Page 7 - Community Living Issue 31-3

welfare rights

Reasonable adjustments when claiming benefits

The DWP should make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to help centre. However, doing that takes time
people use its services. charlie callanan looks at the law – assuming the client has the confidence
and ability to make the call or someone to
around this and what happens in practice help them in the first place. Anecdotally,
clients can take a chance and turn up at
job centres and may still be seen without
he department for Work & Pensions information, as staff are reminded to an appointment.
has a legal duty to make reasonable record the details for colleagues to see
Tadjustments to help people with when this customer returns. intermediary assistance
any disability access its services. DWP guidance includes a list of some of The assistance of an intermediary is
However, firsthand accounts of some of the reasonable adjustments it will make. accepted as a reasonable adjustment for
the difficulties that people with learning These include adjustments that you would people with disabilities.
disabilities encounter in dealing with the expect, such as providing written However, the authority to represent a
DWP and its delivery arms such as information in alternative formats or signers client is only for a particular issue
Jobcentre Plus have come to the attention for people with a hearing impairment. (eg helping with one benefit appeal) and
of Community Living. is not treated as blanket consent to assist
Concerns about the DWP raised by with any DWP matter.
people with learning disabilities include: This has become an issue particularly in
● ●Clients having difficulties getting into helping clients in dealing with universal
local job centres if an appointment has credit claims, which requires explicit
not been made first consent. In addition, this does not last for
● ●DWP staff having little if any knowledge the history of the whole UC claim but
of or training in how to best support applies only to one particular query or
people with learning disabilities and piece of work.
hidden impairments When UC, which has been built on the
● ●Difficulties with the process of claiming assumption that claims are “digital by
benefits default”, is more widespread, there are
● ●DWP staff failing to identify clients who likely to be issues for our clients. They
should be offered additional assistance, may struggle to get to grips with dealing
and clients who do not identify with an online claim system. The majority
themselves as in need of extra help. of claimants will need to log in regularly
The Equality Act 2010 gives and maintain records on their claim as
organisations providing services to the part of the requirements of keeping their
public a legal duty to make reasonable Access all areas? Job centre staff often lack benefit and to avoid sanctions.
adjustments in various circumstances. knowledge of how to best support people with “Assisted digital support” is available to
This includes anticipating the additional learning disabilities and hidden impairments UC claimants. However, they will be
needs of people with various mental/ encouraged to be independent in managing
learning, physical and sensory impairments, There is little guidance for staff on how their claim, following “staff coaching,
then making adjustments to meet specific to deal with people with learning challenging and motivating claimants to
needs when these become apparent. disabilities, apart from checking if the become more digitally competent”.
Broadly, these adjustments should be claimant requires extra support to comply DWP has policies in place to fulfil its
made to ensure as far as possible that no with processes, and to complete and then duty to make reasonable adjustments.
one is put at a disadvantage when they manage their claim. However, how these are translated into
are accessing a service. While the DWP says it is able to provide working practices and in our clients’ day
general documents, such as leaflets and to day contact with the agency is less
dWP’s own guidance signs, in an easy-read format, it cannot straightforward.
The DWP has internal guidance, covering provide individual letters, such as those As so often in dealing with DWP and the
all their programmes, services and confirming an individual’s benefit job centre, clients may not be able to be
premises, to help staff to support entitlement, in this way. And these letters independent as they rely on
customers to access its services. can at times bamboozle the most intermediaries to help them to make and
The guidance states: “every time that experienced advice worker. maintain benefit claims. n
John Keogh/Flickr/Creative Commons seek to find out if the customer needs cannot cope with deviation from standard request, is available online at:
● An internal DWP document, Reasonable
This appears to be a systems issue for
there is customer contact by phone,
Adjustments, provided via a public access
DWP as its decision-making processes
online or in writing, staff must actively
additional support or a reasonable
http://tinyurl.com/y8o83ont
letters, such as producing easy-read
adjustment. What is a reasonable
decision letters. equally, clients who drop
Charlie Callanan is an adviser and writer
adjustment depends on the circumstances in at job centres are turned away because
on welfare rights issues. He has more than
of the case and will be specific to the
the system is set up to officially only see
needs of the disabled customer.”
20 years’ experience in the charitable and
statutory sectors
Clients should not have to repeat this
by telephoning their benefit delivery
www.cl-initiatives.co.uk clients who have booked an appointment Community Living Vol 31 No 3 | Spring 2018 7