Disability Benefits Assessments

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Tuesday 1st February 2022 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I am grateful, Sir Gary, for the opportunity to speak in this debate.

I also thank the hon. Member for Battersea (Marsha De Cordova) for setting the scene so very well on a very important issue. I am sure that she will not mind my saying this, but her disability has never prevented her from bringing forward cases in this House, and I would say that for many of us she is an inspiration in the way in which she deals with her life for the benefit of all. I thank her for that and say well done to her.

As my party’s health spokesperson, it is important for me to be here; I always give a Northern Ireland perspective on how issues impact on my constituents. I do it in every debate I attend; I think that hon. Members, right hon. Members and Ministers probably expect it.

In July last year, the Department for Work and Pensions released its Green Paper on health and disability. First, may I say that I welcome the positive things that have come from the Green Paper? It has allowed the extension of special terminal illness rules, which is a much-needed step in the right direction. There was also an extension on the continued use of audio-visual assessments, which certainly makes the process more accessible for claimants as well.

The DWP was given extra time to look at evidence and make decisions, ensuring that all those eligible received what they need. These are steps in the right direction, and we need to have them in place. The hon. Member for Battersea has raised issues that I would like to discuss. First, there are accessibility issues for benefit assessments. A recent study showed that 27% of disabled adults across the UK have never used the internet. When it comes to assessments, I think we have to recognise that. One of my staff works full time helping my constituents to complete their benefit forms and says that, very often, in an audio-visual assessment, it is hard for consultants to get a real feel of how badly the claimant is suffering, making it less likely for them to make a successful claim. Perhaps the Minister can respond on that.

As of August 2021, in Northern Ireland there were 161,000 PIP claims. The overall award rate is 64%. Some 75% of DLA-reassessed claims were granted an award of PIP. and 79% of those claims were at an enhanced rate. I think there is a certain level of positivity, but there are those who do not get there and who, perhaps, as the hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Patricia Gibson) said, are overawed by the process and just give up. We need to try and reach out to those people.

The Green Paper also refers to PIP and ESA costing £8 billion in the early ’80s, rising to £31 billion in 2021 and probably £40 billion in the next five years. It states that Ministers want to take steps to make the benefits system more affordable. I am not quite sure what that means. Does that mean that they are cutting back on the number of applicants, or that people who justify receipt of the benefit do not get it? I hope the Minister can clarify that point.

One factor crucial to me is the protection of the disabled in terms of employment. The hon. Member for Battersea is a wonderful representation of how a disability should not impact what someone wants to do with their future. There are 8.4 million people in the UK who have a disability of some kind and 4.4 million are in employment. When looking at these figures it must be remembered that they scope from minimal disabilities to the most severe. Much to my dismay and that of others, employment-related suggestions are concentrated around the disabled person rather than changing the attitudes of the employer. The employer should understand what it means to have a disabled person in their workplace, and should be working to meet that goal.

It is imperative that disabled people are a priority for the Government, both in benefit assessments and in the Green Paper. They are often left behind in society and the Green Paper provides a way to reverse that. Their concerns must be listened to, not only by us, but by our constituents and by those who will be directly impacted by the Government’s Green Paper.

[Sir Gary Streeter (in the Chair)]

I thank all colleagues for their co-operation. We got there, bang on. We will now start on Front-Bench speeches, beginning with Marion Fellows.

--- Later in debate ---

[Vicky Foxcroft (Lewisham, Deptford) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Gary. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea (Marsha De Cordova) on securing this important debate and thank her for all her work in this area. She powerfully put forward why the assessment system is not working and the devastating impact that has on disabled people.

Many Members have outlined serious constituent concerns. That includes those so powerfully put forward by my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough (Andy McDonald), and I hope the Minister will look into the cases he raised. There are numerous concerns about the health and disability Green Paper, including, as many Members said, about the lack of proper consultation and co-production with disabled people. Having spoken to disabled people across the country, a running theme has been the tokenism with which the consultation has been undertaken. They asked me, “Why is the DWP so reluctant to engage with those who have been through the assessment process?”

As my right hon. Friend the Member for East Ham (Stephen Timms) outlined, it is deeply concerning that the Department has not taken onboard the recommendations of the independent Social Security Advisory Committee about the way it involves disabled people in the design and evaluation of policies that affect them. The committee recommended co-production with disabled people. The Green Paper’s consultation has, sadly, fallen short of that. Worse still, the DWP has not undertaken any proactive engagement with disabled people and their organisations—the experts by experience who have been through this process and would enhance this paper.

My hon. Friend the Member for Vauxhall (Florence Eshalomi) talked eloquently about how she had had a roundtable with the former Minister, and powerfully said how that had stayed with her and why co-production is absolutely key to building the trust of disabled people. What possible justification does the Minister have for not doing that? The Government need to learn from last week’s court judgment, which ruled that the national disabilities strategy consultation was unlawful. As many Members have said, a defence of “not set out to consult” fails to build trust with disabled people. The DWP must ensure that future engagement is far more robust and must urgently publish a plan for consulting with disabled people on the White Paper. It should allocate enough Government time for debate, ensuring that robust discourse can take place.

The next area that many Members mentioned is the adequacy of the benefits system. Even before the pandemic, disabled people were struggling to survive. As my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West (Ruth Jones) said, the number of disabled people living in poverty has risen by over a million since 2010. According to new analysis from the New Economics Foundation, single parents, pensioners and families with one or more disabled people are more likely to be the hardest hit by the rise in energy bills.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Cynon Valley (Beth Winter) said, people are worried that this Green Paper could be the start of a cost-cutting exercise. The Government must show that it is not. My hon. Friend the Member for Bolton South East (Yasmin Qureshi) articulated the problems and unfairness when people were moved from DLA to PIP. The House of Commons Library statistics show that, of the 1.5 million disabled people who were previously in receipt of DLA and who were reassessed for PIP, nearly half have seen their entitlement reduced or disallowed completely. While the Government might attempt to claim that that is positive, the high levels of mandatory reconsiderations and appeals tell another story.

We have a system that all too often places disabled people in extreme financial hardship. We know that the DWP has data on this. The Prime Minister committed to releasing the NatCen research it commissioned on the adequacy of benefits. What is the delay? Or is this something else he forgot? I welcome the fact that the Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Ham, will see that research. I really hope it can be published, but as he rightly said, it is disappointing that the Government must always be pushed into doing these things.

The other area Members focused on was employment. There is no mention of the kind of work that disabled people have. Are these good or sustainable jobs? Do people get good incomes, or are they on unstable, zero-hours contracts with poverty wages? Sadly, evidence has shown that disabled people tend to be in lower-paid and unstable work, yet there is no acknowledgment of that in the Green Paper. Why does it put forward only a consultation on disability employment and pay gap reporting? The Minister could do that tomorrow. Will she? Perhaps she can give an answer in her response.

The Green Paper talks a lot about sickness management, but there is nothing on improving statutory sick pay. We need to support people who need short periods off work for sickness, so that they can return stronger and without fear of financial hardship.

[Jim Shannon]

I mentioned in my contribution the responsibility of employers towards employees. Does the hon. Lady feel that there is a role for an administrator to play to ensure that employers look after their employees the way they should be looked after?

[Vicky Foxcroft]

Absolutely. I completely agree with the hon. Member and I think that is really important. I was just coming on to that point.

Will the guidelines the Government are going to produce be fit for purpose? Surely the Minister should recognise now that co-producing these with disabled people and disabled people’s organisations is the best way of ensuring that they work and deliver a more diverse workplace where the talents of disabled people are fully realised.

Disabled people have said that they often struggle to access their rights in the workplace and that employers do not always follow guidance. It is hard for disabled people to challenge that, and the legal process is expensive, especially for those who are not in trade unions. Where is the support for disabled people to ensure that they can access tribunals to hold their employers to account? I ask the Minister: why not provide additional support to disabled people’s organisations and charities and to trades unions, which offer vital support?

To conclude, I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea once again for securing this vital debate, and other Members for taking part. I thank the many disabled people’s organisations, charities and trade unions that work tirelessly to support disabled people. As all Opposition Members have said, co-production is key. The Minister should start listening to disabled people, who are experts by experience.