You’ve got to give John Pring, disabled journalist and editor of Disability News Service (DNS) his due. It’s been mainly down to his dogged pursuit of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that they have had to release ‘secret’ documents that provide an insight into their Machiavellian tactics and their callous treatment of disabled claimants.
Only last year DNS obtained a ruling by the Information Commissioner that DWP must release two secret reports concerning the abolition of the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) and the affect it would have on millions of disabled people. In response DWP are set to waste thousands of pounds of public money fighting these rulings.
It is the latest example of how the department has used delaying tactics for many years to avoid being held to account over its own actions that have been linked to countless deaths of disabled benefit claimants.
The information commissioner ruled late last year that DWP should release both reports to DNS.
The first report was a written assessment of how the government’s decision to abolish the work capability assessment (WCA) would impact millions of disabled people and other groups protected under the Equality Act.
DNS had told the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) that although the WCA has been “closely linked to the deaths of hundreds of disabled people”, the plans to scrap it could lead to further deaths of claimants.
In a decision notice, the information commissioner said he “considers that DWP has failed to consider the strength of the public interest in the timely understanding and scrutiny of the decision to remove the Work Capability Assessment” and noted “a particularly strong public interest in disclosure of information relating to disability benefits reform”.
The second report describes the impact of DWP errors on “vulnerable” benefit claimants, which it has admitted could have a “negative” impact on its reputation. The report contains “worst case scenario” information that DWP has calculated about the impact of its errors on claimants, which it appears keen to keep hidden from the public, and probably includes estimates of how many claimants have been harmed by its errors.
The information commissioner added that there was a “strong public interest in the timely understanding and scrutiny” of the recommendations made by the report, and “in understanding DWP’s approach to preventing future errors and safeguarding issues”.
Read the full DNS article for additional information.
Description of cartoon for those using screen reading software
Two suited males from the DWP are standing together with each holding a secret report folder. On the floor is a copy of DNS with the headline ‘DWP to waste thousands fighting release of secret reports’. Opposite them is Iain Duncan Smith who is holding the ruling from the Information Commission. He is saying: “Just ignore it – they should realise that we’re all above the law!”
Crippen Cartoons 