GMWRAG doesn’t often set members background reading but if you’re coming to our Trafford meeting in September then you’ll need to be up to speed on where we’re up to with benefits, safeguarding and vulnerability. The discussion is part of a necessary move towards maintaining a rights based approach to benefits advice by increasingly bringing to bear legislation from outside the social security sphere. The finest examples of this would of course be the increasing use of EU legislation; directives and so on and, more recently, the use of the Equality Act 2010 to challenge DWP practice and policy.
Our first September speaker, Louise Tanner, has put together some background reading to give people a feel for the range of the topic. You can download and read this from our site but before you do we suggest you have a look at the discussion forums hosted by our mates over at Rightsnet.
We recommend a read of
- Benefits safeguards – policy issues.
- Safeguarding and Housing Benefit.
- Watering down of ESA Work Programme Provider (WPP) Safeguards.
- Benefits Safeguards Guidance.
- DWP PIP Safeguarding Guidance – FOI Request Response.
- Using ESA ‘safeguarding’ and dispute procedures.
- Any recompense for ‘vulnerable person’ status being missed?
- Mental Health Safeguards thread.
- ‘Suicide Guidance’ given to Universal Credit call centre staff.
If these don’t give you a feel for the breadth and reach of the subject, as well as the potential for challenging the DWP and local authorities then, er, you probably haven’t read them! See you in Trafford.
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