Does anyone elsee agree with the benefit cuts?

I don't think that the BENEFIT system needs reforming - I think rent controls for private landlords need to be put into place. Which would MASSIVELY cut the benefit bill. Because those people that don't earn enough to buy might be able to afford to rent a home from their NMW WAGES rather than relying on a top-up from housing benefit. Or having to claim MASSIVE amounts of Housing Benefit while they are out of work due to the extortionate cost of renting a HOME.

And, I'm sorry for those who see the word 'HOME' as too emotive for these discussions, but IMO it's not just a house, it is that tenant's HOME. Which they have a right to - the right to shelter, heat and food.

If rent was an amount that was affordable on a low income, then the benefits bill wouldn't be anywhere near as high as it is right now. Therefore, putting rent controls in place would be the best thing for everyone (except the BTL LL's).

Another problem is the cost of UK childcare. It NEEDS to be subsidised by the state, making the cost more affordable. In some areas, like mine, you can earn £45.60 a day (before tax) in a NMW job, yet have to pay £52.00 a day for childcare in a Nursery. Something isn't right with the maths there...I accept that this would COST money, but maybe diverting some money from, say, the HS2 rail link costs, or the money being spent on the Olympics, could cover this?

And, last but not least, Wages. Low wages. Such low wages that the Government is subsidising private businesses by topping up those low wages with Tax Credits. Because £11,856pa BEFORE TAX is NOT enough to live off. And the Government know this. Hence that wage being topped up by Tax Credits and Housing Benefit. If the Government set NMW at a level that WAS an amount that would cover ALL the ESSENTIAL outgoings - rent, council tax, utilities (gas, electric, water), clothing, childcare, and food, then paying benefits to those in full-time employment would be unnecessary. Which would cut the benefits bill massively. Tax Credits are a business subsidy that allows businesses to pay their employees LESS than a living wage.

Also, if there wasn't so much demand for private renting, then rental costs would come down. The reason there IS such a demand for private rented homes? Because there just ISN'T enough social housing for all those people in NEED. So a large portion of those that would previously have been housed in social housing (Council or Housing Association homes), can't get one, so HAVE to privately rent. If there was a massive building programme put into place, building more social housing, it would provide jobs AND homes.

But if a rent cap hurts the BTL LL's (Like DC...), then it won't happen. So instead we are being peddled a ton of propoganda telling the general public that everyone on benefits gets £26K+ in their pockets. Which is just untrue. If you bear in mind that 80% of benefits claimants are IN WORK, they are only claiming housing benefit and Tax Credits because 1) Their employers are paying them a wage that is LESS than they need to cover the BASICS in life - a home, gas, electric, water, council tax, travel to work, childcare to enable them to work, clothing and food. 2) Because the cost of childcare in the UK is incredibly high compared to average wages, unlike most other developed countries, and 3) Because rents are out of reach (without help from state top-ups of housing benefit and/or Tax Credits) to anyone on an income of below £30,000.

How to cut the benefits bill drastically?

1. Get employers to pay ALL their staff a LIVING WAGE. Therefore stopping the state business subsidy that is Tax Credits.

2. Create enough AFFORDABLE childcare places for everyone that needs one in order to work. By subsidising Childcare. (Again, this is part of the reason that Tax Credits are paid - in order to subsidise childcare. Surely doing it directly, rather than through Tax Credits would benefit EVERYONE, not just those that are low-paid?)

3. Place rent controls on ALL Landlords. Rent must NOT be above xx amount, that is AFFORDABLE on NMW. And set it at a realistic level that ensures that a single person with 1/2 dc can afford to rent a 2 bed flat or house within a certain distance of their place of employment on NMW. (Which would stop the state from needing to spend anywhere near as much money on Housing Benefit).

4. Build more social housing with affordable rents. This could be funded by a rise in taxes for those earning OVER £100K pa - but it would ensure that rental prices dropped due to less demand, AND that many more people had an affordable home. Which would mean a vast reduction on those people claiming Housing Benefit.

Four ways in which to dramatically lower the benefits bill. Which, if taken all together, would cut the expenditure on working-age benefits by well over half. Never going to happen though, because those at the top of the pile would lose out.

The way I see it is that the benefit system needs to be reformed - there appear to be too many cases were work does not pay. People on here are stating that DLA does not work well and are scared PIP will be worse (although there is no information about how it will work, so this may be unjustified.
Please could be people who disagree with the govt suggest how they would reform the system or state it is perfect.
If your ideas would cost extra money, then please say so - it is easy to criticise, harder to do it yourself.

I agree with overall benefit cap (£26k) and the housing benefit caps but think they are too high. I don't agree with the changes to time limiting people with cancer on disability benefits or punishing children with disabilities who will never be able to work by limiting their benefits. Overall I agree that the welfare state needs to be overhauled as it is not fit for purpose.

hats right im going to be cured and get right out my wheelchair and be the same as everyone else

yes with a stroke of a pen .Someone is going to cure what even science can not cure , dam lazy drs why did they not think of thatwink

Under the propsed PIP rules wheelchair users will no longer be entitled to help as apparentley now we have a wheelchair, we no longer have any moblity problems

This is despite the fact the nhs wheelchairs are not up to the job
I was informed by WCS that there concern is not how you cna mange outdoors they only need to make sure you can wheel around indoors

To catch a train we have to give 24 hrs notice and we can only catch the train at the time we have booked it for ( erm freedom of choice not ) .
So if we miss the train for what ever reasson then we could be stuck as they do not have to put us on it
oh and no arriving last minute we are expected to be there 30 mins before hand
Trains often have 1 maybe 2 wheelchair spaces on them .so if another one is in there or bikes or luggage or a pram chances are your be dumped inbetween 2 carriages

And dont forget all trains stations are not accessibile .ANd we shall advoid mentioning London underground

?Buses

Well that all depends are they accessible everywhere answer is no
Do they have a ramp becuase low floor not always good no
if they have a ramp will it always work or will the driver be willing to get out the seat to lower it no spot the theame herewink
will we try to board the bus and find out can not becuase a buggy in there YES

Cars

Now when your legs dont work this tend to cause problems with driving ,( check next time what people do with those pesky leg thinsg in a car )

So often moblity side goes for an adapted car with hand controls so we can advoid the above issues

Oh and we all know that the world or even the uk is exactly flat and smooth footpaths and proper dropped Kerbs no

Answer is the only flat smooth surfaces is inside shopping centres but you got to ge there first see above .

home manvouers

Now you want to try omething sit on a computer chair ask someone to tie your legs together and without moving them at all or putting them down get onto your couch .oh and dont bum shuffle or wiggle as thats cheating I can see you wink

then try repeating it back from the couch , This is the time when you pray your neighbour can not peep through your window and think you got into bondagegrin If they blush next time you see them consider they ahve seen you

if you mastered that one , now on the chair again grab hoover with both hands and hoover , well the 1 m reach in front of you becuase it is kinda tricky to move when you need both hands to do that , but you cant becuase your holding the hoover ( throwing it does not count )

phew after that you need a coffee or something pick kettle up in hand uhoh only one hand to get around mange it fill water balance carefully back to tap

yay empty cup well thats easy , fill cup with boiling water argh one hand thing again , try moving carefully

spill hotwater downself argh great not only does your neighbour think your indulging in bondage in the afternoon .Now you going look like you wet yourself

Bugger it grab bottle of wine stay stilll open aid bottle and have a drink and be greatful that you do not need to do every day

Now thats light hearted look and not even covered what it is really like but still think the new proposall to PIP are fare the cuts to DLA

SWC scarily ( ) your take is not dissimilar to mine; I've far less trouble with the concept of a cap (i;d like to see it before HB with the 30% HB rule coming in anyway the whole kensington house crappola thing will be gone).

ATM it will impact on people who have never claimed, people who work but claim, people who don't want to work equally: that is not a sensible policy IMO. (People who have enver claimed due to huge stretches on resources in cheaper areas if we target mass population influxes to them).

I have FAR greater problems with PIP tbh, that's what gives me sleepless nights but a non regional cap seems bizarre.

There is a rumour that DLA will be limited to one child per family; I have no evidence and pray it's a rumour, if it happened I would be forced to send ds1 to live with his Grandma as I could not give him the care he needs without DLA to pay for the therapies we need etc. In turn, Grandma would thebn become eligible for CA and she would not be caring for Grandad who (admittedly probably not alive then as 91 now) would need to go live with my Aunt whose DH is employed by Lodak (and her son).... so probably likely to end up on benefits themselves and she would get the exemption from cap then and.....

argh.

Becuase DLA is for the child, not the family. or the adult obviously until PIP. you can't split it between 2 disabled people, by yer acktewal law.

Let's pray that if it was happening then they'd have included in WRB.

We all accept that abuses of the system occur. We just get really, really hacked off when so many people trot out the same bloody stuff. Don't you see, you coming out with that Daily Mail type comment, affects those of us that are genuine, it tars everybody with the same brush.

As for this: I am also not sure if people with mentaal health issues need the amount of money paid out to them by the DLA.
Perhaps you'd like a tour of some of the mental health units in my area. I've been to a few as dh has had to go in from time to time. Please come and spend some time talking about his constant physical pain, the way the nhs messed up his treatment and gave him the wrong drugs, the ones that ensured that he can't walk and that gave him peripheral neuropathy.

Hey Apocalypse WELL DONE

could you just clarify though? This DLA - it's an unemployment benefit that you just get put on? Yeah?

BarfandHeave why are you so scathing, OK just because your not making dubious claims doesn't mean that other people have your moral fortitude. I've been very honest saying I have family members playing the system, not outright false claims but certainly embellishing of existing complaints in order to get this extra money or are you so naive that you cannot accept that abuses of the system do indeed occur.

Valar, where do you get the £70 billion from? Last time I looked at the HMRC report, it estimated the £25 billion figure was both tax avoidance (legal but grey) and evasion.

Often there's dispute between the person/company and HMRC over how much it should pay. Just because HMRC have decreed doesn't make them right.

Also, if you look at the £25 billion in the context of what they DO collect, it's VERY good and no large organisation will ever get 100% of revenues collected. Even the likes of Tesco's will have suppliers going bankrupt, people stealing etc.

So realistically tightening tax laws wont make a big enough difference at all. In fact all it would probably do is make more loopholes for people to jump through.

cuts to DLA is just wrong and including PIP incorparated at later date is jut wrong

Ironic thing is when that happens or as good chance i will lose PIP it will cost more as there going to need to put social care package into place and then im going to need hospitall transport for mine or ds 3 appoinments around £50-60 a pop so do that 4 or 5 times a month .

Add in will need help for personal care and house stuff average 2 hrs a day £12 a hour and then well social care be more a week than i get a month

Richard Murphy is hardly an impartial source, given that he is partly funded by the TUC and Rowntree foundation.

HMRC estimate the taxation gap at £14 billion per year. Closing loopholes and ensuring wealthy people pay the full top rate of tax could generate an estimated £7bn a year by 2015. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11359306. Personally, I think I tend to believe the HMRC more than Richard Murphy.

Budget deficit this year forecast to be £163 billion. www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/key-issues-for-the-new-parliament/the-public-finances/the-economic-recovery-and-the-deficit/ Even if all the missing tax revenue was somehow clawed back, that would still leave a shortfall of £142 billion per year.

When you talk about tax relief on savings for the rich, I assume your are talking about ISAs etc. Does it not cross your mind that we actually need savers, given our fractional reserve banking system? And with the current low interset rates and realtively high inflation, most savers are actually losing money by letting it stay in a bank account.

If money were no object then no I wouldn't support cutting benefits. But until someone can come up with a sensible plan for erasing our deficit then this seems to be the only choice.

Here's a radical idea. Instead of aiming to push thousands into homelessness and poverty how about tightening the tax laws that allow big businesses and millionaire entrepreneurs to evade paying.

the total amount the government hope to save by capping benefits is estimated to be £290million a year.

The statistics that came originally from Richard Murphy and others suggest that tax avoidance loses us £25 billion a year; tax evasion loses us £70 billion a year; and uncollected tax amounts to £27 billion to £28 billion. Half of that is not collected by HMRC simply because it does not have the resource to chase it. The estimate of the tax gap is £125 billion a year. Obviously, we will not collect all of that, but if we just addressed the tax gap and went for, say, one fifth of it?Äî£20 billion or £25 billion?Äîthat would solve all our problems. We also have tax relief on savings to the rich which amounts to £20 billion and £30 billion. If we cut back on some of that we would have a massive increase in income and solve all our problems, but we refuse to face up to it. We never talk about revenues; we always talk about spending. Is that not the solution to our problems?

PIP is due to be incorporated later apparently.

I agree with the cuts, but not to DLA. That just belies the whole point of support.

I should point out ex does pay for his children, though some do not without i'd be screwed. according to the law he dose'nt have to living and working in scotland.

Does anyone elsee agree with the benefit cuts?

In answer to the original question, yes I support it.

But I agree with it because we're spending more money than we earn. Borrowing is no longer an option. And benefits are one of our largest areas of expenditure.

So if we are serious about tackling our deficit and repaying our debt then we must also take a long hard look about not what we SHOULD be paying for but what we CAN AFFORD to pay for.

If we fail to do that then in the long run even more people suffer.

If money were no object then no I wouldn't support cutting benefits. But until someone can come up with a sensible plan for erasing our deficit then this seems to be the only choice.

I know Pinko, tis crap. Mum is an active campaigner for various prosthetic groups, many members of which are servicemen. At the moment it is doubly tough as the govt are failing in their support of servicemen prosthetic wise so are telling NHS trusts to bump them to the top of their lists. All well and good, but the budgets have been cut so in order to service the servicemen so to speak, meaning everyone else misses out. In her area, the entire budget for prostheses (supply, fit, support etc) is around £120k p/a. A serviceman moved to the area at the end of the budget period and his needs alone were due to cost £90k.

So they are cutting every bloody thing with no thought to how they will actually make it work. Half the country are waltzing along blindfolded. ARGH.

(But obviously could not have done it without benefits, eating is useful in promoting productivity I find!)

Quite Steph! Which is why dh has worked for nothing, to build a business-dignity and pride

While yes I agree that you shouldn't get something for nothing, as a single mum working the HB is a joke, I had to work overtime over christmas, a small firm so I had to do my extra bit, I earned £35 pounds more, HB reduced by £60 council tax benefit reduced by £50. I'm working my socks off and can't see a way out. Should go on the rock and roll. but have too much pride so will carry on.

Yep, my mum has to go back for assessments, you know, in case her missing limb has resprouted. But obviously she wouldn't be over the moon had that happened cause then she'd lose her dla and her free car. Duh.

I know wrt to cancer patients- used to work (admin / fundraising) for Macmillan and it's fucking awful.

Don;t excuse the swearing, I mean it! If you can;t curse about cuts to disabled and terminally people then it's a bad day for sure!

They are also forcing cancer patients to undergo back to work interviews ffs. How do you fake cancer I wonder?

People genuinely have no idea what is going on.

dd just got an indefinite award at 16(yep I know she will no doubt be assessed for the new one soon) so If DLA stayed she wouldn't be assessed again.
quite right to
she will never get better, brain damage cannot be cured.
oh I do wish that the people who right posts that are so full of shit would bog off