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Confirmed! UN is investigating UK’s ‘grave violations’ of disabled people’s rights

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By on Human Rights

The United Nations is carrying out an unprecedented inquiry into “systematic and grave violations” of disabled people’s human rights by the UK government, Disability News Service (DNS) can finally confirm.

DNS revealed last August that the UK appeared to have become the first country to face a high-level inquiry by the UN’s committee on the rights of persons with disabilities (CRPD).

The committee said last summer, when approached by DNS, that it was not allowed to say whether the inquiry was underway.

But DNS is now in a position to state definitively that the inquiry is taking place, and has been underway since January 2014.

The inquiry was triggered by the grassroots campaigning organisation Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), which had grown increasingly concerned by the disproportionate impact of the coalition’s cuts on disabled people.

DPAC first contacted CRPD in 2012 and began to submit evidence about the coalition’s cuts and reforms in early 2013, with its request for an inquiry considered by the committee behind closed doors in April 2013.

In a blog published this week, explaining why it had finally confirmed its role, DPAC said that in order to persuade CRPD to carry out an inquiry it had had to prove that there had been “severe” and “continuous” violations of rights enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) that had been built into the government’s welfare reforms.

The blog said that DPAC had also had to provide “strong evidence” of “retrogression” – or deterioration – of those rights.

The inquiry has taken place under the convention’s optional protocol, which allows individuals and groups who are victims of a violation to submit a complaint to the CRPD about any state, like the UK, that has signed up to both the convention and the protocol.

CRPD first notified the UK government of a possible inquiry in June 2013, and informed the government the following January that evidence provided by DPAC contains “reliable information indicating grave or systematic violations” of the rights in the UN convention.

DPAC has refused since 2012 to comment on the possible inquiry as it was warned by CRPD that the process had to remain confidential, but it has now decided to confirm its role in the process after news of the committee’s plans to visit the UK as part of the inquiry was leaked to a Scottish newspaper by a disability charity.

A DPAC spokeswoman said: “This inquiry is the first of its kind – it has great historic importance.

“It means the UN will examine the vicious and punitive attacks on disabled people’s independent living as well as the cuts which have seen so many placed in inhuman circumstances and has led to unnecessary deaths.”

DPAC said the evidence it provided to the committee was “extremely strong” and demonstrated the “regression of disabled people’s convention rights and the grave and systematic violations of disabled people’s rights under the UNCRPD”.

The DPAC spokeswoman added: “This inquiry is an unprecedented move and unchartered territory for the UNCRPD committee.

“It is also another route of hope for disabled people who have been abused by the UK government, ignored by most of the opposition and betrayed by the big disability charities.”

Tracey Lazard, chief executive of Inclusion London, said the inquiry was “highly significant”, particularly as there has been a “very frustrating” delay in the much more routine process by which the committee will examine the UK’s general compliance with the convention.

She said Inclusion London and the Reclaiming Our Futures Alliance welcomed the opportunity to talk to the investigators about the evidence they had gathered, which shows “retrogression across every article of the UN convention”.

Lazard said: “We very much hope that disabled people’s experiences and information will be at the heart of that inquiry.

“This is really serious. This should be a wake-up call and the government should be doing exactly what it can to facilitate and make this inquiry as effective as possible.”

Inclusion London has also sponsored a separate complaint about the closure of the Independent Living Fund (ILF) to new applicants in 2010, on behalf of two disabled people who would have been eligible for ILF support if it had still been open.

That complaint was submitted to CRPD earlier this year.

Mark Harrison, chief executive of ROFA member Equal Lives, another user-led organisation which has played a key role in fighting government cuts, said: “When the UK government signed and ratified the UNCRPD it committed itself to progressive realisation to improve the lives of disabled people.

“The coalition government and now the Tory regime has deliberately targeted disabled people for the harshest treatment.

“This has been disproportionate to the rest of the population. Austerity cuts to welfare and services are causing unnecessary deaths and misery.

“I hope the UN will expose to the world what has happened and this will force a political U-turn.”

Tara Flood, director of the Alliance for Inclusive Education, another ROFA member, said the inquiry was “crucial” for disabled people, and showed that human rights abuses also go on in “what are considered to be rich, so-called civilised countries”.

She said: “It feels like an opportunity of a lifetime for a very bright light to be shining on what has been going on in this country and has been going on for quite some time.

“We will do our best to participate in whatever way we can and support our members to have an opportunity to share their stories and their concerns with the inquiry team.

“Given that the government was so determined to kick this into the long grass, I am really pleased that the UN has continued to pursue the matter.”

DPAC’s concerns were focused at first on the government’s decision to close ILF, and the damage caused by the work capability assessment (WCA) process, but the scope of the inquiry has widened dramatically since it first approached the UN in 2012.

Other issues raised and evidenced by DPAC include the impact of the bedroom tax; the government’s unwillingness to make an assessment of the cumulative impact of its cuts and reforms on disabled people; cuts to social care; the impact of benefit sanctions on disabled people; delays in benefit assessments; and the government’s reluctance to monitor disabled people found fit for work and who have lost their only means of support.

DPAC has submitted a number of key pieces of research to the committee, including evidence of disabled people who have had their benefits sanctioned; reports of claimants whose deaths were linked to the WCA; the impact of delays to the new personal independence payment assessment; the role played by the media in inflaming disability hate crime; and the extent of cuts to local authority care funding.

DPAC said that its submissions were based on “firmly sourced statistical and other factual evidence, and also on the hundreds of personal testimonies that DPAC has received from individuals who have been affected adversely by the governments’ welfare reforms”.

Picture: The Palais Wilson in Geneva, home of the CRPD, by Romano1246, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license

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  • Nic

    Good! I’m glad we’ve finally got confirmation that the UN are investigating.

  • Nick Dedman

    lets see them ignore this!!

  • Boro Boy Bluey

    I can see Iain Duncan Smiths head rolling here, (if theres any justice)

    • Phil Lee

      Who issues the orders to IDS though? We know he can’t think for himself, so the buck has to be passed higher. And of course the treasury are also involved. Senior civil servants at DWP and the Treasury, along with the entire parliamentary Tory party and their enablers in the Libdems from last regime ALL need to be on trial, not forgetting the press barons that spread their propaganda for them.

  • Time for IDS to prepare himself for a trip to The Hague (here’s hoping).

    • Christine Scott

      Of course we could also ask the international court to prosecute the whole bunch for Crimes Against Humanity. It worked in GERMANY and not that long ago in France

  • Nick

    If they came round my house they would be very alarmed indeed to find someone like myself persecuted by the DWP for many years looking like a skeleton from a prisoner of war camp

    If i should only be so lucky by their visit the police were very shocked when they called round for something unrelated and my Tory mp never visits as the police briefed him on how i looked

    And yet you have refugees unthinking to come to the uk ? words fail me as i cant answer that

    • patwin

      So very sorry to hear that Nick.
      Are you getting help from anywhere at all? Can I do anything to help you?

      • Nick

        I am ok pat my wife works in a care home with those at the end of their life and is also my carer

        My condition of which i have many illnesses is stomach
        related and the DWP know that by stressing me I won’t be able to eat or drink properly hence I have had kidney stones for the past 15 years and is still ongoing

        However, many thanks pat for your offer of help that is a
        godsend at the end of the day in that there is person who could step in and
        offer some help so will let you know if I should get very desperate

        With regret, all of the charities don’t do home visits so they tell me for advocacy or DWP form filling

        All of my forms in the past were always filled out by NHS staff that visited me but with cutbacks and a working wife these things have now all been stopped and are in future only available to those that live alone or over the age of 70 with disabilities

        I’m 60 so no help from the outside but I press on I just ive in hope that I will be called as a witness in any court case as to why the DWP treat people
        and how the thousands of deaths of my fellow sick and disabled citizens has impacted on my mental health over the past few years

        • patwin

          Hopefully things will get better here in the UK now there has been a change of Labour Party leadership, it’s been needed for a long time.

          I wish you and all other ill people out there all the very best.
          Some of us are still fighting your corner. I will never accept or understand the brutal treatment from this government. It makes me ashamed to be a member of the human race 🙁

          Keep safe and well, Pat x

          • Nick

            thanks pat 🙂

        • patwin

          Hopefully things will get better here in the UK now there has been a change of Labour Party leadership, it’s been needed for a long time.

          I wish you and all other ill people out there all the very best.
          Some of us are still fighting your corner. I will never accept or understand the brutal treatment from this government. It makes me ashamed to be a member of the human race 🙁

          Keep safe and well, Pat x

        • Christine Scott

          Have you contacted CAB as they often attend claimants in their homes to fill in the DWP docs

          • Nick

            i’m afraid Christine CAB in my are of west Sussex certainly do not attend to people in their homes and nor do any of the main charities

            All you get is helpful advice on the phone only which is not at all satisfactory in my case but thanks for your input

          • Charlie Delicate Heart

            What help were you looking for Nick, do you have the basics needed to just live?

    • Charlie Delicate Heart

      Nick what help are looking for at present, are your basic needs met? I don’t know how else to contact you to chat only via here. Left my fb if you could get in touch

      • Nick

        thanks charlie my needs are met it’s just the DWP process that we all face that makes my stomach ulcer condition worse which prevents me from eating or drinking properly

        I have other health condition’s to attend to which doesn’t help overall but i get by with my good caring wife

        thanks anyhow and i will contact you if we find ourselves unable to deal with the DWP
        you would have thought after being with them for 35 years my life would be a little simpler but with regret it’s getting worse year on year with the continues mountain of paperwork to be filled in

        as i say this in the past was done by my NHS carer but that got cut back to zero so any forms have to be done by myself and i’m unable to do these so the DWP have to come round the house to read me the riot act (fill it in or else )

        they only stop my benefit for a short period my mp then has to step in and all is OK for a few months and then bang it all starts up again

        35 years heck i need a break

  • Mike Gresty

    If United Nations want irrefutable proof of how current dwp assessments are killing people please send them to me and I’ll gladly cooperate and give them proof, explained in detail of the ways people have and will die if allowed to continue.

    • Nick

      well said mike 🙂

  • Gwyn Jones
  • Sean Kelly

    Thought they sent Brazilian women to no effect

  • Terry McElligott

    I am surprised that the Government actually voted against assisted euthanasia yesterday. I had thought they were all out to kill off anyone who was unproductive in the UK. They had been doing quite well with IDS in charge of Works and Pensions, hammering home ridiculous and damaging austerity cuts on the poor, disabled and vulnerable in society, when in fact the opposite should be in place. But cuts to the rich will never be possible under a Tory Government.

  • Phil Lee

    The UN keeping this secret for so long has deprived people of something that could have made a big difference – HOPE.
    How many of the suicides over the last couple of years could have been prevented if the UN had only offered that, by making this completely public from day 1 of their enquiry?

    I hope the International Court of Human Rights has been made ready for a large trial, because this is not just one or two people, it is at least the entire Parliamentary Conservative Party, not a few Tories outside parliament, Civil servants in at least two departments (Treasury and DWP) and very likely a bunch of the abuse enablers in the Libdems, as well. The Murdoch press (and the editors of the Daily Mail) should probably be with them, as the propaganda arm of the conspiracy.

  • SaNagbaImuru

    From the opinions expressed in the comments, it’s clear that they are more about “Tories are evil” than anything else. Good job you don’t live in the USA where disability support is negligible. Many countries in the world give much less support to the disabled – and the UN charter covers far more than financial support.

    • The UN convention is not about comparing one country with another; it is about progressive realisation in each member state which has signed up. The UK appears to have gone backwards. Fast. Therefore the inquiry.

  • Nick

    David Cameron needs to be very worried as i advise JCs team and if he kills off to many sick and disabled you will find he will take both he and tony blair to court for the crimes that they have inflicted on the public

    tony Blair for the war crimes and David Cameron for the negligent deaths of thousands of sick and disabled people

    odd things have always taken place in politics who would have thought years ago that Saddam Hussein would have been killed ?

    who would have thought that Muammar Gaddafi would have been killed

    who would have thought that by the act of Mohamed Bouazizi stood in front of the municipal headquarters in this dusty central Tunisian town, doused himself in gasoline, and lit a match. Bouazizi had been the sole breadwinner for his family.would became a catalyst for the Tunisian Revolution

    The success of the Tunisian protests inspired protests in several other Arab countries, plus several non-Arab countries. The protests included several men who emulated Bouazizi’s act of self-immolation, in an attempt to bring an end to their own autocratic governments. Those men and Bouazizi were hailed by Arab commentators as “heroic martyrs of a new Middle Eastern revolution

    so yes David Cameron does need to watch out because Jeremy corbyn could against all the odds become the next prime minister and just like all of the above the completely impossible became the possible and yes history does repeat itself and the next 5 years will be the most fascinating that this country will ever witness

    • Suzanne Ennazus

      All I felt about the Labour leadership contest is sadness for what Labour has turned into. What I find the most sad are the numbers of so called Labour voters who don’t seem to do much more than repeat Tory propaganda.
      Whinging on about nothing but Blair and Iraq, about the last Labour government to be voted into power since the 70s. If all the average voter knows about politics is the last Tory propaganda headline they read, then why would they vote Labour when even Labour voters don’t know anything that Labour have done apart from Iraq? All the Tories can say against Labour is Iraq, despite more Tory MPs voting yes to the 2nd war because they were the ones who had made the rest of the world hate us to turn us into a USA state anyway. In the same way the Tories had stolen and sold off nearly everything public owned in the 80s to leave us nothing but banking, which had already all crashed by the late 80s-early 90s, but they still manage to convince voters that Labour were to blame for the banks crashing again. They even believe the Tories when they say they’re for a minimum wage, when after Labour gave us the first ever minimum wage, the Tories tried to vote against it, saying that any form of a minimum wage would be bad for the economy.
      It’s sad seeing so called labour voters acting like idiots, doing nothing but repeating Tory propaganda. Labour achieved a lot after the awful Tory years. As soon as they went into power they got rid of a lot of hereditary Lords, that the Tories tried to vote against. If all so called Labour voters can do is repeat Tory propaganda, then what hope is there for Labour? The Tories had left us an economy based on nothing but banking, which crashes every few years when nobody can pay back the debts they’re encouraged to have. Brown helped stop it affecting us when it was bad in the USA in the 2000s, and just before the election he was helping the economy by decreasing VAT to increase spending. The Tories would have made sure any crashes affect as many people as possible so they can increase university fees and keep the poor in their place.

  • Suzanne Ennazus

    Conservative policies are all ideological to keep the power with the few at the top, than what’s best for most people or the economy. Why else would they have done the worst thing imaginable for the economy in a recession by increasing VAT to make everything more expensive to slow down spending, as well as other tax that affects the poor the most like bedroom tax and making disabled people pay council tax from the minimum amount they can live on. Then do nothing with the extra tax except give millionaires tax cuts, while saying there have to be cuts to vital services?
    It’s like when the Conservatives were in power before in the 80s, when they stole and sold off nearly everything public owned, then added tax that affects the poor the most like constant VAT increases, the first government to add tax to household bills after they privatised the energy companies, and the Poll Tax where an 18 year old in a bed sit had to pay the same as a lord in a manor.
    Then by the late 80s after not spending the money on anything anybody wanted, such as more social housing or the NHS because waiting lists were the longest ever, they said they were broke, giving them an excuse to not put money into what services were left, making them the worst in Europe, still blaming Labour for what the Tories do after 10 years. It was also the Conservatives who turned us into a banking nation with nothing else to fall back on, where people’s credit rating was the most important thing in their life, which all crashes every few years when nobody can pay back the debt they’re encouraged to have. If Labour had put too many controls on all the Tories left us with, the Tories would have been the first to make a fuss, accusing Labour of being too controlling.
    Look at how the Tories tried to vote against Labour’s long awaited House of Lords reform, to reduce the number of hereditary Lords. The Tories wanted their upper class friends to be entitled to be paid for going nothing, with expenses and subsidised bars and restaurants. Then when Labour brought in the first ever minimum wage, the Tories tried to vote against that too. Now they’re saying they’re for a minimum wage. Are they saying they lied before when they said that any form on minimum wage would be bad for the economy?
    That party never seem with it anyway. On the same show that Boris Johnson said Germany never used chemical weapons in wars, he said an even bigger lie that nobody seemed to notice, as said there wasn’t a vote on the 2nd war against Iraq, when more Conservative MPs voted yes to it than other parties.
    They’re managing to convince idiots that getting rid of human rights is about terrorists, when there are already exceptions against national security. That’s why Abu Hamza failed in his case. It’s only about taking away rights from the majority. Look at how the Tories tried to use the police as their personal army against workers fighting to keep their jobs, lying that shipbuilding would go over to third world countries, when it’s now in rich nations such as Japan.
    Then when the future generations in those communities feel they have no hope apart from a job in Tescos, the Tories kick them down even more. At least Labour helped to rebuild those communities ruined by the Tories, by promoting more than ever to go to university, but now even to study with the OU it’s 5,000 a year in student loans.
    We now have a government where the PM, chancellor and London Mayor all went to the Bullingdon Club, giving each other top jobs, and some think they will act in the interests of many.

  • TERESA YAÑEZ

    I’ve been trying to get home since 2010. I know this is unrelated. But I came to Spain so I could start a new life after a bad divorce. Due to a lump in my breast growing over 5 yrs and no atention I insist on having the lump removed. What with 2 young children at the time if anything happened to me??
    They remove my breasts in what everyone considers a an abortion of double mastectomy. A complete disaster, in total pain all the time and completely disfigured. The social security over here declare me an incapacity of 55% for any lifting. Leaving me unfit for most jobs as jobs here are scarce. I get a monthly payment of 190 euros, so I can live really splendidly. I’m considered disabled now thanks to this and you don’t get any help in Spain, which is my point. I need home as soon as, but if I can’t find a job I can do straight away I have no help in the UK for 6 mths. And nowhere to live at home.
    My second point is, thinking of burning my British passport and entering the UK as an illegal refugee !!
    Sorry, but feeling so desperate !
    And yes I have sued the Spanish NHS, it’s been in court procedures for 7 yrs now !

  • Suzanne Ennazus

    Isn’t it the British spelling of Enquiry? Than the USA spelling of Inquiry?
    I came here from a petition site. Why do we need a petition if the UN is really carrying out an enquiry? The Conservatives just throw away petitions. More people signed the official government petition against paying for Thatcher’s funeral than any other petition on there, but it was ignored.

    • simhedges

      British English has two spellings of Enquiry/Inquir.y. An enquiry is a question: “I enquired what time the restaurant is expected to close this evening,” An inquiry is a formal investigation into an issue: “There is planned to be an inquiry into the number of road deaths in London each year”. So, in the case of the article, “Inquiry” is the correct spelling.

  • Moira Hewitt

    I have depression. I am separated from my husband, getting a divorce and living with my mother. I work from 7 until 9 each morning cleaning a large stores floors, office and toilets (15 mins walk to and from also). I wake up at 6 to get there. By the time I have finished my hair is truly dripping with sweat and soaking.I then walk someone’s dog with mine for an hour which I get paid for (it takes 15 mins. each way to walk there and back too). I get home from the shop at 9.30 and have a proper breakfast as I only have time to grab a banana at 6.20 before I leave the house! So at 10.00 I need to have a shower and wash hair. I can make it for the dog at about 11.45 and get back just after 1.00. I feel really shattered by then. I am reasonably physically fit from walking around that shop and the hours dog walks but mentally it is another thing. I could not clean for 4 more hours each day ( making 20 hours) = 30 for working tax credits.I understand that when WTC changes to universal credits I would receive £27 per week for 30 hours work. Housing Association rents vary between £47 to £145 per week.I can only pray that I can find something not too strenuous to do from 2 pm to 6 pm. I am not sure I can manage more hours.Each day I worry that my elderly mother may go into care and I will be homeless as equity release was taken out on the house and I have told my ex, as I have a 14 year old stepson who has had a lot of upheaval already in his life, that he can stay in the house until our son is old enough to support himself. I feel mentally pressured so much each day to have another job. My sister says she would never see me homeless but she divorced a year ago and is still trying to sell her home. My mother is being assessed by a mental health team regarding possible dementia. I break down every weekend and cry as I feel so overwhelmed and more low then. I cannot find peace of mind at all. I did not get PIP although I was in tears at the assessment because of the divorce. If only the government could finance me living alone just with the amount I need to live, after earning from my little jobs.

    • Hi Moira, so sorry to hear that things are so tough for you at the moment. Are you getting any support from anyone for all this? I’m thinking both mental health and the social security issues. There are lots of people out there who can help. Drop me an email if you’d like me to make some suggestions. Best wishes, John

      • kay35ud

        Hi all, I’m so sad to hear how DWP has treated you all, I no how this feels, at this moment of time, I’m currently in fighting to get my ESA RE instated, I have been acussed of fraud, acussed of liv6wiyh my ex, when I have not been, I have been on ESA since I was forced to give up work due to ill health, mother of 3,since last year of November my money was stopped, I have not been coutioned, not asked to go for interview, I have no writern correspondence from DWP as to why, I no I being bullied into giving up my claim, they have treated to come to my house, because apparently they have complicated forms they need to fill in, still waiting for them to come, I’m currently diagnosed with 2 mental disorder, I have a care worker who helps me, I’m under my local health team, and been for number of years, I also suffer from severe joint pain, which makes my mobile very poor, DWP has brought me to my lowest point, I can’t feed my kids, my bills have all gathered up, thy have brought me to my crisis point, I have been in 3 institution, my last time being in hospital resulted in me being sectioned.. It’s a very very sad day when we have to face being treated as no bodies, I hope this is very true, the UN investigating this, I feel like I have no choice, I either go back to my ex, and risk being beatern or end it for good..

  • Dr Naomi Turner

    My concern is over local authority disability adaptations and the dogma that ‘one size fits all,’ for those of us who are physically disabled. Decisions are made by occupational therapists without understanding individual needs or allowing disabled people any choice over their adaptations. HOWEVER, IT IS MY BELIEF THAT THE RATIONAL BEHIND THEIR THINKING IS NOT SUITABILITY BUT LIABILITY. It took until 2015 to implement adaptations recommended in 2007. The 2007 recommendations included a wet/dry toilet (e.g. Clos-o-mat, Geberit, or Bio Bidet,) and a level access shower with digitally controlled water temperature because I cannot feel water temperature on my skin. In fairness to the local authority, things were held up until April 2012, because I lived in rented accommodation and my landlord refused permission to have the adaptations installed. In April 2012, I was rehoused by the local authority, so shortly after moving I requested an assessment by an OT. The flat is nice, but has a delapidated wet room with a broken half-height shower cubical meant to be used with shower curtains. It was in a disgusting state when I moved in. Everything was mouldy and stained brown, including the floor and frequent cleaning has not removed the stains. The OT decided that all I needed was a raised toilet seat and a shower stool, but these items were never provided. A year later my solicitor requested another assessment, but the OT had never heard of some of my medical conditions and asked me to obtain evidence from my GP that they actually existed. The OT said her boss (who has no medical qualifications) did not believe my medical conditions actually existed. I obtained two letters from my consultant neurologist stating that I have myasthenia gravis (a rare form of muscular dystrophy) and all three types of diabetic neuropathy (peripheral, autonomic, and motor, the latter has often been misdiagnosed as motor neurone) plus the conclusive results of a nerve conduction test, this test cannot be faked. In addition I have diabetes (Type I), angina, asthma, and COPD. The results of the second assessment were unsatisfactory so my solicitor engaged an independent OT, who is also a recognised expert witness and armed with her report, threatened them with a judicial review. This year I had a new shower and a Bio Bidet installed. I refused the half-height shower screen because I am only 5ft and cannot reach the shower curtains to take them down and wash them without standing on a step ladder. If the curtains are not washed they get covered in mould. Without the curtains water goes everywhere and makes a lot of unnecessary cleaning. The rationale behind the half-height screen is access in case you fall over in the shower. I suggested a full-height shower screen with a sliding door that would give access in an emergency. This screen could be cleaned with a spray of steam mop. Another issue was the preformed flooring instead of a shower tray, in case a carer has to wheel you into the shower or you fall over the ridge, but there are manufacturers that make rimless shower trays. I do not have a care worker, and as for tripping over the ridge on the shower tray, I have a step into my kitchen, is that not equally dangerous? Then there is that horrible flooring they use like Altro or Polyflor, that cuts your feet to pieces (dangerous for a diabetic) and is impossible to keep clean. Again the rational is to prevent you from slipping, but surely having cut feet is just as serious and there are other types of non-slip flooring available. The chemicals needed to clean this type of flooring are dangerous to anyone with breathing problems. Finally I was told the work schedule for full adaptations would take three weeks with only a small handbasin to perform ones ablutions. Impossible for anyone who is incontinent or has a skin condition, impossible to wash ones hair. When I signed disclaimers not to have the adaptations I did not want I realised it is all a question of liability. The local authority want to prevent lawsuits without giving thought to whether the adaptations are suitable, they simply do not care and only provide adaptations because the law requires it. At present I am trying to save up for a proper shower and it is likely to cost around £1000.

  • nicci

    I was deemed fit to be in the ESA work activities group. I appealed. I have several disabling physical and mental health illnesses. The list is long yet wasn’t enough for ATOS/DWP. So a year later (after waiting for court dat & support group component being withheld)..after judge ruled under Regulation 35? (apparently it’s an alert to avoid possibility of commiting suicide). They ordered DWP to leave me on support group..up until that point (up to date appeal won) & for a further 24 months until safe to consider another review.

    ATOS sent me a form 12wks later demanding I go for a review. I spoke to them & cried..saying “are you trying to kill me?” The reply: “if you continue to speak to us in that way or do not turn up we will cut off your money”. Thankfully..are the time the local disability charity who’d helped me appeal were still there (nor anymore) they told me what to say word for word..eg..judge would like to know why you feel authorised to go against court order. They’ve left me alone. There were so many people being carted into the courts and most were with family or friends
    I felt mostly they didn’t stand a chance.

    I did end up attempting suicide..why..so many reasons. My physical disabilities are hidden therefore misunderstood and at times ridiculed. I’ve had retorts such as: how can you not do (this or that), when a person with only two limbs can..for example. I also have mental health disabilities..again hidden & misunderstood.
    My list..
    FIBROMYALGIA: (severe & hospitalised since childhood..so many symptoms..including chronic & severe pain/fatigue/migraine/IBS/muscle spasm/reoccurring painful cysts/ sensory overload plus many more..including anaemia which nearly killed me in 2007.
    OSTEOARTHRITIS /POLYARTHRITIS hand/foot therapy helps but still hurts
    ALOPECIA UNIVERSALIS autoimmune disorde..my immune system attacks my hair folicles..including my nails..and retina in one eye =no hair, eye problem & nails coming away
    PROLAPSED DISC: when it presses on the nerve it feels like my back is broken..operation very risky & healing prognosis poor especially due to fibromyalgia.
    These were not enough to satisfy ATOS..
    My advocate went with my background of abuse and mental health problems..iI wasn’t happy about it but that’s how we actually won!

    Since then..the attempt did take place.. I spent 3 wks in a crisis house then 8 months in an acute hospital day recovery unit.
    Now.. I am in therapy..and go to places that support people with mental health illnesses.
    My list..
    OCD
    GAD
    PTSD
    Mixed Personality Disorder
    Depression

    I feel like society looks at me with scorn and derision. When I have enough of that going on in my own mind constantly berating me. In the day unit I attended..staff of 27 years left as they couldn’t take it anymore..others had to accept lower pay if they wanted to stay. The death (suicide) rate averaged at least one person each 10 to 12 wks. One woman saw 3 in 3 months take place.
    One of those was a dear friend. Also myself..a few times I was very lucky to have the support I needed. Now the unit has to move people out within 4 to wks.

    Hidden Illnesses (physical & mental) need more support.

  • Joules Moyes

    Do we have a current update on how this inquiry is progressing and also if we as individuals are able to cite our issues and problems with the DWP/ATOS/Capita etc:? I ask as I am currently suing Capita for physical harm during a so called professional assessment….

    • I think it’s probably too late to pass on your own concerns, but try contacting DPAC through their website as they should know more. I believe we should get a picture of the inquiry’s findings next year. Can you tell me anything more about your case against Capita? Could you possibly email me? My address is on the website…

  • Hilary Long

    I presume with the change to the 20 metre distance to qualify for higher mobility rate that ALL buses with be suitable for disabled and bus stops will be placed within 20 metres of all homes, hospitals and GP surgeries so as not to deny anyone health care !!!!

    • Phil Lee

      How would that help them eliminate us?
      You seem to have the strange idea that the tories want us to survive. It’s clear by now that they don’t, as they’ve been warned numerous times about the impact of their cuts and still gone ahead, despite the mounting death toll.

      It’s a conspiracy to murder, and they need to be tried for that.
      They’ve killed more Britons than ISIS, so should surely be classed as a terrorist organisation.

  • Sian

    This is why we shouldn’t leave the eu. What support would we get then? The tories don’t have compassion for people that are less able than themselves. My mothers esa has been stopped since September because even with fibromyalgia they think shes fit to work! However the testing made by the assessors to estalish whether she was fit for work was grossly unsuitable for fibro sufferers. Noone has helped or given advice on the appeal or court process. Complete shambles and we are powerless as a country to get these parasites out of power

  • Jacqueline Brock

    Could someone advise me I had an assessment with PIP I PASSED although they cut my enhanced mobility to standard , I appealed through there procedures, and they still said the same ,so I took it to tribunal, they heard it on a paper appeal , the tribunal read my papers wrong , and said I wasn’t entitled to any mobility I sat and cried, I called them and the lady advised me what to do I have appealed again and asked to be at the hearing I’m waiting to here , I couldn’t go to first hearing as I lost my dad and have just had major bowl surgery and advice thank you
    Miss Jackie brock

  • Ros Reynolds Grossman

    Can some one advise me where I stand regarding my rights. in the 21st century and disabled it seems it is OK that I have to live with NO hot water. No heating. No access to a shower or bath, no help in respects to disabled equipment. I have been assessed several times since 2009 and been found eligible, BUT told no money available and as I am “coping” it is acceptable. I have been told. Wash in the sink, and Boil a kettle to get hot water, and sleep on the sofa downstairs. well I have been doing that now since 2009 and enough is enough!

  • Phil Lee

    When on earth is this investigation going to refer the case to the International Criminal Court so that the members of the current regime can be arrested and indicted?
    People are dying while they are delaying, and they’ve had over four years to do their jobs and pass this case for prosecution. They’ve had the evidence right from the start, as they refused to even open the process without any such evidence, so their delay is entirely responsible for the Tories still being in power – passing the case for prosecution in a reasonable timescale would have prevented the Tory thugs from getting their current stranglehold on power, and making things even worse.
    I’m thinking that anyone with a conscience should be using any opportunity to detain any Tory MP for complicity in these abuses, until such time as they can be handed over into the custody (not protection – if it isn’t custody, they are impeding the arrest) of a police constable.
    If we could arrange a time to do this simultaneously, it would open the path for them being voted out while in custody with a vote of no confidence and an election.
    Failing that, we may just have to do unto them as they’ve done unto us, but that may be a rather bloody battle. Self defence is not a crime though, so given that every person with a disability is at risk (and under threat) of death from them, there isn’t much that would be too extreme.
    We’re literally fighting for our lives, and it’s about time that they started taking some casualties in the war they’ve declared on us.

  • Nick

    it could be Phil our last chance of living as it looks like most of us over the coming years wont make it ?

    we will be domed in to history just like after the war in Germany and then remembered each year in a remembrance service by the queen?

    how bizarre is that ?

    • Phil Lee

      The only thing keeping me going is the hope that those evil scum will get their comeuppance, and all the cuts reversed. At that point, we’ll hopefully even be able to sue the Tory party for the back-payment of what has been lost.
      If this doesn’t happens soon, well, I have a letter explaining my reasons and that the government is ENTIRELY responsible and naming several individuals, and can hoard enough pills to be sure of leaving reasonably painlessly. It’s not fair on my family for them to be my full-time carers at the cost of their own education, employment, and reasonable standard of living.

      • Nick

        i don’t think IDS will ever change we must come to the conclusion that some people like him and throughout history are just born evil

        i by rights should be a conservative but having known Mrs thatcher i decided early on in life to never vote

        my views of all mp’s are not good they are well below my level on everything and have the most odd way of looking at life so when voting comes i stay well away

        sure i feel bad but to vote for a fool or a cheat that can never be right