Just been on a course about new benefit system

DLA has 2 elements; card and mobility. Each has 3 tiers depending on assessed need.

I thought DLA was for living and mobility for cars etc..?

I work with kids who have a disability who are on care orders. They qualify for a specialist carer who has to be available full time and costs the LA thousands. These young people are also entitled to DLA. I don't begrudge them anything but DLA is either for cars or mobility or both - these needs are met by the highly paid carer already - why double up?

I also have families where one partner cars for the other but does not make the threshold for carers allowance - then they need to look for work in my opinion. I don't know when I became such a Tory. Sorry

"I have a friend who receives DLA for her daughter who has an nut allergy."

Sorry, don't believe you.

I know the tests for DLA. Unless she has an awful lot more than that going on, she simply won't get it. And she may indeed have a lot more going on, and you just don't know about it.

But the dla thing is awful, why waste all that money reassessing when the rate of fraud is so low?

The unspoken truth (and I wish the govt would have the balls to just admit it) is that DLA is available to too many people and in the current climate needs to be cut. Ditto with IB

I have a friend who receives DLA for her daughter who has an nut allergy. Now of course I understand that she will have extra expenses etc as a result and it is a real shame that she has this. But at the same time we have to ask ourselves if we can still afford to give money to people for such conditions (and many more). The pot of money isn't endless and tough choices have to be made. I'm just glad I don't have to be the one to draw the line.

Similarly I have a friend who until recently was claiming IB and is now being moved to ESA. A young guy with back problems. Medically he does have back problems so him claiming would not be classed as fraud. But at the same time it doesn't stop him from volunteering at schools full days, having sex, paintballing and he even did a 8 mile walk with me. In my book he can and should be looking for work. Suitable work nonetheless but he can & should be working. At the age of 24 we shouldn't be saying to him "Here's some money....don't bother working anymore"

Oh and that's before another guy I know (not really a friend) who had a work accident resulting in him having to claim IB. Again back problems as well as now reckons he has photosensitive epilepsy yet happily uses flash on his camera all day and has even bought himself a professional flash system. Again I doubt he'd be classed as fraud even though in my mind it almost certainly is.

My point is that the fraud rate is so low because the reasons for claiming are so wide. It's right that the government are tightening up the rules. The hard part is coming up with a fair system to separate the genuine from the workshy. Because I bet each of those examples above would be unequivocally sure that their claim was 'genuine'.

All claims over the internet? Surely that breaches the Equality Act because there will be people who can't access it because of disability?

Not that the DWP would care mind, they've been in breach of the Equality Act for years, summoning disabled people to mandatory interviews, under threat of removing benefits, at Jobcentres that aren't wheelchair accessible...

When I was on IT and HB I couldn't have a spare room. Also HB paid into bank acc.

There are so many changes coming from so many different directions. It must be useful to get an overview. Can you point us at any useful resources, buggyRunner?

I can see where they're coming from with the spare room thing- we have had threads on here where people can't get a 3 bed because none are available, but they are occupied by one person ( only applies to council/ social housing I suppose). But the dla thing is awful, why waste all that money reassessing when the rate of fraud is so low? Mind you I think it costs more to administer the cut in cb for high earners than it saves, so where was the logic in that?

I work with young homeless people - I knew about the claims changing and the bedroom
Thing. It's making it do difficult for our young mums to get social housing because now they are the same need as a family with 2 kids up to 16!! Plus LHA has dropped off.

Any idea about CTC? I don't get anything else apart from CB but CTC for me is £600 a month and pays mu child are etc. I am a lone parent.

I was told the same as buggy regarding losing part of HB so you'd be making up more.

me I'm working with a family in a house like yours at the moment. Housing class it as a half room yet expect two to share.

What I don't get is have they can say 2 children have to share regardless of size of the room? I don't receive hb but hypothetically if I did it wouldn't be possible for 2 people to fit into my 2nd bedroom which is a box room not even 6ft wide with slanted ceilings so cannot fit bunk beds it is physically impossible. What about people in the same situation?

I rent a three bedroom house but am entitled to a two bedroom one, so make up the difference. Can't see how that is changing. Am sure I will be screwed anyway but at least that part won't change.

Rachel, you are 'entitled' to help with 2 bedrooms. That is one for you, and one for the baby. Therefore they will only give you rent for a 2 bed house, and you'd have to make up the difference.

affect rather :)

You will not lose money it is the same, you will get the Local housing rate of a two bed house in your area . It is like that now in most places anyway.
However if you are under 25 it is changing but not yet. However even then if your already getting your hb it will not effect you.

Okay so I'm a little confused. I'm due to move start of August, due my first child start of September. House I'm renting is bigger than I need but I was told id receive housing benefit on my circumstances not the house I'm moving into. That they would only pay what I'm entitled to regardless of how much the rent is and it's up to me to pay the rest.

Because I'm moving in start of August I'd only be entitled to single person rate plus rates, and then when baby born I'd receive a bigger amount for single and one child, I've saved for this so I'm not stressing about extra rent if have to pay.

The house is a 3 bedroom house, so how would that work? I'd get less money because I've a spare room?

I'm from northern Ireland (not sure it makes any difference). If you could just explain it again I'm not the brightest lol x

There is definitely an element of shoving stuff off onto local councils.

I was reading an impact assessment of the cuts to Incapacity Benefit/ESA the other day, and it basically says, "We're removing National Insurance contribution-based ESA after 12 months. But that's OK, because although up to 490,000 disabled people will be made poorer by this, local councils will have to pick up part of the tab through HB."

Correct me if I am wrong but I thought the spare bedroom rule was coming into housing benefit regardless of universal credit? For me it makes sense that in current times that we are not paying housing benefit to people whom have a place bigger than they 'need'. l

And wasn't there a big shift already to pay the tenant directly rather than the landlord? I know many landlords won't touch DSS anymore because all too often tenants fail to pay their rent from housing benefit. And if the council pay direct then they can claw back the money paid to the LL at a later date if it turns out the tenant wasn't entitled to part/all of it. Again this seems to happen fairly often.

I'm sure there will be a huge outcry once all the details are nailed down and the press start writing about it. If the IT system underpinning it is shite then the effects will probably give the coalition their 'poll tax' moment.

In principle I think the idea of having a Universal Credit is far better than a hodge podge of different benefits. But it is an ambitious move for the government. One I hope pays off.