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Decision Maker assumptions
Here are my latest ones, with actual situation in brackets!
Your medication has not changed in the last three years which shows your condition is stable. (The person is actually on the highest possible dose of depression and anti-anxiety medication available for the doctor to give)
You got married last year, which shows you are able to plan and prepare a budget. (the partner did all the arrangements and the client just had to turn up at the wedding)
You did a degree course 6 years ago, which shows you have adequate motivation. (the claimant had post-partum psychosis after childbirth 5 years after the course ended.
I notice that you drive a car, so I have concluded that you are able to read. (I do not understand this one!)
Cheers
Tim
I still think my ‘you are able to wipe yourself’ (toilet) shows an ability to grip is just taking the p….!
I notice that you drive a car, so I have concluded that you are able to read. (I do not understand this one!)
The written theory test was introduced in 1996 and is required to pass your driving test. In order to drive properly, you would also be expected to read and understand road signs.
the http://www.gov website says
You can have reasonable adjustments made to your theory test if you have a:
reading difficulty
disability
health condition
These include:
extra time to take the test
someone to read what’s on the screen and record your answers
someone to reword the questions for you
Hopefully someone who has very limited reading ability would be able still be able to drive.
We can talk about these forever but the issue which underpins them all is that they are all assumptions thoroughly dismantled time and again by case law. Often, repeatedly and often definitively. I am loathe to criticise DMs in respect of this as the underlying issue is that no-one updates the DMG to reflect case law because the environment around that is now so politically driven. No-one retrains HCPs on the state of case law and no-one feeds back UT decisions to DM. Appalling as they are, this is where that ends up.