tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52080531870624135132024-03-05T15:43:28.815-08:00The Golden DrawerTomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-24618130615134080372019-05-30T05:36:00.000-07:002019-05-30T05:36:50.388-07:00Complaint to the ASA regarding misleading advertising for universal credit in the Metro<br />
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ASA</div>
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Universal Credit
(UC) in the Metro</div>
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<b>Accuracy</b></div>
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<b>1. ‘There are a
lot of myths out there about it. We set the record straight...’</b></div>
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a) ‘You will have
to wait 5 weeks to get any money’ is stated to be a ‘myth’. The
minimum delay of five weeks cannot accurately be described as a myth.
It was the situation for several years until comparatively recently
and was a deliberate policy in part to discourage immediate claiming<a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#sdfootnote1sym" name="sdfootnote1anc"><sup>1</sup></a>
<a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#sdfootnote2sym" name="sdfootnote2anc"><sup>2</sup></a>
and in part to make payments later as doing so was said to reflect
the world of work . It can still only be avoided by claiming an
advance payment as a loan, which is a recent workaround policy in
response to valid criticism.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Presentation of this
is a ‘myth out there’ misleads, as it wrongly suggests that valid
criticism of UC for including this wait was being invented, or at a
minimum levelled at the system unfairly.</div>
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b) ‘UC makes it
harder to pay rent’ is stated to be a myth. This misleads by giving
the impression that payment of rent is no harder on UC. Payment is
significantly further in arrears than legacy benefits. Advances are
repayable immediately by deductions, so do not prevent it being
harder to pay rent, as the person will simply have less money. As
above, advances are a recent workaround to prevent total destitution
at the start of a claim, but do not prevent claimants being worse off
due to the longer shift towards payment in arrears.</div>
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<br /></div>
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c) ‘People move
into work faster’. This is misleading and inaccurate because it
suggests that the same claimants on UC would move into work faster
than they would on legacy benefits, and/or that UC causes people to
return to work. The higher uptake of work on UC is explained by the
different claimant group that has been moved onto it at this point.
The people with the highest barriers to work have moved onto UC more
slowly. All the claimants moved onto UC in its early years were
single people with no barriers to work, who would have returned to
work anyway<a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#sdfootnote3sym" name="sdfootnote3anc"><sup>3</sup></a>.</div>
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<br /></div>
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d) ‘If you take a
job you lose UC’. This is misleading by suggesting this is a
widespread criticism of UC that people are making. This is not a myth
that is ‘out there’. It is an obviously misguided criticism
included solely to give the impression that criticisms made of UC are
widely invalid and poorly argued (‘scaremongering’), rather than
addressing the legitimate criticisms of UC that are being made.</div>
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<b>Clarity of origin</b></div>
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a) Although there is
a line at the top of the pages stating ‘ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE FROM
THE DEPARTMENT FOR WORK AND PENSIONS’, its presentation in smaller
font and in all capitals makes it harder to read at a glance than
standard text. While this may not have mattered had this been clear
from the context anyway, when there are essentially two competing
stories for the origin of the piece this is an unfair technique to
draw focus from it.</div>
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<br /></div>
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b) The disclaimer is
contradicted by the overall presentation of the article. The headings
‘uncovered’, ‘guide to’, ‘your questions answered’, ‘4
page special’ are not consistent with an advertisement. The overall
tone as a whole is misleadingly presented as a journalistic
investigation into UC that unexpectedly uncovered a positive picture
for the Department.</div>
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<br /></div>
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c) An intention to
disguise the origin of the piece was stated by the Department. “<i>We
want to grab the readers’ attention and make them wonder who has
done this ‘UC uncovered’ investigation</i>.”<a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#sdfootnote4sym" name="sdfootnote4anc"><sup>4</sup></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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d) The voice of the
writer is not consistent with an advertisement.‘We’ set the
record straight, but ‘your jobcentre’ will pay you (not we)
misleadingly suggests that the piece is written by a Metro reporter.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div id="sdfootnote1">
<div class="sdfootnote">
<a class="sdfootnotesym" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#sdfootnote1anc" name="sdfootnote1sym">1</a>https://www.opfs.org.uk/waiting-period-increasing-for-some-benefit-claimants/</div>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote2">
<div class="sdfootnote">
<a class="sdfootnotesym" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#sdfootnote2anc" name="sdfootnote2sym">2</a>https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/350772/42915_unnumerbed_Act_accessible.pdf</div>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote3">
<div class="sdfootnote">
<a class="sdfootnotesym" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#sdfootnote3anc" name="sdfootnote3sym">3</a>http://www.jointpublicissues.org.uk/universal-credit-bending-the-evidence/</div>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote4">
<div class="sdfootnote">
<a class="sdfootnotesym" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#sdfootnote4anc" name="sdfootnote4sym">4</a>https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/14/universal-credit-department-work-pensions-pr</div>
</div>
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<br />
<h1 style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="ctl00_ctl00_FormContent_SiteSpecificPlac"></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.0pt;">Response - PIP and
ESA Assessments inquiry</span></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Name: Tom
Evans</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Welfare
rights adviser 2008-2009; 2013-present</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Background</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">I have
been working for an advice charity advising clients on benefits matters and
entitlement full time since 2013 with a focus on representing clients through
the process of appealing work-capability and PIP decisions. I also had some
experience of this process in 2008/09.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Common
features of ESA and PIP</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Entitlement
to both benefits is determined by assessing a claimant’s disabilities against a
set of descriptors which prescribe specific problems. These descriptors cover
17 activities in ESA and 12 in PIP.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">A claimant
who is assessed as meeting or satisfying a descriptor scores a corresponding
number of points. In most cases, points will be needed across more than one
activity to qualify for benefit.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Assessments</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">In both
benefits, the assessment is carried out by requesting the claimant’s own
account of their relevant problems in a questionnaire, and then by asking about
this further at a face to face meeting with a qualified healthcare professional
(known as an HCP or assessor). The assessor then recommends to the DWP which
points-scoring descriptors are satisfied. This is based on their training by the
DWP on the criteria, and to an extent (which has never been fully disclosed by
the DWP) by purportedly expert-system software. In ESA an application known as
LiMA</span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-text-raise: 7.0pt; position: relative; top: -2.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "liberation serif" , serif; font-size: 8.0pt; position: relative; top: -2.0pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">. is involved, and there is an
unknown equivalent in PIP.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Common
problems in the assessment process of both benefits</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Points
Criteria</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">It follows
from the above that a correct understanding by the assessor (and to the extent
relevant, by the computer programme) of the criteria for satisfying each
descriptor is absolutely fundamental to the process.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">One of the
most common complaints by claimants is that an assessor was not qualified to
assess them (e.g. due to not being a doctor or specialist in the condition).
While it may be a factor, this probably misses the point in most cases.
Assessments by doctors are, in our experience, of no higher quality.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The issue
in a given assessment is far more likely to be poor application of the
descriptors to a claimant’s circumstances, even where these factual
circumstances are agreed. The extent to which this is caused by an incorrect
but innocent belief about the test, or by deliberately incorrect training or
working to targets, remains extremely contentious.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Issues
around anchoring to the top descriptor, and bottom-up counting</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Within the 17 activities in ESA and 12 in PIP,
each activity carries multiple potential point-scoring descriptors. The scores
available range from 6-15 in ESA and 2-8 in PIP.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In both benefits, it is very unusual for
claimants to score more than the lowest descriptor in an activity. Assessors
seem very reluctant to award higher scoring descriptors, which can make
qualifying for the benefit a much more difficult exercise, particularly for
people whose needs are severe but focused in one area. This has been referred
to as bottom-up counting: reversing the order in which descriptors are
considered so that only the lowest scoring one is counted, even if a higher
score might also be justified.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Conversely assessors also seem anchored to the
concept (see ‘rules of thumb’) that to score any points a claimant must be
completely unable to carry out an activity (which generally relates to the
highest descriptor). This leads to a double harshening of the test so that to
score any points a claimant must factually satisfy the highest descriptor while
only being allocated the points for the lowest.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">ESA Example: Mrs W is losing control of her bowel on
a daily basis. Instead of the appropriate 15-point descriptor, she was only
awarded the lower descriptor for being ‘at risk’ of this happening.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">PIP Examples: -</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Mr C has autism but was awarded the lowest scoring
two-point descriptor for social engagement: that he needs encouragement. The
activity is supposed to encompass understanding body language and forming
relationships reliably, which he is unable to do.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Many claimants who are physically unable to complete
an activity at all are only awarded two points for ‘needing an aid or
appliance’, where this does not seem relevant to their problem, and it is not
explained how one would help.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Weight
placed on purported counter-examples</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Much of the assessment process for disability
benefits relies on looking for counter-examples: activities a claimant can
manage which would be inconsistent with a points score. Explored correctly,
this is a valid technique: for example the fact a person who has recently moved
house themselves without difficulty or receiving any help would be good
evidence they could lift a cardboard box.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Use of this technique is problematic in ESA
and PIP assessments, where alongside the ‘rules of thumb’, very dubious examples
are often given disproportionate evidential weight. Often the examples are
activities managed very occasionally, or in other cases, are examples lacking
proper elements of the test in the descriptors. The LiMA software in ESA works
particularly heavily along such lines</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 8.0pt; position: relative; top: -2.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 8.0pt; position: relative; top: -2.0pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Examples: -</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Mr M was found able to cope with unexpected changes,
and travel to unfamiliar places alone, based on him being able to sit in his
car at the seafront near his home.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Miss P was said to be able to plan and organise
tasks based on being able to drink water.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Mr R was said to be able to walk 200 metres without
stopping based on getting to the foodbank, an unknown distance away.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Miss F was found to be able to cope with social
engagement reliably due to attending rape counselling.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Many of our clients have been found to be able to
cope with social engagement reliably based on going into a shop or to the GP,
without any more detail about these encounters being asked.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The LiMA software in ESA is known to search
for keywords in a claimant’s alleged typical day and to carry these examples
over to its advice on activities, where it is used to affect the recommended
score. This can be observed when a nonsensical example is occasionally picked
up by the computer: for example, a statement that a claimant ‘sees his
children’ might be carried over to the section about vision. Other examples of
known keyword recognition include any statement including the word ‘shop’ being
carried into social engagement, and any use of ‘dog’ being carried into
mobility. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Irrelevant
and pseudo-scientific mental health tests</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In addition to often dubious counter-examples,
ESA and PIP assessments both include tests such as asking the claimant to count
down from 100, spell ‘world’ backwards, and remember three objects. While these
have some use as tests for dementia and severe learning disability, they have
no known validity in testing for mental health or emotional disorders, or
autism-spectrum disorders.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Despite this, these tests are used routinely
as purported evidence that a claimant can function socially, reliably plan and
organise tasks at home or in a workplace, or cope with stresses.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Failure to refer to the claimants’
own evidence and to other evidence</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">In
principle the DWP’s decision should take into account the claimant’s own
evidence, either in the claim forms or other statements, and other relevant
evidence, as should the assessor’s report.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">In
practice we do not find that this happens. The assessor’s report follows the
pattern of focusing on the claimant’s account of the typical day and checking
this for purported counter-examples. This also has the (possibly unintended)
side-effect that because the LiMA manual asks for positive examples of ability
only, it is very hard for the claimant to get evidence on record that might
suggest they meet a descriptor. It biases the process towards non-entitlement.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Over-reliance
on absence of treatments or input</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">A very
common theme in ESA assessments is an observation that a claimant is not in
receipt of certain treatments. Often this is summarised as ‘no specialist
input’ or similar. Sometimes the particular treatment in mind is specified,
such as ‘not been referred to the memory clinic’, or appropriate treatment is
minimized, such as ‘only on standard medication’ or ‘a standard dose of
painkillers’. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">While it
can, with care, be possible to draw appropriate inferences where an expected
treatment is absent, there is reason to think this assessment technique is not
being used appropriately. In a recent housing case, overuse of a similar
asessment technique was criticized by the Central London County Court</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 8.0pt; position: relative; top: -2.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 8.0pt; position: relative; top: -2.0pt;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Many
treatments may not be appropriate or available, and there may be other good
reasons for a claimant not receiving them other than an absence of need.
Receipt of treatments or certain medical input is not part of the criteria for
receiving sickness or disability benefits and it is wholly wrong for assessors
to substitute this as a proxy for the proper criteria. It is especially
worrying when an implication that to qualify, a claimant should be overdosing
on painkillers.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Problems specifically known to affect
ESA</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Use
of rules of thumb</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In 2013 Dr Greg Wood resigned from Atos and
revealed that he had been trained to apply various rules of thumb which ‘he
believed deliberately traduced the more nuanced written instructions in the
assessors' handbook on five critical areas, so that assessors were less likely
to award points to claimants’</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 8.0pt; position: relative; top: -2.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 8.0pt; position: relative; top: -2.0pt;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">. Training of these ‘rules’ was also independently
recorded in undercover filming</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 8.0pt; position: relative; top: -2.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 8.0pt; position: relative; top: -2.0pt;">[5]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Despite the denial of this by Atos, and some
attempts to backtrack from the more obviously incorrect rules, evidence of
these rules or variants of them persists in reports.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Examples: We assisted Mr S to appeal against a
decision incorporating a purported finding that he could mobilise more than 200
metres without stopping. The evidence cited was that he could walk briefly
close to his caravan and was observed walking with a stick from room to room at
the assessment.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">A further effect of rules of thumb is that
they discourage the assessor from recording, or even asking, enough information
to arrive at a proper decision, since the cursory information is wrongly
thought to be enough. (See also ‘counter-examples’ below)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Use
of statistical norms</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Rumours of targets or incentives to find more
claimants ineligible for benefit have long haunted ESA. Then Minister for Work
and Pensions, Chris Grayling, denied the existence of any targets anywhere in
the system</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 8.0pt; position: relative; top: -2.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 8.0pt; position: relative; top: -2.0pt;">[6]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">What has been now admitted is that assessors
for ESA work to ‘statistical norms’</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 8.0pt; position: relative; top: -2.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 8.0pt; position: relative; top: -2.0pt;">[7]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.These are said to be different from targets, as an
assessor does not know what the ‘target’ is. This is still problematic, as an
assessor will know their numbers are being tracked so will still indirectly be
influenced.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Since tracking norms requires assessors to
follow the behaviour of other assessors, this leads to a self-perpetuating
culture of incorrect outcomes. And since it is widely accepted that the initial
tendency was to pass too few people, this set the course of the norm in an
unmovable direction.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">DWP
objections to purported ‘double counting’</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">While not
a consistent problem, the DWP has made repeated attempts to restrict what it
purports to be ‘double counting’ - that is to alter the criteria so that a
limitation cannot score points in more than one assessment activity. Most
notably, an attempt at this succeeded in 2011 when three of the mental health
activities were removed from ESA on this basis, significantly harshening the
test</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 8.0pt; position: relative; top: -2.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 8.0pt; position: relative; top: -2.0pt;">[8]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">As noted
in the introduction above, it is normally necessary for a claimant to score in
more than one area to qualify for benefit. Far from being ‘double counting’,
this is a basic feature of the assessment process that has been created. Any
future attempts by the DWP to resurrect this as an issue should be viewed with
considerable suspicion.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Ministers
statements on criteria</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">It is
often the case that claimants’ expectations have been poorly managed by
statements from ministers. People who are then found not to be eligible are
made to feel as if they have been caught out or in some way accused of making a
false claim. This is especially unfair in ESA, as a subsistence benefit for
those unable to work, who may well have no other source of income and who will
have come to be on ESA simply through being signed off work by their GP with no
opportunity to make a positive decision to claim on the merits of their case.
The assessment is usually the first time they learn that their GP’s note is not
the final word.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">There has
been a long trend for ministers to make statements such as ‘we are committed to
ensuring that those who cannot work are protected’ or that the ‘most
vulnerable’ will not lose out.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">When a
claimant actually tries to claim the benefit and is found ineligible, the
Department appears to retreat from such statements and to replace them
(privately) with platitudes about the test requiring a ‘very high degree of
disability’, or that despite significant disabilities being accepted, they are
‘not enough to be found to have limited capability for work’.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">This
disparity between ministers’ statements and the actual tests have led to
increased suspicion and abuse of claimants, such as that seen in the right-wing
press who feel empowered to assert that anyone who was ‘genuine’ would have
easily passed their assessment</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 8.0pt; position: relative; top: -2.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 8.0pt; position: relative; top: -7.0pt;">[9]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">. This situation risks causing
misguided campaigns for eligibility to be tightened even further.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">This inconsistency
was again seen in 2016 when the work-related component of ESA was abolished,
with many MPs expressing an incorrect belief that anyone incapable of work was
entitled to be in the support group – in effect, that being allocated to the
support group was easy and expected. Even the newly appointed Secretary of
State at the time had to correct a misleading statement to this effect</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 8.0pt; position: relative; top: -7.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 8.0pt; position: relative; top: -7.0pt;">[10]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">. This has led to a noticeable rise
in people who feel that being placed in the work-related activity group of ESA
is an insulting denial of their condition, or that it is equivalent to being
found fit for work.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">We would
urge that the DWP should be required to ensure that there is a consistent message
in public and towards claimants. In particular, if the policy is that
significantly disabled or vulnerable people can nevertheless be ineligible for
extra support, or should fall within the sanctions system, ownership of this
needs to be publicly accepted by the DWP.</span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="EndnoteCharacters"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="EndnoteCharacters"><span style="font-family: "liberation serif" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span class="EndnoteCharacters"> <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>See
for example the discussion in the Upper Tribunal in NH v Secretary of State
[2014] UKUT 114 (AAC)
http://administrativeappeals.decisions.tribunals.gov.uk//aspx/view.aspx?id=4141</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "liberation serif" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">[2]</span></span></a>
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Extract from the LiMA
Technical Manual “Tip – Say what the claimant CAN do. LiMA works best when it
has positive information about the claimant’s abilities. For example, the
phrase ‘Can walk 400m to the shops’ is much more useful than the phrase ‘Cannot
walk 800m to the town centre.’ Wherever possible, try to gather information
about what the claimant CAN do.” [In an independent report, one is left to
speculate why this is seen as more useful.]</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "liberation serif" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">[3]</span></span></a>
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: "liberation serif" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;">Thomas v Lambeth LBC </span></i>https://nearlylegal.co.uk/2017/10/vulnerabilitymedical-evidence-now-medical/</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "liberation serif" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">[4]</span></span></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/jul/31/atos-fitness-work-test-greg-wood</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "liberation serif" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">[5]</span></span></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span> Channel 4 - Dispatches – Britain
on the Sick - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rQmAfrKEic</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "liberation serif" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">[6]</span></span></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span> <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Channel 4 - Dispatches<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Npuh4im0jY</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "liberation serif" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">[7]</span></span></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span> Freedom of Information response
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/atos_norms</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "liberation serif" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">[8]</span></span></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldselect/ldmerit/105/10506.htm</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn9" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "liberation serif" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">[9]</span></span></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span> Daily Express 14<sup>th</sup> Oct
2009, 26<sup>th</sup> Jan 2011, 27<sup>th</sup> Jul 2011 “75% on sick benefits
are faking” This story was repeated across the press in similar terms. It is
clear that the figures were sourced from a closed DWP press release.</div>
</div>
<div id="ftn10" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5208053187062413513#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "liberation serif" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">[10]</span></span></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/work-pensions-secretary-stephen-crabb-disability-able-fit-a6951946.html</div>
</div>
</div>
Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-73201657681944856252016-11-17T04:19:00.000-08:002016-11-17T04:19:00.024-08:00Repost - How did so many MPs come to minunderstand the ESA cut in the same way?Earlier this month, the House of Commons voted to proceed with a hefty cut to employment and support allowance (ESA) (the name for incapacity benefit and income support) since 2008).<br />
<br />
To remain on ESA after the initial assessment, a claimant must score 15 points from these descriptors. Since 2008, anyone scoring 0, 6, or 9 points is moved onto jobseeker's allowance and is 'fit for work'. Qualifying for ESA is getting past a high bar.<br />
<br />
The legislation passed abolishes the 'work-related activity component (WRAC)' (which replaced the disability premium in income support for people unable to work). The 'support component' remains, which also replaces the disability premium but for a slightly different subset of ESA claimants. (The difference is small and arbitrary, and is essentially whether the claimant scores all 15 points from one activity.)<br />
<br />
The naming is Orwellian and does not describe the subject matter in a way easily understood. The thinking appears to be that by generously adding the words 'work' and 'employment', ill people unable to work would be persuaded into employment anyway.<br />
<br />
Since most claimants are in the work-related group rather than the support group, the removal of the WRAC leaves the level of ESA the same as jobseeker's allowance for most claimants.<br />
<br />
This week, I was appalled to see that the new Secretary of State put out a grossly misleading and false statement, claiming that people on ESA with a work-related activity component have been found to be fit for work.<br />
<br />
I then noticed that my local MP, Andrew Turner, has put out a suspiciously similar statement.<br />
<br />
Further investigation uncovered no less than 13 MPs who has all repeated almost the exact same statement, often ironically decrying the 'misunderstanding' that the cut affected people who are ill.<br />
<br />
It seems clear that MPs were lobbied on a factually incorrect basis and were misled into voting for the cut under false pretences. Even Conservative MPs had threatened to vote down the budget over proposed PIP criteria changes so cannot be taken to fully behind all benefit cuts. But on almost any analysis, the ESA cut is harsher than the proposed PIP changes and may affect much more vulnerable and ill people.Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-37041827075012813622016-11-16T08:24:00.001-08:002016-11-17T04:21:07.693-08:00Email to Andrew Turner MPDear Mr Turner<br /><br />I am writing concerning the vote tomorrow (Thursday 17th Nov) proposing to reverse the abolition of the work-related component of Employment and Support Allowance.<br /><br />Although I am not a supporter of your party, I consider that you are an honourable man who have voted and spoken with your conscience in the past.<br /><br />The previous vote to cut the ESA component was, I contend, tainted by a dishonest briefing of MPs by the government at the time as to what the proposal was, assisted by the deliberately confusing terminology. Many MPs, including I believe you, were told that the cut affected only those found fit for work. This was a lie as it affected only those found unable to do any work as defined under the stringent ESA criteria.<br /><br />It was said that the money cut would be reinvested into supporting claimants to work. It has not been explained how this is possible when the people the money is to be taken from have been found unable to work.<br /><br />It was said that the cut brought ESA into line with jobseekers Allowance. This was not true, as a disability premium is available to disabled JSA claimants. The ESA component is the equivalent of this for people too ill to claim JSA. The cut therefore makes ESA less than JSA for the same claimant.<br /><br />I feel strongly that a vote by Parliament tomorrow to keep the cut would be an endorsement of the government lying to MPs and as such, the only proper course is for Parliament to overturn the cut pending a full and honest reassessment of it.<br /><br />I trust you will do what is clearly right.<br /><br />Yours faithfully<br /><br />Tom EvansTomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-15409582519376152252016-03-21T03:28:00.004-07:002016-03-21T03:37:28.607-07:00My response to the PIP consultation to reduce the points for aids and appliances<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
IDS implied that this was a new policy that had taken him by surprise.<br />
<br />
This is odd because his department had <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/484217/pip-consultation-on-aids-and-appliances.pdf" target="_blank">announced such a policy in December 2015</a>, and had made it clear that the initial plan was for a larger reduction than was ultimately agreed following the public consultation. In fact, the final proposal he apparently considered unconscionable was more generous than any of the five options offered in December.<br />
<br />
This was my response to the consultation in December:-<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Response to
Consultation — Aids and Appliances in Personal Independence Payment</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">From the Welfare Rights Department of --------</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Issue one – the number
of claimants scoring solely through aids and appliances</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>We note that one of the concerns raised by the
consultation is the number of claimants scoring all of their points through a
need for aids and appliances. Our experience of PIP assessment reports suggests
that this figure may be misleading because of a trend for assessors to favour
the aids and appliances descriptors over descriptors indicating a need for help
from another person, where both descriptors are met.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>At present the difference is frequently not
material to the outcome, and where this is the case, goes unchallenged. Should
the qualifying criteria be changed in any of the ways suggested, we would
anticipate that a significant proportion of those presently being scored as
needing only aids or appliances would have grounds to challenge the selection of
the aids or appliance descriptor. An example would be a client of ours who
could not cook and prepare food for himself safely (due to blackouts) being
scored as needing an aid or appliance. Because he was happy with the overall
award level, there was no need for him to challenge this descriptor.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>We would also note that Paul Gray’s Independent
Review does not specifically raise this as an area of concern in the sense
implied. The Review raised a concern that claimants might be awarded a scoring
descriptor where they had <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">chosen</i> to
use an aid or appliance but did not need to use one. This is a valid
operational concern, as the PIP criteria already do not support an award in
those circumstances. We do not consider that the Review was recommending any
change to the qualifying criteria.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Issue two — the claimed broadening of the
meaning of aids</b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>The consultation raises particular concern that
the meaning of ‘aids and appliances’ has been broadened by upper tribunal
decisions. We do not agree that this has occurred.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>The PIP2 form has acknowledged from the
beginning that a perching stool is an aid or appliance, as did the 2012
consultation on the criteria, so it is clear that seats and chairs were
intended to be included in the definition. Lighter pans are also mentioned
specifically. The important question is whether the claimant <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">needs</i> to use the aid to achieve the
relevant, fairly undemanding, daily activity and not whether they possess or
have paid for one.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>We would also note that it was clear to the
drafters of the regulations that ‘spectacles or contact lenses’ would come
within the meaning of aids or appliances if not specifically excluded from
Activity 8. The decision not to exclude chairs, perching stools, and other
everyday devices was therefore a deliberate policy choice.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>In conclusion, we do not agree that this premise
of the consultation is factually accurate.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Issue three — the assessment of extra costs</b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>One of the solutions raised by the consultation
is to replace the daily living component with a lump sum payment to purchase
aids and appliances. We consider that this reveals a misunderstanding of the
concept of extra costs, which was perhaps prompted by a single sentence in Paul
Gray’s Review.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>It is made clear in the 2012 consultation that
the criteria for PIP are considered to be a proxy assessment of a
representative cross section of the claimant’s functions:</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">38
The activities have been carefully selected to act as a proxy for
participation, levels of need and likely extra cost. We have not sought to
assess each and every activity an individual might perform on a daily basis but
rather we have selected a range of activities which cumulatively act as a good
proxy. For example, individuals who have difficulties dressing and undressing
are likely to have difficulties in other areas that involve bending and
reaching, while individuals who have difficulty preparing food are likely to
have difficulties carrying out other activities that require manual dexterity.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>The intention appears to be that a claimant who
has some difficulty bending and reaching, for example, should score under
dressing to reflect this limitation in bending across daily life.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">11.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>The extra costs may come in an almost open-ended
number of ways such as needing to have purchases delivered, to shop locally at
higher cost, to pay for domestic help, gardeners, simple home maintenance, heating,
extra living space, taxis <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">et cetera</i>;
combined with probable reduced earnings and reduced opportunities for work. The
PIP assessment is the proxy for qualification but is not an assessment of the
amount of the costs.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">12.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>The Review (somewhat by the way) mentioned the
low cost of purchasing some aids and appliances, and this appears to be have
been taken up by this consultation in its claimed Illustrative Examples.
However, PIP is not intended literally to reflect the cost of purchasing aids
and appliances, but to reflect extra costs in general via a proxy assessment of
functional difficulties. In the examples given, needing to sit to prepare a
simple meal, breathlessness dressing, and needing to use a sink for support
just to get off the toilet are indications of significant disability rather
than direct financial costs. To suggest otherwise is to misuse the nature of
the assessment within its own stated terms.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Issue four — the
options</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">13.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>In light of the above, we consider that options
one to three are flawed as they are founded on mistaken premises that the rate
of PIP is related to direct financial need arising from activities 1-12. (There
would presumably be no equivalent mechanism under these options for people who
can demonstrate that their direct financial costs from these activities are in
excess of £139.75 per week to claim for these costs through PIP.)</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">14.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Options four and five are logically valid if the
aim is simply to restrict the number of people who qualify by raising the bar.
Provided this is openly acknowledged to be the aim, this may be a legitimate
policy but will cause hardship. We would suggest that two of the stated changes
in PIP: face to face assessments and regular reviews, have found more people to
qualify than was assumed would be the case and that this should also be openly
acknowledged for any changes to have a legitimate foundation.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">15.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>We would however urge for proper consideration
to be given to an option of making no changes to the criteria, along with an
acknowledgment that the original assumption that face to face assessments
alongside regular reviews would lead to a large reduction in awards appears now
to have been incorrect.</div>
Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-8629725366816654712015-04-27T07:56:00.001-07:002015-04-27T07:56:43.215-07:00Beavis and ButthurtThe Court of Appeal has ruled in <a href="http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2015/402.html" target="_blank">Parking Eye v Beavis</a> that parking tickets issued by private companies are enforceable in many situations, despite being an example of a punitive contractual clause.<br />
<br />
This is something of a personal disappointment for me. I have been arguing for years that private tickets were effectively a made up scam, and should not be paid. The idea that a private company can 'fine' you for not following its rules seemed quite distasteful. And the law seemed to be on our side, as even if the company could claim you made a contract to pay its 'fine', the law has traditionally not recognised as valid clauses that are punitive in nature. Therefore the idea that private companies were levying 'fines', without any power to do so whatsoever, and while giving the widespread impression that they did have such a power, all made me rather irate.<br />
<br />
For the past ten years or so I have been raising awareness of the potentially dubious nature of tickets from private companies and trying to make people aware that they are not the same as tickets from councils or the police. I staked a certain amount of my reputation on it and have criticized the CAB and similar organizations int he past for not taking a strong line that people should not usually be expected to pay such charges.<br />
<br />
So when Beavis was in the news last week, I initially felt what could be described as <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ButtHurt&defid=101171" target="_blank">"an inappropriately strong negative emotional response from a perceived personal insult. Characterized by strong feelings of shame." </a>I'd been misadvising people all these years. The people I had thought were scammers were found to have been right.<br />
<br />
But I suppose something had to give sooner or later. The long-awaited and long-needed banning of private clamping in 2012 was partially driven by a compromise that some form of enforceable private ticketing system would take its place. It was certainly a compromise I would have agreed to. It was a strong message that the industry up until that point had been tainted by poor practice.<br />
<br />
What was really needed all along was some certainty in the law, with safeguards, and on reflection I feel that the Beavis judgment is not all bad. Although technically the court 'declares what the law has always been', in practice it is making new law for the future. The judgment says that charges must be justifiable. The charges must be clearly displayed and there cannot be traps or pitfalls waiting. At a stroke, this final condition <i>still</i> leaves the tickets from the most prolific private parking operations based near to me unenforceable as they were mostly predicated on <a href="http://onthewight.com/2012/01/12/did-you-get-a-parking-ticket-at-newport-co-op-last-year/" target="_blank">traps and pitfalls.</a><br />
<br />
There is now some certainty in the law, which is vital to allow people to change their behaviour. There are also some reasonable safeguards. Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-85463357964750112272014-06-18T07:17:00.000-07:002014-06-18T08:01:47.807-07:00The DWP’s ‘Performance Measurement’ visits<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
There has been some discussion on Twitter about the DWP’s
<a href="https://www.gov.uk/dwp-visit" target="_blank">claim here</a> that it may conduct what it calls ‘Performance Measurement' visits, a
strangely Orwellian term for what, on the face of it, appears to mean some form of fraud
investigation. The discussion has included talk of whether failure to participate in a visit can lead to loss of benefit. The short answer is "no", but it's a bit more complicated than that.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is no doubt that the DWP has wide powers to
investigate fraud, and may conduct visits to premises, including to a person’s
home or place of employment. There is no right of entry to a person’s
home if the person does not agree. While it has the power to conduct these visits, all this really means is that
in doing so, it does not <i>necessarily</i> unlawfully exceed its powers. It
does not mean that it can actually compel a claimant's participation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The DWP also has adequate powers to revise or supersede
(technical terms meaning, for these purposes, essentially, stop) awards of
benefit where there is evidence the person no longer qualifies. This can be
retrospective, leading to an overpayment, which may be recovered.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Where evidence exists that a person might be receiving
benefit he isn’t entitled to, the DWP might well want to put the case to the
claimant for comment, and if it isn’t satisfied with any explanation given then
they would be within their rights to revise or supersede the award on the basis of the evidence held.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However, the key problem with the
‘Performance Measurement’ visits page seems to me to be summed up by this paragraph:- </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 24.0pt;">
"Your name is selected at random
to be checked. You won’t always get a letter in advance telling you about the
visit."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If there is no pre-existing evidence that a claimant’s award
of benefit is incorrect, then there seems to be no good reason for a claimant
to comply with such a visit. While a person <i>might</i> have no objection to co-operating with random checks, it surely seems only good manners to offer an appointment for such a visit in advance, instead of just turning up without notice. It would seem to me entirely reasonable for a claimant to turn a DWP officer away who had just turned up unannounced for a random check.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The DWP’s only recourse if a claimant refused to
engage with the visiting officer would be to argue that it was entitled to draw
an inference from the claimant’s conduct. They would then have to conclude that
such an inference <i>alone</i> showed, on balance of probability, that the award was
incorrect. This would be a staggering leap of logic.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Such a decision would carry a right of appeal, where the
burden of proof would be on the DWP to show grounds to remove the award. Since
the conditions of benefit are laid down by statute such grounds would simply
not exist. Even if the DWP <i>did</i> have pre-existing grounds to suspect the award
was wrong, and a claimant did not comply with a visit, the appeal would be a
complete rehearing of the facts and the claimant could submit any new evidence
even if it was not available to the DWP before.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If the DWP did try to go down this path of
revising/superseding based on adverse inference alone, it would be a massive
waste of public money on the successful appeals that would ensue, and would
arguably amount to deliberate maladministration. I would therefore never expect
they would actually attempt this.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I should add for completeness that there is, rightly,
ultimately a sanction for failure to provide information to the DWP. The DWP
may require a person to provide information ‘reasonably required’, and may
terminate benefit as a punitive measure if the person fails to do so. However,
the claimant is entitled to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">one month</b>
to provide the information. Additionally, the request must be in writing and
must state that one month is being allowed. It is not enough to have simply
demanded paperwork, ID etc. on the doorstep and been sent away, and the one month would not run in such circumstances. The issues
around this power, and how it interacts with adverse inferences, are helpfully
discussed in Upper Tribunal cases <a href="http://www.osscsc.gov.uk/judgmentfiles/j4095/CH%202001%202013-00.doc" target="_blank">CH/2001/2013</a>, <a href="http://www.osscsc.gov.uk/aspx/view.aspx?id=2253" target="_blank">CH/2995/2006</a>, and <a href="http://www.osscsc.gov.uk/aspx/view.aspx?id=2459" target="_blank">R(H) 1/09</a> and
these cases remain good law. Although these are local authority benefit cases,
the relevant DWP regulations are the same.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The DWP therefore appears to be somewhat misstating the situation. It clearly seems to be implying that participation with a visiting
officer is compulsory, whereas this is really only the case where fraud is
already suspected, and then only to the extent that non-compliance may lead to
an adverse inference being drawn. The suggestion that a person visited <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">at random</i> has any meaningful duty to
co-operate on the spot does not seem to be correct, as long as any information reasonably
required is provided within one month.</div>
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<![endif]--><br />Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-6247511145185885802013-11-01T06:15:00.001-07:002013-11-01T08:02:06.740-07:00The DWP's Mandatory Reconsideration regulations may be legally flawedIt's been widely discussed that from the 28th October, the DWP can suspend a person's appeal rights against a benefit decision while it carries out a 'mandatory reconsideration'. This is particularly controversial in ESA cases, because it prevents a person getting emergency rate ESA until the reconsideration is completed. The change has widely been <a href="http://kittysjones.wordpress.com/2013/01/30/735/" target="_blank">seen as unfair.</a><br />
<br />
The primary legislation allowing this change is the newly inserted subsection 12(3A) of the Social Security Act 1998:-<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
(3A) Regulations may provide that, <b>in such cases or circumstances as may
be prescribed</b>, there is a right of appeal under subsection (2) in
relation to a decision only if the Secretary of State has considered
whether to revise the decision under section 9<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null">.</a></blockquote>
As we can see, there is no automatic removal of immediate appeal rights. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/appeals-process-changes-for-dwp-benefits-and-child-maintenance" target="_blank">The DWP are talking as though</a> the change is automatic for all new decisions after 28th October, but in fact the change applies only to 'such cases or circumstances as may be prescribed.' So for example, the Secretary of State may want to prescribe that the new procedure affects ESA cases decided after a certain date, but not DLA cases, and perhaps JSA cases after a different date.<br />
<br />
Here's what the Secretary of State has purported to prescribe in the new regulation 3ZA of the Social Security (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 1999:-<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
3ZA.— Consideration of revision before appeal<br />
<br />
<div class="indent">
(1) This regulation applies in a case where—</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="indent">
<div class="indent">
(a) the Secretary of State gives a person written notice of a decision
under section 8 or 10 of
the Act (whether as originally made or as revised under section 9 of
that Act); and </div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="indent">
<div class="indent">
<b>(b) that notice includes a statement to the effect that there is a
right of appeal in relation to the decision only if the Secretary of State
has considered an application for a revision of the decision.</b></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="indent">
(2) In a case to which this regulation applies, a person has a right
of appeal under section 12(2) of the Act in relation to the decision only
if the Secretary of State has considered on an application whether to revise
the decision under section 9 of
the Act.</div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
I think there might be a fundamental problem with this thanks to the Supreme
Court’s very recent decision in <a href="http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKSC/2013/68.html" target="_blank">Reilly and Wilson</a> (the Poundland case). I quote from that judgment:-<br />
<blockquote>
The courts have no more important function than to ensure
that the executive complies with the requirements of Parliament as
expressed in a statute. Further, particularly where the statute
concerned envisages regulations which will have a significant impact on
the lives and livelihoods of many people,<b> the importance of legal
certainty</b> and the<br />
<b>impermissibility of sub-delegation are of crucial importance. </b></blockquote>
<blockquote>
Where Parliament in a statute has required that something be<br />
prescribed in delegated legislation, it envisages, and I think requires,<b>
that the delegated legislation adds something to what is contained in
the primary legislation</b>. There is otherwise no point in the requirement
that the matter in question be prescribed in delegated legislation.
However, the description of the Employment, Skills and Enterprise Scheme
in the 2011 Regulations adds nothing to the description of such schemes
in the Act.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>[all my emphasis]</i></blockquote>
This is very similar to what has been done again here. The Act requires
that cases or circumstances be prescribed, but this has not really been
done. The regulation purports to grant the Secretary of State complete
discretion as to whether to impose the restriction in any particular
case, and the upshot of Reilly seems to me to be that this is not a
permissible ‘prescribing’ of circumstances. It is not as if there is another rule somewhere laying down when the statement described in 3ZA(1)(b) can or cannot appear: there isn't.<br />
<br />
What has effectively been 'prescribed' is that the new procedure applies when the Secretary of State says it does. Or to look at it another way, reg 3ZA has purported to prescribe <i>how</i> the new procedure is to be communicated, rather than the<i> cases or circumstances</i> when it applies.<br />
<br />
Furthermore, the DWP seem to have just decreed that such statement will appear in all cases after 28th October. But if there is a discretion, as there seems to be, it is very doubtful that such a blanket rule is a lawful exercise of that discretion. Having prescribed that discretion, the Secretary of State should now be judiciously considering when it is appropriate to exercise it.<br />
<br />
In conclusion, I believe that the new regulation is unlawful in the same way as the Poundland case regulations were found to be. My colleagues and I will be looking at options for challenging its application.Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-33566924222962040512013-09-05T14:12:00.002-07:002013-09-05T14:12:31.502-07:00Why ATOS are getting it wrong: Part 4 - Fallacies and starting positions
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<br />
<ol start="5"><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>4.Base rate fallacy, prosecutor's fallacy, and neglecting
the claimant's history</b></div>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">When
a claimant arrives for an ATOS assessment, the assessor pretty much
seems to view them as a blank slate with no history. So a person who
has been disabled or ill and on incapacity benefit or ESA for many
years starts from a position of no points he same way as someone who
has only just claimed.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">The
first reason this is problematic is due to the way the criteria for
ESA are now so stringent, that even someone who is clearly very
disabled indeed only just scrapes through. This is especially likely
to be the case if their functional problems are limited to just one
area. The maximum that person can score is 15 points and the number
of points they need is also 15. In other words there is no margin for
error at all. But as with anything in the real world, there will
inevitably be an error rate. <a href="http://goldendrawer.blogspot.com/2013/09/why-atos-assessments-gets-it-so-badly.html" target="_blank">As I discussed in an earlier post</a>, if
your error rate for a given assessment is 10% (which seems generously low)
then this approaches 100% if you reassess the same claimant enough
times.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">This
leads to the second problem. By its very nature, it is likely that
most people on ESA will be entitled to it. This is because they need
to, and have probably been advised to, claim it. They've also got through the initial claim stages, and have been signed off work by a doctor. They're therefore a
self-selected sample. Although most people in the population are not entitled to ESA, the vast majority of them are also not claiming it. The
confusion arises when assessors see claimants as no more likely to
meet the criteria for ESA than any other member of the population, so
start from a position that the person being assessed will likely
fail. This is a form of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_rate_fallacy" target="_blank">base rate fallacy</a>, and biases the
assessment. It's also a form of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosecutor%27s_fallacy" target="_blank">prosecutor's fallacy.</a></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Consider
another example: you know that only 5% of teapots are valuable. 95%
are worthless. You train as an assessor of teapots, and are asked to
assess the teapots in someone's collection. Let's assume in this
scenario that assessing teapots on appearance is possible, but
notoriously difficult and you know you will often get it wrong.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">What
are the most important things you need to know about each of the
teapots you assess?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<ul>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Its
history - The process by which it got into that collection.</span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">What
previous assessments were made of it that got it there?</span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">What
evidence was used in those assessments?</span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">How
reliable is that evidence?</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">The
answers to these questions radically alters the likelihood that you
should trust your own judgment that a given teapot appears at first
glance to be valuable or not. And the odds that a given teapot in
someone's collection will be worthless are most definitely </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">not</span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">
95%.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Do
ATOS assessors understand these issues? What do you think?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
solution</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">It's
really quite easy. When a claimant is being re-assessed, they start
with the number of points they were given at the previous assessment
(including any appeal). Points can be added or removed, but the
</span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">change </span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">must
be specifically identified, and evidenced, in enough detail. Likewise, if
someone was previously put in the support group, they start in it in
the same way. This should have the effect of focusing the assessor's mind better onto what should be reasonably expected in that case.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">This
might not solve all the other problems but it should massively reduce the error rate caused by constant
re-assessment. It should also satisfy IDS and Grayling's desire not
to 'write people off', <a href="http://goldendrawer.blogspot.com/2013/08/esa-and-fit-for-work.html" target="_blank">misguided as that is</a>.</span></div>
Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-26474679956419433462013-09-03T09:36:00.001-07:002013-09-03T11:41:24.773-07:00Why ATOS are getting it wrong - Part 3<style type="text/css">P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; }A:link { }</style>
<br />
<b>3. Misinterpretation of descriptors</b><br />
<br />
This is something <a href="http://worktestwhistleblower.blogspot.co.uk/?view=flipcard" target="_blank">Greg Wood has talked about a lot</a>, so I won't repeat it all in so much
detail. I highly recommend his posts on the subject - he is completely correct to assert that this is an area of
significant concern. The descriptors for ESA are <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/379/schedule/2/made" target="_blank">here</a>:
to get or retain ESA, the claimant must score 15 points. Points are
combined, but only one descriptor from a single activity can apply at
once.<br />
<br />
Although the LIMA system seems to award or rule out some
descriptors, it is also clear from the manual that the assessor has a
certain level of input as to when to award a descriptor as well.
Since whether a descriptor applies is a legal question and not a
matter of personal discretion, it is vital that the correct legal
test is applied.<br />
<br />
One particular problem seems to be what I would call an improper 'all or
nothing' test. This is where if the assessor rules out the highest
descriptor but doesn't appear to bother to check whether a lower one
might apply. For example, a claimant states they can manage to see
family every day. No points are awarded for activity 16 - dealing
with other people. But hang on: what about 16 (b) and 16 (c) - these
could still apply, as they relate to unfamiliar people, so more
information is needed before ruling them out.<br />
<br />
Similarly, I've seen monthly blackouts scoring no points, despite
apparently scoring 6 points for activity 10. The assessor claimed
that monthly was not significant enough to score points - but that
isn't right - it's not what the descriptors say. A personal view of what's 'significant' can't override the clear wording of the law, but that seems to be what is happening.<br />
<br />
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<br />
The converse of 'all or nothing' is the 'bottom up counting'
error. This occurs when the findings suggest that a high level
descriptor applies - maybe one scoring 15 points - but instead a
lower descriptor is awarded that is also applicable. For example, if
a claimant has two blackouts a week, both descriptors 10 (a) and 10
(b) apply. Since only one of them can be awarded, the higher of the
two should be awarded. 'Bottom up counting' leads to the lower
wrongly being awarded.<br />
<br />
<br />
A person who should have scored 15 points from a single descriptor
thus ends up with fewer, and is kicked off ESA. I've seen this happen
to several people.<br />
Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-47841453178743900232013-09-02T09:51:00.004-07:002013-09-03T09:21:34.160-07:00JSA sanctions and housing benefitIt seems to be a common misconception that if someone's JSA is sanctioned, then they also lose housing benefit. This was shown happening to someone on Eastenders, and the notorious @DietQueen bragged about this on Twitter really happening to someone. <br />
<br />
Not only is this not correct (housing benefit cannot be sanctioned), but a JSA sanction actually has the effect of preserving entitlement to housing benefit under <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2006/213/regulation/2/made" target="_blank">regulation 2(3)</a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(3) For the purposes of these Regulations, a person is on an income-based jobseeker’s allowance on any day in respect of which an income-based jobseeker’s allowance is payable to him and on any day—<br />(a)in respect of which he satisfies the conditions for entitlement to an income-based jobseeker’s allowance but where the allowance is not paid in accordance with section 19 or 20A of the Jobseekers Act(46) (circumstances in which a jobseeker’s allowance is not payable</span></span></blockquote>
<br />
A person who has lost JSA for other reasons may still receive housing benefit if they have little or no other income, but they would have to take certain steps to demonstrate the lack of other income (HB can be claimed on grounds of low income alone, without receiving any other benefits). But where a JSA sanction is in place, regulation 2(3) is very clear that JSA is treated as if it were still being paid, for HB purposes.<br />
<br />
I had wondered whether councils were getting it wrong because they are not getting enough information about why JSA is being stopped. So <a href="https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/information_to_local_authorities" target="_blank">I asked the DWP what information is being given</a>.<br />
<br />
It seems clear that enough information is being given to councils to enable them to see whether JSA has stopped because of a sanction or not. The question must therefore be asked: why are councils still suspending or even ending HB entitlement when they have no business doing so? And why are the DWP not setting them straight?<br />
<br />
<br />Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-53345602851040691322013-09-01T09:36:00.000-07:002013-09-01T09:36:01.431-07:00Why ATOS are getting it wrong - Part 2
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<br />
<b>2. LIMA, and abuse of the concept of the typical day</b><br />
<br /><br />
<br />
When ATOS carry out an assessment, the assessor uses a computer
system called LIMA. The manual is <a href="http://blacktrianglecampaign.org/2011/06/08/lima-v2-technical-manual-download/ig2=s-epbijK8EpxSpfXctOifw" target="_blank">available here</a>: although it's an old version from the incapacity benefit
days, it explains a great deal to anyone who has read an ESA report,
so it obviously works in a similar way still.<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
The key thing to note is the way the 'typical day' box is used.
The assessor asks the claimant what he or she does on a typical day,
and the computer extracts keywords from this to suggest which
descriptors might apply. The computer rules out descriptors that
cannot apply due to the claimant's abilities on a typical day.<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
At this point, it is worth noting how the law views ability and
inability. Since a case called <i>Moyna</i>, it is pretty well
established that a broad view must be taken of fluctuating
conditions, so that a person who can manage things only occasionally
is not deemed able to do them often enough to count as able to do
them at all. If a person is usually able to manage things, on the
other hand, he or she is deemed able to do them.<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
Therefore the ATOS concept of the typical day is a potentially
valid one, provided that activities entered here really do represent
activities managed on a typical day. As you may have guessed, this is
the problem.<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
I've seen an 'ability' to see a GP every 6 weeks entered in the
'typical day' box. This was then extrapolated by LIMA to deny the
claimant points for ability to deal with unfamiliar people. There was
also no finding that he managed even those 6-weekly occasions in a
reasonable manner without getting too upset, contrary to further case
law on what is meant by 'ability'.<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
Another common thing entered in the 'typical day' box is: turning
up to the ATOS assessment! This is used to deny a range of
descriptors, with incorrect findings (or no findings) as to the
repeatability of having to do this on a daily basis, or how well the
claimant coped with it on the one occasion, or whether excessive pain
resulted. Other offending entries here are occasional hobbies, visits
to family, cooking a proper meal once a week or fortnight, and going
shopping once a week or fortnight.<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
No wonder that all of these things being done at once on a
'typical day' results in an adverse finding. Yet an ability to do
those things occasionally is perfectly consistent with quite severe
limitations.<br />
Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-55793535937497963482013-09-01T09:06:00.002-07:002013-09-01T09:12:25.239-07:00Why ATOS assessments get it so badly wrong - Part 1I've been back working on ESA appeals, representing appellants, for a few months again now.<br />
<br />
In my previous post I looked at how <a href="http://goldendrawer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/esa-and-fit-for-work.html" target="_blank">ministers are very confused about what role ESA is supposed to have</a>, and how this is causing some of the problems with it.<br />
<br />
Now, in a series of posts, I'm going to look at the far more familiar problem of ATOS assessments being of very questionable quality in and of themselves, and will attempt to explain why I think this is the case.<br />
<br />
Contrary to the popular view, I don't think that the explanation is that the government pays a bonus to find against claimants. Although this wouldn't necessarily surprise me, there are enough other problems that this additional factor isn't needed to explain what's going on. The present setup already makes sense without it.<br />
<br />
Here's part one of why there are serious problems:-<br />
<br />
<b>1. Constant reassessment means errors are inevitable</b><br />
<br />
When I was on ESA, I questioned the DWP's intention to reassess me after one year, as the condition I had was not ever likely to change and would always present the same barriers to work. The answer I received was that in effect I should be grateful, as most people are reassessed after three or six months.<br />
<br />
In the previous post linked to above, I discussed why the government's explanation of why it thinks constant reassessment is good is flawed. ESA is supposed to support people with limitations towards work, so kicking them off it is clearly not conducive to providing that support.<br />
<br />
The problem with constant reassessment is that it makes errors inevitable in the long term. If the error rate so that an ill claimant's ESA is wrongly stopped is 10%, then over the course of a lifetime, a chronically ill person faces a probability approaching 100% of having their ESA stopped wrongly at some point. Having this happen even once is catastrophic for that person.<br />
<br />
In practice the error rate is almost certainly higher than 10%.<br />
<br />Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-62907442313896347792013-08-31T02:04:00.002-07:002013-09-01T09:10:27.537-07:00ESA and 'fit for work'It is very common to see a statement that some whose ESA has stopped has been found 'fit for work'. This is not really correct and is worth examining in some detail.<br />
<br />
I think the problem is that the people at the top, who should know what they're doing with it, have become very confused about what role ESA is supposed to have.<br />
<br />
When it was introduced, the stated aim was that it was supposed to be a system to support those with barriers into work, rather than 'writing them off' - as, it was claimed, the old system did. This was the whole point of having the work-related activity group, into which most people on ESA would go. People in it would be encouraged to eventually find work but with their barriers recognised. In other words, people on ESA would *not* be seen as 'written off'.<br />
<br />
Section 8 of the Welfare Reform Act 2007 bears this out: the test for eligibility is not whether a person is incapable of any work, but whether their capability for work is limited, such that it is not reasonable to *require* them to work. It is easy to imagine a situation where a person could work but due to disability it is not reasonable to require them to: it might causes pain or psychological distress, or could risk a relapse. The test in the primary legislation is therefore, on paper, less strict than being a need to be 'incapable' of work.<br />
<br />
But when the first ESA criteria were published in 2008, it was obvious to everybody that the level of disability needed to get even into the WRAG was more severe than under IB. This has led to the bizarre and cruel situations where people are having their ESA stopped after medical assessments even when it's obvious that it would not be reasonable to require them to work. (Problems with wild speculation about people's abilities made at ATOS assessments do compound this further, but the criteria that ATOS have to apply must share the blame.)<br />
<br />
Purnell, and now IDS and Grayling, have justified this by claiming that it is actually better for people to have their ESA stopped, and that being on ESA is to be 'written off'. This is where the confusion really starts. If you recall, this ignores, and in fact reverses, the very purpose that ESA was stated to have: that people on it were not supposed to be being 'written off' as the benefit was supposed to be more like a lighter form of JSA, and not just a clone of IB. But they've always talked about it as though it were just a clone of IB: hence the misleading headlines that people have been found 'fit fork work' when their ESA is stopped. Even welfare campaigners have bowed to the inevitable and have started to adopt the 'fit for work' terminology as a shorthand, driving the vicious cycle of misunderstanding.<br />
<br />
The situation has got even more confused with some of the latest amendments, where the actual stated reasoning behind them has been to exclude people from ESA if they could work at all, even in some highly theoretical scenarios. Hence now being unable to walk but able to push a wheelchair 50m, but not 100m, precludes entitlement to ESA at all, unless combined with another problem. Of course there are jobs that could be done, but how (for example) is the person supposed to get to work in the first place and to get home again, every day, and on time? <br />
<br />
Similarly, a person who can get only to familiar places and only with a support worker scores only 9 points and is precluded from ESA, unless there is another problem in combination with it to get them up to 15. But the number of available mental health descriptors has been cut down to avoid so-called 'double counting'. 9 points gets the person nothing and they are 'fit for work' with full JSA conditionality. Although again, there would be jobs the person could do, how would they avoid falling foul of the (it seems) universally accepted system of job selection by interview, when turning up frightened and with a support worker? Yet ESA potentially does not even recognise this as a limitation at all any more.<br />
<br />
I would very much like to see the 'fit for work' terminology challenged as well, but due to the very great confusion at the top over what ESA is, it is somewhat realistic under the current criteria of very severe incapacity. But to acknowledge this is also to acknowledge that ESA has failed its most basic stated aim of reform, as almost by definition anyone able to receive it at all has been 'written off'.Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-5116266704290180162013-07-24T05:38:00.001-07:002013-07-24T05:38:08.089-07:00Examining the government's claims for universal credit<br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
I present what I will presently call 'Case 0':-<br />
<br />
<br />
<img alt="" height="427" 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xOFEVFIgzb8dSBysBFykIWIwuREYUQU0oIWfi+wCcJ2KEKWIwqTE4URUcgmWqjAFznYDkvGLE0UJicKI6KQdTRVgV1ysB1ykBWIwuREYUQUspBmK/DFBGFTFCHrEIXJicKIKGQu7VfgixxsiiVj1iQKkxOFEVHIn+2oAl/kYGvkICsThcmJwogopN4eK7BLDrZGEbI+UZicKIyIQgJ7r8AXE4StsWTMVkRhcqIwIgrpOkwFvsjBBslBNjRLFJ7Ym+7XbvjVHH91vz9Fdup0iB/8/NnxKrBLDrbGBCGbmysKvz8IqxGFtURhNseuwBcThA2Sg7RAFCYkCmuJwmMbJOCBK/BFDrZJEdIIUZjQklF4u7zXqC+3zob79fzecr7eC7cZ3fC9sX+j4v2Odqs8whRReDDZEnBADjbIkjFNEYUJLRaFt0snvG6Xd949i/Dfpn95+Cq/+/VcyrXuAXsHr96t8ggFonDvklfgiwnCNslBWiMKE1ooCu/X83iS73Kb2tL7xGu3qQN2I66wY7Bb5RGKROHuqMABOdgsRUiDRGFCa0VhoDNpd7+ey01YTsma3SqPUCYK26cCS+RgsywZ06x9ReHoxWd/frFYdA+/mUrapaWWj+uTq7u0fLuczufzxJdyvKw8+dUJdqs8QpkobJAKrCEHmyUHadn+onC2/strkSgcBnuQXrfLqf9Cv8GLAP99NP5qT379g90qj1AmClugAn/FBGHLFCGNE4UJLXahSc0X6BmPH5Lxcps82PJRWJiJZlWDCqTa9XS6bj0GCq6+OOzA8aKw8J4ot8vpfL1efj79LI/3vlMXPZT2GdzL87A/w+q980qjK9GnxaIwuJD48XiMpwVLxzhdbpaPEzEX+D2zgy0zQcheHCwKuz/z79fz8A1S3rd9Rl33PVKefx9G4dQ+vVfE/eTh+Xofvaiut19DlovC99rvWO9taQKvknOhyUElfMvoRVkvbplrStiX/UXhlM7r0zrRMXrfk8Lb13X3HEbhxD6T77zyXq5sMAKHlorC4nXEP0VYeD+Z/uffT6K3pDkICbgcOdgyOcju7C8KK19T+NOPhTfDK304Xj4e7TMOi/ewPr5grgnLRGFv4fwdZa+OLn3hxk9zf0LXm1fvjwpchyJslglCdmqhKPz3mtqv/wwO+/GneidMLrfoHZL/HoUTK5C9YU21UWMWicL+s/XT5O914PL8bvC78Xq37X7lh1+Fwm4fNn0kCiupwJVZMm6ZHGS/DjVTOCiFZaIwnCkcjbbJi6WXWj4+HlFYogI3JAdbpgjZtUNF4UTFLRCF01cvTA6r0dcYisJaorBLBW7OBGHLLBlzAIeKwtHU4Kn/erJ5ojC4+ji8mqUdorCWKBSC7ZCDLZODHMP+onBa941j3p/pLODOGYX9kTzfynDQiH98Dds6RGGtnFEoBBukCJtlgpAj2VcUNqrRVeIiUVgrTxQKwWZZMm6ZHORgROGvDV9T2OoicZkorHX4KBSCjZODzTJByCGJwr/oL2PvaZLw8XiIwnqHjEKTgrtggrBlcpCjEoUJicJah4lCIbgvcrBlipADE4UJicJau45CIbhTirBZlow5PFGYkCistccoFIL7Zcm4ZXKQDERhQqKw1l6i0KTgAcjBZpkgJA9RmJAorNVyFArBwzBB2DI5SCqiMCFRWKu1KBSCxyMHm2WCkIREYUKisFY7USgEj8cEYcvkIDmJwoREYa0WolAOHpIcbJYJQjIThQmJwlrbRqEcPCpF2Cw5SHK7isLhL5h7mvo1c/frufMrR0q/hG5/v6BuHqKw1oZRKAcPyZJxyxQhHDAKb5fTh0+UbpmFKKy1SRSaIDwqOdgsS8bwdLQonN7lfj1P5Z8oFIWxlaNQDh6VCcKWyUF4OVgU3q/n6cy73YY3693ydjmdLrfb5WfBuXsnvaXo7ob37p37/DfG97bz9d49ROnIa8apKKy1ZhTKwaOSg80yQQgDx4rC6R2K+lHYP8rE33t3dbt0Cq/zwb/Q6978vWN3fL0jF6YyFyIKa60ThSYID0wRNksOwtixovCX68H9KBzN9gUHHM1IvnYc5N3Uh9NHfk5W1g79K6Kw1gpRKAePypJxs0wQQoko7Cwf9zZcbuWZx/HnX58ZbCp9OB7pL2c5vyEKay0ahSYID0wONksOQmCpKOz8Oq6v/vQsu3xciMLSROHgfgodGUXhBFHYloWiUA4emAnClilCiO1qpnB6ibX7yfKFJpeJ5GpqpnBForDWElEoBw9MDjbLkjHU2FcUTkVa6eWAo9tFb0lTiMK/vqbwcxSu+RLCEVFYa94oNEF4bIqwWXIQKu0rCsczfhMzgMP3qn5eARy/eXUpCgc52Um88OrjiigchmrxHbYXIAprzRWFcvDYLBk3ywQh/MreovBR9yvs+i/Z+/xr7opROLy/2vcpfNR82H8k680bisJas0ShHNy1Z/DFf7YeI9PkIPzWDqOQb4nCWl9GoQnCbdX0nOA7JBOE8DeiMCFRWOvPUThjDs5SNjn/zPL8sztyEP5MFCYkCmv9LQq/z0FlA39gghC+JAoTEoW1fhuFf54gNMUFX5KD8D1RmJAorFUfhb/NQRUIM1KEMAtRmJAorFUZhZU5qAJhdpaMYUaiMCFRWOtjFMYThKYDYVFyEOYlChMShbXiKJzMQRUIKzBBCEsQhQmJwlqlKOxOEJoOhJXJQViIKExIFNYaR+HjdFKBsBUThLAoUZiQKKx1mpoO3PLfKyQmB2FpojAhUVjrFYJ+YR1sSxHCCvYZhffr+fR2vt7Xvft/bpfLbeKT2w2o1pJReLu8vzC9p6f3NRs+Q+9bjZ67YNO8R5hyOp3kIGzLkjGsZn9ReLsMfrqPPrHeOERhX+/B3y7vLnwW4b9N//Lw9eR1bzV4+oJNpfv92xFK5CBsSg7CmnYWhffreSLF7tfz+iUmCodGX5zXUzTa0vnE/XoeNX4nJQubhvf73RGKPr5PIbAQE4Swvn1F4fBn/Mvt1p126vzYf314u5zO1+vlZ1lz8OHPwSfWGZ9HeC9BXm7FXX92f35q6obdBzK5ytpZfX0f+F9C9ZdBO4coHbkUp2tFYeD1NAW9GKVkdLe/PkKZKIRNyEHYxK6isOZHehCF3Uoarjn3Jht7HzxTrLvy2W2+yft/7zB1w8HEZmdqsbvg2v3gX+j1V197Ldv9++Sj6Flq+bg+ud4Pbtz5vfnFwqbhvX53hDJRCCszQQgb2lUU1izNRlFYeKnZ1JHfh+lvendPVRSWbjj1KEYF059NGxyq6siFMS4Shd0rTIbTl1O7dkJ43G3n6z3cNDzad0coE4WwJjkI20oVhVOfLxy4GH+lA44PVbhhaTpt/PnXZwabSh9Gj6JnsQtNar5Cz3icvMpk8JktovAEbOJ6Ol23HgOkt1AUDn7pw5//9I/67fJxGIUTFovC0kTh4ICFjoyisPQoek6LRWHxRZ+dR9TfwfIxpGeCEBqxq5nC4EKTyy8b7tNM4aOw575mCguWi8LbpTyC3tvS9D/rQhNISxFCO/YVhRVvSVP5EsD4w665o/Cvryn8HIXV02BLReH9ei7d/7MIpzZ6SxpIyjUl0JqdReGjcN3w+xOjy3yronB48UbnTn7Zdp+jcHBfncQLrz6uiMLgUfQsE4VTb7Nzv55fU53FKcTuMxlcABRMhH5/hAJRCAuRg9Cg/UXh4zF89Vz5d6Y939uvJgofw9+d17sSYvKG/+7mw/sUTt/jn96n8FHzYeFR9CwShdOv0nzPdI4NHuD0F7OwaThl/PsjVBGFMDsThNCsfUYhX1lmpvCIRCHMSw5Cy0RhQqKwliiEuZgghPaJwoREYS1RCLOQg7ALojAhUVhLFML3FCHshShMSBTWEoXwDUvGsC9zRSH70v3aDb+a46/u96fITp1EIfyVHITdmSUK2S9RGBGF8AcmCGGnRGFyojAiCuG35CDslyhMThRGRCHUM0EIeycKkxOFEVEIleQgHIAoTE4URkQhfGSCEA5DFCYnCiOiEGJyEI5EFCYnCiOiEAKKEA5GFCYnCiOiECZZMoZDEoXJicKIKIQxOQhHJQqTE4URUQhdJgjh2ERhcqIwIgrhRQ7C4YnC5ERhRBTCfyYIIQ1RmJwojIhCkIOQhyhMThRGRCHJKUJIRRQmJwojopC0LBlDQqIwOVEYEYXkJAchJ1GYnCiMiEKyMUEImYnC5ERhRBSSihyE5ERhcqIwIgpJwgQh8J8oTE8URkQhGchB4EkUJicKI6KQYzNBCHSJwuREYUQUcmByEBgQhcmJwogo5KgUITAmCpMThRFRyPFYMgZKRGFyojAiCjkYOQgERGFyojAiCjkME4TAR6IwOVEYEYUcgxwEaojC5ERhRBSydyYIgXqiMDlRGBGF7JocBH5FFCYnCiOikP1ShMBvicLkRGFEFLJHloyBvxGFyYnCiChkd+Qg8GeiMDlRGBGF7IgJQuBLojA5URgRheyFHAS+JwqTmzsKb5fTy+U2scP9eh5u6N5mdMP3xvP1XnO/o90qjzBFFNI+E4TAXERhcrNG4e3SCa/bZaILn4HW/+z9ei7lWveAvYNX71Z5hAJRSOPkIDAjUZjcjFF4v57Hk3ydj98zdv0oHOzWP2A34go7BrtVHqFIFNIyRQjMSxQmt2QUdt0u/5ZvR102sZ5cON70HQS7VR6hTBTSJkvGwBJEYXJzLh9XJdcoCm+X0/l8Po1f9zdeVp6c6At2qzxCmSikQXIQWIgoTG62KBxeLRJNGY4uJOm/CPDfR+OXAE6+KDDYrfIIZaKQ1ihCYDmiMLl5rz6uaK6Pc3WvHbaIwhM063o6XbceA3BoojC506xRGFxI/ONjFL4WoS0fww8ThMAKRGFy80bhe+032uVzFJ6vdxeawD+KEFiHKExuzigsXkfcNYjCcaa9d/CWNGTnKmNgTaIwufmi8H59X0LcibKpt68uRODPh++M8+bVJCYHgZWJwuRmi8J+2/1cizxusKnJu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<br />
This is the government's poster child for universal credit. On the face of it, it apparently shows that universal credit will meet the government's stated aims of 'making work pay' by removing some of the cliff edges in the current benefits system at 16 and 30 hours work.<br />
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The red and blue lines show the family's net income, including wages and benefits, after housing costs and child care are paid for. In effect, their disposable income.<br />
<br />
Variations of this graph have been bandies around ever since IDS announced universal credit, and it does appear to be fairer and more generous than the current system, as it irons out the period of limbo for work under 16 hours a week where working more hours leads to no gain in income.<br />
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The problem is, this scenario is only correct for the poster child family of 2 adults, 2 children, where everyone is healthy and 'normal'. It also hasn't been made clear enough that it only applies to families in rented housing.<br />
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So I tried plugging in some other scenarios, and producing equivalent graphs.<br />
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Here's a single person who is disabled and entitled to ESA, as he goes into work:-<br />
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<img alt="" height="427" 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" width="640" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Case 1: A single claimant with limited capability for work, moving into a moderately paying job, renting.</span><br />
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Immediately, it's obvious that Case 0 was misleading. Universal credit for someone coming off the future equivalent of ESA/incapacity benefit into work is far less generous, and also includes a similar cliff edge at 16 hours. This is because universal credit contains no equivalent of the disability element of working tax credit in the current system, and because the equivalent of the incapacity benefit is still lost at 16 hours work.<br />
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<img alt="" height="417" 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41DjkbuYVjCqV0j4Vy0nc/g0yDjn3Ath3y2iXwunMOPr4zoldOWtFO1psK5aDqfO5+lnPrMzX4Y+q7rhsn++juWc/x3HvtuGL8Hhvtx3vvEMfeDz9ytzArBAebUB5+Z7YdpW8f5tMz4oWry+WrxQ5FPj6jIZT4csFWtwXAuWs9naqqZ/Mhq+zOrI5/KuU1f7Q/YNp0+nH1Gt/I/djtY6H7str29dWe2r/y7+kU+X+qwHE+KqPhlsYRTr2bDuXhcPr8b+F+bKH4Hja5wKp/BVtH7Gb3Rw4/djm+1Ip9vdD4hSiNa7mUkTDr1ajycC8F8hle9/fbfNuIPB2+TbbKZfO6OEL25VPLCfDrtO3UXv2MFdzX2hJPP5/stJ+1H9J6XXRJOpVSEc9H07DPSz++S7HwGUZTLZ7HZp498vsjFrrQW0TvfpoBJp1KKwrloO5/OqcLUicftLGcymdY/9kOYurL3oNDeuc9lhOS5z93Cx+7qV6F8mkuVji6Fil3nlFho+20r/7HU/km5j2Bj6ka0yjv7EE6N1IVz0Xg+Px/7t3v8V3k/jsNBPj+Rq2rjK6+j+r/Tc44PH195ezBBTl4AXCKf9h8MZo7sld//i8U+KBBdaPttq/Cx1P5JuUmJ0twdsHpvhkc7dSn6YZw3UJBPfJXIZ+zAc/y0rbXUmXdHL9CKjZWxle8N+SydnHvGrzXZ5YCtLqqraZBPRUrNPnfzFTvb7Fy+nLxQOBj+9FaBx+fzturIFq7K4dnI3SCcSmifbnrIpyLy+bQPjEcjFntB6od8CqrSnos32kIy13vCpFODh1XTIJ+KlJh97vUr8dYTn3vy2b3CWPvWs+7AmL9JSWPtO4BdpppPRT4V6Urkc++1OnbYmH2KamT29nd0Txo5POth0tm4R841QxfziZvZT76/O8Ldc2YvTkOkXs6806zIpUNCmkrRwgtkg8k0CGeznnqQNuVKPlGRUD63k5/r63KGcU69+pUXrlzXbJMWLVdzQTsb9LZqGuRTKZl8blPP9TWq/Tg71xNZaf0kPgsmstA9IHt2q/1HW/snRUDLWWofB2wb9M5qGuRTKbGDtypoz2fjU7r2Ec6mvHa66SGfSpFPNQjnFUw6W/CxLqOlmgb5VIp8KsCk8yLCWYUXS3qZQj6VIp+tI5xXMOm8DbH8GflUiny2i0nnRYSzHGIpiHwqRT4bRTgvop2CiGVR5FMp8tkcJp0XccD2irCUxLI08qkU+WwL4byIcGahlC0gn0qRz1Yw6byISechYtkm8qkU+WwC4byIcIaIpRbkUynyWRmTzouYdC6IpV7kUynyWRPhvOi14SSWT0I+lSKfdTDpvO497SSWz0Y+lSKfFRDOi559wJZYvg35VIp83opJ53UPCyexBPlUinzeh3Be9IBJJ7FEiHwqRT7vwKTzOo3hJJY4g3wqRT6LI5wXaZl0Ekv8hnwqRT4LYtJ5XbPhJJaQQj6VIp+lEM6Lmpp0EkuUQz6VIp/ymHReVzecxBJ3Ip9KCeZzGrpVP87Od+ax74bJ+We4qllqrRmMEqxwuJX/WEr/JBDOi6pMOoklKiKfSknlcx57k8JpcAK6ZNXK2zSEsZuGdRXzxZkVDrcKH0u5nwEmndfdFk56iXaQT6Wk8uklc7XMDfthsGefsVWtZd5UdW+Fw6185fJJOC8qPemkl2gW+VRKcvYZ5mueptn/5jz2QT2dFWJ5ja5wuFWgRD6ZdF5XIpz0ElqQT6Vk8rmd9gxPfH4inet7d121+SScFwlOOukllCKfSsldOrTTL7tz9klScxa0ZD67UsauG4sN/g7jpa29XgJKkU+lOql87p18TH7vdAgbm30y6bzo50kn80s8D/lUSiyf05Cu12E+VV06RDsvyg0nycSzkU+lhPK5nfxcD8YOdkvtttkvMbGuIlLxwhWuErro/KSTZOI9yKdSMvncpp7r2xi4M1F3ami9a4JdPFPg1EtcIiskFiZdySfhvOgwnCQT70Q+lRI7eKvCb/lk0nnR/qSTZOLlyKdS5PMA4bwoGk4mmoBBPpUin0lMOi/yJp0kE4gin0qRzzjCedESTpIJHCKfSpHPCNoZFX6M1+F/te8yoAD5VIp8Ol51wLZEC9v5gGtAC/KpFPncvC2csmNW+ZxO4AHIp1Lk8+/vTZPOQsdUCSfwM/KpFPl8y6SzXDhpJ3AF+VTq1fl8yaSz3FU8hBO4jnwq9d58Es4rmHQCUsinUi/N5+PbWfR1I4QTEEQ+lXpdPh9/wLZ0OGknIIt8KvW2fI61f1LKKvpOBYQTKIF8KvWufD74fXBKv8sP7QQKIZ9KvSuf3RPfSe6GcNJOoBzyqdTr8vlXvje3ueGBEE6gNPKp1BvzuVBd0HvCSTuBG5BPpd6bzz+dBb1n6kw4gduQT6Venc8/VQW9LZy0E7gT+VTq7fn803Aq9LZ7SDiB+5FPpQTzOQ3dqh9n5zvz2HfD5P6767rueKE/Sv5W/mNJ/R/cbEFvCyftBKogn0pJ5XMee1PNaXACumR1y9s0rP8yX6QW2n7bKnwsO/8Tt1ZQJp3AG5BPpaTy6SVztcwN+2GwZp/WmtusNLowMX7GVr79fP41U9A7w0k7gbrIp1KSs88wX/M0zd43nRW//YsuTA5/eqvAYT7/ap8KvfPWCSfQAvKplEw+t9Oe4YnPj7J8LqoU9M5w0k6gEeRTKblLh3b6VTWf3a9+3/Kn27rv5sbbbgnAMfKpVCeVz72Tjwpnn4sbpoM3H61l0gm0hnwqJZbPaUjXK9W59i4dCpXL280nWQkn0CbyqZRQPreTn8P0+XzmcbBb6rat2Reu7JDt3P1XJ9FOoFnkUymZfG5Tz/VtDNyZqD81NLE9WOgekD271Y6f8/knV9D7w0k7gZaRT6XEDt6qcCWff5fLx6QTQIh8KkU+8/yWwCrhpJ2ACuRTKfL5i/MtrPImDIQTUIR8KkU+f3QmilXCSTsBXcinUuTzdzt1ZNIJ4CTyqRT5vCTMZK23zKWdgFLkUynyKWDpZcVw0k5AL/KpFPmUUetDWggnoB35VIp8asWkE3gG8qkU+VSJcAKPQT6VIp/KMOkEHoZ8KkU+NSGcwPOQT6XIpxq0E3gk8qkU+VSAA7bAg5FPpchn6wgn8GzkUyny2S4mncAbkE+lyGejCCfwEuRTKfLZHCadwKuQT6XIZ1sIJ/A25FMp8tkQ2gm8EPlUqnQ+p6Fb9eO8LpvHvttZOkzxoaIrHG7lP5baPylxHLAFXot8KlU0n/PYmz5Og/1lELtpWAtovjizwuFW4WOp/ZMSQTiBNyOfShXNp5XMg6XWsnnsIyWMrnC4la+1fDLpBEA+lSo++wyaNo99UE9nxVheoyscbhVoKp+EE8Af+VSrYD630572Kc7PNHR937uLX5ZPJp0ADPKpVOFLh8Ko2edDzVnQkvnsWjPWvgMAWkI+leqK5vPojOTpED5l9smkE4CHfCpVNp/TsJ8007znXzrEAVsAUeRTqZL53E5+rkdoh3F2XmJiXUX07BeuEE4AKeRTqYL53Kae63sbrP+03jXBLp6J7bbQPSAbWSGxMOn+fDLpBLCPfCpV9uBta27OJ+EEcIh8KkU+i2DSCeAk8qkU+ZRHOAGcRz6VIp/CaCeALORTKfIphgO2AH5APpUinzIIJ4DfkE+lyOdVTDoBXEE+lSKflxBOABeRT6XI54+YdAIQQT6VIp+/IJwApJBPpchnNtoJQBD5VIp8ZuCALQBx5FMp8nkW4QRQAvlUinweY9IJoBzyqRT5PEA4ARRFPpUin0lMOgHcgHwqRT7jCCeAe5BPpchnBO0EcBvyqRT5dHDAFsDNyKdS5HNDOAHcj3wqRT7//ph0AqiHfCpVJZ/T0K36cf4unMd+WTZM8a2iKxxu5Yjmk3ACqIh8KnV/PuexN9Wchu+X07AW0Hzhia5wuJXHyyeTTgDVkU+l7s/nlsz4wnnsIyWMrnC4lc/OJ+EE0ALyqVSd2acfOmdZrK/RFQ63Cph80k4AjSCfSt2dz+20p33i88Z8csAWQFPIp1I1Lh0KS1cynx0ANIx8KtXdn8/I0dsbZ58X7zwjVx+ckbWPXHRwRsZtKuRzGmpeOnTtvjNy/cEZWfvIRQdnZNzm9nxuJz+H6fP5zOMwzp8bX7gi90gYuc7gjKx95KKDMzJuc3c+t6nn+oYHZiZqurpl0D0gG1khsTBJ4w+AxpGLDs7I2kcuOjgj4zYVDt4CAKAd+QQAIBv5BAAgG/kEACAb+QQAIBv5BAAgG/kEACAb+QQAIBv5BAAg23vyub7L0cn3J/ppeOmRzV0+8W74OWNa93O7CYl77z8JEg8gfg8l9ubOY7+4N6Mji+zN7T0vrUFEdmJ0ZNn/BZP/e1z+Xy+6v0R+JJM/LxeeD2t/bcPI/iTiFm/JZ+674/4yvvC42z2dx15o8OV3pP0xNd9/TMPl35De4NaQ89j/OHj8Hkrszb3Hfm1vRkeW2Jv207iNJ7ET4yOL7MGN96wK/khG95fIj6Q7iNCP5DRE76zcTyJu8pJ8Zn82S/7wvfCw+R/Hdjxe1/XDsA3rjHrpeYkMLnGfE/dQYm/uPPaLezM6svTe3AaR24n+yDL30x61jz8JF+91dH+J/Eh6gwjtxMiW8jsRd3hHPuV/eXmjD5P8//PWiBJ3eZ6m7zQiej8vzQEig8s/Id97WCRF9v0W3JtmZOm9GZ8NChxb2UaW3IPBsyq2E6P7S2QnhoOI7MR57Pe3LHSADPLIp8DY/TiX+ZPxez5E8P4m7qfEwTl38Gno+nGSO+Gc+LUuNC+3JkKCe9N9VoX2pv9RRambuzyy3B6MPKtCOzG6v0R2YmKQ6ztxndKmRpH5ScQtyOdF309gKzPZ2saWGjx2P8XG9/LpnKu89Jw791B0b7qPXXJv+iPL7s1giiK2E51zkiJ7MPasyuzE6P4S2YmJka/vRCeP/llQyZ90lEc+L9n+9xfPZ6H7HNzPeezFprfB7FPuxKp3oanMM+ONLLg3y93nr+D5Ffu/WvisavxZlXhCoiOL7MRy9zm4nUI7EXd4Rz5LXTq0XexviCX0lnwK/7Wb/F3z+5Meu4cyezMYWWxvRu5zyd+80lOW78gyezD1rF7fidGRRXZiYhBNOxF3eEk+i79wpcDBW/dkX4mDt+KnWcIrWL0Xmvwy4N4VMr/vzf3HfmVvxkeW2JveFU5yLymJjyyyB23B/x5iP5LR/SXyIxn8DdHuTsTt3pJP6y/KMn/ilbh06HuZQqG3TQj/xpY43Re7zuLXkdP38OrePHjs1477xUeW2JvbGNI7MRzZWyx0JVV0ui8c5r2FF0dueyfiZt1r8gkAgBjyCQBANvIJAEA28gkAQDbyCQBANvIJAEA28gkAQDbyCQBANvIJAEA28gkAQDbyCQBANvIJAEA28gkAQDbyiV3Oh0E4n9x09LEQZ9YpYRoufR5GXT/f+b1nexpueEJUP+3AL8gnktxfycu/rI87rJ7Peewjw6v+PV4in/d8mKTqpx34BflEyjQk81drZnnmLqj+PV4in6U+IT68FbVPO/AL8omEnXpG56X+xwhb66xfjtZnL28HhbebiI+z/l4enc9Wtlf17uOyfh/79OfoVvbvfftx2eMMk72tHwnn2bAn6bHBo7dubmVbf3mCgo8Hd2/dDLk+t7HdFannyTucuNH48tQ9Bx6LfCJud4IZZGZdL5Gi9be8/XV4EDg1zvLbePmHtXx/9hmu7/xWDzOZyGfwjejNhpsFt79768HfCvM89jtJC7+2n+FwVwWTwrN3eP9Go1879xx4MvKJuNP5tJfYU6tw9rmb2OQ4u0k+OHhrreQdXIx3IpXVnTxt3zajDcM64XMXH966+cYw9InpcXLM1NOROPGZeYePl0fvOfBo5BMJZw/e2rOXxBzrVD5T48jk0189M5/ekeXgZr8dmcd+PQbrTMTO3fr2JNg34tyw9b3YAfTw6Uid+Dx1h1M3Gi6P3nPg2cgnUs5dOuSsdSZ1e4curx4AAAFCSURBVLPD2DhNzD694RP9HMZ1rrfM+cYh+iCSt26NnnoCUg809XSkLxvKu8PxG409L1xChNcgn0g69cIVKyffqclPs8/kOLt5O5/P5NnHxDlaNxTbxqlze9tVPPZDcE9qHpx5/SS6eiLw69zPfzr2XrNy5g4f/FURX05A8RLkE7vsY3Lbb+ewh+sK4xaX7HOfiXEO1/d+U++cW01cr2tu2Ll+NX3wNp4G9/Sod0lQ8taT+Uw+N9FLieNX3u6/4vPwDqeOx0aXn7mqC3gU8gkAQDbyCQBANvIJAEA28gkAQDbyCQBANvIJAEA28gkAQDbyCQBANvIJAEA28gkAQDbyCQBANvIJAEA28gkAQDbyCQBANvIJAEA28gkAQDbyCQBANvIJAEC2U/kEAACeg3wCAIBD5BMAgGzkEwCAbOQTAIBs/1Q0zPbJvVJfAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" width="640" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Case 2: a couple with one child, paying a mortgage, where one person moves into work from the equivalent of ESA/incapacity benefit.</span> <br />
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Here we can see one of the most troubling parts of universal credit. For people with mortgages, the cliff edge where help with it is lost has been moved from 16 hours work to 1 hour. In other words, help with the mortgage is lost with the first hour's work. The loss of the disability element of working tax credit then compounds with this to leave a far less generous new system for someone starting work. At 16 hours work, under universal credit, the person is scarcely any better off in work. The person has to work 52 hours a week to be as well off as in the present system.<br />
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<a 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fl8dkPPx/C5am6964mStOYvs8peMdX/uyR7SdWy66zkk80JJwM7z+ff/MWh6c/m3zZhLn+jFUxdeTuXz3Rr1rlwyJv2wVa0k7H955OWfMKvOWDLFPkMRD7hp4STGfIZiHzCjxh08pJ8BiKf8AvCyTvkMxD5hHUZdPI++QxEPmFFwski8hmIfMJatJOl5DMQ+YTyHLDlM/IZiHxCYcLJx+QzEPmEYgw6+ZJ8BiKfUIZw8r0A+Uw/C2z1DzWZ2YatfndHPuFbBp2Usvd89j7Q6tWnUH5v7rOj5XM78kkRwklB+87n6NMg859wXY587pN88j3tpKxd53Pms5SnPnOzquvqcrnU1/Tr57p6x39vTXWpm+eB4aq5zX3iWP+Dz/pLtTO8/cFn7fL1tZun92mZ+UPV8gmfcMCWNew9n1NDzcmPrE4/szrzqZzd8DX9gO220y9Hn9mlhh+7PZrY/9jtdPlkY7qvhpv6JJ+wmHCyksPl87nA8Os2is+VZmd4K5+jpbLbmf2lLz92O7/Ug3zCAgadrKpgPi/3/6xf/+vW+MHB28k2pdp8zq4h++umkjfOZ699b23ic12jTc3d4fIJc4STte169Jnp53PK4nyOolgun6uNPofkE14z6OQ39p3P3qnCqROP3VnOyWQm38yHcOrK3heFHpz7vK9h8tznbOFzm/q0Uj7bS5VeXQqVu85pYmLqs6WGt2XrRwoxCCc/s/N8/v2lz+75p/KqaeoX+fzLXFWbn/mx1uFz+pLjw6+vvH0xQJ68AHiNfKZ/MLRj5EH5h3+xpAcFshNTny01vi1bP1IIQDv5pQD55GmNfOYOPOdP2yZTe+Pu7AVauXUtWGpIPpnngC2/J5+BrDX6nM1X7mxz7/LlyQuFR6t/e6kR+WSGcLIJ+QykfD7TA+PZiOVekPonn+yEQScbks9A1rl0aLpfE2898febfF5gXrP1BnBu8hnIZY18zr1WJw2b0Se7YdDJHnyZT34svfOHu2O8e97Zi9c6U6/euLOd0aVD7IBwshPf5JMNFcpnd/Lz8bqcurlNvfrVC1fYnHayH/IZVJl8dkPPx2tUq+bWu54oSevfxGfBZCb2D8i+u9T8rd36kcLGHLBlb+QzqGIHb0OQz5MTTnZIPoOST07BoJPdks+g5JPjE072TD6Dkk+OzKCT/ZPPoOSTwxJOQpDPoOSTY9JOopDPoOSTo3HAlljkMyj55FCEk3DkMyj55CAMOglKPoOST45AOIlLPoOST2Iz6CQ6+QxKPglMODkA+QxKPolKOzkG+QxKPonHAVuORD6Dkk+CEU4ORj6Dkk/CMOjkkOQzKPkkBuHkqOQzKPlk7ww6OTb5DEo+2TXh5PDkMyj5ZKcMOjkJ+QxKPtkj4eQ85DOogvm81peHqrn1fnJrqkt97X07nrWdmsw5WstohpdLDW/L1o8UXjDo5GzkM6hS+bw1VZvCa90L6D2rSd6u9Th21/oxS/vFOzO8XGp8W7Z+pDBHODkh+QyqVD4HyXy4jw2ruk5Hn7lZk2mDoercDC+XGpLP3TLo5LTkM6iSo89xvm7X6234w1tTjerZmyGX1+wML5cakc99Ek7OTD6DKpPP7rTn+MTnX6ZzVdWfVz7PyqAT5DOocpcOzfQr7Vx6krQ9C7pmPi/sVrP1BsAOyGdQl1L5nDv5OPmzt0No9HksBp3Qks+giuXzWk/X62U+XTp0JsIJKfkMqlA+u5Ofj4OxddrStG3pS0ySq4i8cOUMDDphTD6DKpPPbuj5eBuD/ki0PzRM3jUhLV5b4KmXuGRmmJg4ST43JJyQJZ9BFTt4G4J8bsKgE2bIZ1DyybqEE+bJZ1DyyVoMOuEd8hmUfLIK4YQ3yWdQ8klhBp2wiHwGJZ+UJJywlHwGJZ+UYdAJn5HPoOSTAoQTPiafQcknXzHohC/JZ1DyyeeEE74nn0HJJ58w6IRS5DMo+WQx4YSC5DMo+WQBg04oTj6Dkk/eJZywBvkMSj55i3bCSuQzKPnkBQdsYVXyGZR8Mkc4YW3yGZR8kmfQCb8hn0HJJxnCCT8jn0HJJz0GnfBj8hmUfNIRTvg9+QyqYD6v9eWham69n9ya6lJf+99fLpfL64nDtSxfanhbtn6k7JRBJ2xFPoMqlc9bU7XVvNa9gN6z2uXtWj++a7+Ympj6bKnxbdn6kbJHwgkbks+gSuVzkMyH+9iwqutk9JnM2Y1KsxMn1r9gqSH5HDDohM3JZ1AlR5/jfN2u19vgh70Zn/3LTpxc/dtLjchnSjhhD+QzqDL57E57jk98/snn7hh0wn7IZ1DlLh2a6dem+bww0Gy9AUBCPoO6lMrn3MlHo899MOiEHZLPoIrl81pP12uqcy4d+iHhhH2Sz6AK5bM7+Vlf//7+bk2dtrTfNi9c+T3thN2Sz6DK5LMbej7exqA/Eh0ODdvYvpjYPyD77lIzTphPB2xh5+QzqGIHb0M4Wz6FE/ZPPoOSz2My6IQo5DMo+Twg4YRA5DMo+TwUg04IRz6Dks/jEE6ISD6Dks+D0E4ISj6Dks/wHLCF0OQzKPmMTTghOvkMSj6jMuiEY5DPoOQzJOGEw5DPoOQzGINOOBj5DEo+IxFOOB75DEo+w9BOOCT5DEo+A3DAFg5MPoOSz70TTjg2+QxKPvfLoBPOQD6Dks+dEk44CfkMSj53x6ATTkU+g5LPfRFOOBv5DEo+d0Q74YTkM6i183mtLw9Vc3tMuzXVZWZqfc2vKjvDy6WGt2XrR0qeA7ZwWvIZ1Kr5vDVV28drnX45it21fhSw/eKdGV4uNb4tWz9SMoQTzkw+g1o1n0kyX0xNpt2aKlPC7AwvlxraWz4NOgH5DGr10eeoabemGtWzN2Mur9kZXi41sqt8CifwTz7DWjGf3WnP9BTn37W+VFXVn3yyfBp0Ai35DGrlS4fGUUvPh7ZnQdfM52Vvmq03ANgT+Qzqsmo+X52RfDuERxl9GnQCA/IZ1Lr5vNbzSWubd/xLhxywBbLkM6g189md/Hwcoa2bW+8lJslVRMd+4YpwAlPkM6gV89kNPR/vbfD4NnnXhLR4bWy7if0DspkZJiZO+n0+DTqBefIZ1LoHb/fmx/kUTuAl+QxKPldh0Am8ST6Dks/yhBN4n3wGJZ+FaSewiHwGJZ/FOGALfEA+g5LPMoQT+Ix8BiWf3zLoBL4hn0HJ51eEE/iSfAYlnx8y6ASKkM+g5PMTwgmUIp9Byedi2gkUJJ9ByecCDtgCxclnUPL5LuEE1iCfQcnnawadwHrkMyj5fEE4gVXJZ1DyOcmgE/gB+QxKPvOEE/gN+QxKPjO0E/gZ+QxKPnscsAV+TD6Dks+OcAK/J59Byee/fwadwHbkM6hN8nmtLw9Vc3tOvDXVfVp9zS+VneHlUj3ZfAonsCH5DOr3+bw1VVvNa/388lo/Cth+MZCd4eVSA4N8GnQCm5PPoH6fzy6Z+Ym3psqUMDvDy6WG0nwKJ7AH8hnUNqPPYeh603J9zc7wcqmRNp/aCeyEfAb163x2pz3TE58/zKcDtsCuyGdQW1w6NC7dmvm8AOyYfAZ1+X0+M0dvfzj6/HLjrXnzlVtz9DWvunJr5mc2yOe13vLSoe+23Zq3X7k1R1/zqiu3Zn7m5/nsTn7W17+/v1tTN7e/H75wpdwtseZtVm7N0de86sqtmZ/5dT67oefjDQ/akWjb1S6D/QOymRkmJk6K+ACIuOZVV27N0de86sqtmZ/Z4OAtAEQnnwCwmHwCwGLyCQCLyScALCafALCYfALAYvIJAIvJJwAsdp58Pt7l6M33J/po9aXX3G7yG++Gv2SdyXZ2v6LE1g/vhBI3IL+FJfbmzG3/cm9m11xkb3bveZmspMhOzK657H/Byf8eX//Xy+6vIg/JycfLF/dHsr+61ZR9JPITZ8nn0nfH/WT9hdfbbemtqQqt/P4cmX5MzfOba/31M+Rg5ckqb0314crzW1hib87d9u/2ZnbNJfZmejd26yuxE/NrLrIHO4N7teBDMru/ijwk+ysp9JC81tmNLfdI5EdOks/Fn82yfPVV4dUu/zi21+u7XKq67lbbW+tX90tm5SW2eWILS+zNmdv+5d7Mrrn03uxWUm4nDtdcZjvTtVb5O+HLrc7uryIPycFKCu3EzJLldyK/cI58ln/yGqy9vpb/P5+sscQm367X5zAiu51fjQEyKy9/hzy3cJUUpdtdcG+2ay69N/OjwQLHVro1l9yDo3u12E7M7q8iO3G8kiI78dZU80uudICM8uSzwLqr5rbOn4zP8yEFt3diO0scnOuv/FpfquZa7oTzxNN6oXF5MhAquDf792qhvTn8qKKpX/f1msvtwcy9WmgnZvdXkZ04sZLvd+JjSDu1ljKPRH5CPr/0/AS2dQZb3bpLrTy3ncXWP8hn71zlV/d5bwuL7s3+bS+5N4drLrs3R0OUYjuxd06yyB7M3atldmJ2fxXZiRNr/n4n9vI4PAta8pHO+uTzK91//+L5XGmbR9t5a6piw9vR6LPcidXBhaZl7pnBmgvuzfW2+Wl0/xb7X134rGr+Xi1xh2TXXGQnrrfNo9+z0k7kF86Rz7UuHeou9m8VS+hP8ln4r93J55rP7/TcFpbZm6M1F9ubmW1e85m39JDlueYye3DqXv1+J2bXXGQnTqwk0k7kF06Sz9VfuLLCwdv+yb41Dt4WP80yvoJ18EKTT1Y4d4XM53tz/rZ/szfzay6xNwdXOJV7SUl+zUX2YGr036PYQzK7v4o8JEd/Q+x3J/JzZ8ln8hflOn/irXHp0PMyhZXeNmH8N3aJ03256yw+XfP0Fn67N1/c9u+O++XXXGJvdusovRPHax5MLnQlVXa4XzjMcxO/XPO+dyI/djlNPgGgGPkEgMXkEwAWk08AWEw+AWAx+QSAxeQTABaTTwBYTD4BYDH5BIDF5BMAFpNPAFhMPgFgMflkVu/DIHqf3PTqYyHemWcN1/qrz8PY1scbP3dvX+sf3CGh73b4hHwyqf+UfP8u+bjDzfN5a6rM6kM/j6+Rz998mGToux0+IZ9MudaT+dtqZPnOJoR+Hl8jn2t9Qvz4t4S92+ET8smEmXpmx6XDjxFO5nl82SSfvdwdFO5+RX49j+flpvfZyumsg228z1/lPv05u1T6vJ/ernQ99TVddhiJ3r2RDtJzK8/+9va3dPPf76DRx4P3f3u7ysd9m9tdmXq+ucETvzQ/fWrL4bDkk7zZAeYoM4/5JlL0eJZPvx4fBJ5az/3Z+P5NMn1+9Dmev/esPs7kRD5HP8j+2vFio98/+9tHfyvcbk01k7Tx1+k9PN5Vo0Hhuxs8/0uzX/e2HI5MPsl7O5/plHRoNR59ziZ2cj2zSX5x8DaZaXBwMd+JqazO5Kn7cbu2un4M+PqTX/729gd1XU0MjyfXOXV3TJz4XLjBr6dntxwOTT6Z8O7B23T0MjHGeiufU+spk8/h7AvzOTiyPPq1z47cmupxDLY3EHvvt3d3QvpLer84+VnuAPr47pg68fnWBk/90vH07JbDscknU967dKg31zupmxsd5tazi9HnYPUT/aybx1jvPuZr6uyNmPztydqn7oCpGzp1d0xfNrRsg/O/NHe/uISI05BPJr31wpUkJ8+hyUejz8n1zObt/XxOnn2cOEfbD0W38NS5ve4qnvQm9E9qvjjz+jfR1TcC/xj7De+OudesvLPBL/6qyE8XUE5CPpmVHpPrnp3HPXzM0HRxWXzuc2I9L+cfPFPPnFuduF63/cW961enD97m09A/PTq4JGjyt0/mc/K+yV5KnL/ydv4Vny83eOp4bHb6O1d1waHIJwAsJp8AsJh8AsBi8gkAi8knACwmnwCwmHwCwGLyCQCLyScALCafALCYfALAYvIJAIvJJwAsJp8AsJh8AsBi8gkAi8knACwmnwCw2Fv5BAAGXuQTAHhJPgFgMfkEgMXkEwAW+w/G07C2HP6P5QAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Case 3: a couple, renting, with three children, where one is a carer for the other, moving into work. </span><br />
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Admittedly, the present system does not excel at rewarding work here. The effective withdrawal rate for a carer moving into work is harsh, and universal credit does mitigate this after 16 hours work. But it's also considerably less generous overall, it leaves the carer irredeemably worse off than now, and it still contains a cliff edge where the carer's addition is lost at £150 earnings.<br />
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<img alt="" height="417" src="data:image/png;base64,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" width="640" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Case 4: A lone parent, renting, paying £1.50 per hour child care costs for two children.</span><br />
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Lone parents have been mentioned a lot in criticism of the current system, but haven't so far featured in the government's own graphs. This is why. Universal credit is disastrous for people paying child care costs. This is because the current system disregards most of those costs from a person's earnings, but universal credit does not. The marginal % taper is now steeper than in the current system, and UC is less generous overall as well after 16 hours work.<br />
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<img alt="" height="417" 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" width="640" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Case 5: As above, but £4.80 per hour child care costs. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Once the child care costs go above £1.50 per hour, universal credit is now not just a disaster, but is actually so cataclysmic that work for a lone parent above the disregarded amount of income </span>is basically impossible. Net income plummets as more hours are worked.<br />
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<img alt="" height="417" 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" 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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Case 6: Single person with no children, renting, low paid work.</span><br />
<br />
The objection could be made that Cases 1-5 are untypical. Perhaps they are, but they're not especially rare. Here we go back to a simpler situation, but this time a single person with no children. Again, it is very different from the poster child of Case 0. Universal credit does reward work better than the present system for small amounts of work, but this gain is cancelled out by the loss of the 30-hour element of working tax credit. The marginal withdrawal rate is no better overall than the present system. As I observed in an earlier post, before looking at exact figures, this was inevitable because of the failure to integrate council tax benefit into the single taper. Typical marginal rates in UC remain at around 85%+.<br />
<br />
Another thing that is notable is that UC officially uses monthly, rather than weekly rates. A cynic might think that this is to disguise how relatively ungenerous the rates are in many cases. The above graphs show it converted into weekly amounts.<br />
<br />
Universal credit was a reasonable idea, but the way that's it's been designed in practice to act as a smokescreen for severe cuts, means it's is a disastrous system, built on a foundation of lies and spin, and the sooner it gets dropped, the better.<br />
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Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-81462536728290101412013-07-03T02:36:00.005-07:002013-07-03T15:02:01.932-07:00Examining two of Lord Freud's assurances on ESA in 20111. In a Lords debate in May 2011, Lord Freud <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldhansrd/text/110519-0002.htm#11051953000771">said this</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The regulations do not specify the type of activity that we expect this group to engage in. Indeed, the definition of work-related activity is deliberately broad, covering any activity which makes it more likely that the person will obtain or remain in work. However, there are some absolutes. We will not require customers to undertake medical treatment nor to seek, apply for or take up work. Beyond that, we do not want to be overly prescriptive.</span></span></blockquote>
By <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldhansrd/text/111110-gc0001.htm#11111075000102">November 2011</a>, he was saying this, in a debate on the very next Welfare Reform Bill: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Noble Lords asked, in relation to Clause 16, whether this measure
extends the definition of work-related activity, which is one of the
questions asked by the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie. The Bill seeks to
clarify what may be included by way of work-related activity, rather
than extend its meaning. Work-related activity is already defined in the
Welfare Reform Act 2007 as,</span></span>
<br />
<ul><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="11111075000090"></a>"activity which makes it more likely that the person will obtain or remain in work or be able to do so",</span></span></ul>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="11111075000078"></a>and Clause 54 makes expressly clear that this may include work experience or a work placement.</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So in under six months, an 'absolute' limit on never requiring ESA claimants to take up work had already been </span> abandoned. This is just about the very soonest that change to the law could possibly have been implemented, in express violation of Freud's assurance.<br />
<br />
Moving on....<br />
<br />
2. In the exact same May 2011 debate, Freud gave this assurance:-<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Customers who do not participate in work-related activity will be
sanctioned, and I know noble Lords have some concerns in this area. In
response, let me just say this: there are safeguards in place to ensure
that sanctions are not improperly applied. Sanctions will apply only to
the work-related activity component of the benefit</span></span></blockquote>
This time it took until December 2012, but again <a href="http://www.dwp.gov.uk/adviser/updates/esa-sanction-changes/">the exact opposite has been put into place</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">What is changing?</span></span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Under the new rules ESA claimants in the WRAG who fail to comply
with the conditions for receiving benefit will receive an open ended
sanction, followed by a fixed period sanction when they re-comply. The
fixed period sanction will be one week for a first failure, two weeks
for a second failure and four weeks for a third and subsequent failures
in a 52 week period.</span></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Claimants who are sanctioned will lose all of their personal
allowance, but their work related activity component will not be
affected.</span></span></b></blockquote>
In other words, the sanction has been moved from the smaller WRA component of about £30 to the personal allowance of £71, so has increased 230% from the level of Freud's promised safeguard limit.<br />
<br />
What this shows is that nothing the government says about plans for benefits can be relied on. Any assurance or promise of safeguards is completely worthless and unenforceable. Although the second of these examples did not happen for over a year, the amendment was planned, drafted, and notified to claimants a lot earlier, so in practice the change started almost the moment Freud promised the opposite.Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-11117319156941843782013-04-14T07:06:00.000-07:002013-04-14T07:10:22.110-07:00How to make a Panasonic S29 region free using a Raspberry PiAfter my previous DVD player stopped working, I have been extremely frustrated by the region locks on the replacements I've owned. Region locks serve no legitimate purpose whatsoever today, and simply punish me for having paid for content rather than downloading it free.<br />
<br />
I was very happy to discover a region hack for the Panasonic S-series of player <a href="http://www.avforums.com/forums/blu-ray-dvd-player-multiregion-hacks/368649-panasonic-dvd-players-region-free-hack-now-available.html">here</a>. But annoyingly, one of the codes (00F2) cannot be entered on the standard remote control.<br />
<br />
What I did to use this code was install an infrared transmitter LED onto a Raspberry Pi, and then wrote a script to send the code.<br />
<br />
If you have a Pi and an IR LED, here are the instructions:<br />
<br />
1) Follow the instructions here to <a href="http://alexba.in/blog/2013/01/06/setting-up-lirc-on-the-raspberrypi/">setup infrared</a>. You only need to set up the transmitter part, not the receiver. You don't need to record from the Panasonic remote, as the settings for this are given in step 3 below. <br />
<br />
2) <a href="https://projects.drogon.net/raspberry-pi/gpio-examples/tux-crossing/gpio-examples-1-a-single-led/">Fit an IR LED</a>, in series with a 100-200 ohm resistor, between GPIO pin 22 and ground . A CD audio cable can be helpful here for connecting to the pins. (You can connect to another GPIO pin if you alter the number in the settings in step 1.)<br />
<br />
3) Replace the content of /etc/lirc/lircd.conf with this:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><code>
# this config file was automatically generated<br />
# using lirc-0.9.0-pre1(default) on Thu Mar 7 13:58:51 2013<br />
<br />
begin remote<br />
<br />
name Panasonic<br />
bits 16<br />
flags SPACE_ENC<br />
eps 30<br />
aeps 100<br />
<br />
header 3527 1703<br />
one 477 1267<br />
zero 477 394<br />
ptrail 476<br />
pre_data_bits 32<br />
pre_data 0x40040D00<br />
gap 74794<br />
toggle_bit_mask 0x0<br />
<br />
begin codes<br />
KEY_INFO 0x00F2 </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
end codes </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote>
end remote</blockquote></code>
</blockquote>
<br />
4) Make a new file ~/unlock.py and paste this into it: <br />
<br /><code>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
import subprocess<br />
<br />
def send_00F2():<br />
subprocess.call('irsend SEND_ONCE Panasonic KEY_INFO',shell=True)<br />
<br />
print 'Panasonic S-series unlock tool'<br />
print '------------------------------'<br />
print<br />
print 'Please turn on DVD player, eject any disc, and point Pi IR transmitter at DVD player'<br />
print <br />
print 'Please enter the following on *remote* and then press return on computer:'<br />
print 'Enter 6 >=10 <<'<br />
x=raw_input()<br />
print<br />
print 'Sending 00F2 command...'<br />
send_00F2();<br />
print 'Done...'<br />
print 'Please enter the following on *remote* to complete then press enter on computer:'<br />
print 'Audio 8 1 Subtitle 4'<br />
x=raw_input()</code></blockquote>
5) Move your Pi close to the DVD player, and type this<br />
<br />
sudo python unlock.py<br />
<br />
to run the script, then follow the instructions.<br />
<br />
This will permanently make the DVD player region free.This whole process can be done over an <a href="http://www.hobbytronics.co.uk/raspberry-pi-ssh">SSH connection to the Pi</a>, so that a separate keyboard and screen aren't needed.Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-42683889205400716612012-11-24T04:03:00.002-08:002012-11-24T04:25:22.025-08:00Rotherham council and UKIPThe <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20474120">BBC is reporting</a> that a couple in Rotherham have had their foster children taken away, because they are members of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukip">UK Independence Party</a>.<br />
<br />
If this is true this is extremely worrying, and legally problematic.<br />
<br />
The council's decision maker, Joyce Thacker, points to a number of policies of UKIP's that she perceives as unacceptable and which she claims justify this decision. These include its policies on immigration. The couple claim that they were told that 'UKIP is a racist party', with the implication that they too might therefore be racist.<br />
<br />
One possibility that initially seemed likely to me was that perhaps some kind of unpleasant comments by the couple might be the real cause of concern, rather than the party membership itself. But Ms Thacker made no such claim, and seemed to agree that it was membership of UKIP <i>per se</i> that was the problem.<br />
<br />
If so, this is a terrible precedent. Both Labour and the Conservative Party have not entirely dissimilar policies on immigration to UKIP. In its <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/election-2010/7165000/conservative-manifesto.html">2010 manifest</a>o, the Conservative policy on immigration was barely distinguishable froim UKIP's current policy — the main difference being that UKIP would also withdraw from the EU.<br />
<br />
In 2010, Labour Minister for Immigration (as he then was) Phil Woolas <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/phil-woolas-talks-immigration-we-215540">took a line on immigration</a> that was barely distinguishable from either UKIP or the Tories. And this is before you consider what other policies the main parties might have that might be perceived as odious, perhaps on welfare, education, civil liberties, or the NHS.<br />
<br />
Ms Thacker has also confirmed that there were no concerns over the care being given to the children. The only problem was with what she called a concern for 'the children's cultural and ethnic needs'. To me, this sounds a lot like weasel words for punishing the couple for their political views.<br />
<br />
If Rotherham's actions are correct, this means that the possibility exists of children being taken away from foster parents on the basis of their being Labour or Tory party members, due to those parties' policies being seen as unacceptable. But this is not only a bad idea, but also a huge fallacy: simply because someone is a member of a political party, it does not mean that they share all that party's views, and it does not mean they agree with all its policies. People might support a political party for a number of reasons, but everyone should only be judged on their own views and actions. Otherwise we could have any number of ridiculous but analgous situations: a conservative-voting pensioner might be refused social housing, based on the Conservative party's policy towards such housing, for example. Or a Labour-voting police officer might be sacked, because he is deemed to be vicariously liable for Labour's policy on law and order.<br />
<br />
<b>Legal difficulties</b><br />
<br />
Ms Thacker also seems to consider that the children's nationality or ethnicity makes a difference: it would be fine for the unnamed couple to foster a British child, but because the children here are EU citizens, and hence immigrants, it is unacceptable for a UKIP-supporting couple to care for them.<br />
<br />
In the absence of some actual discriminatory behaviour by the couple, this is not only a huge stretch of logic but almost certainly unlawful discrimination by the council, in my opinion. The children are being treated differently because of their nationality — not by the couple, but by the council. This is unlawful under EU law, which has direct effect over the council, and quite possibly under domestic law as well. Good motives are no defence to unlawful discrimination.<br />
<br />
There is also a (recently developed) possibility of discrimination due to political party membership. This is a concept which comes from the ECHR case <i><a href="http://timesandotherthings.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/the-bnp-and-strasbourg-redfearn-v.html">Redfearn v UK</a></i>. The facts of the case were that a bus driver employed by a <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">private company</span></span> was sacked for belonging to the BNP. The employer felt this was justified, because of the BNP's views, even though Mr Redfearn had not been guilty of any racist or discriminatory behaviour against any person. The European Court of Human Rights held that this was<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> a</span></span> potentially unlawful violation of the claimant's right to freedom of association, and that he must be given the right to at least bring a<span style="font-family: inherit;">n unfair dismissal claim in the domestic courts. This at first seemed tough for me to swallow: the BNP are certainly an odious organisation. But it makes more sense when you consider the undesirability, discussed above, of allowing </span>a political party's views and actions to be imputed onto each of its voters or supporters rather than judging them as individuals.<br />
<br />
In <i>Redfearn</i>, the dismissal stood notwithstanding the ruling, because the employer was a private comapny. But following this ruling, it seems that a public body cannot now act contrary to this ruling because of section 6 of the Human Rights Act::<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h3 class="LegClearFix LegP1ContainerFirst">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="LegDS LegP1No">6</span><span class="LegDS LegP1GroupTitleFirst"> Acts of public authorities.</span></span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="LegDS LegLHS LegP2No" id="section-6-1">(1)</span><span class="LegDS LegRHS LegP2Text">It is unlawful for a public authority to act in a way which is incompatible with a Convention right.</span></span>
</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="LegDS LegLHS LegP2No" id="section-6-2">(2)</span><span class="LegDS LegRHS LegP2Text">Subsection (1) does not apply to an act if—</span></span>
<br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="LegDS LegLHS LegP3No" id="section-6-2-a">(a)</span><span class="LegDS LegRHS LegP3Text">as the result of one or more provisions of primary legislation, the authority could not have acted differently; or</span></span>
<br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="LegDS LegLHS LegP3No" id="section-6-2-b">(b)</span><span class="LegDS LegRHS LegP3Text">in
the case of one or more provisions of, or made under, primary
legislation which cannot be read or given effect in a way which is
compatible with the Convention rights, the authority was acting so as to
give effect to or enforce those provisions.</span></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Subsection (2) <span style="font-size: small;">does not assist the council here, as they <span style="font-size: small;">are exercising a discretionary power.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Therefore it seems that it must follow that the council<span style="font-size: x-small;">'s actions in violating the Convention right </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />established in <i>Redfe</i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>arn</i> are potentially unlawful and liable to be quashed.</span></span></span><br />
<div class="LegClearFix LegP3Container">
</div>
<br />
There would be a defence to such a claim if the action could be shown to be proportionate. <i>Redfearn</i> did not establish that all discrimination against political views is unlawful in all circumstances. But the case that the treatment here is proportionate seems extremely weak. I would urge the couple concerned to seek legal advice urgently.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Update:</span></span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It seems there is a by-election coming up in R<span style="font-size: small;">otherham, <span style="font-size: small;">which is rather convenient, and a lot of UKIP supporters are urging people on Tw<span style="font-size: small;">itter to vote aga<span style="font-size: small;">inst <span style="font-size: small;">Labour in repsonse to this. T<span style="font-size: small;">his<span style="font-size: small;"> seems <span style="font-size: small;">far too good to be true for UKIP, and <span style="font-size: small;">the only thing stopping me thinking they have made the whole thing up is the fact that Ms Thacker went on the BBC and seemed to confirm UKIP's version of events.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></b> It will be interesting to see if there is more to it.Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-38125018205464037652012-11-24T02:26:00.000-08:002012-11-24T02:26:07.842-08:00The main problem with universal creditUniversal credit is the government's planned replacement for several current benefits. It is due to replace them for new claimants in April 2013.<br />
<br />
Income support, income-based JSA, income-related ESA, housing benefit, and tax credits will be merged into this single universal credit. Despite the name, many other benefits will remain, but the ones being merged share the common feature of being based on the claimant's household income.<br />
<br />
However, there is one benefit that is also based on household income that is not being merged. That is council tax benefit.<br />
<br />
Council tax benefit is going to be abolished in its present form, and replaced with local council tax support. This local support will almost certainly have its own income-based rules, with only the details being different locally.<br />
<br />
At one stroke this decision virtually wipes out all of the claimed advantages that universal credit promises.<br />
<br />
The reason is that universal credit itself will have a <b>65%</b> taper. This means that for every £1 somebody earns in a week, they lose 65p of benefit that week. This model exists in all the currect income-based benefits, but the amount currently varies as follows:-<br />
<br />
<ul><ul>
<li>IS/JSA/ESA: <b>100%</b></li>
<li>Housing benefit: <b>65%</b></li>
<li>Tax credits: <b>41%</b></li>
<li>Council tax benefit: <b>20% </b></li>
</ul>
</ul>
Where a claimant<b> </b>gets a combination of these, the interaction is complex and the total taper depends on whether one benefit counts as income for another or not. We don't need to worry too much about the details, but the outcome is these combined taper rates:-<br />
<br />
<ul><ul>
<li>IS/JSA/ESA + any other: <b>100%</b></li>
<li>HB + CTB: <b>85%</b></li>
<li>HB+CTB+tax credits: about <b>92%</b></li>
</ul>
</ul>
So at first glance these current withdrawal rates seem to compare favourably to the single 65% proposed for universal credit.<br />
<br />
But because council tax benefit is not being merged into universal credit, and because neither universal credit nor council tax benefit will count as income for each other, the future withdrawal rate will actually be 65% + x%, where x is whatever level is set by the local council. Given that local council have to cut their support below the current level of CTB expenditure, it seems unlikely that x will be under 20 and could be higher.<br />
<br />
So we will get:<br />
<br />
<ul><ul>
<li>Universal credit + local CTB: <b>85-90</b>%</li>
</ul>
</ul>
We are immediately back to the same problem as before, solely because of this one awful decision on council tax. Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-69183065788075844042012-10-27T03:48:00.000-07:002012-10-27T03:48:43.458-07:00BAS Parking Services breaching the clamping banPrivate clamping and towing of vehicles was definitively outlawed in England and Wales on 1st October 2012. Before that, it was legal in certain circumstances, but private companies overstepped the lawful limits more often than not – although it was not always clear where the limits were. The law has now been made very clear.<br />
<br />
But it seems that in Bristol, BAS Parking Services are <a href="http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Council-worker-s-car-impounded-works-council/story-17165842-detail/story.html">vioalting the ban - apparently with the council's consent:</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Enforcement of parking restrictions at this site is carried out by a
private contractor which responded to reports of a number of motorists
parking at the flats without a permit and, unfortunately, this employee
was caught up in this action and was towed away."</blockquote>
They seem to be unaware that this method of enforcement is now a criminal offence.<br />
<br />
Section <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/9/section/54/enacted">54 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012</a> states:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h5 class="LegClearFix LegP1ContainerFirst">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="LegDS LegP1No">54</span><span class="LegDS LegP1GroupTitleFirst" id="p00222">Offence of immobilising etc. vehicles</span></span></h5>
<div class="LegClearFix LegP2Container">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="LegDS LegLHS LegP2No" id="section-54-1">(1)</span><span class="LegDS LegRHS LegP2Text">A person commits an offence who, without lawful authority—</span></span>
</div>
<div class="LegClearFix LegP3Container">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="LegDS LegLHS LegP3No" id="section-54-1-a">(a)</span><span class="LegDS LegRHS LegP3Text">immobilises a motor vehicle by the attachment to the vehicle, or a part of it, of an immobilising device, or</span></span>
</div>
<div class="LegClearFix LegP3Container">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="LegDS LegLHS LegP3No" id="section-54-1-b">(b)</span><span class="LegDS LegRHS LegP3Text">moves, or restricts the movement of, such a vehicle by any means,</span></span>
</div>
<div class="LegRHS LegP2Text">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">intending to prevent or inhibit the removal of the vehicle by a person otherwise entitled to remove it.
</span></div>
<div class="LegClearFix LegP2Container">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="LegDS LegLHS LegP2No" id="section-54-2">(2)</span><span class="LegDS LegRHS LegP2Text">The
express or implied consent (whether or not legally binding) of a person
otherwise entitled to remove the vehicle to the immobilisation,
movement or restriction concerned is not lawful authority for the
purposes of subsection (1).</span></span>
</div>
</blockquote>
Implied consent of the motorist was the old reason that clamping could be lawful in some cases. The act clearly covers towing, as well as clamping, if the towing is intended to prevent the owner driving the vehicle without making a payment. Accepting or demanding any payment would also now be an offence under the <a href="http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/buying-services/consumer-protection-rules-2008/the-law-explained/">Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008</a> and could carry a prison sentence of up to two years.<br />
<br />
Some comments on that page have claimed that as clamping and towing by councils can still be lawful, BAS are in the clear as their contractor. Clamping and towing by councils can amount to "lawful authority" for the purposes of section 54(1) where they are enforcing statutory parking restrictions: that is, where a traffic order has been made on public land (a road or public car park). Lawful clamping and towing by councils on public land also carries a statutory right of appeal to the council, and from there, to the traffic penalty tribunal.<br />
<br />
It seems clear from the council's statement that this does not apply here. The motorist's appeal has clearly not been considered under the statutory system - otherwise, having decided he should be refunded, the council would have to refund him. Here, they have said that they have passed the matter to BAS and will not decide the outcome or pay anything themselves.<br />
<br />
This means that BAS have committed a criminal offence while acting as contractors to Bristol City Council. If Bristol City Council have instructed or procured their use of towing after Oct 1st, the council are equally guilty of the offence. There is no blanket exemption for councils who are not exercising lawful authority, and nothing in section 54 to suggest that ignorance of the law would be a defence.<br />
<br />
<b>Update 27 Oct</b>: Bristol City Council have not commented further, but their PR Office confirmed they were not aware that towing vehicles without lawful authority has been made a criminal offence. The police have been informed of the incident.Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-90763789206899473532012-10-25T07:08:00.001-07:002012-10-25T07:08:41.377-07:00Watchdog clueless on statutory consumer rightsThis week's <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01nmgqb/Watchdog_Series_30_Episode_7/">Watchdog</a> had a worrying story about Amazon Kindles breaking down after a short period of time.<br />
<br />
What they totally failed to spot, as seems to happen quite often, is that Amazon's claimed policy of imposing a guarantee limited to one year has no basis in the law.<br />
<br />
All goods bought from a business are covered by section 14 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979. This means that the goods have to last a reasonable time, considering the price paid and nature of the goods. This is fairly basic consumer rights law.<br />
<br />
An expensive item like a Kindle that is not obviously perishable is expected to last longer than one year. It's (almost) excusable for retailers to try it on a bit, but Watchdog should know this kind of thing.Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-52236120934829107852012-10-25T04:31:00.001-07:002012-10-25T04:32:36.062-07:00Proposed changes to child benefit - a reasonable idea turned nightmarishIain Duncan Smith has <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20077758">proposed limiting benefits</a> payable for children in any family to a maximum of two children. If the parent or parents then went on to have more children, they would not receive additional money for the third or higher child.<br />
<br />
In some ways, this is quite a reasonable idea. The additional amounts of benefit paid for families with more children can be fairly generous. Each additional child can currently bring in approximately £70pw in tax credits and child benefit. It also entitles the family to rent a larger house and to a higher income disregard in housing and council tax benefit worth about £50pw for each child.<br />
<br />
I have thought for some time that some kind of limit to how many children a person can have while claiming benefits, just as someone who wants to claim help for a mortgage cannot usually take out a new mortgage while on benefit.<br />
<br />
The extent of additional money for each child has already been somewhat limited by the new, and <a href="http://goldendrawer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/is-benefit-cap-really-pushing-thousands.html">highly flawed</a>, <a href="http://www.dwp.gov.uk/adviser/updates/benefit-cap/">benefit cap </a>of £500 a week per household. That system will only affect people with 4-6 children, depending on a number of factors such as the amount of rent they pay. If this new change were implemented, then it would make the cap completely obsolete as nobody with under four children would ever be affected by it. But this is where we get into difficulties with what has now been proposed.<br />
<br />
The first problem with the new proposal is that Duncan Smith is once again making it into an issue of those in work against those out of work. From his description of things, you would get the impression that 'those with three or more children' and 'those in work' are two separate groups on a Venn diagram that don't overlap. But this is wrong - people in work can obviously have more than two children.<br />
<br />
Despite purporting to make this distinction, there is nothing in IDS's announcement that suggests this change will be limited to those out of work. It seems that everyone will be affected. So it's <b>not</b> just something aimed at the unemployed - we need to be clear on that, or a falsehood is spread.<br />
<br />
As I said above, I think it would be reasonable to limit people from having more children while on benefits and immediately claiming more money for them. But it would definitely not be fair to say that if a parent with 4 children loses his or her job, then he or she is unable to claim enough money to live on. It's not as though someone who has lost a job can give up children.<br />
<br />
And this is the point where <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FridgeHorror">fridge horror</a> sets in. Benefits for children include help with higher rent, for the larger family. This proposal means that a parent with 4 children losing his job would almost immediately become both homeless and un-houseable. This completely undermines the idea of safety net. We may see families forced to split up and children being sent to live with other relatives (who will then be able to claim benefits for them - ruining the point of the idea once again.)<br />
<br />
This government has no idea what it is doing. It just pushes through seriously flawed ideas without thinking them through, before and again. No-one who looked carefully at the last benefit cap thought it was a good idea, so I am very worried about this new idea.Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-24819217678030746722012-10-25T03:47:00.000-07:002012-10-25T03:47:04.871-07:00Is the benefit cap really pushing thousands back into work?Short answer: no. But a Daily Mail article nevertheless <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2174059/Benefits-cap-pushing-thousands-jobless-work-says-Duncan-Smith.html">claims this is the case</a>.<br />
<br />
IDS claims that the upcoming benefit cap of £500 pw is causing 'thousands' of families to <i>look for work</i>. So that's already a bit of a climb down from them already <i>going</i> back into work, for a start. 1,700 people in this group have found work, which is 3% of the group. And we don't know over what time period that is: in any case it is a pretty low take-up rate.<br />
<br />
The cap of £500 which starts in April 2013 will affect very few people. It will only apply to families with a lot of children. Families with a lot of children can indeed receive relatively high rates of benefits: after all, they have a lot of people to split that money between. On the other hand, it is not necessarily unreasonable to limit the number of children people can have and immediately request state support for them all.<br />
<br />
But this is where the reasoning for this particular system of cap breaks down. It is wrong to compare it to the amount 'an average couple would earn in work'. This is for two reasons:<br />
<ol>
<li>A family of the same size with the parents <i>in</i> work can also claim a<i> </i>lot<i> </i>in benefits - possibly the same or even more than one out of work. (This is even lampshaded in the Mail article!)</li>
<li>The £500 a week in benefits has to support between 5-8 people, whereas an average couple in work earning that only have to support two people. (And if they have children they will get additional money through benefits.)</li>
</ol>
The cap also creates a new 'couple penalty' - remember, that thing <a href="http://www.metro.co.uk/news/749659-david-camerons-speech-in-full-part-1">Cameron promised to abolish</a> but hasn't? The cap applies per household. The obvious thing for a large family with two parents affected by the cap to do would be to split into two nearby households - who then only have a total cap of £1000 pw between them, which would be absolutely impossible ever to reach.<br />
<br />
If the cap of a mere £500 per week really is causing 'thousands' people to look for work, how could IDS possibly know about it? <br />
<br />
The only way would be where they are claiming jobseeker's allowance, the DWP would have a record of their jobsearch activity and requirements. But in that case, those jobsearch requirements would have already applied without the cap. Most families with children need to claim JSA, and to look for work as a basic condition of entitlement. That has been the law since the 1920s.<br />
<br />
Look again at the exact words used:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Despite all the scaremongering, research
now shows that of those housing benefit claimants affected by the cap, a
third said they would now be looking for a job."</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;"><span style="font-size: small;">Note that i<span style="font-size: small;">t doesn<span style="font-size: small;">'</span>t say this is new, or because of the cap. They could have been looking for a job all along<span style="font-size: small;"> - and must have been.</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-57876990855904018352012-10-23T06:31:00.000-07:002012-10-23T06:36:55.843-07:00PCC Elections - Bill Etheridge's manifesto<a href="http://www.billetheridge.co.uk/">Bill Etheridge</a>, the UKIP candidate for <a href="http://goldendrawer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/why-i-will-not-be-voting-on-nov-15th.html">Police and Crime Commissioner</a>, pledges (in addition to the standard things most candidates are saying):-<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li> <b><span style="color: #4a026e;">I will demand tougher and more
sensible sentencing from Judges. I will send a written request to each
Court in the WMP area and request most vehemently that
they adhere to the Sentencing Guidelines Council recommendations for
that crime. </span></b></li>
</ul>
This is<b> </b>a worrying statement, which suggests that as I feared in yesterday's post, PCCs may not be happy to keep to the duties that are prescribed<span style="color: #4a026e;"> or recommended</span> for them by the Home Office. Writing to judges should not be part of his role, for very good reasons, and it is highly unlikley any member of the traditional executive branch of government would dream of violating the separation of powers like this.<br />
<br />
If Mr Etheridge did this he would be at risk, in my opinion, of acting contrary to the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, as well as <i>ultra vires</i> the powers granted to him by Parliament. The section 3 of the CRA states:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="LegClearFix LegP2Container">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="LegDS LegLHS LegP2No" id="section-3-1">(1)</span><span class="LegDS LegRHS LegP2Text">The
Lord Chancellor, other Ministers of the Crown and all with
responsibility for matters relating to the judiciary <b>or otherwise to the
administration of justice</b> must uphold the continued independence of the
judiciary.</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;">and</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="LegClearFix LegP2Container">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="LegDS LegLHS LegP2No" id="section-3-5">(5)</span><span class="LegDS LegRHS LegP2Text">The
Lord Chancellor and other Ministers of the Crown must not seek to
influence particular judicial decisions through any special access to
the judiciary.</span></span>
</div>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Subsesction (5) might well include those who are part of the Home Office as well as actual ministers. </span>If a public body or official acts contrary to statute, this does not imply any criminal offence, but does leave the decision liable to being quashed by the courts. Parliament can also hol<span style="font-size: small;">d the executive to account. </span>But because of the directly elected nature of the PCC position, it <span style="font-size: small;">will exist outside the established executive bra<span style="font-size: small;">nch <span style="font-size: small;">of government </span>and will not be accountable to Parliament in the usual way that ministers are. And it is not clear yet i<span style="font-size: small;">f th<span style="font-size: small;">e</span> courts will be willing to </span></span></span></span></span>interfere with actions of directly elected office holders. I'm sure Mr Ederidge is not alone in this kind of plan, so this could <span style="font-size: small;">mean</span> interesting times.Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208053187062413513.post-8629821449372983262012-10-23T06:26:00.000-07:002012-10-23T06:26:14.882-07:00Absurd<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBynzNDO-s82nmFk1KEsv5NspZw0iXmE7iQCQvs7_jIl2Uaq8IMZXfcO0_r1ovR2Uh8iTOUPxbvbrpQ2ftGlnb2R2jTpGbzKEYyvcVJ2bHJFu2Bof_qlfFsZwXtvPD_cD8AhbaT43_Yc/s1600/pcc_english_slider1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBynzNDO-s82nmFk1KEsv5NspZw0iXmE7iQCQvs7_jIl2Uaq8IMZXfcO0_r1ovR2Uh8iTOUPxbvbrpQ2ftGlnb2R2jTpGbzKEYyvcVJ2bHJFu2Bof_qlfFsZwXtvPD_cD8AhbaT43_Yc/s320/pcc_english_slider1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This is not a parody image. It is actually taken from the <a href="http://www.choosemypcc.org.uk/">Home Office PCC election</a> website.<br />
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Apparently, in this universe, if you don't vote there will be no more police.<br />
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If this were not such a ridiculous implication to make, it might amount to a breach of advertising standards rules, but is probably saved by appearing to be a joke.<br />
Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14379881605741607452noreply@blogger.com0