DWP Deception

General Discussion
1

I recently issued the following after the publication of the latest statistics for the caseload on Winter Fuel Payments:


EXPOSURE OF DWP DECEPTION


Figures published last week by the Department for Work & Pensions expose the cruel deceptions Ministers and Officials pursued relentlessly for four years concerning the numbers of claimants for the Winter Fuel Payment living in the European Union. The latest WFP claimant statistics published by the DWP are very revealing.


Two years ago the DWP published figures which have now proved not only to be untrue, but to have been gross exaggerations of statistics DWP officials must have known were false. Figures they claimed would inflate the total of all claimants of the WFP, as a direct result of the Judgment in Stewart which came from the Court of Justice of the EU in 2011.


The DWP deliberately exaggerated the estimates they produced and publicised - even giving their figures in 2013 to The Daily Mail three weeks before making them available to MPs.


The DWP predicted there would be 130,000 additional claimants from other EU countries by 2014/2015.


IN FACT numbers published last week show only 63,160 additional claimants.


And, IN FACT since the Judgment in Stewart, 41% of those additional claimants live in the Republic of Ireland - a country which was declared ‘cold’ by the DWP, and therefore those claimants will continue to receive the WFP into the future!


The DWP also predicted an extra cost of £30 Million, and did so in ways which pointed the finger at Expats living in France and Spain. There is also evidence that they maintained their false predictions as if stuck by super glue - a letter written on behalf of David Cameron, dated 17th April 2015, repeated ‘will save around £30 Million a year’. The figures published last week prove this to have been only £17.06 Million.


These newly published figures reveal that the total increase of claimants from the six countries and one overseas territory where the WFP has been removed, on grounds they are all ‘hot’, came to 53% of the total increase. It mocks the statement made by Iain Duncan Smith when he said: “It's absurd and offensive that taxpayers fund payments for people who have retired to the Mediterranean…”

2

3000 disabled suicides in 5 years is a significant figure which had to be dragged out of the amoral IDS after pressure from the Freedom of Information Commission. As the headline said “Reducing the Welfare Budget On Death at a Time”. But what the heck it only relates to “abnormal people”.
No winter fuel allowance which has been stolen from us will no doubt cause real hardship in some household.

3

Jane, you must stop being so nice about IDS. ;-) ;-)

4

WFP is being considered by the Commission, it is not dead and buried.
We need to expose IDS for the slimy toe rag he is.

5

just one of the reasons why i left britain, not long now until the first work house will appear in britain.

6

The WFP is itself dead and buried but the whole story and more Roger is recalling is the stuff on which people in the opposition thrive. To get the fullest benefit of politicians one must always forget one's own party preference, what other people care or do not care about and whenever possible bombard opposition people with interests in particular political and legislative areas with such things. That is the point of lobbying, thus simply dismissing such things because 'there are other issues' is simply taking the easy way out by not acting 'because'. I doubt any MPs care, certainly most of the electorate does not, but that is no excuse for not doing whatever is possible.

7

Why would you think that most MP's care about whether or not ex-pats get the WFA? Their efforts are concerned mainly with making sure 1. They are alright and 2. Their constituents will carry on voting for them- and the number of expats in each constituency is small and 3. Most people in the UK couldn't care less about expats and the WFA. It may be a big topic here and a talking point but in the UK - with all the problems around NHS, education,crime and immigration it's a minor problem-and rightly so.

8

It is sadly done and dusted. The only way of making them suffer is by getting the right opposition MPs hooked and asking questions, especially in the HoC. Forget political alignment everybody, this is not about Corbyn or anything along those lines, it is simply about using the opposition as they should be used by the electorate.

All of these figures and others need to be used as a means of stopping the DWP cooking figures as they have done with penalisation of people on allowances declared fit for work including people on life support in hospital, for suspending payment of benefits of people who were as little as two minutes late for their appointment despite adverse weather, the claimants being unwell but going in anyway, late buses and so on, for failing to apply for enough jobs during weeks when there were almost none people could apply for and also for people losing them because they did not have replies to applications! The deaths attributed to DWP causing people hardship that have led to them dying, a minority committing suicide (some media have exaggerated that, so let's not go down the same road), malnutrition and actual starvation caused, exposure caused by lack of heating lacking money to afford it which in some cases combined with health problems and other things that are connected need to be taken into account.

None of the DWP's savings thus far balance up against the money they have wasted changing their working methods, retraining staff, revamping centres and the software and network scandals we should not forget. If, as some people suspect, this is part of the personal mission of IDS to rationalise the DWP and save more money, then bear in mind that the WFP stoppages for us may be a precursor to removing them for everybody given that the 'error' made with France could be manipulated in their favour to become evidence and then nobody would get WFP outside of the UK. Indeed, we must also keep an eye on the ball to make sure it is not also a precursor to suspending increases in pensions as in the case of those that are already frozen for people in a number of countries including Australia, Canada and the USA thus far.

Everybody and anybody who can do it should write to their MP, those (like me) who are not registered in a constituency should choose the appropriate opposition MP,the likes of change.org should be encouraged to put up petitions and any other ideas people have be pursued. Sitting back and being treated with utter contempt is not a minor matter that will go away alone, so let's see people act. I have done already but will take part in any action that is reasonable as and when it arises.