What to expect from WRAG?

alanamyles

My son has autism, also suffers from depression and anxiety.

He has finally been awarded ESA after tribunal, and has been placed in the WRAG. He has also recently been awarded PIP at the higher rate, plus LRM.

I am (or rather, should be) my son's appointee with the DWP. We had a visit from the DWP to arrange this and it was decided on the day. Unfortunately, the DWP do not have it record that I have been made my son's appointee (as I discovered when I had to make a call on his behalf).

Tomorrow my son has an appointment at the jobcentre for his first WRAG interview. My son cannot travel alone due to his difficulties (which are documented) he needs me travel with him, and also to help explain everything to him. I've been told to take the documentation about my appointeeship to the interview so the DWP can update their records.

What will be expected from my son in regards to the WRAG? Will he need to attend the jobcentre/attend job interviews/look for work?

I'm also concerned that he needs so much support just to attend such things (and also to understand what is expected of him). Will it be taken into account that he needs assistance for this?

I am wondering if it is possible to appeal the decision to place him in the WRAG, but as we had to go to tribunal to get ESA at all I'm unsure.

Any advice would be much appreciated, TIA

pmlindyloo

alanamyles wrote: »

My son has autism, also suffers from depression and anxiety.

He has finally been awarded ESA after tribunal, and has been placed in the WRAG. He has also recently been awarded PIP at the higher rate, plus LRM.

I am (or rather, should be) my son's appointee with the DWP. We had a visit from the DWP to arrange this and it was decided on the day. Unfortunately, the DWP do not have it record that I have been made my son's appointee (as I discovered when I had to make a call on his behalf).

Tomorrow my son has an appointment at the jobcentre for his first WRAG interview. My son cannot travel alone due to his difficulties (which are documented) he needs me travel with him, and also to help explain everything to him. I've been told to take the documentation about my appointeeship to the interview so the DWP can update their records.

What will be expected from my son in regards to the WRAG? Will he need to attend the jobcentre/attend job interviews/look for work?

I'm also concerned that he needs so much support just to attend such things (and also to understand what is expected of him). Will it be taken into account that he needs assistance for this?

I am wondering if it is possible to appeal the decision to place him in the WRAG, but as we had to go to tribunal to get ESA at all I'm unsure.

Any advice would be much appreciated, TIA

You can, in theory, apply to the Second Tier tribunal about the decision to place your son n the WRAG group. This can only be done on a point of law.

I see you have been getting help from CAB so please read this link and then make an appointment with CAB to see if they feel you can appeal to the Second Tier tribunal.

http://dwpexamination.org/forum/making-an-appeal/appeals-to-upper-tribunal/

As regards the interview tomorrow I would like to suggest that you allow your son to answer any questions that the job coach asks. i.e do not automatically answer for your son/explain what has been asked until you give your son a chance to either turn to you for help or not answer. I hope you understand what I mean This will show the job coach exactly the kind of help/support that he needs. I am only saying this because in my experience parents tend to 'take over' because they obviously know so much about their offspring. Of course, this can only be done if your son doesn't become too distressed about the situation.

Hopefully once the job coach realises your son's limitations then adjustments can be made.

What these might be vary from one area to another. Some people do not have to do any work related activities and a regular telephone call to check things haven't changed may be the decision they decide upon. You could also ask if there is a disability adviser at the Job Centre that your son could see.

You could also mention that you are seeking advice from CAB as regards appealing to the Second Tier tribunal.

Hope everything goes well.

nannytone_2

as said ... to appeal the decision to place him in the WRAD you would need to appeal on a point of law.

there is an alternative though.

look at the support group descriptors and see if any apply to your son.
if they do, write to ESA and ask them to look again at his current claim ( so not asking them to look again at the original decision, but look at the claim as of today)
tell them which descriptor/descriptors that you feel your sone meets and provide evidence of this.

failing that, when he attends the JC, it will probably become pretty apparent that he isn't a suitable candidate for further training/ work programme and he will be just checked in now and then to see how things are.

there will be no compulsion at all to look fir work

alanamyles

Thank you both for your advice. To be honest, I doubt my son could go through another tribunal so soon even if he were eligible, the last one made him a nervous wreck.

pmlindyloo - yes, I do understand what you mean [smile] Sometimes he finds it very difficult to speak in such situations and it is tempting to jump in to relieve him from the stress, but I agree it's a good idea to ensure the JC understand him well.

nannytome - it's very reassuring that he won't be expected to look for work. Having read about sanctioning, we're worried that the JC's expectations of what he should be doing may be higher than he can manage. Fingers crossed that all goes well!

Confuseddot

alanamyles wrote: »

Thank you both for your advice. To be honest, I doubt my son could go through another tribunal so soon even if he were eligible, the last one made him a nervous wreck.

pmlindyloo - yes, I do understand what you mean [smile] Sometimes he finds it very difficult to speak in such situations and it is tempting to jump in to relieve him from the stress, but I agree it's a good idea to ensure the JC understand him well.

nannytome - it's very reassuring that he won't be expected to look for work. Having read about sanctioning, we're worried that the JC's expectations of what he should be doing may be higher than he can manage. Fingers crossed that all goes well!

Another reassurance here, I have attended a number of WFI and they all been fine and have been put under no pressure.

KxMx

WRAG is very inconsistent applied.

I had 1-2 meetings per month for the first year, alot of pressure, asked to apply for paid jobs which I refused as I knew I wasn't obliged to do that.

Then they dropped to 6 monthly appointments, usually phone but not always.