When local authorities fail to deliver govt funding for social care where it was intended, suffering occurs such as that which Riven Vincent's case outlined.
She won't be alone. It might feel that you are "peeing in the ocean" (put politely!) to see your MP. I am going to see mine today and I'm wondering what the point is. But hey. I'm posting the bones of my covering letter re my appointment. If it encourages any of you to do the same then that would be great.
If we all did it, who knows who might start to listen. People change things. But we need to work together, it's more powerful than in isolation.
Good luck to you all. X
The Rt Hon. MP,
The House of Commons,
Westminster SW1A 0AA February 4th, 2011
Dear
Re: Government funding for Social Care, additional £2bn vs Local Authority ?Freedom?
Thank you for taking the time to see me today. I am leaving evidence with you regarding the case history of my daughter, which demonstrates the distress families of disabled members can suffer when local authorities either
- make ?mistakes?
- have their staffing levels reduced so meaningful support for families is eroded
- reduce families? support as a result of public spending cuts
The Daily Telegraph echoes the feeling of such families when it cites that local councils are to blame for countrywide distress suffered by such families, of which Riven Vincent and I are but two examples.
I am not asking you to intervene with Council on my behalf in my daughter's ongoing situation, unless further problems arise with them in future that prove insurmountable.
However I will be most grateful if you can make a strong representation among your fellow MPs at Government level, for the need to insist that the social care funding you are making available to local authorities for such disabled families, is used for that purpose.
It is an abomination in 21st Century Britain that money has to be ?ringfenced? to be applied to it?s destination. No one wins when local authorities decide to redirect those funds to other areas, and they shouldn?t be allowed to. It isn?t far short of stealing from the vulnerable.
I will always deal with our situation myself to the best of my ability, but my heart quails for other families who don?t always have the resilience for what, unfortunately, is ?the fight?. It shouldn?t be a fight. Living is a fight. When Governments help such families, that help must reach them.
In addition to the above, eventual Government abolition of Incapacity Benefit and Disability Living Allowance is making the plight of the genuinely disabled children, who have become adults, even worse. It is set to erode the foundation upon which those in supported living have been able to leave home, unless successfully re-assessed. Atos has not made the appropriate distinction between disability and the workshy culture. 40% of appeals generated by it?s inadequate processes have been upheld and the DWP Harrington Review insists its assessments reflect peoples? situations accurately. It is shameful that there was a need for the Harrington Review in the first place, and a further waste of public funds.
Please, use my case history to encourage those in a position to help, to do so. To sit down and take a realistic overview of families whose disabled children become adults, and who are currently suffering with public spending cuts and abolished support routes further done the line, to the point where they are battered from all sides.
No other sector of society is bearing these disproportionate burdens to redress the banking deficit. There was plenty of noise re the abolition of child benefits above a certain level of income. How much greater is the suffering of those with actual, real disabilities?
Yours sincerely,