The story is a few months old and the issue has supposedly been fixed, but it’s worth a mention anyway just because it’s one of those things that happened. Plus the UK tag needs some love, and what says UK tag more than holding disability claim hearings on the 4th floor of a building, then not letting disabled people attend those hearings because it could be a health and safety issue if the building happens to catch fire? Oh, and this had been going on for at least 3 months before somebody stopped and thought you know, maybe this isn’t working out like we’d planned it.
They said it was a misinterpretation of some legislation by a contractor, but I can’t help but wonder if maybe for once there was a method to the madness. Oh, so you made it up here. No disability for you! Next!
Sylvia Middleton, from Wickford Place in Pitsea, was turned away last Wednesday.
She said: “They said they couldn’t guarantee my safety and they didn’t let wheelchairs upstairs.
“Why are they holding disability tribunals in a building disabled people aren’t allowed in?”
The 65-year-old has been told she has to wait two months for a new hearing 12 miles away at Southend.
Officials had originally ordered she attend the court or risk losing her disability benefits.