National Day of Action Against 'Personal Independence Payments' regime Wednesday 13 July 2016

Reminder: The national day of action against the new Personal Independence (PIP) regime occurs two weeks tomorrow.(1)

Command click on the London demo poster photo to access more detail from the DPAC website

This is being called by Disabled People Against Cuts, the Mental Health Resistance Network (MHRN) and WinVisible (Women with visible and invisible disabilities). PIP figures from the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) suggest that the change from Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP has been a cost-cutting-by-cutting-number-of-claimants exercise.(2) That echoes the 2007 move from Incapacity Benefit (IB) to Employment & Support Allowance (ESA) was.

The two companies that deliver the DWP's eligibility testing regime for PIP are Atos and Capita. When Atos was gaining notoriety for its administration of the Work Capability Assessment by which ESA eligibility is underscored, Glaswegian GP Dr Margaret McCartney in 2011 that they treated people like "claimants, not patients," inferring that normal medical ethics need not apply to their profit-oriented, payment-by-results activities.(3) So it does not look as if they have changed the error of their ways.

Claire Glasman of WinVisible told Disability News Service:

“[The change from DLA to PIP] is impoverishing people, trapping people in their homes, making their lives a misery.“We have no confidence that people’s situations are being properly assessed.“There were problems with DLA as well but that was a lot more responsive to people’s situation.”(4)

How will you respond?

Link addresses

1. http://dpac.uk.net/2016/06/pip-fightback-national-day-of-action-against-pip-13th-july-pipfightback/
2. http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/pip-figures-fuel-concerns-over-cuts-while-activists-plan-day-of-action/
3. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/sickness-benefit-clawback-firm-tells-1096774
4. http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/pip-figures-fuel-concerns-over-cuts-while-activists-plan-day-of-action/