DWP reverses sanctions decision for epileptic man who missed benefits appointment due to seizure The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has decided to reverse its decision to sanction a man who missed his […]

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has decided to reverse its decision to sanction a man who missed his Universal Credit meeting due to seizures, after i reported the story.

Luke O’Donnell, who has epilepsy, told i in March he thought it was a “callous and cold-hearted” system for penalising him over missing the work-related appointment.

He was initially given one 14-day sanction and one seven-day sanction because he had no medical evidence for the seizures.

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Mr O’Donnell, from Lincoln, requested a mandatory reconsideration of the decision, but the DWP initially refused to reverse it.

Read the story here: ‘It’s callous and cold-hearted’: A man with epilepsy was sanctioned after missing his Universal Credit appointment due to seizures

The 24-year-old’s story was widely shared and the Universal Credit department at the DWP has since said it will be lifting the sanctions.

“I received a… courtesy phone call saying ‘it wasn’t the right decision’ and ‘they maybe didn’t take into account how serious epilepsy can be’,” Mr O’Donnell said.

Epilepsy is ‘misunderstood’

In the reconsideration letter, the Universal Credit department said “the claimant should be found to have good reason for failing to attend his work focused interview”.

“I feel that not enough consideration was placed on Mr O’Donnell’s health following three days of epileptic episodes,” the letter read.

Mr O’Donnell previously said epilepsy was a “misunderstood” condition and difficult to explain to officials at the DWP.

Mr O’Donnell was surprised but pleased by the department’s U-turn, adding that “a lot of pressure” had been lifted off him. “I was very stressed.”

But he added: “At the same time it did make me raise an eyebrow. Rather than an example of… their generosity, I think it was possibly more a case of them scurrying away tail between their legs.” The department had received “bad press” after he publicised his story, Mr O’Donnell added.

He stood by his comments that the benefits system was “callous and cold-hearted”.

‘DWP culture needs to change’

“The culture needs to change. When I was discussing it in the Job Centre yesterday, the bloke I was speaking to did say: ‘Here we’re all quite human but the people making these decisions, they’re in an office somewhere far removed from you and their job does appear to be effectively to find reasons to reject people.'” Luke O’Donnell

“There’s definitely a culture of trying to catch people out and effectively save money by any means possible.”

He called for the DWP to train their staff to better deal with disability.

“But also the culture needs to change. When I was discussing it in the Job Centre yesterday, the bloke I was speaking to did say: ‘Here we’re all quite human but the people making these decisions, they’re in an office somewhere far removed from you and their job does appear to be effectively to find reasons to reject people.'”

Mr O’Donnell said: “What’s the point of having a social security system that’s designed to work against people. It completely defeats the purpose.

“I would encourage other people who think they’re being treated unfairly… [to] share it.

“The more people who are aware this kind of thing is going on, the more pressure can be put on [the DWP] to change their culture and change their mindset and make it a fairer system.”

Chantal Spittles, of Epilepsy Action, said: “We are pleased to hear the DWP has seen sense and reversed its original decision to sanction Luke for missing his appointment after having a seizure.

“Sanctions are not something we are generally comfortable with as a concept. The rules around not attending an appointment need changing to ensure situations like these do not happen again and people’s individual circumstances are taken into account. There needs to be flexibility within the system and a common-sense approach based on a deeper level of understanding.

People with epilepsy face challenges and discrimination across the whole welfare system. This is due to a lack of understanding of the complex and individual nature of the condition.”

A DWP spokesman said: “We’re committed to ensuring that people with health conditions get the right support that they need. We have reinstated Mr O’Donnell’s benefit following a review of his case.”