The work and pensions secretary has vowed to intervene in a family’s “nightmare” DWP battle after they said they were told to spend hours hunting for jobs for their severely disabled son.
We told last week how Connor Donnelly’s mum and dad were told there were “work-related requirements” for their wheelchair bound, blind, non verbal son’s Universal Credit claim.
Now Pat McFadden, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, has become involved in the case, describing it as a “critical issue within the department he is determined to tackle”.
Connor, from Mauchline, East Ayrshire, has complex needs after being starved of oxygen at birth.
But since he turned 18 and left school in May, dad Steve, 46, and mum Helen, 44, say they have been facing an ongoing struggle with their local job centre over his benefits claim.
Unable to get him to their local centre, which is inaccessible for his wheelchair, the family say they have endured a string of telephone calls discussing his capability to work and were even told they should look for work for him for two hours a week, leaving them “embarrassed and hurt”.
View 4 ImagesConnor with his dad Steve and mum Helen(Image: Alasdair MacLeod/Daily Record)
The family has now received a visit from their local Labour MP Lillian Jones, who gave them a letter confirming McFadden had instructed officials to “take this case forward”.
Jones described the family’s experience as “deeply distressing and “wholly unacceptable”.
She wrote: “Having learned about Connor’s profound disabilities and the challenges your family faces every day, I was deeply concerned to discover that you had been asked to undertake job-search activities on his behalf while his entitlement was being assessed. “No family should have to endure unnecessary stress of bureaucracy while caring for a young person with such significant and lifelong disabilities.
“As your member of Parliament, I contacted the Department for Work and Pensions about Connor’s case. The Secretary of State, Pat McFadden, has reiterated his view that Connor’s experience highlights a critical issue within the department that he is determined to tackle.”
Jones added: “It is unacceptable that, alongside the daily responsibilities and challenges you already face, you have also been forced to fight a system that should have recognised Connor’s circumstances from the outset.”
View 4 ImagesWork and Pensions Secretary of State, Pat McFadden
A single person under 25 receives £338.58 per month in Universal Credit. In Scotland, disabled individuals can claim Universal Credit for living costs while simultaneously receiving separate disability living assistance.
Connor, who has a big brother and three younger sisters, attended Willowbank School in Kilmarnock until earlier this year and previously received the benefit because he was in full time education.
Now he has become an adult, Steve said the requirements the family have to fulfil on top of caring for his complex needs have hit them “like a freight train”, saying they were “having to fight for absolutely everything”.
He said their efforts to explain Connor’s complex needs to their local Job Centre had fallen “on deaf ears” as they faced repeated questions about work capability.
Helen, who was made Connor’s appointee, said she had been asked to look for work for him for two hours a week and they were told they would need to provide sick lines.
Steve said: “I’m so angry at the fact they expected him to do job searches. We’re getting questions like ‘has he got a mobile phone? Has he got access to the internet? Has he got interview clothes?’
“We’re saying ‘he’s in a wheelchair and can barely sit up unaided.’ What they were asking him to do is a physical impossibility and what we’ve been put through is an absolute nightmare.
View 4 ImagesConnor Donnelly turned 18 earlier this year(Image: Alasdair MacLeod/Daily Record)
“His condition is not going to improve. As he’s getting older it’s getting more complex. It’s not as if he is going to miraculously be able to walk one day. It’s never going to happen.”
The Record understands Connor’s claim now includes a voluntary activity to contact his local council to seek places for social activities but the family say they are still confused over how it is being dealt with.
A DWP spokeswoman said: “Connor Donnelly is not required to work, and his family are not required to search for work on his behalf.
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“The Department is in touch with the family to confirm this.”
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