Various questions

M Woodcroft made this Freedom of Information request to Department for Work and Pensions This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

The request was refused by Department for Work and Pensions.

Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

DWP and CHDA Contract, Time from application of ESA to WCA, Assessment costs, Complaint handling times, Monetary rewards for sanctions and "found fit for work," suicides and threat to health from your unlawful conduct (found fit for work when clearly unable too). home visit criteria

I see that you are quite literally being uneccesarily awkward in your responses to a FOI of the above subject. This is a question that I myself also wish to have answers too.

I have now, for over two years, been on the assessment rate of ESA and have repeatedly had my appointments cancelled. There was also a period of 9 months or so, in which I hear nothing.

I have REPEATEDLY asked the reasons as to why and the DWP has not surprisngly acted with wilful and gross negligence.

So answer me these:

Regarding the contract that you have with the CHDA, as I have clearly fallen WAY out of the timescale from application to assessment, please inform me as to the action you are required to take when the contract has been violated. I believe the time should be 13/14 weeks? Also I'd be interested in the numbers of other people this has happened too and the longest time taken.

As there is a clear breach of contract here and as is well known in the media a GREAT deal many other breaches, why is the DWP still using this disgusting and clearly incompetent firm Maximus/CHDA for it's WCA, when clearly they cannot fulfill the contract? As I said to one gentleman at the DWP, "If you hire a builder and the agreed contract is not fulfilled, you'd take action wouldn't you?"

Could you also highlight the costs of assessment and when assessments are cancelled, please inform me of the costs involved in cancelling. Is the money for an assessment paid prior to an assessment? If so, should that be cancelled, does the DWP request that payment back for failure to fulfill it's contract? Please also provide statistics on the performance of Atos and the CHDA respectively.

I have also made numerous complaints, a number of which have gone unanswerred. What is the time to respond to complaints, as I haven't received any notification.

What monetary rewards are staff given, for sanctions and withdrawel of benefits? What targets are staff given or have ever been given for the above?

How many suicides have occured as a result of your unlawful conduct and how many people have had their illness worsen because of being unlawfully found fit for work?

In addition, please give details on how many people who were sanctioned or found fit for work, had mental health problems.

I'd also like the criteria for a home visit, as I had mine refused. According to the DWP, it's because I do get out now and then. Yet it does not take into account that this is to places that I feel safe and even then I have anxiety and panic attacks and due to PTSD, I dissasociate. Your process is making me very sick. NEEDLESLY. I dissasociated in a therapy session, so the chances of me doing so in an unsafe place, put me at serious risk.

I have real concerns over this WCA, in that as the DWP and the vile CHDA are well aware of the excessive timescale of this and have unlawfully found me fit for work prior to any assessment made.ou also provide details of the system for the WCA, as it appears to be designed to make anyone fail. Especially those with a mental health problem.

Does the contract with the CDHA include monetary incentives for stripping people of their livlihoods?

I am making this public, as your conudct and lack thereof has caused me immense distress and further impacted upon my recovery.

Yours faithfully,

M Woodcroft

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

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DWP Health Services Correspondence, Department for Work and Pensions

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Dear Mr Woodcroft,
 
Please see our response to your recent Freedom of Information request.
 
Yours sincerely
 
DWP Health Services Correspondence Team
 
 

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Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Work and Pensions's handling of my FOI request 'Various questions'.

You have failed to answer the questions and the information that I requested is not present online. The threshold for answering does not exceed the limit for answering the following.

Regarding the contract that you have with the CHDA, as I have clearly fallen WAY out of the timescale from application to assessment, please inform me as to the action you are required to take when the contract has been violated. I believe the time should be 13/14 weeks?

As there is a clear breach of contract here and as is well known in the media a GREAT deal many other breaches, why is the DWP still using this disgusting and clearly incompetent firm Maximus/CHDA for it's WCA, when clearly they cannot fulfill the contract? As I said to one gentleman at the DWP, "If you hire a builder and the agreed contract is not fulfilled, you'd take action wouldn't you?"

Could you also highlight the costs of assessment and when assessments are cancelled, please inform me of the costs involved in cancelling. Is the money for an assessment paid prior to an assessment? If so, should that be cancelled, does the DWP request that payment back for failure to fulfill it's contract? Please also provide statistics on the performance of Atos and the CHDA respectively.

I have also made numerous complaints, a number of which have gone unanswerred. What is the time to respond to complaints, as I haven't received any notification.

What monetary rewards are staff given, for sanctions and withdrawel of benefits? What targets are staff given or have ever been given for the above?

How many suicides have occured as a result of your unlawful conduct and how many people have had their illness worsen because of being unlawfully found fit for work?

In addition, please give details on how many people who were sanctioned or found fit for work, had mental health problems.

I'd also like the criteria for a home visit, as I had mine refused. According to the DWP, it's because I do get out now and then. Yet it does not take into account that this is to places that I feel safe and even then I have anxiety and panic attacks and due to PTSD, I dissasociate. Your process is making me very sick. NEEDLESLY. I dissasociated in a therapy session, so the chances of me doing so in an unsafe place, put me at serious risk.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/v...

Yours faithfully,

M Woodcroft

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

This is an automated confirmation that your request for information has
been accepted by the DWP FoI mailbox.
 
By the next working day your request will be forwarded to the relevant
information owner within the Department who will respond to you direct. 
 
If your email is a Freedom of Information request you can normally
expect a response within 20 working days.
 
Should you have any further queries in connection with this request do
please contact us.
 
For further information on the Freedom of Information Act within DWP
please click on the link below.
 
[1]http://www.dwp.gov.uk/freedom-of-informa...
 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. http://www.dwp.gov.uk/freedom-of-informa...

DWP Health Services Correspondence, Department for Work and Pensions

1 Attachment

Dear M Woodcroft,
 
Please see our response to your recent request for an Internal Review.
 
Yours sincerely
 
DWP Health Services Correspondence Team
 
 

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