This DWP persecution of a blind woman shows nothing has changed despite more than a decade of campaigning and a change of government.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall should be made to explain why disabled people are still being denied social security benefits, simply because they have managed to attend Job Centre interviews.

According to The Guardian, the latest outrage involved Charlotte Easton, who is blind. The paper’s article lists a catalogue of what appear to be deliberate attempts to harm her claim, such as:

A blind woman with complex disabilities was refused benefits [Employment and Support Allowance] because she managed to travel to the interview with her mother’s help.

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Charlotte Easton was assessed for another benefits claim [Personal Independence Payment] in a phone call, and the Department for Work and Pensions then gave its decision by sending her a printed letter that she could not read.

Easton is 40 and lives in Hertfordshire with her brother, who acts as her carer. She is blind and has a hearing impairment and was diagnosed with Pfeiffer syndrome, a genetic condition affecting her skull, and hydrocephalus. She cannot leave home without help and employers have not been interested in her.

Disability charity Sense is quoted, saying it conducted a survey of 1,001 people with complex disabilities, defined as those with two or more conditions such as a visual or hearing impairment or a learning disability – and found that this kind of discrimination against disabled people is commonplace at the DWP.

Its research showed that 43 per cent of those surveyed had been repeatedly contacted by the DWP in a format that did not meet their needs, even though they had previously told the department how they should be contacted. Ms Easton said she understands her mother told the DWP to contact her with braille letters or via email, which she can access with a screen reader.

The cumulative effect has been to put Ms Easton off applying for these benefits, even though it is clear to anyone with the slightest understanding of disability that she qualifies for them and should receive them in perpetuity because she is not going to get better (although This Writer would not be surprised if the DWP called her to ask if her blindness has gone away; it once – infamously – contacted a quadruple amputee to ask if her limbs had grown back yet).

And this is just one of many such incidents involving the Department for Work and Pensions – they are happening all the time.

Only last week, This Writer had to try to arrange an emergency appointment with the DWP because I was due to provide information about my own benefit claim but could not receive the security code to get onto the website because it was sent to my mobile phone, which was not working.

I phoned twice (on somebody else’s equipment) to arrange for my local office to contact me with an appointment time and was not contacted. When I attended my regular appointment later in the week, it was clear that nothing had been done about the calls I had made.

Again, it seems the intention was to deliberately create a situation in which I could be pushed off-benefit – or at least sanctioned – for failing to provide information in a timely manner, even though I had done everything required of me.

And this has been going on at the DWP, at least since the Conservatives formed their coalition government with the Liberal Democrats in 2010. This Site has been publishing stories about DWP failures (or rather, refusals to serve the public properly) since it came into existence as a personal blog at the end of 2011.

In response to the Guardian piece, a DWP spokesperson has said the new government will work closely with disabled people to reform the current system so it provides the support they need.

But this seems like an empty gesture while cases like Ms Easton’s – and mine – continue to happen.

What’s the solution? Contacting Liz Kendall? This Writer tried that a few weeks ago – and while government guidelines say my letter (no email address for DWP ministers!) should receive a response within 21 working days, I haven’t had one.

The media are clearly involved already, and the DWP has shrugged them off.

Any suggestions?

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