It's another bad patch for Iain Duncan Smith. Those pesky judges in the Upper Tribunal have ruled that the Work Capability Assessment, which tests whether people are fit for employment, is inadequate when it comes to people with certain mental conditions, like autism, which mean they lack insight. It puts them at a substantial disadvantage when trying to navigate the process. Under the present system the claimants are expected to put together the medical evidence themselves, but the lawyers argued that it should be the government's responsibility. Now, a reasonable response to this ruling, you would think, would be a statement that the DWP accepts it and will put things right. But not the DWP. The Huffington Post publishes the tweets from the DWP press office: "We disagree with today's ruling...". So they'll appeal and stall.
IDS can avoid personal responsibility for that one, but not for the "misuse" of statistics recently. Now we learn that he is to be "grilled" (not literally, sadly) by the Work & Pensions Select Committee as they "examine the way DWP releases benefit statistics to the media". For a summary, see the New Statesman article here. Should be interesting.
I've started laughing at Ian Duncan-Smith. On the one hand his policies are utterly without compassion but on the other hand he is almost totally without competence. He's like a baddie from an Austin Powers film.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that IDS is going to be held accountable for his LIES. THIS is what parliament should be doing.
ReplyDeleteThe high court verdict on WCA is also good news as it shows that the law will support those citizens who are being exploited by government political whim.
The form for the WCA assessment asks for the name of anyone who can supply any additional medical evidence, so it would seem fair that the DWP request this themselves. The current "system" is completely wrong as far as I am concerned.
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