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Daily Mail does it again
Today’s Daily Mail front page Disabled benefit? Just fill in a form: 200,000 got handouts last year without face-to-face interview
Almost 200,000 people were granted a disability benefit last year without ever having a face-to-face assessment.
A staggering 94 per cent of new claimants for Disability Living Allowance started receiving their payments after only filling out paperwork.
Official figures released last night revealed that 16 per cent of new claimants received the benefit – worth £70 a week – after merely filling out a claim form.
A further 36 per cent provided supporting evidence, while another 42 per cent provided a GP report, according to the Department for Work and Pensions.
In total they were paid more than £300million last year.
The figures mean only 6 per cent of new claimants got their money after a face-to-face assessment.
Critics warned that thousands of benefits cheats were being allowed to ‘slip through the net’ while changes to the system come into force.
Anyone have any idea for the source of their statistics?
“Anyone have any idea for the source of their statistics?” No idea.
The article is also published here.
There is also an article in The Mail and The Express about a man playing Widow Twanky in pantomime falsely claming but our LA’s firewalls won’t let me access it. Cue loads of “he’s behind you” and “oh no he isn’t” jokes.
Anyone have any idea for the source of their statistics?
I think its ERNIE…. http://www.nsandi.com/savings-premium-bonds-history-ernie-and-premium-bonds
here we go, it’s the start of the drip drip of propaganda about the evils of dla and how much fairer pip will be
“Anyone have any idea for the source of their statistics?” No idea.
The article is also published here.
That article actually purports to represent a completely different set of statistics.
More than 30,000 people were given additional benefits on the basis of nothing more than filling in an application form.
Around 210,000 new claims for DLA are approved every year, according to the department. A new analysis of last year’s claims by the DWP has highlighted how few of those approvals were made on the basis of a personal meeting with benefits staff.
So Mail say 200,000 people get DLA without assessment, whereas Telegraph say it’s only 30,000.
Lies, damned lies, and statistics…...
It is of little consolation but I did have a 5 minute rant/well reasoned argument on the radio in response to this nonsense this morning.
hi
the research comes from the DWP’s ‘ad-hoc analysis’ section - introduction to section says -
‘In here you will find links to DWP additional statistical analyses that have not been included in our standard publications.
These will usually be previously unpublished statistics or Management Information or analyses completed by DWP to be used in briefings to selected media outlets or Select Committees, or Ministerial statements, which could potentially be high profile or attract public interest. Statistical information released under the Freedom of Information Act is published in the FOI section of the website.’
here’s a link to section -
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=adhoc_analysis
The A-Ha section?
Lots of interesting stats there. Somehow the ones chosen by the Daily Mail don’t always seem to be the most informative. Here are some more possible possible headlines I offer, free, to Mr Dacre, all from the same page of the DWP website:
FRENCH COMPUTER COMPANY IS LATE IN ASSESSING THOUSANDS OF DISABLED PEOPLE - figures just released show that thousands of disabled people are being denied the benefits to which they are entitled because of delays by ATOS, the computer company carrying out medicals flor the DWP. An incredible 63% of people claiming the new Employment Support Allowance are taking longer than the timetabled 3 months to be assessed by ‘health care professionals’ at ATOS. Some people are taking over 12 months! The figures cast doubt on ATOS’ ability to assess 2 milion people claiming Incapacity Benefit by April 2014.
COALITION GOVERNMENT CLOSES DOWN SUCCESSFUL WELFARE TO WORK PROGRAMME - final figures have just been released on the successful ‘Pathways to Work’ programme, begun by the last government . They show that an impressive 339,000 people, previously receiving sickness benefits, were helped to start jobs by the programme - despite the recession. The best results were achieved by the DWP’s own in-house service which found jobs for 20% of people starting on the programme - private contractors doing the same work could only manage 17%.
Richard Atkinson
Ruth Barnett, Sky News political reporter, is not convinced:
...have the “vast majority” really escaped all checks? And have those who “simply filled out a form” really cost “hundreds of millions”?
Yes, if you are taking into account the expense over many years, but the DWP figures show the cost of new claimants who really did just fill in the form last year was a smaller, but not insignificant, £30m.
Ambiguous language from DWP or, as Birrell suggests, a “campaign” and a nasty one at that?