Anthony
He'll get the money.
But will he really get the help he needs?
We meet Anthony in Manchester, a booming city seeking to fill 20,000 vacancies. He is at the Citizens Advice Bureau seeking to sign on to long-term sickness benefits on account of his alcoholism. He has a Fit Note from his GP. Citizens Advice offers guidance through the next steps, often under contract from the DWP.
"I’m unfit for work," says Anthony. "I drink everyday so imagine me in front of a machine! I’d chop my finger off." He is on standard Universal Credit workless: so £100 a week. This is low by international standards, but if he is categorised as long-term sick it doubles to £200. He says he has suffered from depression and anxiety for two years and that he needed to drink several cans of beer before he arrived (by taxi). He shows the CAB adviser his "goodie bag of liquids" for consumption later on.
Dave, who is helping him at Citizens Advice, explains the situation. "He's got an alcohol dependency and a drug dependency, which are also classified as mental health conditions in the context of this assessment. Those are the grounds for him claiming today that he's incapable of work." He tells us that his application stands a good chance of success.
Anthony will probably get the money, but I was left wondering if he will get the help he clearly needs. Once he is categorised as long-term sick he will come off the unemployment figures, but then what? I spoke to a DWP assessor who said how hard it was knowing that there is nothing they can do: they can talk to the GP if a claimant seems at risk of self harm, but nothing can be done if they are not interested in coming off drink. "Once claimants are approved as having a health condition, there is little regular engagement with them," said the OBR in a Jul23 report. "Either in terms of encouraging employment or reassessing their health." In other words: they are being written off.
At the last count, alcoholism claimed 10,000 lives a year in the UK - almost twice what it did when data started being collected 20 years ago. Most of that rise has taken place in the last five years.