Disability Benefits Assessments

Beth Winter Excerpts

Tuesday 1st February 2022 Westminster Hall

[Beth Winter (Cynon Valley) (Lab)]

I am grateful, Sir Gary, for the opportunity to speak in the debate. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea (Marsha De Cordova) for securing this really important debate on an issue that is very close to my heart, having worked for many years alongside people in receipt of social security benefits, offering advice and support. Like other hon. Members, I heard heartbreaking stories.

I worked alongside Citizens Advice, which continues to provide invaluable support and advice to people in my constituency of Cynon Valley, where the number of people in receipt of social security benefits is unfortunately very high indeed. We suffer high levels of deprivation and poverty. We had one of the highest rates—the third highest rate, actually—of deaths from covid. In fact, some research that I recently commissioned from the Bevan Foundation in Wales revealed that Cynon Valley has the highest rate of economic inactivity, not just in Wales but in the whole of the United Kingdom.

That is largely attributable to the industrial legacy, but the sharp reduction that occurred during the covid pandemic makes it clear that the pandemic has taken a significant toll on the health and physical and mental wellbeing of people in my constituency, so it is essential that we have an adequate, easily accessible and supportive safety net for people. Sadly, as we have heard this afternoon, the experiences of far too many people show that that is not the case.

“Dehumanising”, “stigmatising”, “degrading”, “complicated”, “drawn out”, “unfair” and “a complete lack of faith and trust in the process”—these are words that we hear time and time again to describe the social security claims process. It is essential that people’s experiences and experts’ views play a pivotal role and determine the reform of the assessment process, as others have said.

When the Government published the Green Paper, my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, Deptford (Vicky Foxcroft), who is the shadow Minister for disabled people, said:

“Disabled people and their families deserve much more than this repeatedly delayed and piecemeal announcement.”

Campaigners have highlighted the fact that the current process is not getting assessments right, with evidence showing that almost three quarters of people do not get the right benefit decision first time around. Indeed, DWP’s own recent statistics have shown, as others have said, that 67% of PIP appeals at tribunal are overturned in the applicant’s favour. In my constituency of Cynon Valley, Citizens Advice appeals for ESA, universal credit and PIP have a 94% success rate. Clearly, something is wrong with the system.

I will also briefly refer to the outsourcing of the delivery of health and disability benefits to private companies, which is a significant cause for concern. Charities such as CAB and Disability Rights UK, as well as the Public and Commercial Services Union, have made that clear. It cannot be right that private firms, which have no prior experience in this sector and are driven by profit, deliver these services at a huge cost to the public purse.

There are genuine concerns about the proposals for part of the Government’s plan to cut costs. Disability Rights UK has expressed a clear concern about the repeated stress that the Green Paper makes on affordability. Others have mentioned the low benefit rates, which create hardship and poverty, and also the fact that the Green Paper does not address the dehumanising impact that sanctions have on people.

We look forward to the final report by the Select Committee, but I hope that the Minister will today pledge to listen—indeed, not only to listen, but to co-produce any reform that is required with disabled people and other people in receipt of health and disability benefits. We need a system that provides a proper safety net for people, supporting their independence and helping them to lead fulfilling lives, so that they can reach their full potential with dignity and respect.