Mental Health and the Effects of Benefit Sanctions

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1 Mental Health and the Effects of Benefit Sanctions Thursday 23 rd July 2015, Carlisle Business Centre On the 23 rd of July Bradford and District Disabled People s Forum held a meeting on Mental Health and the Effects of Benefit Sanctions. Cath Stevenson, Chair of the Disabled People s Forum welcomed everyone to the meeting. Approximately 50 people attended, and Cath said it was good that so many people could come. Emmerson Walgrove Deputy Chair started off by giving a brief overview. He explained that at the Forum s last Annual General Meeting the Disabled People s Forum came up with a list of priorities the Forum be will focusing on for the year. These include: Representation on strategic bodies, and feed into action groups such as Health watch. Getting views/finding out what people s needs are, and ensuring that services are meeting their needs e.g. Fair Access to Care Services Supporting campaigns or other groups who campaign. Developing and strengthening the Forum Sharon Cullerton who is the coordinator for Bradford and Airedale Mental Health Advocacy Group (BAMHAG) was unable to attend the meeting however Emmerson gave a brief summary from the report she did on the Work Capability Assessment Enquiry. 1

2 A Judicial Review carried out in May 2013 showed that the benefits test used to decide whether people are fit for work is unfair for people with mental illness. Poor decision making at application stage means that many people who experience mental ill health and are unable to work have to appeal to have their application properly assessed and this is distressing. There is a significant lack of understanding within the process around mental ill health and the impact on people s ability to undertake paid and voluntary work. Emma Balfe Chief Executive Officer - Mind in Bradford Mind has done a lot of campaigning on this topic Mind believe people should be supported rather than being sanctioned People are sanctioned because of their Mental Health Sanctions make people s health worse Mind was asked to go to parliament to speak on behalf of people with Mental Health Categorisation is inaccurate Mental Health service users are asked inappropriate questions People are reluctant to volunteer Sanctions are an equality issue you are more likely to receive a sanction if you have a mental health problem o Lack of understanding, poor treatment, no trust between claimant and staff o A social justice and human rights issue too Over the last 12 months people experiencing deteriorating mental health because of sanctions and treatment Sanctions issued for reasons around: o People unable to use or access computers o Not turning up for appointments for which they have never received a letter for o Being late for appointments 2

3 60% of ESA claimants have mental health problems 1/3 rd of homeless people have been sanctioned Oxford university research into sanctions people on work programme more likely to get a sanction than a job Difficult to get appointments at Citizens Advice Bureau (and other advice centres?) people are queuing outside Get advice if you can use websites if you can Used to have disability rehabilitation officers whole system is going backwards, people need to be treated with dignity & respect Check out research from MIND (via website?) Issues around transport people cannot afford bus fares etc. There is a link between illness and income Homelessness and sanctions? Massive increase in use of food banks Keep on talking don t stop campaigning DWP institutionalised discrimination against disabled people particularly around mental health Sue Balcomb Bradford People Coalition Against the Cuts Need to change story about the cuts, the government see people who use state services as their fault We need to keep on reiterating that it is not poor people s fault but that of the banks. Aim is to fight against the cuts The Coalition has done a number of campaigns Facebook page with around 900 followers Work with other groups to get message out Anyone who wants to get the message out wider then let Bradford Coalition Against the Cuts know Done a leaflet about sanctions and how to appeal Example include: people being sanctioned for being late, being in hospital, going to funeral etc. Even though some are overturned, it is 3

4 the process they have to go through to appeal and the stress that this causes Positive action and tell the truth there are other ways in supporting people rather than cutting benefits. Ian Duncan Smith s goal/target is to have a million sanctions The group meet at Bradford Resource Centre every second Tuesday of the month at 6.00pm Ishtiaq Ahmed Sharing Voices Bradford Sharing Voices Have been supporting BME communities in a number of ways Over the past few month Sharing Voices service users have been sanctioned Ishtiaq described the difficulties people experience when their money has stopped. He gave similar examples to Sue Balcombe why people are sanctioned. More and more disabled people, sick people and single parents are the ones that are targeted. The system has become a bureaucratic nightmare. Individuals are treated unfairly Benefits of sanctions poverty, has detrimental effects on people, people with mental ill health living below the poverty line. Quote from one of the ministers is We have to learn to live for less Nick Hodgkinson Community Advice Network In support of groups not being sanctioned 9,000 sanctions applied 20% increase more people losing money for longer period One-third of homeless people are sanctioned. The length of time people are sanctioned 4 weeks (shortest) or it could be 13 weeks, 26 weeks or even 3 years. 4

5 Only 20% of people who are sanctioned go on to get work it is more likely for people to get poor quality jobs that doesn t last Target and benchmark what s the difference, in Bradford there are a number of good advice agencies. There is the opportunity to challenge sanctions and it will be overturned Homelessness has increased because of the sanctions An example was given of someone who ended up sleeping outside Bradford Royal Infirmary because of sanctions - situations like this have increased dramatically. Emma mentioned the project she works in and the rise in people accessing food banks. This also includes people who work. This is more like a time of depression than austerity. Question Should there be a campaign especially against the Department for Work and Pension discriminating against people who are poor, have mental health issues and disabled. Answer - Sharing Voices, Mind and other organisations are writing up a strategy to look at this, and to look at training. Social Services need to be a better system such as a yellow card system for example in employment a worker gets a verbal first. With social security it is all or nothing - no in between. More likely for people to get poor quality jobs that does not last. Target and Benchmark what s the difference? In Bradford there are a number of good advice agencies There is the opportunity to challenge sanctions and it will be overturned The question was asked about getting information in other formats such as audio, braille etc. Speakers mentioned their website but not everyone has access to websites - small funded organisations do not have the money, but 5

6 they will endeavour to work towards making their information accessible. Service Users not having the money to travel to jobs There is the need to campaign to try and stop the cuts continual campaign on behalf of service users. Question - Rolling Statistics on the CAN website is this possible? Funding for Community Advice Networks (CAN) runs out soon who would do this? Department for Work and Pensions has a website called statistic site and it is updated every six months but reluctant to publish statistic Remark - Speakers were marvellous - should have been a reporter present. Response Information was sent out to all the media contacts Way Forward Get local case studies Disabled groups rehabilitation officers need more in Bradford. Decline of money coming into Bradford because of the cuts. Where would the money come from to spend in places like Westfield? Write to your MPs about sanctions Bradford Hate Crime Alliance Mind, Sharing Voices disabled people s forum should get involved? Social prescribing volunteering G.Ps too busy for you to make a proper connection Need for therapeutic interventions within a community setting Services for mental health should be a top priority Young people s mental health services really difficult to get a service for young people DPF report Overview and Scrutiny Committee 6

7 Case studies needed - Advice Centres as part of Monitoring does case studies. Less money paid out in benefits less money spent in the local economy Seek support of G.Ps Practical Action: o Write to your MP s o Write to the local newspaper o Talk to your friends, family and neighbours raising & highlighting issues o Join a local campaign o Volunteer in your community o Donate to a food banks Bradford People s Coalition Against the Cuts have started leafleting outside the job centre Advice Centres collect case studies for commissioning team what does the local authority do with them? Cath thanked everyone for attending the meeting and taking part in the discussions. She also thanked the speakers for their very informative presentations, and the notes written up from the day will be on the website. Cath said that the Disabled People s Forum will be following up on some of the issues raised today. For paper copies of the PowerPoint presentations, reports and statistics please contact Sandra on or text or info@disabledpf.org.uk 7