Consultation outcome

People first Scotland response

Updated 23 March 2020

1. Overview

People First (Scotland) works for the human rights of people who have the labels of Learning Disability or Intellectual Impairment. People First (Scotland) campaigns to establish and protect the same freedom, choice, dignity and control as other citizens across all areas of life. We have over 60 groups and over 1000 members across Scotland.

If the Department for work and Pensions (DWP) have engaged with you in the past, please answer the following questions:

Can you tell us about the process? For example:

2. Question 1

• How did DWP invite you to take part?

2.1 Question 1 response

We were contacted by a civil servant who had been tasked with coordinating the consultation in Scotland.

3. Question 1a

What information and, or feedback were you asked to give to DWP?

3.1 Question 1a response

We were asked to respond to specific questions relating to the Work, Health and Disability Green Paper. We were provided with various lengthy, inaccessible documents that were biased in support of the changes that the DWP were planning to make.

4. Question 1b

What were the positives and, or negatives of your engagement with the department? Can you explain why you have this view?

4.1 Question 1b response

Overall, the experience and process was not a positive one. The documents that were provided were inaccessible and they seemed to be biased in favour of the changes that the government were already planning. We have always stated that people with a learning disability have to be involved in planning from the beginning.

It is not a true consultation if the main decisions have already been made and are presented as the way forward without room for changes or adjustments based on the views expressed in the consultation. We need the opportunity to say what will and will not work for us and consultation should covey genuine interest in what we have to say and be willing to take it into account during the planning.

5. Question 1c

Did you find the process accessible? If you requested accessible formats or adjustments were these made available?

5.1 Question 1c response

We did not find the documents provided accessible and so we developed and approached the consultation in a different way.

6. Question 1d

Did DWP request that they could speak with individuals and, or groups of individuals from, or represented by your organisation, to provide evidence (i.e. interviews, focus groups, etc.)

6.1 Question 1d response

The then Minister for Disabled, Maria Milller, was due to attend a focus group but she cancelled at short notice. People First went ahead with our own focus group and gathered the views of People First members to compile our consultation response.

7. Question 1e

Did the DWP provide any comments on the advice or feedback that they received from you.

7.1 Question 1e response

No.

8. Question 1f

Please share any other relevant evidence of your engagement with the department.

8.1 Question 1f response

We will attach the People First (Scotland) consultation response to the Green Paper on ‘Work, Health and Disability’.

9. Question 2

To what degree have there been benefits from engaging with DWP? Have you seen any tangible improvements to policies or practices for disabled people following your engagement with DWP? If so, could you set out what these are? If not, what were the tangible improvements that you expected to see?

9.1 Question 2 response

No, we have not seen any improvements, on the contrary. The roll-out of Universal Credit has had a hugely detrimental impact on disabled people and we stated our concerns about this very clearly when responding to the DWP’s Green Paper on ‘Work, Health and Disability’ in 2017. In particular we said in our response that online systems can be really difficult to use for some people with a Learning Disability who may not have access to the internet or be computer literate.

We said, “All forms and processes need to be more accessible and more options of ways to communicate with staff should be put in place. This includes a face to face alternative when someone needs advice or help with their benefits which is currently not available”.

We do not feel that this feedback was taken on board at all and the experiences of our members reflect this. One member shares the recent example of trying to re-arrange an appointment in person at the Job Centre and being told he had to go home and do it online. The person did not have access to the internet at home and explained this to the Job Centre worker but he was still told that there was no way to change the appointment there and then in person.

In our response to the Green paper report we also spoke about the damaging effect of repeated assessments and the impact this has on our mental health. We said how important it is to get the right support to attend assessments. However, since we submitted that response, members have continued to report having to attend assessments that prove to be a stressful and upsetting experience.

Assessments can be very intimidating and it often feels that we are having a lot of questions fired at us, without being provided with adequate time or support to understand what we are being asked and think about what we want to say before answering. Members have said that it is a highly pressurised environment and it can feel both ‘embarrassing’ and ‘degrading’ to have to disclose very personal information to a complete stranger.

It is very frustrating spending time and resources giving our views, only for them to be ignored and then have to live through the very things that we warned against.

10. Question 2a

Has DWP provided feedback to you on improvements the department made as a result of engagement with stakeholders?

10.1 Question 2a response

No

11. Question 2b

Following your engagement, did DWP give you the opportunity to comment on draft proposals before final decisions were taken?

11.1 Question 2b response

No, although what we were presented with in the first place was essentially the final proposal.

12. Question 3

Based on your experiences, would you wish to engage with the DWP in future? What do you see as the positives and negatives of engaging with DWP, based on your experience? Would you engage in similar circumstances in future?

12.1 Question 3 response

People First has not had overly positive experiences of engaging with DWP in the past as we have explained above. However, as a user-led organisation campaigning for the rights of people with a Learning Disability, it is important that we continue to take opportunities to engage with the structures and processes that affect our lives. This is always dependent on our available time and resources as well as how accessible the process is. We should never be excluded from the option to take part in a consultation because accessible materials have not been provided.

13. Question 3a

Could the process of engagement with the department be improved? If so, how?

13.1 Question 3a response

People with a Learning Disability need to be involved from the beginning and we need accessible ways of contributing. This means providing information in various formats, like Easy Read. Communication needs to improve and this includes responding and following up after we have submitted a consultation response and providing accessible reports.

14. Question 4

Please tell us about other engagement you have had on disability issues with public sector or other organisations outside of DWP?

For example:

• Please explain the process for this engagement
• How did it compare with the way in which the department engaged with you? What were the similarities and/or differences?

14.1 Question 4 response

We have a lot of engagement with the public sector and other organisations. Many of these tend to be focused on Scotland because this is where our members live. We have mixed experiences of engaging with the public sector and other organisations.

It is still the case that processes for engaging and getting the views of citizens are often inaccessible for people with a Learning Disability. The lack of accessible, and in particular Easy Read, versions of documents, is an ongoing issue, as well as short timescales for responding to consultations. As we described above, it is also frustrating to spend time and resources responding to these consultations only to find that our views have been ignored.

Throughout 2019 we also engaged with the Independent review of Learning Disability and Autism in the Mental Health Act. The process was not fully accessible and some of the Easy Read documents provided were not ideal but we developed strong links with the team working on the review and met with them many times. The review set up advisory groups which included people with lived experience. The review team regularly communicated their progress and asked for people’s views on this.

15. Question 5

In your view, can the DWP’s process of engagement be improved and, if so, why and how?

15.1 Question 5 response

Yes, we have described how the process of engagement could be improved above. It is about having an accessible and flexible approach that involves people with lived experience from the beginning.

16. Question 6

Is there anything else you wish to add about this subject?

16.1 Question 6 response

No response.

If DWP have not engaged with you in the past, please answer the following questions:

17. Question 7

In what ways do you think you could have made a valuable and constructive contribution to DWP’s work, and what would be the most effective way for DWP engage with you?

17.1 Question 7 response

No response.

18. Question 8

Would you wish to engage with DWP in future? Please provide the reasons for your answer?

18.1 Question 8 response

Yes. As a user-led organisation campaigning for the rights of people with a Learning Disability, it is important that we continue to take opportunities to engage with the structures and processes that affect our lives.

19. Question 9

What would be the most effective way for DWP to make sure you could engage with them?

19.1 Question 9 response

Offer accessible ways of engagement, like Easy Read consultation documents, at the same time as the original consultation documents. This would allow us adequate time to complete the consultation equally to everyone else. Build positive relationships with Disabled Persons’ Organisations and work in co-production with them to discuss solutions before plans are fixed.

20. Question 10

Are there any areas or types of engagement that you would not have with the department?

20.1 Question 10 response

No response.

21. Question 11

Please tell us about other engagement you have had on disability issues with public sector or other organisations outside of DWP? For example:

• Please explain the process for this engagement?

21.1 Question 11 response

We have described some of our engagement with other organisations above.

22. Question 12

Do you have any suggestions to develop the process for you to be able to engage with DWP in future?

22.1 Question 12 response

No response

23. Question 13

What would be your minimum expectations of who the department should consult, and how that consultation should take place, to provide reassurance that decisions taken by the Department are well-informed and credible?

23.1 Question 13 response

The department should consult with all people with lived-experience who will be affected by the changes in policy or approach.