‘I helped run the UK’s welfare system. Now it’s broken me’
“Nobody cares if I’ve worked my whole life,” says Jo, 53, from Sheffield. “They hear the words ‘universal credit’ and think you’re a bum. As a workaholic, it’s hard for me to accept not working. I feel like I have no purpose, no value.”
The mother-of-two has worked in the public sector throughout her life, including years as a consultant at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). But when ill health forced him to lose his job, he found himself face to face with the other side of the welfare system.
“For me it was an absolute nightmare, my worst nightmare,” says Jo, describing the experience of visiting the Jobcentre. He has difficulty leaving the house due to health problems, but was told he could not apply for universal credit without a personal visit.
“It all depends on the consultant you get,” he says, adding that he will always “go the extra mile” during his time at the DWP. “You can go to a counselor with a problem and they just say, ‘I’m sorry there’s nothing I can do,’ you go to another counselor and they find a way or do the best they can.”
Jo was supported on her journey to access help by Turn2us, a national charity that helps people get all the help they are entitled to. In a new report, the organization called on the government to take steps to remove the stigma around benefits and rebuild trust in the benefits system.
The charity says one of the key solutions to achieving this is to invest in frontline staff to increase support and ensure every work coach can make claimants feel they matter.
The report finds that simplifying and humanizing access to personal independence payments (PIP) is another important step, and encourages the government to ensure assessors are appropriately equipped to understand the realities of disability and illness.
The assessment of health and disability benefits has long been criticized by claimants and campaigners as difficult and inconsistent.
Jo says this is one of the hardest parts of navigating the welfare system.
“I found that this was set up just to catch you,” he says. “They don’t admit it, but that’s exactly what they’re doing.”
“When I went for the evaluation, they put me in the farthest room, but I didn’t notice because I had no PIP experience.”
“They were watching my every move, and even though it was obvious I was in pain and I needed to stop, it was against me that I managed to do it.”
And Jo is not alone in this experience. The latest research from the University of Bristol found that 64 per cent of applicants believe the department is “out to get them”, while 80 per cent of PIP recipients fear losing support.
In June, Independent We have heard from several PIP claimants who are struggling with the assessment process.
Fergus, 44, from Glasgow, worked for the DWP for 14 years until he was forced to leave work due to chronic back pain.
“I helped work the system. Now it broke me,” he says. Single dad tells how his application for universal health credit was rejected after a 10-minute phone call and now faces a long wait for reconsideration.
“They asked me if I could do things like buy a pound coin, wash my hair or cook,” she explains. “Yes, I can do it, but I feel a lot of pain when I do it. The evaluation does not recognize this fact.”
“It’s almost like they don’t believe you even though I gave them access to my medical records,” he says. “Despite this, they still say I’m qualified to do some jobs, but then they ask, ‘What jobs do you think I could do?’ “They tell you, ‘I don’t know.'”
This process, called job qualification assessment, is different from the PIP process and has been criticized since its introduction in 2008.
The work and pensions committee, then chaired by Sir Stephen Timms, said in a 2023 report that the negative experience of both by a “large minority” continued to undermine confidence in the DWP.
Following Labour’s damaging U-turn proposals to tighten eligibility for PIP in June, the benefit is being reviewed by Sir Stephen, now disability minister, with a particular focus on the assessment process. The findings from this review will affect the majority of disability claimants, with the PIP assessment eventually replacing the work capacity assessment.
Lucy Bannister, head of policy and impact at Turn2us, said: “Our social security system must provide people with stability and the confidence to rebuild their lives when life changes.
“The government’s plans to support more people into work and progress are welcome, but unless more is done to address the suspicion, distrust and stigma that has accumulated in the system, it is doomed to failure.
“The government’s language and DWP practice erodes trust, making it impossible to adequately assess the support someone needs or help overcome barriers to work.”
A DWP spokesman said: “We are shifting our focus from wellbeing to work, skills and opportunities, backed by £1bn a year for employment support for sick or disabled people by the end of the decade.
“We are also determined to make PIP relevant and fair for the future, which is why we announced that the evaluation process will be reviewed at ministerial level.
“The review will be prepared in partnership with disabled people and their representative organisations, ensuring their views and voices are at the heart of our decision-making.”
