Epilepsy Sanction Overturned

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

Luke O’Donnell, who has epilepsy, was initially given one 14-day sanction and one seven-day sanction because he had no medical evidence for the seizures. Mr O’Donnell, from Lincoln, requested a mandatory reconsideration of the decision, but the DWP initially refused to reverse it.

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.

Luke O’Donnell said, “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. “

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.”

Image: Luke O’Donnell, Courtesy of the IPaper.

Image: Ian Kevin Curtis, of Joy Division was an English singer-songwriter and musician who suffered from epilepsy seizures and later committed suicide.