No internet access ‘leading to sanctions’

FINANCIAL advisers warned yesterday that limited internet access is leading to vulnerable people being sanctioned, as the Tory government seeks to move more jobs and benefit applications online.

A report found that a third of people using Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) services said they never or “very rarely” used the internet, and more than half of those surveyed said they cannot apply for benefits or jobs without help.

The survey found that both trends were highest in deprived areas.

CAS said these difficulties were leading to vulnerable people being sanctioned, citing the example of a man who had his benefits stopped because he didn’t own a computer and the library he used to look for work was shut over the Christmas holidays.

Despite these problems, the Tory government plans to move 80 per cent of benefit claims online by 2017 and is forcing people to apply for jobs online or risk sanctions.

CAS policy officer Patrick Hogan said: “Vulnerable people should not have their benefits withheld or their jobseekers’ allowance sanctioned because they are unable to use a technology that is unfamiliar to them.”

http://morningstaronline.co.uk/a-b237-No-internet-access-leading-to-sanctions

Number of people sleeping rough on London night buses rises by 20 per cent

Rough sleeping on London’s night buses has soared by more than 20 per cent over the past four years, according to an internal report from Transport for London.

The report has exposed the shocking extent of the problem in the capital, with the number of people sleeping on buses during the bitter months of November to January alone rising by a staggering 121 per cent between 2012/2013 and last winter.

Overall, there had been an increase of 22 per cent in reports of rough sleepers throughout the whole of last year compared to the average number of reports over the past four years.

In 2015 a total of 213 incidents were reported, compared to an average 174.3 over the preceeding four years.

The boroughs where the most incidents were reported were Westminster, Hammersmith & Fulham, Redbridge, Southwark and Waltham Forest – with Westminster having more than three times the number of reports as the next highest boroughs.

It was suggested that this was due to the large number of bus routes passing through the borough, as well as the vibrant night time economy in the area.

The report has exposed the shocking extent of the problem in the capital, with the number of people sleeping on buses during the bitter months of November to January alone rising by a staggering 121 per cent between 2012/2013 and last winter.

Overall, there had been an increase of 22 per cent in reports of rough sleepers throughout the whole of last year compared to the average number of reports over the past four years.

In 2015 a total of 213 incidents were reported, compared to an average 174.3 over the preceeding four years.

The boroughs where the most incidents were reported were Westminster, Hammersmith & Fulham, Redbridge, Southwark and Waltham Forest – with Westminster having more than three times the number of reports as the next highest boroughs.

It was suggested that this was due to the large number of bus routes passing through the borough, as well as the vibrant night time economy in the area.

Read more here: http://streetskitchen.co.uk/number-of-people-sleeping-rough-on-london-night-buses-rises-by-20-per-cent/

DWP ‘puts child abuse trial at risk’ by insisting on PIP reassessment

A traumatised child abuse victim has branded the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) “shameful” for trying to force him to attend a benefits reassessment, when he is waiting to give evidence at an institutional abuse trial.

David* has severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), caused by the horrific child abuse he suffered as a child, and which has led to several suicide attempts.

He is a key witness in a trial that he hopes will bring the perpetrators of that abuse to justice, but he says that the “abhorrent” actions of DWP and its contractor Atos are putting that at risk.

He has been told that he cannot discuss the abuse with anyone or allow DWP or Atos access to his medical records because the court proceedings are now live and the case is sub judice.

Read more here: http://blacktrianglecampaign.org/2016/05/26/dwp-puts-child-abuse-trial-at-risk-by-insisting-on-pip-reassessment/

‘Benefit reforms hit disabled drivers’

People with a disability are finding it increasingly difficult to get behind the wheel because of government reforms, according to two charities.

Mobility Choice and the Disabled Motoring Federation say that changes to the benefit system mean that those with severe disabilities are struggling to access the new technology on the market.

Nikki Fox reports. See the BBC video here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36386324

Psychocompulsion and workfare

<p><a href=”https://vimeo.com/157125824″>And This time its Personal Psychocompulsion &amp; Workfare</a> from <a href=”https://vimeo.com/wellredfilms”>wellredfilms</a&gt; on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a&gt;.</p>

Disabled homelessness rises in Tory Britain

DISABLED people are being made homeless in their thousands due to welfare cuts and a housing crisis spiralling out of control, official figures revealed yesterday.

According to the government’s own statistics, the number of people with disabilities becoming homeless has risen by 39 per cent since the Tories took power in 2010. And across Britain, the number of households officially accepted as homeless was even more “worrying,” with over 17,000 more families left with nowhere to live over the last five years.

Shadow housing minister John Healey said it was another blow to the credibility of David Cameron’s claim to lead a “compassionate” Conservative government following chaos over last week’s Budget.

“No one-nation government would accept rapidly rising homelessness and still stick with the policies causing the problem,” he said. “The Chancellor has backed down on some new disability benefit cuts but these figures expose the harsh impact on disabled people of the cuts he’s already made.”

He added that the scale of homelessness in Britain “shamed us all.”

read more: http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-2f2b-Disabled-Homelessness-Risis-in-Tory-Britain#.V0X2TfkrK1t

Labour Blast Tories ‘Abject Failure To Support Disabled People Into Work’

Official figures reveal a sharp decline in the number of disabled people supported into work through the Work Choice programme.

The Labour Party has blasted what it describes as the government’s “abject failure to support disabled people into work”, after official figures revealed a sharp decline in the number of people with disabilities moving into work through the Work Choice programme.

Work Choice is a voluntary government employment programme, designed to help disabled people with complex issues to find work or stay in a job.

According to the government’s website, providers work with businesses and offer support packages “which aim to develop the skills and abilities of a disabled person who needs specialist support”.

Official Work Choice statistics show 7.900 job outcomes for 7,710 individuals for the period 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016, compared 12,020 job outcomes for 11,450 individuals during the same period the previous year.

There has also been a notable drop in the number of disabled people referred to Work Choice. 20,870 people were referred for employment support between 1 April 2014 – 31 March 2015, falling to 15,330 during the same period a year later.

Figures also show fewer ‘starts’ on the programme. The government recorded 16,070 starts between 1 April 2014 – 31 March 2015, compared to 11,340 for the same period in 2015-16 – a fall of 4,730.

Both the Work Programme and Work Choice is to be replaced with a new ‘Work and Health Programme’, which will see funding of around £130 million a year – around 20% of the funding for the Work Programme and Work Choice, or an 80% cut.

read more: http://www.welfareweekly.com/labour-blast-tories-abject-failure-to-support-disabled-people-into-work/

Student loan debacle: the Government has sold our loans to a private company which has caused the interest rate to skyrocket.

Open letter from Simon Crowther

Simon Crowther

Yesterday at 3:01pm · Nottingham ·

STUDENT LOAN DEBACLE. I’m sure a lot of you are in the same situation as me. Please read and see if you agree with me…

Below is an Open Letter, written to my MP, Vernon Coaker.

Mr. Vernon Coaker MP,
Arnot Hill House
Arnot Hill Park
Nottingham Rd
Arnold
NG5 6LU

Dear Mr Coaker,
This is an open letter to you as my Member of Parliament. I would greatly value your support and I have no doubt, so would the other thousands of young graduates in my position.

I took out a student loan at the age of eighteen to study Civil Engineering at the University of Nottingham. Unfortunately, I was in the first cohort year of undergraduates who were charged the increased fees of £9,000 per year, from £3,000 – a huge hike in student fees. When I took out the student loan, we were told the loan was at a very low interest, and at the time was around 0.5%.

I was still in the Sixth Form at school, when I agreed to the student loan. I had no experience of loans, credit cards or mortgages. Like all the other thousands of students in the UK, we trusted the Government that the interest rate would remain low – at around 0-0.5%.

I graduated with a huge debt of around £41,000.
We have just learned of the underhand way, the Government has sold our loans to a private company which has caused the interest rate to skyrocket. At no point was I consulted about this, and of course I would never have agreed to this enormous increase in fees.

Now graduates, we feel we have been cheated by a government who encouraged many of us to undertake higher education, despite trebling the cost of attending university.
The current interest rate is now around 3.9%. We were told our loans were around 0.5% interest. I am now lucky enough to own a property, and my mortgage is around 3% – less than my student loan.

From the attached image you will see some months the interest on my student loan is over £180.
The student loan repayment is currently 9% of anything over £21,000. The total interest on my debt between March 2015 and March 2016, is £1828. Below is a simple calculation to see how much I would need to earn, just to cover the interest in a year:

£1828. (total interest last year)
£1828/0.09 =£20311 (In order to find out how much money above the threshold)

£21000 + £20311 = £41311 (total amount needed to be earned to cover interest)

Therefore, just to cover the interest, I would need to be earning over *£41,000* a year.
Unless I earn that much, my student loan will increase due to the interest.

I would like to know how many new and recently qualified graduates are earning over £41,000? I am only 22 years old and out of university less than a year.

I have actually set up my own business and have been able to employ two people! As I am employing two people my own salary is lower, which means my student loan will be increasing due to the interest.

I feel we have been mis-sold the loan. A commercial firm would not be allowed to buy loans from another company and then hike the interest rates. This is not what I and thousands of others signed up to. How can it be allowed? How can our loan agreements be altered without our prior knowledge. This is a disgraceful act by a government which encouraged us when at school, to go on to higher education – helped by a government loan with the promise of a low interest repayment scheme. Along with many of my former university colleagues, we have lost our trust in this Government. We have been told that as graduates, we are the future leaders of the country in politics, engineering and commerce.

I trust when our generation reaches parliament, our future government is never so short sighted as to treat their “future leaders” in such an underhand way.

Mr Coaker, I am putting this to you, in the hope you will be able to bring some pressure to bear on the outrageous situation this government has now left me and my generation in, after the hike in interest on our already large student loans and without our prior knowledge. This is not the way to keep our future leaders’ trust……..or votes.

I look forward to hearing from you and I value your support.

Yours Sincerely,

Simon Crowther, BEng (Hons)

CC
The Rt Hon David Cameron MP.
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AA

Disabled Woman Who ‘Can’t Get Through The Night Without Oxygen’ Told She’ll Lose Vital Benefits

A seriously sick and disabled woman has been told her £220 a month in vital disability benefits will be cut.

A seriously sick and disabled woman has been told her vital disability benefits will be cut, despite having had two kidney transplants and requiring oxygen to be able to get through each night.

Ann Forster, 56, says she is a victim of the government’s “flawed” benefits assessment system, after a face-to-face assessment found she wasn’t ill enough to continue receiving £220 a month is disability benefits.

Mrs Forster was assessed for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) at her home in Kirby-in-Ashford, Nottinghamshire.A subsequent decision letter claims she could stand and move more than 200 metres with no significant difficulty or breathlessness.

The letter says Mrs Forster “completed all movements at a normal pace with no pain, discomfort or breathlessness. You said you have difficulties with moving around, but I have decided you can stand and then move more than 200 metres as the examination showed no significant restrictions and no breathlessness was observed.”

But Mrs Forster’s husband Geoff says his wife “didn’t even leave the room” during the 30-minute home assessment. She didn’t even leave the settee but for a metre to stand up and bend over, that was it”, he told the BBC. It is definitely and absolutely a flawed system”, said Mr Forster.

Mrs Forster, who needs to use oxygen at night due to an underdeveloped lung, is appealing the decision but admits the experience has left her stressed and upset.

A spokesman for the disability charity Scope called on the government to “look again at the assessment process” and said assessors should “ask different questions in a different way”.

A DWP spokesman confirmed that Mrs Forster has asked for a reconsideration and that her case “is currently being reviewed”. The spokesman added: “Decisions are made following a face-to-face assessment and consideration of the medical evidence provided by the claimant.”

The news comes after a stroke victim was declared “fit for work”, despite missing part of his head due to severe injuries.

read more here: http://www.welfareweekly.com/disabled-woman-who-cant-get-through-the-night-without-oxygen-told-shell-lose-vital-benefits/

Dying man left ‘totally broken’ after disability allowance is cut

Jason Henry, of Southcote, saw his disability living allowance get cut shortly after he was told that his condition is terminal

A terminally ill man from Southcote says he feels “totally broken” after the Government decided to slash the benefits which he depends on.

After eight years of suffering from an mysterious illness Jason Henry, of Granville Road, was diagnosed with Castleman’s lymphoma at Royal Berkshire Hospital in 2013.

He was then granted a disability living allowance by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to help him retain his independence while undergoing aggressive chemotherapy.

But according to Jason, after months of intensive treatment he was told that his condition is terminal and on Wednesday, February 3 the DWP announced that his disability living allowance would be cut.

The 44-year-old, who is known as Jake by his friends, was then granted personal independence payments (PIP), but he sees these smaller payments as insufficient and insists he cannot remain independent or mobile.

He said: “I just feel totally broken, that money enabled me to get out of my flat, be mobile and be part of my community. Without it I am stuck inside and can’t see my friends or be part of society.

“It’s like taking someone’s legs away when you’re asking them to walk. It was devastating when they took it away, it compounded my whole situation.

“this isn’t only about me, there are other people out there in the same situation”

“They (DWP) have taken my allowance away because they are saying that I can do things which I can’t because of an Atos medical where I got interviewed by doctors who don’t even know me.

“They don’t know that after I have my chemotherapy I have to have my meals made, my tablets sorted and I need help getting around.”

read more: http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/dying-man-left-totally-broken-10875649