After the Post Office scandal, do you feel safe with a DWP "police force"?

In the video I posted, the persons father asks how one person can have all the knowledge that is possessed by the team of people that look after his sons health.
Simple answer is, one person can't possibly.

It's far, far more than one case.

You can't condemn the whole DWP on one case.

youtu.be/qhLZ9ewbm8g?si=u7XsaOSYjltllkiU

Yes, based on facts.
It's often just that their facts bear little resemblance to the truth.

A doctor's assessment is only part of the evidence. They only have a short time to assess someone as they are very busy people.
The claimant themselves give evidence and are seen regularly by DWP staff.
It's up to the examiner of all the evidence to decide whether benefit is given or continued.

AGAA4

Yes DAR they sometimes override medical submissions but on the claimants behalf. Some doctors will state the claimant is fit for work when they clearly aren't and they get their benefits.
To call the DWP staff Nazis is just unbelievable.

I don't know who DAR is but I hope she replies to you at some point AGGY

I can understand that I wasnt ill, but I was also nowhere near ready to go back to work.
Water under the bridge now, but they certainly made everything worse than it already was, insisting I did a cv, attended the job centre weekly, and all those other things I couldn't have cared less about.

MissAdventure

They override doctors assessments to ensure people get back to work.
I know.
They did it to me.
Wrote to my gp as well, telling him not to issue anymore sick notes.

So, I didnt have the luxury of taking things "one day at a time", off to work, crying most of the way there, and frequently through the day.
Couldn't attend counselling, or any bereavement groups, and ended up with PTSD.

They must be working under legal rules - or perhaps not, the Post Office ignored them. So I would have to ask why it has it be decided that they can override the evidence- in either direction!?

This is not how a legally based institution should work.

I think people don't understand bereavement. I was allowed 3 days off when my husband died after a long and gruelling illness. I took a week of my own leave but was then back at work. It was awful.
They should take bereavement more seriously.

They override doctors assessments to ensure people get back to work.
I know.
They did it to me.
Wrote to my gp as well, telling him not to issue anymore sick notes.

So, I didnt have the luxury of taking things "one day at a time", off to work, crying most of the way there, and frequently through the day.
Couldn't attend counselling, or any bereavement groups, and ended up with PTSD.

Yes DAR they sometimes override medical submissions but on the claimants behalf. Some doctors will state the claimant is fit for work when they clearly aren't and they get their benefits.
To call the DWP staff Nazis is just unbelievable.

They disregard and override medical submissions in some cases Germanshepherdsmum. Apparently untrained administrators know better.

In 2023 the success rates for benefits appeals overall was 62%. PIP alone was 69%. This does not account for the fact that they worst cases may well drop out as the simply cannot cope with the perversity of the system.

The backlog of benefits appeals is continuing to rise. The number of appeals waiting to be heard rose by 79% last year, and now stands at a total of 67,000.

The Nazis believed that disabled people did not, and could not, be a part of the German master race. They believed that they were genetically ‘impure’, and a financial burden on the state. You could be excused for thinking they have come back to run the DWP, aided by this Government who allow this.

That's not entirely true Pammie although it is difficult to see who you think will "flag up" what.

The bank will do a download of the account. They will not be involved with any analysis. They will perform a simple data dump of everyone's account where at least one description contains your National Insurance number. They will send the data electronically to the DWP. The DWP will use their software to analyse this.

Will their programme efficiently remove those only receiving the State Pension? Will they destroy that data? It is not illegal for them to use that data or forward it to another department.

Who will supply the analytical programme to find the "anomalies"? We know the government has continued to use Fujitsu since the issues have been uncovered.

What will be the approach of the DWP? The Post Office, supported by Fujitsu, put the recovery of so-called "losses" ahead of the law. We have seen this happen already with PIP, etc.

Now the Post Office has had to open their books, we can see just how wrongly the Post Office law enforcement team has behaved. Why should we have any more trust in another private law enforcement team when we know "he who pays the piper calls the tune"? Why would any of the under-experienced, underqualified and under-trained force do any better than POL?

The Post Office prosecutions were said by those representing some of the Sub-postmasters to be" deeply and fundamentally flawed". What will be the management and oversight? It is already biased towards the reputation of the DWP and its "successes".

Who will support those picked up by the software, and how will they get the information they need? The Post Office denied legally supported access to information. The Post Office have been ^"wilfully blind to, or disregarding of the proper lawful administration of justice". Many people feel the DWP is already behaving in this way.

If the Police knock on your door, there is a separate Police Complaints Office you can go to. There was no such separate entity to hold the Post Office law enforcement body to account. For its victims, it was rather like living in the Wild West.

There is no such body to hold the DWP to account either.

Apologies,should say German shepherds mum

German shepherds mug,what I'm saying is why do they need even more evidence when there are all his medical records they have.
Of course I know they need evidence ,but his GP is partly to blame as he hasn't replied to their email or phone calls
I already have a complaint in against my son's Gp as he refused to send him for an X-ray before his stroke saying a back injury was muscular,which after he stroke he was found to have 2 hip fractures and crushed spine
The Specialist in the stroke unit said his stroke was a direct result of not being diagnosed with fractures,,and he was in agony for 9 months ,and given co codamol,he is now on 15mg of morphine

I have written 2 posts and they seem to have disappeared

Cossy

DWP already have quite a few legal powers where they suspect fraud in any of the benefits they administer.

I’m interested to know where they “act unethically” ?? I used to work for the DWP and my daughter still does. I haven’t any former colleagues whom I believe “act unethically” I’ve known staff who stick to the letter of the law and are very black and white in their approach.

I was never like this.

At the moment I think DWP need a court order to obtain details of claimants’ bank accounts, which slows down investigations.

One of the aims of this bill is to speed up the process of detecting and prosecuting fraud, but the minister for DWP has given assurances that they will respect claimants’ privacy and will act in accordance with the data protection act in not accessing bank accounts unless they have been flagged for suspicious activity. It depends on the interpretation of ‘suspicious’ and on what AI has been programmed to pick up, doesn’t it ?

How about the man with one lung, when they falsified his results when they were testing him?
Immediately his mobility car was taken back, causing him no end of difficulties?

AGAA4

We don't know how the system will work yet. If AI flags a potential fraud will there be a further check before someone is called in for interview?
Otherwise there could be long queues as they are short staffed. It is all conjecture at the moment.

It’s not DWP but the banks themselves who will be using AI to monitor claimants’ accounts. Anything flagged up will be reported to DWP and it will be they who decide on what action will be taken. Lots of people saying they don’t believe one off payments will be scrutinised. The will likely depend on how sensitively the AI software has been programmed. Low level fraud adds up so I wouldn’t rule anything out.

DWP already have quite a few legal powers where they suspect fraud in any of the benefits they administer.

I’m interested to know where they “act unethically” ?? I used to work for the DWP and my daughter still does. I haven’t any former colleagues whom I believe “act unethically” I’ve known staff who stick to the letter of the law and are very black and white in their approach.

I was never like this.

Miss Adventure - I’m so angry on your behalf but that won’t change the result sadly
Pammiel, do you know the stats about how many cases succeed at tribunal? I agree with you, the system is not fit for purpose. Vulnerable genuine claimants are imo more likely to be pursued and sanctioned than the skilled fraudsters.
I’d like to see more focus on tax evaders

MissAdventure

The thing is, there is ample, proven evidence of their findings having no relation to what actually happened in the interview.

If people knew they were neutral, it wouldn't be so bad.

I assisted someone with a PIP claim a few years ago - attended the face to face assessment with them. The assessor never laid a finger on them by way of physical examination, yet on the assessment report there were detailed reports of the degree to which they could bend and stretch limbs, and strength of grip. There were also a number of quite serious errors on the part of the assessor in recording the physical effects of the disability, yet DWP refused to acknowledge any of it until they received the tribunal paperwork. Suddenly the tribunal was cancelled, a benefit award was made and back pay awarded from the date of the original claim. Total waste of tax payers money.

Assessors can overrule a doctors description of how an illness impacts their patients life.
I had a 20 odd year old physiotherapist overturn the gps assessment that I was grieving for my daughter, still.
All mr physio noted was that I have a loud voice at times.

I was actually sobbing almost all of the way through the assessment, but that wasn't mentioned at all.