Thank you Andyorch - well said. Right back to the thread. Spoke to a barrister and ACAS today. Both agreed that it can be a grey area re whether a job applicant who is under "investigation" by their current employer (i.e. a pre-cursor to possible disciplinary action) should inform a prospective new employer of such information. There is no duty to inform once the new job has commenced as per the case of Bell v Lever Bros. It so happens that my friend only found out that she was dismissed from her old job, three weeks ! after leaving her former employment when she received a letter in the post notifying her of their decision. The barrister is going to explore whether there is any case law in respect of the use of pre-employment questionnairresand the duty to inform a prospective employer re an ongoing "investigation" as distinct to full blown didciplinary action.

Hi all. Just a quick update .. .. and a response to the trolling abuse which has now appeared to sidetrack this thread. Update - The facts in the post were based on a merely hypothetical scenario in order to protect various parties. The Police are now thankfully involved and progress is being made. The disability issue was a red herring; the friend is actually a person who has encountered sexual harassment and bullying issues. [removed] -dx are not the employer; I picked them because I bank with them, and they are in fact a good bank. My friend's former and new employer are in fact nothing to do with the banking sector, more related to the rather unsavoury world of money lending. will fill in more details in due course re the outcome of the allegations. Sangie's allegation re me championing people to join a "paid site" re benefits advice is interesting. Excellent MSE members make routine and positive references to the very same "paid site", the subscription cost of which can in any event be as low as 28p per week . The "paid site" also provides superb benefits guides to paid up members.

Watch as much as you want - you do not know all the relevant facts. Simply fishing, and will update once the actual facts can be revealed. Apologies for typo.

Thx for further feedback Sangie. The principal act of discrimination occurred in her former employment and she will now pursue that via ET and will also clear her name re unfair dismissal , but as a breach of contract in County Court. No fees will be incurred upfront as she is entitled to an EX160 waiver. Acknowledge concerns re possible abuse of disability law, but I have no quarms about that because it is not an abuse, and you do not know all the extant facts, correct name of employers etc . Re the "late" reference ; for the umpteenth time i reiterate that this was done as an act of victimisation, and without the knowledge or consent of their employer. I understand ex Manager is now suspended. FYI, friend has been told by Met that to date harassment warning has been given to ex-Manager, AND accepted. Will update you next week re what unfurls.

For the main part I agree Sangie. But you may be mistaken on two counts. largely bcos you are not familiar with all the facts. 1) You state ... "She knew she had been asked this question, and knew she had been subsequently dismissed and still said nothing". After she had ticked a box in app'n form whch asked if she had ever been dismissed from work, which at time was true, then there is no implied duty in law to disclose events that transpired thereafter .... a ruling that has survived for some 90 years - http://swarb.co.uk/bell-v-lever-brothers-ltd-hl-15-dec-1931/ 2) You also ask .... "And, to be blunt, unless she raised her grievance about the other incidents before all this happened, it is highly unlikely now that it will be believed. " She did raise her grievance before all this happened. The alleged misconduct was put forward the day after she raised the grievance. The Police are taking the matter seriously, and have already agreed that a criminal harassment warning is necessary, but may be taking it further.

Agree Sangie. But, she has some other angles. You refer to semantics ..... in that regard what are you referring to ? Found out. Was manager who victimised my friend at old job in London. Same manager put her on suspension day after she raised a grievance against same manager for alleged discriminatory conduct. Manager made call to new employer without permission of their employer ! Have called in the Police and they are interviewing ex manager for criminal harassment and disability hate crime.

Does ex employer know where you are working now ? If she is a complete arse she may call them up and accuse you of being a thief. It happens. Are you protected in any way under the Equality Act ?

A friend applied to join them 7 months back (early July 2016), and commenced work in mid August 2016. As part of Job app'n to join them they had to complete a " reference information form". First I'm wondering if any members are currently in the process of joining them, or have recently joined, and have seen the above form, and recollect or know it's content. There's general info on the their website, but the actual form is not available to review. From what she recollects there was a box to tick asking if she had a record of disciplinary proceedings . Truth was she was on suspension in her old job during the entire 2 week interview recruitment period, but suspension per se is of course NOT a disciplinary process or proceedings. Two days before she left her old job (12 August) the "investigation" held during her suspension was concluded, this led to a disciplinary hearing two days later and she was summarily dismissed on her last day of work ! Fact is that the whole process was a sham (yes, she would say that, but it was) and as she had handed her notice in anyhow, she could not be bothered to defend the ludicrous allegations, and elected to just move on, didn't bother appealing or taking an Unfair Dismissal claim to Emp't Tribunal etc. Her old employer gave her a bog standard reference, and also made no reference to any suspension etc. She was also bullied by a former colleague (see below). yesterday she's hauled into a meeting with their HR and they tell her that her an ex colleague had contacted them and informed them that my friend had been dismissed. As a result they jumped to the conclusion that my friend had lied in the app'n process as she did not tell them about her dismissal .. ... albeit after the job offer had been accepted and her references vetted etc . She is now suspended, and her manager told her she'll be dismissed, even in a fact finding interview. It is my opinion that they should not accuse of her lying as I think that when applying to them you only have to tick a box on the reference inf'n form IF you have been subject of disciplinary proccedings. At the time of applying for and accepting the job, she had not ; she was merely suspended. Yes, in theory she could have told them about the sham disciplinary and outcome when she joined, but there is no implied duty in law on an employee to do so. With less than 2 yrs in employment, we all know that employers can normally do whatever they want to get rid, but friend is disabled, and that's why she was bullied and picked on in last job. Thus her new employer needs to tread more carefully. She has already been called a wheelchair freak by new colleagues. Nice. I have prepared this post as a friend, and any comments re them are my opinion only based on my understanding of the facts,

Thanks for reply OP. The 3 year maximum timeframe between reviews for those in the ESA Support Group is a myth. It's just guidance. Increasingly, folks on SG are being left alone as there are more "low hanging fruit" to target. Did you contact the DWP to ask for a review, or did they contact you/ your Mum ?

May I ask the OP what was the time period between your Mum's last ESA review (possibly a migration from Incapacity Benefit) and this current re-assessment. In my area I come across a lot of ESA claimants in the Support Group (mainly with mental health impairments) and many have not been reassessed for 4-5 years and more. Moreover, I have never heard of a letter invite to an open day. After the long delay since returning your ESA50 it may be that a decision (likely positive) will be made on a paper based review only. If your Mum had to attend a face to face assessment I'd have thought you would have been notified by now.

Hi AW248. Happy to help - have assisted many claimants in Support Group through the process. To get some background pl answer some, or all, of the following queries : 1) When was your last ESA assessment (may have been migration from Incapacity Benefit) ? Was the outcome of your last assessment based on a face to face assessment or was it just paper based ? I get the impression that you were placed in WRAG to start with. 2) A period in excess of five months is one hell of a long time to be invited to attend a medical. How much notice were you given ? Did you re-schedule an earlier appointment ? 3) Did you request that the assessment be tape recorded ? 4) What is the nature of your impairment(s) - physical, mental or given that you had a 4hr medical, is it a mixture of both ? 5) Was the Maximus/ CHDA Health Care Professional kind and reasonably supportive. Some are ; many are not. Look forward to hearing from you. B

How does OP, or fellow members, think the DWP found out about this ? A snitch maybe ? If the facts are true then surely a simple compliance interview would have sufficed ?

Am due to attend the above medicals in support of a claimant. Was wondering if anybody has been to a PIP/ESA medical in the past year and what questions were asked in respect of mental health issues specifically. I know that there are lists of questions typically asked by assessors on the web etc, but am particularly interested in recent trends and any "trick" questions. Thanks

Based on what you say I would be hopeful that your claim will be approved. The inference that they are waiting for info from med profs may just be a lie and it's simply that ATOS and/or the DWP Decision Maker are a bit behind with their workload. Out of interest was your claim related to mental health issues and if so, it would be helpful to hear just what questions you were asked at the interview.

Did you consider asking for the assessment to be recorded ? You can for ESA Work Capability Assessment. Sadly, it is not always a good idea to be truthful to the Health Professionals. Best to say you do not drive, cook or go shopping !

Shame to hear about the difficulties OP has faced. To help reassure others it is very rare for problems to occur with a discectomy op alone. I've had two and absolutely fine.

Another link re the same topic. http://www.disabledgo.com/blog/2016/09/esa-figures-show-very-disturbing-drop-in-number-placed-in-support-group/ Have any members been impacted by the new guidance re the criteria to be placed in the Support Group as a result of the risk of substantial harm ?

Ok, but glad to hear that you were successful.

I apologise, but I am not an expert in the field, but I am sure that you will get help on here if you are refused the Council tax waiver.

BTW , my reference to the "first link below" in query 2) above is currently missing. This is because as a new CAGGER i cannot insert weblinks to a post. Will do so in due course.

As Stu says above in the first instance await your letter from the Council and, if need be, take things from there. if you are in fact refused then it looks like you will get some excellent support from CAG members

I was recommended to seek some feedback from members of this knowledgeable and helpful forum. If I am repeating information on previous posts I apologise, but I feel that this topic is of importance to many ESA claimants, particularly those with mental health problems. My partner suffers from a serious mental impairment and has been on IB/ ESA for some 7 years. She is currently in the ESA Support Group under the exceptional circumstances provision as per Sn's 29 and 35 of the ESA Regulations. This has been a legitimate route into the ESA Support Group and one which has become highly prevalent over the period 2013-2015. As referenced in various articles earlier this year the DWP and Maximus prepared new guidance targeted at making it far more difficult for Maximus Health Care Professionals (HCP's) and DWP Decision Makers (DM's) to justify placing a claimant with a severe mental impairment in to the Support Group, and in the alternative place them in the Work Related Activity Group (WRAG). The basis of the argument appears to be that it is ultimately better for a person's mental health to be involved in work related activities. A more cynical view may be that the DWP are fearful that the reliance on Sn's 29 and 35 of the ESA Regulations was too prevalent and that substantial cost savings could be made by substantially reducing the number of claimants placed in the Support Group. For example, some two hundred thousand claimants on Contribution Based ESA, if transferred from the Support Group into the WRAG, would lose their entitlement after one year. Unless i am mistaken that would lead in itself to cost saving of some £1.2 billion per year. I also understand that Maximus have been instructed to have some 75% of claims assessed on a face to face basis. Under ATOS this was only 50%. My queries are as follows : 1) Are my concerns as expressed above legitimate and/or accurate ? 2) Given that the new guidance re ESA Regn's 29 and 35 has been in place for some 11 months have any forum members either directly or indirectly experienced the impact of the new guidance ? The first link below indicates that there has been a dramatic reduction in the number of claimants with severe mental health impairments being placed in the Support Group as a result of the new guidance. 3) Does the guidance apply to just new ESA claimants or does it extend to current ESA claimants when they are being re-assessed ? 4) Are there any ongoing appeals , or have there been successful appeals, re the application by the DWP of the new guidance ? 5) Are more claimants being forced into attending Face to Face assessments ? 6) Out of interest have any members in the ESA Support Group had to wait longer than say 3 years to be re-assessed ? Look forward to hearing your views. P.S I have some interesting links re the above topic, but as a new member I am not yet authorised to add them to this thread. I will upload them once I am authorised to do so. First thread is as follows : https://inews.co.uk/essentials/news/politics/government-rule-change-shuts-thousands-disability-benefits/ Second thread is a related DWP memo : https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/509031/adm7-16.pdf Third thread details background to introduction of the new guidance : http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/secret-dwp-proposal-to-scrap-esa-substantial-risk-rules-would-breach-right-to-life

Read post with interest. A friend of mine applied for SMI waiver for council tax and like OP their GP was not overly helpful. After being rejected turned to a senior NHS psychiatrist who wrote a supporting letter and decision was overturned and waiver back dated for 7 years.

Facinating, but disturbing outcome. Out of interest other than the excellent feedback you received on this forum did you turn to the likes of CAB ?

As far as i am aware covert recordings cannot be used as evidence in a Court, but can on occasions be used in tribunals