Urgent inquiry needed into impact of 100k mentally ill people losing disability benefits, says ex coalition health minister

The Government has been blasted for having "absolutely no idea" of the impact of cutting disability benefits on those with mental health problems

A former health minister today slammed the Government for refusing to investigate why people with mental health problems are the largest group to lose incapacity benefits.

Paul Burstow, Minister for Care Services from 2011 to 2012, launched a stinging attack on the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), saying it has “absolutely no idea” of the impact of benefit cuts on mentally ill people.

The Lib Dem MP claims more than 100,000 people with mental health problems who lost their benefits have been “forgotten about” by the Government.

Mental health charity Mind today accused the DWP of not taking the issues seriously, and said the department is delaying in releasing the precise numbers of those with such illnesses affected by sanctions.

Speaking exclusively to Mirror Online, Mr Burstow said: “We know almost half of people taken off incapacity benefit, assessed, and found apparently ‘fit to work’ have mental health problems, and the Department responsible have absolutely no idea what’s happened to them.

“We have heard time and again that assessors had no real grasp of mental illness and its impact.

“We know that people with mental health problems need support and encouragement to get back into work and there is overwhelming evidence that people with mental health problems face discrimination in the job market.

“But over 100,000 people with mental health problems have been summarily put on Job Seekers Allowance and forgotten about.

“We don’t know if they have got jobs, we don’t know if they have been sanctioned, and we don’t know the impact of sanctions on their mental health.

“All we do know is that the Department don’t know and don’t seem to care.”

Research published by the Methodist Church last month showed people who receive the sickness and disability benefit Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) because of a long-term mental health problem are being sanctioned at a rate of more than 100 per day.

According to the DWP data, the most common reason for being sanctioned is that a person has been late or not turned up for a Work Programme appointment.

Paul Morrison, Public Issues Policy Adviser for the Methodist Church, said in January: "Sanctioning someone with a mental health problem for being late for a meeting is like sanctioning someone with a broken leg for limping.

"The fact that this system punishes people for the symptoms of their illness is a clear and worrying sign that it is fundamentally flawed.”

"Churches have increasingly seen people in desperate need because they have been sanctioned.

"The suffering and injustice we have seen caused by the sanctions system deserves serious scrutiny."

Last week, the Minster for Disabilities Mark Harper refused to investigate why the largest category of people transferred from incapacity benefit to the fit-to-work group have been people with mental health issues.

Tom Pollard, Policy and Campaigns Manager at Mind said: “It’s really worrying that you are more likely to receive a benefits sanction if you have a mental health problem than another health condition but we don’t have access to all the information about how often and why this is happening.

"The DWP are not taking this issue seriously enough – over 80 days ago Mind requested information on the number of people with mental health problems who had been sanctioned and they have yet to respond – four times the 20 day limit for replying to Freedom of Information requests.

“People with mental health problems make up nearly half of those supported by Employment and Support Allowance, but we know that the current support provided through mainstream programmes to try to help people into work is not tailored enough and doesn’t properly take into account the problems people may face in finding and keeping a job.”

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/urgent-inquiry-needed-impact-100k-5300120

The suicides that have taken place will be nothing in comparison to what will happen if they get in again. That appalling thought is enough to send shivers up the spine of people with mental health or disability problems.