Atos. That assessment reached a wrong conclusion. Who will carry out her reassessment? Atos. You see the problem.

Worse than that, though, is the underlying issue – that Atos has been briefed to push as many people off-benefit as it can. This is why the work capability assessment is based on the “psycho” part of the biopsychosocial model, itself a discredited medical theory. The aim of the assessment process is to tell claimants that their illnesses or disabilities are all in their minds, and that in fact they are perfectly capable of work. Considering the Labour Party’s policy is reprehensibly shoulder-to-shoulder with that of the Coalition in this regard (Liam Byrne very recently said Labour would continue reforms of social security benefits along similar lines) there seems very little hope for people with disabilities in the future. I find the committee’s conclusion ACCURATE in the case of Mrs Mike, and note with trepidation that the future seems bleak, no matter what government we have in the future.

I do not intend to address the fifth and sixth conclusions as they seem to be operational matters within the Department for Work and Pensions. Before Mr Hoban claims any victories, I should add that all the reports I have seen tend to bear out the comments of the public accounts committee.

But the final conclusion states: “The Department must improve its internal processes to improve the quality of decision-making and contract management. The size of the Department and its impact on individuals and on the public purse requires us to have the utmost confidence in the capability of the Department to deliver. Robust systems are a crucial part of this. We are concerned that the Department is unduly complacent regarding the quality of the decision-making process, particularly given the hardship which can be caused to individuals when the decision is wrong.” Clearly, neither I nor Mrs Mike have any confidence in the DWP’s ability to deliver the right decision regarding a person’s ability to work. Therefore I find the committee’s comment about complacency ACCURATE. The hardship which can be caused to individuals is something my partner and I are being forced to face at the moment – as a possibility, should a reassessment decision go against her. We are all familiar with cases in which people have either died from the worsening of their health conditions (conditions denied by the DWP and Atos) or from suicide provoked by a worsening of their mental health due to the assessment process and fear for the future of themselves and their families. These are real issues.

By suggesting such fears are “scaremongering”, Mr Hoban hugely weakens his own case.

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19 Comments

  1. Sue Edwards (@Sucled) February 9, 2013 at 3:54 pm - Reply

    his Facebook page has disappeared!

    • Mike Sivier February 9, 2013 at 4:08 pm - Reply

      Thanks, Sue!
      Isn’t it a shame that a government minister clearly feels incapable of facing the public and defending his claims?

      • Joanna March 25, 2014 at 11:14 am - Reply

        I saw something once, that said people with fibromyalgia and other conditions of Atos’ choosing are automatically been put into the “wrag” no matter what. This I find despicable, because they have interest in what the person is suffering because of the condition. I had to look it up because with many I had never heard of it before. What I have learnt, fibromyalgia sounds horrendous to have to cope with. But when people with it try to do the best they can, they are penalised, That is so wrong!!!

    • Another Angry Voice February 10, 2013 at 12:53 pm - Reply

      Yes it disappeared after myself (Another Angry Voice) and a few other Facebook pages such as Atos Miracles directed people to his page to test out his censorship policy. After a few days of deleting hundreds of critical comments at a time (whether they were politely written or not) he decided to simply erase the page altogether!

      So much for free speech!

      If anyone is worried that you can no longer contact Mark via his Facebook page, could I suggest that you use his Parliamentary email address to raise your concerns instead?

      [email protected]

  2. Big Bill February 9, 2013 at 4:29 pm - Reply

    He’s still on FB but it’s just a private page no-one can comment on now. He’s cut and run, probably because of the shitstorm he knows is coming his way in April when the appeals process looks to be permanently blocked for all benefits claims. You knew about that, right?

    • Mike Sivier February 9, 2013 at 4:31 pm - Reply

      Yup. I think I’ve written about it in the past.

  3. Big Bill February 9, 2013 at 4:40 pm - Reply

    I imagine if you’re a sociopath and you can’t get into your natural party, the Tories, but you still want a career in politics … well, I imagine that explains Liam Byrne.

  4. Stephen Bunting February 9, 2013 at 5:05 pm - Reply

    Laabour is on the same track – for now … not least because one of the prime movers, Frank field, is advising the Coalition on Welfare Reform…bit like Scargill asking Thatcher to sort mining out. BUT I can’t and won’t believe, with 2.7 million people going through this crap, that we all cannot bring about a change in the future!! I am keeping my hope candle burning ( for as long as I can afford one, that is …. )

    • warriorlizzie February 9, 2013 at 6:06 pm - Reply

      Heya Steve, have got the hope candle burning to. Sending prayers to all 2.7 million of us and all us sick and disabled. Each aqnd evry day Blessed be. Keep up the good fight Mike and Mrs Mike. God Bless. :-)

  5. Robert Maguire February 9, 2013 at 5:20 pm - Reply

    What can we do with a govt that manipulates figures, blatantly lie and ignore a desperate society. No wonder folk give up. This cabinet must be the richest in U.K.history yet they force the electorate into debt and poverty.

  6. rainbowwarriorlizzie February 9, 2013 at 6:13 pm - Reply
  7. tony February 9, 2013 at 8:28 pm - Reply

    Just sent this too houses of Parliament.

    Dear all and Hoban, in regards to an educated Ministers comments regarding DWP and ATOS is this scaremongering and fiction then.

    s, does any one recall the case I had last year. Where ATOS contacted someone with mental health issues,who then ended up back on a psychiatric ward.

    Well guess what has been reported to me this week, 12 months to the day virtually?

    You guessed it yet?

    Oh yes it is true, another ESA50 dropped on that persons door mat this week. Oh yes it’s true, even though DWP and Atos have in their records not to be contacted directly but via their mental health support team only to prevent self harm and serious relapse.

    Just couldn’t make this up if I tried and DWP response.

    It is an automated system with no human intervention and even with evidence of how direct involvement with client and do not block it from happening.

    Looks like Private eye are going to do a follow up so another case in the press for exactly the same problem with the same client. Who says ATOS and DWP are not manipulating figures of people of disabilities by harassing haranguing and discriminating the same people again and again and again.

    ESA form dealt with,with luck no WCA will not happen unless they are unable to read English and the this ” person must not be contacted directly by atos/dwp” IN RED HIGHLIGHTED INK!, would anyone like to place bets on this and the predatory organisation to take heed and follow procedures for vulnerable clients.

    Lastly Mr ignorant (Hoban), I presume with your higher intellect that this is lies and fiction too. Anyone that is as incompetent as you,how the hell can you keep your job.

  8. tony February 9, 2013 at 8:30 pm - Reply

    Dear Mr Hoban Sir,in your answer in the WCA debate,you implied that what is being reported is Media hype,myth and lies,please find statement supplied from one of these feckless few and explain what part of BRAIN SURGERY/incureable,in “ENGLISH LANGUAGE”,is in comprehendible/unable to interpret you and your DWP staff do not understand.

  9. jaynel62 February 10, 2013 at 6:58 am - Reply

    If you wish to influence Labour Policy for 2015 please visit http://www.yourbritain.org.uk/agenda-2015/policy-commissions/work-and-business-policy-commission/support-for-the-most-vulnerable and support my joint submission with WOW.com

  10. Ms Deceased February 10, 2013 at 12:24 pm - Reply

    Cynical, lying psychopaths have seized power. Mark Hoban is one of them.

  11. Silver February 10, 2013 at 5:54 pm - Reply

    Re DWP,

    Jobcentre Staff Are Not Social Workers Or Doctors Yet They Now Have More Power Over Vulnerable Lives

    The shocking story of Jobcentre abuse recently published on Disabled People Against Cuts’ (DPAC) website will be all too familiar to many claimants.

    The post tells the story of a claimant who was called on their mobile phone by a Jobcentre advisor in the middle of a blood transfusion for a life threatening condition. Instead of simply offering to call back, the advisor then began demanding that they immediately attend the Jobcentre for a back to work assessment, despite the claimant having lost six pints of blood due to kidney failure.

    Read Full Story Here.

    http://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/2013/02/10/jobcentre-staff-are-not-social-workers-or-doctors-yet-they-now-have-more-power-over-vulnerable-lives/

  12. Skintus Maximus February 10, 2013 at 6:42 pm - Reply

    My story is a little different, I passed two WCA assessments in 10 months, the second of these was ‘brought forward’ at the request of the Job Center because I apparently “Appeared optimistic about the future.” (I can read upside down) during a Job Center interview.

    I imagine right now you are picturing someone severely disabled, possibly wheelchair bound with multiple complications. The reality is that I had two prolapsed disc’s, I am not making light of this condition, it is extremely painful and has a detrimental effect on just about every activity. On one occasion, having slowly hobbled to the toilet I had to call my wife to lift the seat because I simply couldn’t reach it.

    So how did I pass two assessments when others with far worse conditions fail? I used to work at the headquarters of Atos Origin, the parent company of Atos Medical. I simply handed over the names and extension numbers of my immediate supervisor and his immediate supervisor and told them that they could both confirm that I had problems with my back while I was there.

    I was even told in a whisper at the end of the second WCA “Don’t worry you’ll be fine.” Of course two months later my benefits were withdrawn under the 12 month rule, because my wife works.

    That was two years ago and I am happy to say that with considerable care my condition has improved, so much so that I am training to become an HGV driver, not because I have a love of trucks but because that occupation is in considerable demand, and with demand comes job security.

    Told you my story was a little different.

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