Stephen Naysmith

In the face of intense scrutiny, the DWP said it was postponing publication of new figures on those who have lost benefits.

HE blows just keep coming for the Coalition Government’s benefit reforms and the Work Programme which is supposed to underpin them. With the ruling yesterday by a judicial tribunal that work capability assessments (WCA) discriminate against people with mental health problems, another key complaint about the system was confirmed.

Campaigners have long argued that the WCA system treats people with significant mental health problems unfairly because they can be relatively well one day and quite unable to function another. It wasn’t the fluctuating nature of many conditions that the Upper Tribunal objected to in an appeal case. Instead they agreed the Coalition Government’s tests, administered on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) by the company Atos, had been unfair by requiring two applicants for disability benefit – or Employment and Support Allowance – to explain how their disability affects them. Some mental health problems make it difficult for sufferers to do that, the judges said. Indeed, an inability to understand how you are affected by an illness is a symptom of some conditions.

This came after David Cameron began yesterday morning claiming the Conservative Party was “campaigning on issues like poverty” in a radio interview. That must have raised hollow laughter around the UK, but nowhere more so than in Glasgow. Figures published by the Government on so-called Discretionary Housing Payments show that last month 25,000 people applied for help because they couldn’t afford to pay their rent. The comparable figure for April last year was 5700 and the dramatic change has been blamed on welfare reform and the bedroom tax. The figure for Glasgow alone is now 5501 – the highest anywhere in the UK.

Statistic are also due out on the number of jobseekers penalised for failing to satisfy Jobcentre staff that they are genuinely looking for work. Watchers of welfare reform await these figures because of concerns claimants are increasingly facing trivial or unjust sanctions, and persistent suggestions staff have been given targets for imposing penalties on jobseekers.

Respected organisations including Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) see