Given the slogan of the DWP now appears to be a variant of “Arbiet
Mach Frei” and its sickness benefit regulatory system has been condemned by a
UN raporteur (Nov 2016) as being a manifest breach of the sick and disabled of
the UK’s human rights I wish to appeal the arbitrary decision of the
discredited US Company, currently contracted to carry out these assessments by
the DWP, whose contract is in the process of being terminated. I note the DWP
claims on the subject of the accuracy of its assessment process and its misuse
of NAO statistics to cover up its clear failings. This misuse of national
statistics has been condemned by the Welfare Committee of the House of
Parliament and the subject of protest by the NAO itself. It appears the manipulation of facts is the
norm at the DWP which raises the question, “Why
should anyone trust a word the DWP says?”. As your political bosses are
proven liars and have been called out for their lies by the UK Parliament, just
where does this leave public confidence in the rest of DWP decision making
process at all levels?
UK Mental Health Charities have raised issues as to the nature
of the ipsative psychometric model used in the DWP ‘health’ assessment on the grounds it makes no allowances for
mental health issues or their impact on the client. Having held a licence to use psychometric testing I am fully aware that any single ipsative test is only, at best,
60% indicative (not ‘accurate’ in any shape or form). To achieve this level of
indicitiveness requires the company who created the test to make monthly corrections
and reviews based on feedback from the program's users and the collection of data
from the program. The level of successful appeals indicates the ipsative test
used by the DWP, in this matter, is well under 40% indicative for each
applicant and the results are by and large meaningless, even more so for those
with mental health conditions. This assertion by me is clearly backed by the DWP's
own figures regarding the successful appeals percentage against these
decisions.
The attempt to redress this by use of a different
sub-contractor by means of a formal interview as a medical ‘report’ also
clearly fails the requirement of an ipsative test to be fully discussed with
the client in a face to face meeting, according to psychometric standard practice.
A phone call does not equate nor does it meet this basic requirement when using
any psychometric test in any shape or form.
I further note that to date the DWP’s own figures now
indicate a total nearing 23,000 UK citizens have died as a direct impact of
being sanctioned since this regulatory regime’s inception. My training as a Combat
Triage Officer would indicate this means there will be at least 46,000 other UK
citizens whose health or state of mind will have been further damaged since the
inception of Ian Duncan-Smith’s re-run of the National Socialist Party’s 1934
Nuremburg Law clause regarding the sick and disabled.
Between the National Socialists program commencing in 1937
and its full operation in early 1939 some 7,000 sick and disabled died as a
result of government sanction, by 1945 that number was 270,000. It would appear
Mr Duncan Smith’s adaption has been far more effective in ridding the UK of the
incapable and the useless, in the DWP’s eye, over its initial period.
My point is; even though the 1934 Nuremburg Laws were legal
in the eyes of the German State they were a direct abuse of the people’s human
rights by the taking of innocent lives for political purposes, as established
by the International War Crimes Court at Nuremburg in 1948. Subsequently in
trials of officials, Doctors, nurses and others involved in carrying out the
Nuremburg Law selection and sanctioning of the sick and disabled in all three
post war occupation zones, the defence of ‘I
was just doing my job’ was deemed to be no defence in matters involving the
sanctioning and the deaths of innocent people. Many involved in the process of
sanctioning faced long jail terms, those at the centre of the process faced the
noose, as history recounts.
We live in more enlightened times but at some point the dam
will burst, the law will seek justice for those whom have been abused and
pushed to their deaths by sanctioning under the current DWP regime and as it
will be a human rights issue there will be no scope for a ‘jobsworth’ defence as the damage being done to and its impact on
ordinary UK citizen’s by the DWP is being carefully recorded by the NHS and
health charities. I note the courts both in Scotland and England have
consistently found for the plaintive against the DWP in their rulings. This
indicates, to me, the court’s judgements also cast doubt the legitimacy of the
current DWP regime and the regulations which underpin it in the eyes of both
English and Scots Law.
The basis of my appeal is this;
- The DWP regulations and sanctions your are seeking apply to me are unjust and contrary to my human rights, enshrined in the UN Charter of Human Rights to which the UK Parliament is signatory, they may be ‘legal’ in the eyes of a Tory Government but are in reality illegitimate in all and every sense of the word and no better than the 1934 Nuremberg Laws regarding the sick and disabled which proceeded Mr Duncan-Smith’s political brain wave to institute a similar system, with the same impact (death amongst those sanctioned), laws which history has utterly and totally condemned.
- The DWP use of ipsative testing as a means of decision making are seriously flawed (less than 40% indicative) and are being operated contrary to industry standard practice as the client is not informed of the indicative accuracy of the test before commencing nor is the client given a face to face opportunity to discuss the results
- The ipsative test makes no allowance for the impact of mental illness
- The medical assessment is purely looking at simplistic physical norms and not the actual impacts nor the impact of mental health conditions
- The report is in error as what I actually stated is that I wake up most mornings with the wish to self harm, most days I use my cognitive tricks to get over it or wait for my medication to cut in but on others, especially during a depressive swing, I simply bury my head under the duvet. The other aspect is that during a depressive swing my temper is very short and I can be very rude and abrupt with people which is another reason I isolate myself during depressive swings as I dislike the person I become. It is this abruptness and rudeness as an impact of my mental health issue which has, more than anything, cost me my marriage of 30 years
- As I have appealed, until any Tribunal decision, my benefit is protected under law and due to its inappropriate removal I will seek fiscal reparations on its re-instatement
It is on these grounds I assert there is no objective
evidence nor medical evidence to give any credence to the medical assessment
process currently used by the DWP and its ‘result’
nor has my condition changed substantively for the better since the previous overturning
of the DWP decision by tribunal, given I am aging and have declined further. I consider this a scam based on the need to achieve
DWP head office sanctioning targets and does not reflect the actual state or needs of the
clients.
Yours faithfully,
