The Great Disability Scam? Panorama

More than half of all people with a disability are out of work. The

Government is spending millions to try and solve this. It's failing me.

It's failing thousands of people up and down the country. It's a tick

box exercise by Government. But are they targeting the wrong people?

There's not a week that goes by without me hitting something. Do

you think anyone in their right mind could consider that as

employable? We reveal the companies getting rich from the welfare

reforms. I think someone has cleverly designed a very large cow

producing an awful lot of milk and bright businesses have worked out

how to milk that cow very effectively. And tonight, Panorama

exposes what one company, meant to help unemployed people, really

calls them. They're lying, thieving (BLEEP). These are the people you

were employed to help. To support There are 2.5 million long-term

sick and disabled unemployed people in the UK. Currently costing

taxpayers �13 billion every year. The Government says it wants as

many as possible, who are able to work, off benefits and into

employment. Those who can work will look for work and join the Work

Programme. Those with a disability must and can no longer be left

behind. It is a vital pledge that we must make to those who have

those disabilities. 18 months on from the launch of the Government's

most ambitious welfare reforms yet and how successful has the pledge

been to get disabled people who are able to work off benefits and into

employment? Last year, Panorama went under cover and found evidence

that the assessment carried out by private company Atos was wrongly

judging people fit for work. bend forward as far as you can

reach. Thank you. We're still finding evidence of people being

placed into a system they may not be fit for. This is Ruth, 27 years

old, she has severe learning disabilities and epilepsy. She

struggles to do even a simple task, like make tea. Yet last year she

was assessed as someone capable of preparing for the work place and

instructed to go to the Jobcentre. We go to the Jobcentre only to be

told, "Do you realise that she's supposed to be actively seeking for

a job?" The Jobcentre advised her that Ruth could appeal, which she

did successfully. This way. Ruth's story is an extreme example, but as

the drive to get disabled people into the Work Programme gains

momentum, could there be more inappropriate cases being pushed

A cemetery on the south side of Edinburgh. It's where Mark Gould

often finds inspiration. He used to work as a freelance photographer.

In 2008 he developed serious meantal health problems and hasn't

worked since. Depression, for the record, is not feeling a little bit

down or sad or anything. It's feeling nothing. You know, inside

there's, you may as well be dead. For the past four years, Mark has

been on incapacity benefits. Over a year ago, after being assessed, he

was placed into a work-related activity group to make him job-

ready. Mark and his girlfriend say he can't work, as he struggles with

anxiety and his temper. How bad is it? Right, there's not a week that

goes by without me hitting something. Do you think anyone

should be stuck with that as an employee? Do you think anyone, in

their right mind, could consider that as employable? I... When I'm

frustrated I smash things up. this not be controlled? You've

managed to control this in a very stressful environment of doing an

interview? (BLEEP). Can this be controlled? (BLEEP) it can to some

extent and I knew today was going to be a bit like this, so I did a

Severn amount of preparation for being here. -- Certain amount of

preparation for being here. How do you prepare? How do you try to

control it? How are you controlling it now? Through breathing

techniques. But what's going through your head? What's going

through my head? I'm not going to say anything about that.

The Department for Work and Pensions said it was unable to

comment on an individual case, but in a statement said: "People placed

in the work-related activity group for Employment and Support

Allowance are currently too ill to work, but with the right support

will be able to move into work in the future, when they are well

enough. As a condition of receiving their benefit, they are expected to

attend meetings with Jobcentre Plus or Work Programme advisors where

they will get the help they need to gradually move closer to getting a

job." Mark believes it will be some time

before he's ready for employment. But when he is, for those who will

help him through the Government's Work Programme, there's a very big

incentive. Here's how it's supposed to work - there are 18 main work

providers, these are largely private companies. Each is

contracted to deliver the Work Programme for all long-term

unemployed, not just those with disabilities. It's based on

financial rewards. For every person placed with them that main work

provider receives a referral payment of up to �400. For those on

incapacity benefits, called hard to place clients, the figure is �600.

If the main work provider manages to get a client into employment for

more than six months, it receives a second payment, which is �1200. For

a hard to place client, it could be as much as �3,500.

After two years if a client is still in paid employment, the main

work provider gets a third payout. This time, up to �5,000. But it's

�9,600 for a hard to place client. It's called payment by results. The

hope of the incentive approach was that main providers would work

harder to reduce unemployment and put equal effort into those in the

hard-to-place group. For some it's working. This is Andrew Collins.

Homeless, he's been living between the streets of Southampton and the

city's shelters for more than four years. Home for the moment is a

Salvation Army Hostel. Like Mark Gould, he suffers from depression,

it's meant he's been unable to work for nearly seven years. I wouldn't

have been able to hold a job down simply because the despair, the

absence of motivation, no interest in interacting with other people.

In August 2011, Andrew was told he was being put on the Work Programme.

His provider sent him on confidence-building courses, showed

him where to look for work and paid for a new, smarter appearance.

These sound like very small things to some people - new shoes, hair

cut, shave - that was a big deal to you. It might seem small in

material things, but it's a good symbol of the sort of support they

were offering. You got the job? Yeah. Andrew now works parttime in

a residential care home. He's an example of what the Work Programme

was designed to achieve. Yet figures revealed in November, just

13 months into the initiative, suggest Andrew is the exception

rather than the rule. New figures have been released showing that the

Government's Work Programme... Aimed at getting people off welfare

benefits and into work... failed to meet a key target. None

of the private companies who won the contracts to deliver the Work

Programme met their targets. Ministers say the scheme is in its

early days. Out of 68,000 referrals of people from the hard-to-place

group, providers only found jobs lasting three months or more for a

thousand of them. In that group, mental illness is

the single biggest barrier to employment. Living in Middlesbrough

is Tony Wilson. He's 34. He's been unemployed and receiving disability

benefits for almost nine years. Like Andrew Collins, he's had a

history of mental health problems. I've been diagnosed with depression,

anxiety disorder and bored line personality disorder. When I'm

anxious, I can't go out. If I have to go out, I have to be medicated.

Tony was referred to Triage, which delivers the Work Programme on

behalf of two main providers. Triage says by treating everyone as

an individual and respecting their needs throughout the journey

towards employment it has achieved one of the highest success rates in

the country. Yet Tony's experience, once placed on the programme,

hasn't matched up to what the company promises. In the past year,

he says he's only seen his advisor three times. Some of the courses he

was told he'd be sent on failed to materialise. Triage has accused him

of missing appointments, which he disputes. What have they done to

get you job ready? Nothingment -- Nothing. Nothing at all? Absolutely

nothing. This isn't because you're rejecting it and saying no?

They actually haven't actively done anything? They haven't done a

single thing to help me in any way. Under the payment by results model,

Tony could be worth up to �6,500 to a main provider. To try and

understand why Tony wasn't getting the support he needs, I had to find

someone who'd been paid to implement Triage policy, who was

prepared to talk. Linda Smith worked as an employment

advisor with Triage in Aberdeen. Many of her clients had serious

mental illness and, like Tony, were in the hard-to-place group. They

were worth a lot of money to a main provider. These people were

probably more difficult to place in employment for us as employment

workers, but for them, these people were big money. These people were

the bucks. These people were money makers? Oh, yeah. They were the

bucks. It's about the money. It's bringing the kerching, nothing else.

After 11 months on the Work Programme, nothing had changed for

Tony. His contact with Triage was becoming increasingly sporadic.

Then, last month, on the day he was due to see his advisor, she left a

message on his phone. She said, "Hello Tony, just checking how are

you doing? We'll see you next year." She didn't say, come in or

don't come in. She didn't say you don't need to come in any more. She

didn't actually mention the appointment. Was this an unusual

phone call? Had you had anything like this before? No, no. It was

out of the blue. It was bizarre. For some, like Linda, who worked at

Triage, this type of phone call comes as no surprise. If some of

the clients that you met were too difficult to put into employment,

what would happen? They would be put on telephone interviews, so

they didn't even have to come into the centre, just to make sure that

there was this contact made, so they could tick a box to say, yeah,

they're still on the programme. Efforts to gain them employment

stopped? Yeah. They would call it parking. That was the word that was

used. You parked them. You don't spend as much time with these

people because you're never going to get the money out of them.

you think you were parked? Yes. Several Triage employees told us

similar stories. They said they could not comment duty data

protection, but in a statement, The testimony of those we have

spoken to suggests that the financial model is working against

those the scheme was set up to help the most, those in that hard to

place group. We asked one of the country's leading financial

analysts to examine the Work Programme and the payment by

results policy upon which it was built. From the second I walk in

the door, as a participant, in the eyes of the prime provider I have

got a price tag? Effectively, you have a value. As a referral, that

is your income. Once you have been in a referral, how much more money

am I going to get out of you? If you buy a nice, well-trained

individual and that able-bodied, I can get more money out of you. If

you don't have experience, you don't have training and may be what

disabled, you're going to get left behind. Which ones are you going to

deal with first? Those that are easiest to get into work. I can

cherry-pick the people that are fully able to do well, I can get

The whole point of paying by results was to stop providers from

this kind of cherry-picking. The financial incentives would be so

attractive that the hard to place would not be ignored. And when

bidding for these lucrative contracts, the providers promised

to do everything they could to help those who needed it most. But are

Gemma Brown lives in Southampton and is registered blind. She has

been unemployed for four years. In March, she was placed on the Work

Programme. I was hopeful it was going to make a difference and that

things would change. That I would at least get some interviews.

was placed with A4e, the second biggest contractor to the Work

Programme. It claims to have saved the taxpayer �24 million per year

by getting long-term unemployed into work. That is on their website.

Now, I have got a copy of their bid to deliver the Work Programme in

the south-east. In it, they promise to provide an accessible service

for all clients. They will Taylor the programme to the needs of

individual and each client will be seen monthly by a worker adviser.

Not so, according to Jemma. I could go two or three months without

seeing him. Before then, I have kind of weighted and had my

appointment cancelled the day before. I had to wait another month

or something. How many jobs has A4e found you or suggested for you? 1.

And what about A4e's promise to provide an accessible service for

clients? They cannot do things in large print, I cannot use their

computers. Everywhere I have turned there has been a barrier from me

accessing it. Do you get the feeling that you were almost the

first disabled person they had come across? It really was like they had

no clue about disability whatsoever. We spoke to others that also felt

they were not getting the support promised to them. We put this to

The Work Programme is overseen by the Department for Work and

Pensions. We put to them that some companies were picking and choosing

who to help. Do you think cherry- picking is taking place? I think we

have set some very clear incentives for the Work Programme providers.

They know they only get money if they get people into work. They

know they only get money if they provide the right support. With

respect, you haven't answered my question. If people are concerned

about that, there is a complaints mechanism. But the incentives are

in place to ensure that people get the right support. The system was

set up in such a way that providers were not expected to have the

expertise in every single disability field. This was where

charities and support organisations with those specialist skills would

come into their own. When the main providers competed for the multi-

million-pound Work Programme contracts, they included in their

bid lists of charities and organisations they said they would

be using to help clients. Around 1000 of these support groups were

signed up. They anticipated an exciting time. They would be paid

by the main provider every time their support services were used.

The Royal National Institute of Blind People supports almost 2

million visually-impaired people in the United Kingdom. The RNIB group

was successfully included in the Bairds of four main work providers.

But the results have not been as expected. It is a disaster. The

data that has come from the DWP shows that there have been Zero

successful placements in work for blind and partially-sighted people.

That is meant to be the core outcome and it is not delivering.

It is not delivering the right equipment, the right specialists

support. In many cases, we feel that the person is just taken on

and then parked, nothing is being done for them. In some cases it is

a bit of a con, this specialist advice is not available. Was the

RNIB's experience unusual? We conducted a survey of 348 of

voluntary organisations listed on the DWP website in July last year

as being sub-contractors to the Work Programme. Surprisingly, 40%

of the 184 that responded said they were not part of the Work Programme.

Therefore, they should not be on the list. Then there was the number

of referrals. Of those organisations that were correctly

listed as being sub-contractors, 73% said they had fewer referrals

than expected. 41% said they had not received any referrals at all.

Order, order. Can I will Keeney to this afternoon session? Labour MP

Dame Anne Begg is the chairperson of the parliamentary select

committee tasked with looking at how well the Work Programme is

doing. Would she be able to explain why providers would be reluctant to

refer up people to outside support? They might be expecting to get

�5,000 from the Government for getting them into work. If they

spend �6,000 on that individual, getting them to work, that is loss-

making. They have been selecting the easiest ones out of those

groups and not necessarily working with those that they have assessed

as being too far from the labour market and too difficult to get

into work. What she says matches the testimony

we got from others that responded From the evidence we have gathered,

it seems finance is driving this system. Some providers are going

for the quick return, focusing on those most likely to get a job.

Others are failing to refer clients to much needed specialist support

because they have to pay for that support. Thereby, cutting their

profits. Our former Triage employee felt that led to a culture of

indifference towards the clients that needed help the most. Never

ask how they are. When you go to greet them, never ask how they are.

Why not? You spend so much time, they would want to tell you what

was wrong with them. That's their words, not mine, I have to say.

Never, ever ask anybody with disability benefit how they are.

was difficult to accept what Linda Smith said next. According to her,

this was how some staff talked about clients. They were all LTBs.

Lying, thieving bastards. Who? clients. That is how they are

referred to, as clients. Lying, thieving bastard. These were

clients that you had been employed to help? To support and help back

into employment. Yes. It's offensive. It's unprofessional.

There are so many words you could say about that. It is just wrong.

We have spoken to a number of former Triage employees who

confirmed they also heard this term been used. In a statement, Triage

In relation to not asking how The Select Committee's inquiry into

the Work Programme is ongoing. I asked Dame Anne Begg, who is

heading it, to look at some of our evidence. Tony, who feels he has

been part by the system. Gemma, who says her disability is not being

catered for. And former Triage employee, Linda Smith. What have

they done to get your job ready? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

longer this goes on, the harder it makes it for him to ever get back

into the workplace. Everywhere I have turned, there has been a

barrier in the accessing it. They should not be working with people

on disabilities if they cannot handle it themselves. This is A4e.

That company must know that a. Lying, thieving bastards. The

clients. That is shocking. I hope that this is a rare example of that.

If that is widespread... Of now that you have heard and seen that

evidence, what will you do with it? Will you be feeding that into the

inquiry that is on going? I think what you have shown in your

programme will certainly form part of the evidence that we will use

when we will reach our conclusions and make recommendations to

government about what should happen with regard to the Work Programme

as it develops. So, how does the department responsible react to our

findings? Looking at the supply chain, we carried out a survey. We

discovered that the expertise and the knowledge of many outside

support organisations were not be used. They feel they have been used

as bid Candy, took window-dresser. I think private contractors who

identify people they believe could help provide an effective service.

They have to decide if that works in the long term, whether the

organisations provide the right service. I think there will be some

organisations that have not had the volume of referrals they expected.

We spoke to one person who worked in the industry and she said that

they were encouraged to park. They said that clients were refer to as

LTB, lying, thieving bastards? think that is wrong and I would

like to ensure that where that language is used disciplinary

action is taken. I want to see that this programme get more people into

work, particularly those that are furthest away from the labour

market. Few will disagree that supporting long-term sick and

disabled unemployed who are capable of going back into work is a good

thing. But is the assessment process and the Work Programme the

best way of achieving these results? The select committee will

report its findings to government in April. But has the financial

model which is underpinning the Work Programme already become a

barrier for those most in need of Next week, is it time to change our

abortion laws? We have one of the highest rates in Europe yet, in one