Ignoring The Equality Act 2010

The request was partially successful.

Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

It has come to my attention that DWP staff members are regularly ignoring requests for reasonable adjustments made under the Equality Act 2010 (based on a study of approximately 30 claimants over a 6-month period). One of the most blatantly disregarded is the request by disabled claimants for DWP staff to communicate in writing, only - although the DWP is also regularly failing to contact the claimant's nominated representative.

If a person is accepted as disabled under the law, and is recorded as such on your records (that is, they are in receipt of disability benefits, such as: DLA, ESA, PIP, AA, etc.), under what circumstances is it acceptable for the DWP to ignore repeated written instruction to communicate in writing, only, as a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010?

If a person is accepted as disabled under the law, and is recorded as such on your records (as before), and the DWP has mental health issues, such as: panic, anxiety, depression, etc., recorded under the claimant's name in the DWP system (and therefore classed as a vulnerable person under DWP legislation), when is it acceptable to ignore a written request to NOT telephone the claimant when said request is made as a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010?

If a person is accepted as disabled under the law, and is recorded as such on your system (as before), under what circumstances is the DWP able to ignore a request made under the Equality Act 2010, reasonable adjustments, for DWP staff to communicate with a named representative, only, for the purpose of a particular situation or issue, and for the DWP to telephone the claimant, instead? (Please assume written authorisation had been provided by the claimant, and a copy of said authorisation confirmed as being held on the DWP system at the time it was ignored.)

Regarding representatives authorised in person, in writing, by the claimant, DWP staff does not seem to be aware that there is a difference between a claimant representative, authorised to assist with a particular problem or set of circumstances, and an Appointee. I have monitored the number of enquiries made on behalf of claimants to the DWP, with me acting as official representative. In approximately 90% of cases the DWP staff member would not speak to me and insisted that nothing short of an Appointee would do - which is, of course, incorrect. Some actually insisted I get Power of Attorney before they could speak to me on behalf of the claimant!

As using a representative to deal with the DWP is also submitted as a reasonable adjustment of the Equality Act 2010, what is the DWP doing to make sure its staff understand the difference between and Appointee and a representative? Even asking for the line manager only resolves about 50% of these cases, which is very worrying, indeed. Surely all frontline staff should understand the difference between a representative and an Appointee?

Are frontline staff receiving training regarding their obligations under the Equality Act 2010, as well as what constitutes a representative?

Please provide the law and regulations the DWP relies on to be able to ignore reasonable adjustment requests with your answer - unfortunately, DWP policy and guidelines are not acceptable.

Yours faithfully,

H Jackson

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 CAXTON HOUSE EXTERNAL HR, Department for Work and Pensions

1 Attachment

Dear Sir
 
Please find attached response to your Freedom of Information request (our
ref 3336)
 
 
 
 
Many thanks
 
Department for Work & Pensions
HR Central FoI Team
 
 
 

show quoted sections

Dear DWP CAXTON HOUSE EXTERNAL HR,

Thank you for your response.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but what I have taken from your response is that DWP staff members are not allowed to routinely ignore the Equality Act 2010?

Based on your response, I have 2 further questions:

When faced with a DWP staff member intent on ignoring their obligations under the Equality Act 2010 - refusing to speak to a representative, for example, or persistently phoning a claimant when instructed to use alternative communication - what is the best method of dealing with this issue?

If a complaint is made about a staff member's refusal to comply with the Equality Act 2010, what happens to the staff member - do they get any of the training you mentioned in your response?

Yours sincerely,

H Jackson

Taylor Darren DWP HR SERVICES, Department for Work and Pensions

Dear Sir/Madam

I have been in touch with the relevant team regarding your additional questions and a response is below:

The Department is committed to meeting its responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010. In the case of disability this includes the requirement to make reasonable adjustments for disabled customers ensuring they are not disadvantaged in comparison to non-disabled customers when accessing our services.

DWP staff are obliged to act upon any requests from disabled customers for alternative communication methods as a reasonable adjustment.

When this does not happen, customers should complain following the established procedure. This can be found via the attached link

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...

DWP takes all customer complaints seriously. We are committed to investigating customers' concerns. This commitment includes complaints about members of staff.

Complaints about staff have a dual aspect: the investigation of the allegation about staff and any follow up action deemed appropriate by management. This may include further mandatory training and in more serious cases disciplinary action.

Department for Work & Pensions
HR Central FoI Team

show quoted sections

Dear Taylor Darren DWP HR SERVICES,

Thank you for your response.

Unfortunately, your response has thrown up another question.

The complaints procedure you have linked to is all well and good if you have several months in which to wait for an outcome. However, if you have a pressing matter - an appointment at an inaccessible location, or a form that comes with a DWP deadline, for example - and DWP staff refuse to speak to a claimant's representative or consider a reasonable adjustment, how can that situation be handled?

Does one ask for the manager (I've dealt with DWP managers who didn't know what the Equality Act 2010 is), or do you have a phone number for an Equalities Department, perhaps, that would know how to address issues of this type?

What's the hierarchy for dealing with an equality issue that is urgent?

Yours sincerely,

H Jackson

DWP CAXTON HOUSE EXTERNAL HR, Department for Work and Pensions

Dear H Jackson

The Department encourages staff to identify and resolve issues of concern for customers at the first point of contact.

Customers who are unsatisfied with the level of service provided by a member of staff, should in the first instance raise this with the individual and/or the individuals manager. This request can be made at any point during a telephone conversation or face to face discussion.

Where it is not possible to resolve the issue at this point, the Department has a well-developed, two-stage complaint resolution process. Information to customers about how to complain can be found on GOV.UK and in customer information leaflets.

Many thanks
Department for Work & Pensions
HR Central FoI Team

show quoted sections

H Jackson left an annotation ()

They've been a bit slippery in answering this one, so another (rather more direct) FoI has been made to qualify the answer given in this FoI.

You'll find it here:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/e...