Sanctions, Suicide & Death through illnesses.

Posted: July 22, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: DWP | Tags: , | Leave a comment

The Tories are still refusing to honour the Freedom of Information Act and come clean on how many people have died after being declared fit for work.

Access to this information is our right:
“The Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides public access to information held by public authorities… Public authorities are obliged to publish certain information about their activities; and members of the public are entitled to request information from public authorities.” (Information Commissioner’s Office)

So why all the stalling and secrecy Iain Duncan Smith? What are you hiding?

Terry McGarvey, 48. Dangerously ill from polycytheamia. He knew he was too ill to attend Work Capability Assessment but was afraid not to go in case benefits were stopped.
During the session Terry asked for an ambulance.
He died the following day.

# Elaine Lowe, 53. Suffering from COPD and fearful of losing her benefits.
Suicide.

# Mark Wood, 44. Doctors advice and medical reports he had complex mental health problems.
Found fit for work, benefits stopped.
Starved to death weighing only 5st 8lb when he died.

# Paul Reekie, 48, the Leith poet and author. Severe depression. Found fit for work, benefits stopped.
Suicide.

# Leanne Chambers, 30. Depression for many years, became worse when called in for a WCA.
Suicide soon afterwards.

# Karen Sherlock, 44. Multiple health issues. Found fit for work, benefits stopped.
Fought a long battle to access support group of ESA.
Died a month after denial of benefits, of a heart attack.

# Carl Payne, 42. Father of two. Feared losing lifeline benefits due to welfare reform.
Suicide.

# Tim Salter, 53. Blind, agoraphobic. Found fit for work, benefits stopped.
Suicide by hanging.

# Edward Jacques, 47. HIV and Hepatitis C. History of severe depression and self-harm.
Found fit for work, benefits stopped.
Suicide by overdose.

# Linda Wootton, 49 years old. Double heart and lung transplant patient. Found fit for work, benefits stopped. The refusal letter arrived as she was desperately ill in her hospital bed.
Died nine days later.

# Steven Cawthra, 55. Benefits stopped by the DWP, rising debts.
Suicide.

# Elenore Tatton, 39 years old. Found fit for work.
Died a few weeks later.

# John Walker, 57, deep in debt because of the bedroom tax.
Suicide.

# Brian McArdle, 57 years old. Disability benefits stopped.
Fatal heart attack the next day.

# Stephen Hill, 53. Found fit for work, while waiting for major heart surgery.
Died of a heart attack one month later.

# Jacqueline Harris, 53. Former Nurse could hardly walk. Found fit for work, benefits stopped.
Suicide.

# David Barr, 28. Severe mental difficulties. Found fit for work by Atos. His appeal failed.
Suicide. Threw himself from a bridge.

# David Groves, 56. Due to take work capability assessment.
Died of a heart attack the night before. His widow claimed that it was the stress that killed him.

# Nicholas Peter Barker, 51. Brain haemorrhage left him paralysed down one side.
Notified his benefits were being stopped.
Suicide by shooting himself.

# Mark and Helen Mullins, 48 and 59 years old. Attempted to live on £57.50 a week, making 12 mile trips each week to get free vegetables to make soup.
Double suicide.

# Richard Sanderson, 44. Unable to find a job, housing benefit cut forcing him to move, nowhere to go. Suicide.

# Martin Rust, 36 years old. A schizophrenic. Found fit to work.
Suicide two months later.

# Craig Monk, 43. A vulnerable man, partial amputee, slipped far into poverty.
Suicide by hanging.

# Colin Traynor, 29, epileptic, stripped of his benefits. He appealed.
Died. Five weeks later his family were notified he had won his appeal.

# Elaine Christian, 57 years old. Worried about her work capability assessment.
Suicide. Found at Holderness drain, drowned, with ten self inflicted wrist wounds.

# Christelle and Kayjah Pardoe, 32 years and 5 months old. Pregnant, her benefits stopped.
Suicide. Christelle, holding her baby son, jumped from a third floor balcony.

Read Percy Shelley – “Ye are many; they are few”. Support our campaign to stop this cruelty.

More here

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/iain-duncan-smith-benefits-deaths-6108493

 

http://www.welfareweekly.com/benefit-claimants-should-not-be-forced-to-live-in-fear/

With reference to the 200,000-strong petition demanding the statistics showing how many people have died after losing their benefits. Updates

Posted: June 24, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: DWP, welfare cuts | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Prime minister’s disclosure, in wake of 200,000-strong petition, comes two days after Iain Duncan Smith’s claim in parliament that such data did not exist

David Cameron has announced that statistics showing how many people have died after losing their benefits are being prepared for publication, days after work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith denied that such figures existed.

Speaking at Wednesday’s prime minister’s questions, Cameron was responding to Labour MP Marie Rimmer, who asked if the government would comply with an April ruling from the information commissioner that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) should publish data on the deaths of claimants of incapacity benefit and employment and support allowance between November 2011 and May 2014.

Speaking on Monday 22nd June Labour’s Debbie Abrahams asked Duncan Smith in parliament why he refused to publish details regarding the number of people who have died within six weeks of their incapacity benefit and employment and support allowance being stopped.

“She knows very well that the department does not collate numbers on people in that circumstance,” Duncan Smith replied. “It deals with individual cases where things have gone right or gone wrong and reviews them. It is a crying shame that Labour members want to go out every day scaring and frightening people. It is no wonder they lost the election.”

Iain Duncan Smith would have been aware that his statement was not true when he said it. But will he have the courage to admit his (intentional) error?

Experience suggests not.

To read the full report

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jun/24/benefit-related-deaths-david-cameron-dwp

Following on from the above article, on the 15th July, Debbie Abrahams was not able to put her question about the deaths of sickness benefit claimants to the Prime Minister – but she did make a point of order & the response from Speaker John Bercow was definitely interesting.

The Oldham East and Saddleworth MP told the Commons: “Three weeks ago today, the Prime Minister promised to publish data on the number of people in receipt of employment and support allowance and incapacity benefit who had died since November 2011, including those who had been found fit for work. Indeed, I raised it as a point of order on the same day.

“To date, nothing has been published. These people who died – and their families – deserve better than this. As we are approaching the summer recess, I will be very grateful if you can advise me on how I might expedite the publication of these data — on actual deaths and not just mortality rates as the Government have proposed”

Now look at the response: “The short answer to the hon. Lady, whose long-standing interest in this subject is well known, is that she must use the device of questioning, and there are further opportunities for questioning of various sorts between now and when we rise for the summer recess.

“If that method does not suit her, for whatever reason—and sometimes it has to be done more than once, even several times—there will be the opportunity, of course, to offer thoughts in the summer Adjournment debate, though I accept that she might not elicit a substantive reply from the responsible Minister.”

What? Did John Bercow just admit that the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is likely to dodge an important question, put to him in the House of Commons on behalf of the citizens of the UK?

Yes he did!

In that case, as far as the electorate is concerned, what is the point of Iain Duncan Smith?

Mr Bercow continued: “Use of the Order Paper and of the various opportunities for oral questioning—she will know that there are a number of different options on that front—would be her best course, and I advise her to try to take it.”

Then Ms Abrahams interrupted, to point out that she has already put her questions “several times” in the manners described.

“As I have sometimes had cause to observe, repetition is not a novel phenomenon in the House of Commons, and sometimes a Member who has done something several times simply has to resolve to do it again and again—and there will be such opportunities for the hon. Lady on that matter and for other Members on matters that concern them,” said Mr Bercow.

Was he saying that questions which Ministers are required to answer are being ignored?

Yes he was!

This is not the behaviour of a responsible government – or government department.

Debbie Abrahams deserves better, and so do the rest of us.

Morning Star Wednesday 22nd July

DATA showing how many people die while claiming out-of-work disability benefits will be published “no later than the autumn,” the government said yesterday.

Work and Pensions Minister Priti Patel reiterated the Prime Minister’s assertion that the statistics are being prepared for release, adding they will be published “shortly.”

Labour’s Debbie Abrahams, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, said David Cameron had promised urgent action four weeks ago.

Asking an urgent question in the Commons, she said: “Now is the time to deliver.

“Be open, transparent and publish the numbers that the public and Parliament are calling for. Without this, it brings this House into disrepute.”

In April, the Information Commissioner asked the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to publish the number of incapacity benefit and employment and support allowance claimants who have died between November 2011 and May 2014.

The request asked for the figures to be broken down into several categories, including the number of claimants found fit for work.

MPs heard more that than 240,000 people have signed a petition calling for the release of the data.