Disabled activists believe it could prove a huge breakthrough in the fight against the government’s welfare reforms, and the battle to scrap the loathed fitness-for-work test and replace it with a more humane and less dangerous assessment.
In a report sent to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the senior coroner for inner north London, Mary Hassell, said “the trigger” for the suicide was the man being found fit for work by the department.
Responding to her concerns, in a document marked “OFFICIAL – SENSITIVE”, DWP claimed that its policy on how to respond to such cases “regrettably was not followed in this case”.
Mr A, a 60-year-old man from north London, died in the autumn of 2013 and the inquest took place early last year, but the coroner’s report has only been uncovered by Disability News Service (DNS) this week.
At the time of his death, Mr A had been receiving anti-depressants and talking therapy and was apparently engaging with an employment support officer.
In her narrative determination – or verdict – the coroner said: “The anxiety and depression were long term problems, but the intense anxiety that triggered his suicide was caused by his recent assessment by the Department for Work and Pensions (benefits agency) as being fit for work, and his view of the likely consequences of that.” ...
In a report sent to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the senior coroner for inner north London, Mary Hassell, said “the trigger” for the suicide was the man being found fit for work by the department.
Responding to her concerns, in a document marked “OFFICIAL – SENSITIVE”, DWP claimed that its policy on how to respond to such cases “regrettably was not followed in this case”.
Mr A, a 60-year-old man from north London, died in the autumn of 2013 and the inquest took place early last year, but the coroner’s report has only been uncovered by Disability News Service (DNS) this week.
At the time of his death, Mr A had been receiving anti-depressants and talking therapy and was apparently engaging with an employment support officer.
In her narrative determination – or verdict – the coroner said: “The anxiety and depression were long term problems, but the intense anxiety that triggered his suicide was caused by his recent assessment by the Department for Work and Pensions (benefits agency) as being fit for work, and his view of the likely consequences of that.” ...