The Truth about Disability Benefits - 7.30pm on Friday 17 December on Channel 4.

The Truth about  Disability Benefits

There’s a programme on Friday that the DWP really don’t want you, or anyone else, to watch. 

The Truth About Disability Benefits is being shown at 7.30pm on Friday on Channel 4.

It’s a Dispatches documentary investigating the unexpected deaths of disabled benefits claimants, including those who have taken their own lives.

It’s been scheduled at short notice, which is why we’re taking the very unusual step of sending out an email between our normal newsletters.

Because the DWP will be taking very careful note of viewing figures for this programme.

And desperately hoping that it attracts a smaller audience than usual, as proof that there really isn’t any great public interest in the lives and deaths of benefits claimants.

If that’s the case, they can carry on denying there’s a problem and keep on covering up the suffering inflicted on disabled claimants by a heartless system. 

But the more people who watch the documentary, the harder it will be for the department to brush aside its findings.

And the more likely that others will begin investigating the secrecy surrounding almost everything the DWP does. 

John Pring, founder of the Disability News Service, has been fighting tirelessly for many years to highlight the blood on the hands of the DWP.

And he has been involved from the very start in the making of this documentary.

John told us:

"It's taken about three years to get this programme made, dating back to my initial approaches to production companies. 

“I'm really grateful to disabled film-maker Richard Butchins for making it happen and making such a powerful film, and for the patience of the families who have stuck with the project, and agreed to share their stories. 

“Those stories are shocking. What is almost as shocking is that we are still waiting for an in-depth, independent inquiry into DWP's repeated failures over the last decade - and even earlier than that - to learn from its mistakes and make its assessment system safe. 

“Countless disabled people have died because of that failure. We need an inquiry now."

The documentary is both filmed and presented by Richard Butchins, who’s had his own personal experience of dealing with the DWP.

Some of the relatives of deceased claimants are speaking out on television for the first time, to explain how the system contributed to the deaths of their loved ones. 

There’s also testimony from a whistle-blower from inside the department who talks of staff having a dismissive and mocking attitude toward claimants.  

And the film features findings from a survey which many hundreds of Benefits and Work readers took part in. 
Your responses highlight the devastating impact of the benefits system on the mental and physical health of claimants.

So please, tune in on Friday yourself, if you feel able.  

And spread the word to everyone you think might be interested.

The Truth About Disability Benefits: Dispatches, Channel 4, Friday 17 December, 7.30pm

Good luck,
Steve Donnison
Benefits and Work

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Benefits and Work Newsletter - December 2021

In this final newsletter of 2021, we reveal that Therese Coffey has been ordered to publish a secret disability benefits report or MPs will do it for her.

We share the unsurprising news that DWP staff, whilst punishing the smallest infringement of the rules by claimants, have been breaking the law themselves by partying through the lockdown.

We provide a link to the powerful Truth About Disability Benefits documentary for those who didn’t see it.

We remind you that the forum is now closed until 10 January.

We share Christmas messages from our readers.

And, finally, we wish you all the best Christmas and the safest New Year that you can possibly manage.


COFFEY ORDERED TO PUBLISH SECRET DISABILITY BENEFITS REPORT OR MPS WILL DO IT FOR HER
Regular readers will know we have been fighting to get the DWP to give us a copy of the report ‘The uses of health and disability benefits’ 

Amongst other issues, the report looks at the unmet needs of disability benefit claimants. 

Even though the DWP have allegedly managed to get the report watered down, they are still desperate for it not to be seen.

But the secretary of state for work and pensions, Therese Coffey, has now been told she must publish the report by 11 January or the commons work and pensions committee will use their powers to get a copy and publish it themselves.

We’ll let you know as soon as it appears online.

Read More


DWP HELD ILLEGAL PARTIES ‘ALL THE TIME’ DURING LOCKDOWN
The Sunday Mirror has alleged that the DWP held illegal parties ‘all the time’ during lockdown, with alcohol and takeaway food. 

According to the newspaper, a core team of Coffey’s staff who have desks just outside her office door continued to go into work throughout the pandemic.

The paper says “gatherings' in Ms Coffey's office throughout the pandemic were an open secret, with one source saying "even during lockdown, there were parties all the time."

On one occasion it is alleged Coffey handed out Christmas presents to her staff.

The DWP have denied that Therese Coffey, secretary of state for work and pensions, performed karaoke at any of these gatherings.

But that seems to be about all they did deny.

Read More


THE TRUTH ABOUT DISABILITY BENEFITS
After years of trying, John Pring of the Disability News Service, has managed to get a documentary about the deaths of claimants shown on a major TV network.

The programme was harrowing to watch, sharing as it did the grief of families whose loved ones died in tragic circumstances, some taking their own lives.  

All the deaths were linked to the stopping of people’s benefits and all were avoidable.

The programme was, we hope, another step on the road to a public inquiry into how disability benefits claimants are treated.

If you haven’t already watched the documentary, it’s available from this link.