Tory ‘benefit denial’ policy means tribunal service can’t cope with rise in appeals
Discrimination: The Equalities and Human Rights Commission has been asked to investigate discrimination by the Tory government against disabled benefit claimants.
The Conservative government’s policy of denying Personal Independence Payment (PIP) benefits to people who qualify for it is causing a meltdown at the tribunal service.
The ‘Senior President of Tribunals’ Annual Report’ has revealed that “the rapid rise in appeal numbers has outstripped our ability to recruit and train sufficient numbers of panel members to keep pace”.
Despite a cynical attempt by the Tories to stop appeals by introducing a “mandatory re-assessment” phase in 2014, numbers have risen steadily – to 238,000 in 2018.
In that year, 46 per cent of PIP claimants transferring from DLA saw their payments either downgraded or cancelled – that’s around 435,620 claimants.
So a significant number of genuine claimants have indeed been discouraged by the draconian system the Tories have imposed – benefit fraud is negligible.
But that number is falling, year-on-year as appeals rise and HM Courts and Tribunals Service struggles to cope.
The Tribunals Service has been recruiting more panel members to try to cope with the increase in demand, with 130 new judges, 225 medically qualified members and 125 disability qualified members appointed in the last year.
And a pilot for a new online resolution system is due to begin soon.
The logical solution would be to reform the system in order to give the benefit to people who need it, rather than attempting to deny it by pretending that people don’t have disabilities when they clearly do.
Consider this case.
And this one.
Pensioners are still being targeted for pointless reassessments, with a view to cancelling their payments.
There are many more examples.
Nearly 8,000 people are known to have died within six months of being denied the benefit.
And that’s the point. The expense and inconvenience to the Tribunals Service is of no interest to the Conservative government.
This is a programme of elimination. The Tories are getting rid of people they consider to be “useless eaters” (as the Nazis in Germany used to describe people with disabilities).
Denying them the financial resources to support themselves means they are more likely to die.
And the more disabled people die, the happier the Tories will be.
Source: Tribunals Service unable to keep up with rise in appeals
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A Tory shambles, all by deliberate design to kill off as many sick/disabled and poor people as possible. The Tories should be on trial for Crimes Against Humanity.
One thing I can’t get my head around is why anyone who is one the not tax avoiding super rich or stupid or a sadist would vote tory. I just don’t get it. Country broken, public services smashed, poverty at record levels, homeless at record levels, in work poverty at record levels. Society starting to disintegrate – the gap between rich and poor growing to the point of being obscene and levels of poverty shameful for a first world country. And people continue to support a purposefully cruel government that seems to take pleasure in the persecution of the vulnerable under the guise of austerity.
if the tribunal service is in such dire straights why dont they kick the dwp and tories in the eye by granting all current tribunal claimants a big resounding yes youve passed. whether theyve gone through the whole process or not. simple. then start from scratch with another batch giving the service a respite that sounds like its badly needed. (ok one can dream can’t they?)