APPENDIX 26
Memorandum by national mental health organisations
Summary of concerns highlighted by MACA, MIND, the
National Schizophrenia Fellowship and the Royal College of Psychiatrists
We welcome the broad thrust of the SWFG which offers
people with mental health problems the opportunity of being gainfully
employed. However the proposals made by the Government in the
Bill that there should be single gateway to access most benefits
including Incapacity Benefit and Job Seekers Allowance will pose
considerable problems for some people who have mental health problems.
The provisions of the Bill mean that people with
mental health problems will be called up for an interview without
a statutory right of advocacy, with an interviewing officer who
is unlikely to have had special training in dealing with people
with mental health problems, to examine their likelihood of being
able to obtain employment. This proposal could have a number of
serious consequences.
- people with a mental illness who receive a summons
for such an interview may react adversely. This could include
stress reactions which in turn could provoke a relapse of their
condition
- some people might misinterpret such an interview
request in a psychotic fashion and might behave irrationally
- some people might, through anxiety, choose to
ignore such a summons and put themselves in great peril of losing
all benefits
- some people might attend an interview but give
misleading information due to the presence of delusions or their
wish to return to work, which leads to inappropriate advice being
given.
Recommendations
1. Persons with a diagnosed mental illness should
be exempt from compulsory attendance at a Gateway interview.
2. Advocacy, if requested, must be a statutory right
at the interview, set out in the Bill.
3. If this Bill goes ahead unamended then it will
be necessary for interviewing officers to have special training,
which would be subject to validation, in dealing with people with
a mental illness.
4. The proposed regulations should not come into
force until the Government has formally assessed its SWFG pilot
schemes.
Simon Lawton Smith,
Head of Public Affairs, MACA
11 June 1999
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