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Post by Admin on Oct 5, 2022 20:42:01 GMT
More than 330,000 excess deaths in Great Britain linked to austerity, study finds 'Mortality rates across the UK stopped improving in the early 2010s, largely attributable to UK Government’s ‘austerity’ policies.' leftfootforward.org/2022/10/more-than-330000-excess-deaths-in-great-britain-linked-to-austerity-study-finds/More than 330,000 excess deaths in the UK can be attributed to spending cuts to public services and benefits introduced as a result of austerity policies, according to a new study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. The shocking findings lay bare the devastating impact of austerity on vulnerable and marginalised communities in the UK, with people dying prematurely as a result of reduced income, ill-health, poor nutrition and housing. The study notes: “Mortality rates across the UK stopped improving in the early 2010s, largely attributable to UK Government’s ‘austerity’ policies. Such policies are thought to disproportionately affect women in terms of greater financial impact and loss of services.” The authors went on to state that there was clear evidence of ‘adverse changes to mortality rates in the UK from the early 2010s onwards: a slow-down in the rate of improvement overall, alongside increasing death rates among more socioeconomically deprived populations’. They add that from 2010 onwards, billions of pounds have been removed from social security and vital services, which has had a particular impact on poor and vulnerable populations. Co-author of the paper Ruth Dundas, professor of social epidemiology at the University of Glasgow, said: “This study shows that in the UK a great many more deaths are likely to have been caused by UK government economic policy than by the Covid-19 pandemic.” According to the research, the total number of excess deaths included 237,855 males in England and Wales, and 12,735 among men in Scotland. There were 77,173 excess female deaths in England and Wales, and 6,564 in Scotland. Death rates were particularly higher for those women living in areas of deprivation. Among women living in the 20% most deprived areas of England, death rates increased by 3% after a 14% decline over the previous decade. In Scotland, premature deaths in the fifth most deprived areas increased by 6% to 7% among men and women, after previous decreases of 10% to 20%. Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward As you’re here, we have something to ask you. What we do here to deliver real news is more important than ever. But there’s a problem: we need readers like you to chip in to help us survive. We deliver progressive, independent media, that challenges the right’s hateful rhetoric. Together we can find the stories that get lost. We’re not bankrolled by billionaire donors, but rely on readers chipping in whatever they can afford to protect our independence. What we do isn’t free, and we run on a shoestring. Can you help by chipping in as little as £1 a week to help us survive? Whatever you can donate, we’re so grateful - and we will ensure your money goes as far as possible to deliver hard-hitting news. Related Posts: Britain is facing an epidemic of drug deaths, new stats reveal Black women twice as likely to have a stillbirth than white women, new report finds Mental health issues quadruple among NHS workers during Covid-19 – major study finds Revealed: Chancellor’s secret wave of austerity on the horizon
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Post by Admin on Oct 5, 2022 23:36:20 GMT
More than 330,000 excess deaths in Great Britain linked to austerity, study finds 'Mortality rates across the UK stopped improving in the early 2010s, largely attributable to UK Government’s ‘austerity’ policies.' leftfootforward.org/2022/10/more-than-330000-excess-deaths-in-great-britain-linked-to-austerity-study-finds/More than 330,000 excess deaths in the UK can be attributed to spending cuts to public services and benefits introduced as a result of austerity policies, according to a new study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. The shocking findings lay bare the devastating impact of austerity on vulnerable and marginalised communities in the UK, with people dying prematurely as a result of reduced income, ill-health, poor nutrition and housing. The study notes: “Mortality rates across the UK stopped improving in the early 2010s, largely attributable to UK Government’s ‘austerity’ policies. Such policies are thought to disproportionately affect women in terms of greater financial impact and loss of services.” The authors went on to state that there was clear evidence of ‘adverse changes to mortality rates in the UK from the early 2010s onwards: a slow-down in the rate of improvement overall, alongside increasing death rates among more socioeconomically deprived populations’. They add that from 2010 onwards, billions of pounds have been removed from social security and vital services, which has had a particular impact on poor and vulnerable populations. Co-author of the paper Ruth Dundas, professor of social epidemiology at the University of Glasgow, said: “This study shows that in the UK a great many more deaths are likely to have been caused by UK government economic policy than by the Covid-19 pandemic.” According to the research, the total number of excess deaths included 237,855 males in England and Wales, and 12,735 among men in Scotland. There were 77,173 excess female deaths in England and Wales, and 6,564 in Scotland. Death rates were particularly higher for those women living in areas of deprivation. Among women living in the 20% most deprived areas of England, death rates increased by 3% after a 14% decline over the previous decade. In Scotland, premature deaths in the fifth most deprived areas increased by 6% to 7% among men and women, after previous decreases of 10% to 20%. Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward As you’re here, we have something to ask you. What we do here to deliver real news is more important than ever. But there’s a problem: we need readers like you to chip in to help us survive. We deliver progressive, independent media, that challenges the right’s hateful rhetoric. Together we can find the stories that get lost. We’re not bankrolled by billionaire donors, but rely on readers chipping in whatever they can afford to protect our independence. What we do isn’t free, and we run on a shoestring. Can you help by chipping in as little as £1 a week to help us survive? Whatever you can donate, we’re so grateful - and we will ensure your money goes as far as possible to deliver hard-hitting news. Related Posts: Britain is facing an epidemic of drug deaths, new stats reveal Black women twice as likely to have a stillbirth than white women, new report finds Mental health issues quadruple among NHS workers during Covid-19 – major study finds Revealed: Chancellor’s secret wave of austerity on the horizon Aktion T4 German fascist eugenics program killed 275,000 to 300,000 so we're now in the lead en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aktion_T4
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Post by Admin on Oct 27, 2022 10:50:16 GMT
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Post by Admin on Oct 29, 2022 11:58:17 GMT
Is the DWP Gaming the System to their advantage? ByGail Ward labourhub.org.uk/2022/10/29/is-the-dwp-gaming-the-system-to-their-advantage/Recently, after much pressure, the Department for Work and Pensions released a small amount of Work Capability Assessment (WCA) outcome figures for both Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Universal Credit in a response to Labour MP Stephen Timms of the Work and Pensions Select Committee. This was initially reported by Benefits and Work website along with Disability News Service (John Pring) and the Canary blog. Since the pandemic Universal Credit (UC) claimant figures rocketed and ESA remained steady overall. Some of this was due to many being affected by Covid 19 as sufferers joined the system and some of the rising figures were because for the first time people were having to claim UC as they were furloughed. It could also be that some people claiming for the first time declared their disabilities for the first time. However, it has long been the case that the DWP and their contractors have acted to prevent genuine entitlement to Social Security support for those in the greatest need. This has focused on getting 1 million disabled people back to work and slashing the associated rising costs of social security payments, which in some cases has led to fatalities widely reported in the press. The appeals costs are rising exponentially through bad decision making by the private contractors carrying out the flawed WCA which many campaigners have called to be scrapped. What has changed: firstly, an ageing population will obviously rise as people live longer and become unable to work due to illness and disability. Second is a the introduction of the claimant commitment under Universal Credit for those who claimed it and for those who naturally migrate from other benefits as UC is rolled out fully. It has always been the case that those fit enough should be working and those who have temporary illness and disability should look towards either returning to work or finding other suitable employment when they are well enough to do so. The Government’s recent announcements regarding getting more people back to work and increasing the numbers on Intensive Work regime under UC, forcing claimants into Jobcentres on a weekly basis, alarmed many disabled people’s organisations and claimants alike. From April 2023 under ‘managed migration’ from legacy benefits, many disabled people will be forced to claim UC during the course of the next couple of years. This will require them to sign a claimant commitment and provide Fit notes, with the main focus on getting people into some kind of work-related activity, even if it is four hours a week to maintain entitlement to UC. Those transferring from legacy benefit to UC will not be required to undertake assessments initially and the payment cycle under UC is ‘monthly assessment period’ for the household –unlike the current award period on legacy benefits based on the individual claimant. It is likely in the future they will face a review of their claim which potentially means they could find themselves found fit for work or moved to the second group (Work-Related Activity Group Limited Capability for Work) and fall foul of the system and having to go through another costly appeal. Any change in circumstances will affect them as a ‘household’. Those in Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity Group -Support Group will also have to provide an initial Fit note. The DWP would have to justify lowering a claimant from Support group to a lower group given their previous status. These figures will need to be watched carefully as Benefits and Work point out: “But over the whole quarter, on average only 60.6% of UC claimants were placed in the limited capability for work-related activity group as opposed to 65.6% of ESA claimants. Claimants in this group are eligible for a higher rate of benefits without any work conditionality attached. “If UC LCWRA rates had been the same as ESA rates then over 8,500 additional claimants would have been found to have LCWRA over this quarter. “In the course of a year that’s over 34,000 claimants who are missing out on being found to have LCWRA. “Of equal concern is the fact that 1.2 million ESA claimants are waiting to be forcibly transferred from ESA to UC. There will be no WCA imposed at the point at which claimants are transferred, but they are likely to face a further assessment at some point in the future. “And whilst the WCA for both benefits is virtually identical, it seems clear that there is a difference in the way the tests are applied.” Thirdly, another reason for these figures could be that the DWP telephone and video assessments aren’t as successful as they claim, when a face to face is more appropriate to the claimant’s needs for an accurate assessment to be made. While the DWP also claim they are improving outcomes, better training for assessors is unlikely to be behind these statistics given their behaviour over the last decade. I have raised concerns over the direction of DWP antics and I will be keeping a close eye on this. I discussed this week with a legal team my fears of pushing very sick and disabled people through hoops they cannot realistically sustain. Further reading: questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2022-09-21/53261www.disabilitynewsservice.com/dwp-finally-releases-universal-credit-fitness-for-work-figures/www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2022/10/28/the-dwp-is-forcing-more-disabled-people-to-jump-through-hoops-for-benefits/Gail Ward is a Disability Rights Campaigner and Difference North East Award Winner 2022. Image: www.flickr.com/photos/europealacarte/8449673837. Licence: Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0) Subscribe to the blog for email notifications of new posts
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Post by Admin on Nov 16, 2022 15:59:38 GMT
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Post by Admin on Nov 23, 2022 22:32:00 GMT
Mo Stewart Fellow, The Centre for Welfare Reform Research Lead, Preventable Harm Project _____________________________________________________________________________ Phone: xxxxx xxxxxx Mobile: xxxxxxxxxxx Email: Date: 21st November, 2022 Preventable Harm Project Tom Pursglove MP Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work Ref: MC2022/xxxxx Department for Work and Pensions Caxton House, 6-12 Tothill Street Private & Confidential London, SW1H 9DA via email Dear Minister Re: The public health crisis created by UK social policy reforms Justice, Power and Resistance1 Further to your letter of 17th November to my constituency MP Steve Barclay, where you identify me by name having accessed my private correspondence with him, it is cause for concern that your letter content totally dismisses the fact that I am the UK research lead for the Preventable Harm Project2 (2009 - 2019) and is another example of a Minister from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) demonstrating political rhetoric and very little else. Must I remind you, Minister, that you have only been in Parliament since 2015, and at the DWP for less than a month. Clearly, the content of your letter disregardsthe identified and well documented public health crisis created by successive social policies adopted since 2008, and significantly increased since 2010. 3,4,5,6,7 Given that references to published academic research include evidence by world experts in public health, social policy and human geography, I humbly suggest you become much more aware of the public health crisis and the many fatalities created by the adoption of the totally discredited Work Capability Assessment (WCA), as initially introduced in 2008 to limit access to the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) long-term disability benefit. The adoption of social policies using a financial priority whilst disregarding health and wellbeing always was very, very dangerous, with DWP Ministers failing to accept the often fatal human consequences of social policy reforms. 8 ______________________________________________________________________________ 1 The public health crisis created by UK social policy reforms Justice, Power and Resistance 2 The Preventable Harm Project Mo Stewart Research 3 ‘First do no harm’: are disability assessments associated with adverse trends in mental health? British Journal of Epidemiology Community Health 2016: 70:339-345 4 Punitive and ineffective: benefit sanctions within social security Journal of Social Security Law, 25 (3), 142-157 5 Fear of Brown Envelope: Exploring Welfare Reform with Long-Term Benefit Recipients. Journal of Social Policy and Administration 48 (7), pp. 782-798 6 Violent bureaucracy: A critical analysis of the British public employment service. Journal of Critical Social Policy Volume 42, Issue 2, May 2022, Pages 306-326 7 Blaming the victim all over again: Waddell and Aylward’s biopsychosocial model of disability Journal of Critical Social Policy Volume: 37 issue: 1, page(s): 22-41 8 A catastrophic indifference to human need: the mental health crisis created by the DWP. British Journal of General Practice, 2021
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Post by Admin on Dec 3, 2022 0:15:58 GMT
Further DWP delays on benefit deaths legal agreement ‘would be kick in the teeth’ By John Pring on 1st December 2022 Category: Benefits and Poverty www.disabilitynewsservice.com/further-dwp-delays-on-benefit-deaths-legal-agreement-would-be-kick-in-the-teeth/The new work and pensions secretary has been told it will be an “absolute kick in the teeth” for disabled people if he continues delaying a legal agreement that would force his department to improve its treatment of disabled claimants. The agreement would commit the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to addressing the discrimination faced by disabled claimants of benefits, particularly those with mental distress and learning difficulties. It follows more than a decade of deaths linked to DWP’s actions and policies.
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Post by Admin on Dec 4, 2022 23:15:42 GMT
Disabled woman fears universal credit stress could see her return to institutions By John Pring on 1st December 2022 Category: Benefits and Poverty www.disabilitynewsservice.com/disabled-woman-fears-universal-credit-stress-could-see-her-return-to-institutions/A disabled woman who spent 37 years living in mental health institutions and hostels, including time sleeping in doorways, fears the flawed universal credit system will cause her to be evicted from her flat back onto the streets. It is only in the last two years that Jennifer, who is now 57, has finally been able to settle down in a safe, “cosy” flat of her own after a lifetime of living in mental health institutions, hostels and on the streets. But she has now been left owing hundreds of pounds in rent after she made an error when notifying the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about a possible move to another property.
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Post by Admin on Dec 7, 2022 23:47:31 GMT
History month launch hears disabled people ‘must keep fighting back’ on austerity By John Pring on 24th November 2022 Category: Activism and Campaigning www.disabilitynewsservice.com/history-month-launch-hears-disabled-people-must-keep-fighting-back-on-austerity/Disabled people must “keep fighting back” and “politicise” so they can battle the impact of a decade of austerity, a series of leading disabled figures have urged. They spoke about the importance of working together to fight back against the impact of 12 years of austerity, at the launch of this year’s UK Disability History Month. The month-long event, which runs between 16 November and 16 December, is focused this year on disability, health and wellbeing. Professor Colin Barnes, founder of both the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds and The Disability Press, told the launch event: “For the future, disabled people must come together and become politicised.” He said it was a “sad state of affairs” that anti-discrimination legislation had “never been put fully into practice”.
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Post by Admin on Dec 14, 2022 0:47:43 GMT
Court hears universal credit £20 uplift appeal, as activists vow to fight back By John Pring on 8th December 2022 Category: Benefits and Poverty www.disabilitynewsservice.com/court-hears-universal-credit-20-uplift-appeal-as-activists-vow-to-fight-back/Disabled campaigners were outside the Royal Courts of Justice yesterday (Wednesday) to highlight the “appalling discrimination” experienced by an estimated two million claimants who were denied a £20-a-week rise in their benefits during the pandemic. They spoke of the “heinous” failure of ministers to provide the same £20 uplift given to recipients of universal credit to those on “legacy benefits” such as employment and support allowance (ESA). Yesterday, lawyers for four claimants of legacy benefits were at the Court of Appeal in London to attempt to overturn a ruling that found that the government’s decision was not unlawful. The uplift was only ever received by those on universal credit, and never made available to those on legacy benefits.
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Post by Admin on Dec 18, 2022 3:12:26 GMT
DWP’s ‘aggressive’ post-2010 attitude to sanctions ‘is back with a vengeance’ By John Pring on 15th December 2022 Category: Benefits and Poverty www.disabilitynewsservice.com/dwps-aggressive-post-2010-attitude-to-sanctions-is-back-with-a-vengeance/The “aggressive attitude” on benefit sanctions that was taken by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in the coalition years of 2013 to 2015 is “back with a vengeance”, MPs have been warned. A debate on DWP’s policy on benefit sanctions heard this week* that jobcentres have been told to “up their game” and increase the number of sanctions they are handing to those receiving out-of-work benefits. Chris Stephens, the SNP MP who secured the debate, said he had even heard that there was “inter-office competition”, with DWP offices pushing each other to achieve higher sanction rates. He said one autistic person from Glasgow, who had severe anxiety and extreme difficulty communicating, was sanctioned after she failed to attend in-person appointments, even though it had been agreed three years earlier that she could have telephone meetings instead as a reasonable adjustment. Stephens also told fellow MPs of the pressure placed on DWP work coaches to ensure claimants attend jobcentre meetings.
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Post by Admin on Dec 31, 2022 10:44:18 GMT
DWP covers-up compensation deal for over 100,000 claimants www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2022/09/01/dwp-covers-up-compensation-deal-for-over-100000-claimants/The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has covered up a compensation deal potentially worth thousands of pounds for claimants. It relates to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). A parliamentary watchdog told the DWP that it had to let over 100,000 claimants know about the potential payout. However, the department has refused to do so. The watchdog slammed the DWP for this “injustice”. Now, a social security advice service is helping people get the money the DWP owes them. DWP: underpaying claimants Benefits and Work is an advice and support service for DWP claimants. It also publishes news about social security. On 30 August, it revealed that the DWP had hidden a compensation deal from claimants. As Benefits and Work wrote, from 2011 the DWP began the process of moving claimants from the old Incapacity Benefit (IB) to the then-new ESA. However, during this, it was not checking whether it should’ve given people a higher rate of social security. The DWP was just giving people contribution-based ESA, which is based on a person’s National Insurance contributions. But it was not checking if they could also get the income-based payment. This is ESA based on how much you earn, the amount of savings you have, and so on. As Citizens Advice wrote:
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Post by Admin on Jan 6, 2023 0:28:48 GMT
Government blanks UN’s call to assess overall impact of cuts… again By John Pring on 5th January 2023 Category: Human Rights www.disabilitynewsservice.com/government-blanks-uns-call-to-assess-overall-impact-of-cuts-again/The government is ignoring a call from disabled human rights experts from the UN to assess the overall impact of cuts and reforms to disabled people’s support, six years after being told to do so in a ground-breaking report. The UN committee concluded in November 2016 that the UK government was guilty of “grave” and “systematic” violations of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Most of the breaches were caused by policies introduced by Conservative ministers at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) between 2010 and 2015. One key recommendation made by the UN committee on the rights of persons with disabilities through its inquiry was for the UK government to carry out a “cumulative impact assessment” of how future welfare reforms affect disabled people’s right to support. But in its latest annual report on how it is responding to the committee’s recommendations, the government has yet again ignored the call for such an assessment.
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Post by Admin on Jan 12, 2023 14:22:38 GMT
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Post by Admin on Jan 27, 2023 3:19:55 GMT
Coffey scrapped plan for independent review of sanctions, DWP admits By John Pring on 26th January 2023 Category: Benefits and Poverty www.disabilitynewsservice.com/coffey-scrapped-plan-for-independent-review-of-sanctions-dwp-admits/The government abandoned proposals for an independent review of its much-criticised sanctions policy, the latest example of how a minister watered down plans to prevent suicides and learn lessons from the deaths of benefit claimants. The decision to further limit the effectiveness of the so-called DWP Excellence Plan was taken by work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey, shortly after she took over from Amber Rudd in September 2019.
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