Friday, 28 August 2015

Fit For Death

The government have finally released the figures relating to the thousands of people who've died after being found 'fit for work'. This, of course, is in the same week that Iain Duncan Smith said that he wants to kick even more disabled people off ESA. (Not enough people dying penniless?)

As for very ill people being found fit for work, I couldn't help but notice that the government were kind-of telling the story through their (now withdrawn) case study leaflets.

Welfare Weekly unearthed the tale of a fictional ESA claimant called Zac.

On the left side is an image of a young-ish Asian man. Across the top in pink text it says 'Zac’s story. I kept in contact when I couldn’t get to a meeting' Beneath that in black it says 'I let my work coach know in advance that I couldn’t go to our meeting because I had a hospital appointment. I had a good reason for not going to the meeting and proof of the appointment. My benefit payment hasn’t changed and we booked another meeting I could get to.

Photo credit: DWP via Welfare Weekly



We get it. He's on ESA and he's ill enough to require hospital care.

Later in the week The Guardian found the same stock photo man in a different leaflet; this one promoting JSA sanctions.

This photo contains 2 case studies. At the top is a photo of a young white man with a speech bubble in which he says 'I let my work coach know well in advance that I couldn’t go to our meeting because I had a hospital appointment. Because I gave good reason I still received my benefit payment and my work coach can use that time to help other people. We’ve arranged another appointment at a time I can attend.' Then below him is the same stock photo of Zac. His speech bubble says 'I didn’t take part in the Mandatory Work Activity scheme. Then my work coach found me a job that suited my skills but I didn’t apply for it, so my JSA has been stopped for six months. If I don’t apply for jobs my work coach asks me to apply for I could end up losing my benefit for three years.

Photo credit: DWP via Guardian



So I guess the story the DWP is trying to tell is that Zac originally claimed ESA, but then he was found fit for work and turfed onto JSA? Presumably his illness was why he didn't participate in Mandatory Work Activity or apply for a job.

Given the extremely high number of people who've died after being found fit for work - and the fact that the DWP like to make case study leaflets for "illustrative purposes only" - I'm guessing that somewhere in the DWP office there's another leaflet featuring Zac to explain what happens to ill people when they're found fit for work. And I'm assuming it looks a lot like this:

On the left side is the same photo of Zac. Across the top in pink text it says 'Zac’s story. I tried job hunting, but it's really hard when you're terminally ill.' Beneath that in black it says 'After I was found fit for work my ESA was stopped. I was put on JobSeekers' Allowance but I didn't take part in Mandatory Work Activity or apply for a job my work coach told me to, because I was too ill to do either of those things. My JSA was stopped for six months. I was too ill to get to the food bank, and with no food and no money, my health got worse rapidly. I died of my illness 4 weeks after my sanction. My doctor thought I had 6 months left.

Photo credit: Template and Zac's photo by DWP, text by me



Of course; they don't need the fictional Zac to tell the story of what happens when they could hand out leaflets telling the real story of people who died fit for work. Like Moira Drury or Linda Wootton.

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