SDLP Deputy Leader Nichola Mallon MLA was to meet the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Communities today to discuss urgent concerns about the assessment regime faced by those applying for Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
PIP is the new benefit gradually replacing Disability Living Allowance (DLA) which will affect scores of people across Derry.
The meeting follows a series of engagements the MLA has had with CAB, Disability NI, the MS Society, the Deaf Association and others in relation to the new application and assessment regime.
Speaking in advance of today’s meeting, she said:
“Since the introduction of PIP, my office has been inundated with vulnerable claimants who are absolutely terrified that they’re going to lose payments which they are fully entitled to and wholly rely upon to make ends meet.
“The stories about the PIP assessment regime are deeply troubling and often heart breaking. I have heard from people from the deaf community who have been asked to face a wall while an assessor calls their name to gauge their level of disability.
“I have met with vulnerable people with complex mental health issues who suffered panic attacks in the lead up to an assessment only to have it cancelled at the last minute.
“I have sat with individuals suffering progressive neurological diseases who have had their benefit cut after an assessment by a staff member of CAPITA with no medical training on these complex conditions.
“Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity but in each and every one of these experiences people have been denied dignity.
“It is clear this process is not about meeting the needs of vulnerable citizens who rely on critical financial assistance.
“It is a Tory ideologically driven assault on the disabled in an attempt to get as many people off benefits as possible.
“At this meeting we will be calling on the Permanent Secretary to take urgent steps to rectify the flaws, address the multiple barriers faced by vulnerable people and ensure every person going through the PIPs process is treated with dignity and respect,” she added.
