No benefits if unemployed for more than a year and other ways Sunak wants ti tackle the Benefits system

[cakeorwine]

This are the headlines - I can see some massive issues here for people - it's easy to say there are job vacancies - but what if they aren't in the area people are and there is no transport to get there. How does that work? I can see a lot of exploitation here.

There's also the other rules here around PIP payments, part time workers etc.

I wonder how much personal experience Sunak has of such things?

This is an outline from the Daily Mail

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13330045/Benefits-axed-year-stop-lifestyle-choice-Prime-Minister.html

12-month rule for unemployed

Tory manifesto plans will see people on the dole have their benefit claims closed after a year unless they can convince Jobcentre staff they are actively looking for work and willing to accept any reasonable job offer.

Personal Independence Payments

Hundreds of thousands of people with anxiety and depression could lose access to payments worth up to £700 a month and instead be offered therapy to help them back to work.

PART-TIME WORKERS

New rules will require part-time workers on Universal Credit to look for more work. Anyone working for less than the equivalent of 18 hours a week on minimum wage will have to show they are actively seeking more hours.

Disability rules

The work capability assessment rules, which govern who is eligible for sickness benefits, will be tightened to require 424,000 with milder mental health conditions to start looking for work.

Sick notes

GPs could be stripped of their role in signing off people as sick and replaced by 'specialist work and health professionals' who will focus on what work people could do with support, such as flexibility to work from home.

Benefit Fraud

Investigators will be handed new powers to tackle benefit fraud, which hit £6.4 billion last year. In future they will have similar powers to those investigating tax fraud, including the ability to make seizures and arrests

It's just Tory flag-waving, in a desperate attempt to win back potential voters. He might as well announce they're going to send everyone a gold bar, we know it won't happen, he knows it won't happen but it makes for a nice headline in the right-wing press.

Agree maybe they should focus on getting tax from places like Amazon first!

There are people very clearly playing the system or not caring.

I have a PhD and very specialised. When I was unemployed, I went to the job centre with 30 proofs of job applications a week because I wanted to work. Anything. I was applying for till jobs! I'll never forget the comment that the lady said, that she was impressed how serious I was and that most people only apply for one a week to tick the box.

It's pretty obvious with that comment that the majority aren't even bothered. The system is too comfortable.

Same

Yeah I agree. That's why I said if implemented fairly. It won't be though. They'll expect people to travel 2-3 hours for a days shift of manual labour and back again

Personal Independence Payments - ok but the therapy should be along side the PIP not instead of

PART-TIME WORKERS - absolutely fair enough unless they can provide a reason (again this is the kicker- what reason will they accept)

Disability rules

The work capability assessment rules, which govern who is eligible for sickness benefits, will be tightened to require 424,000 with milder mental health conditions to start looking for work. could they not instead HELP those people with milder mental health conditions. Carrot not stick.

this is all just to appeal to voters

Sounds likes like typical headline grabbing Tory policy.
The only one I do agree with is cutting down on benefit fraud.
GPs should be the ones to sign people off sick they are experienced medical professionals.
I don't think that should go to someone less qualified- perhaps with targets to meet.
What happened to the idea that we were going to take mental health as seriously as physical health??
I know from experience from my family that mental health services are a shit show- accessing timely support is nigh on impossible only when you can't get any lower do you then get patchy support.
It's like cancer services saying you're tumour is only stage 1 we cant treat you till you're stage 4.
Its actually really hard to get PIP.
Work can improve mental health, depending on what stage you are at ,but you need the right employer the right environment and the right job- employers perhaps understandably may avoid new employees who need adjustments and perhaps are at risk of takingtime off sick.
So people often don't declare they MH conditions due to stigma which means they have no support in the workplace and it can get worse.
These kind of policies make the stigma worse.
Part time work on minimum wage- does the policy mean if you work part time due to health needs but are lucky enough to command a higher wage then its fine?
So it's money you earn that's that's the issue not the hours worked due to health?
Need to find work after 12 months is definitely a Norman Tebbit get on your bike policy. Again what about relocation costs, losing your support network, kids moving schools perhaps being forced to take unsuitable work that makes your health condition worsen.
Also if its just short term contracts or zero hours contracts then you could be worse off. and then its hard to have to claim benefits again.
I do think zero hours contracts should be cracked down on.
I despair.
But benefit fraud yes definitely.

System is simple. Create divide then conquer.

All nonsense like the free extra childcare hours

The tories won't get back in so it won't happen. If he pushes it through chances are the next government will cancel it anyway.

What about addicts? Alcohol/a range of drugs? If you have a methadone prescription? They all automatically get PIP. My DB is languishing in this position and as far as I can see it’s easier, for the govt, to leave him there. He’s pretty much unemployable now, most of them are, how can that be tackled without investment and support. It’s cheaper for the govt to hope they’ll OD.

I couldn't agree with you more.
This is another diversion tactic. They want to pitch people against each other rather than zone in and see the corruption of this government giving taxpayers money to their cronies and taking backhanded themselves.
Sunak takes no responsibility for the longest waiting lists ever for NHS operations, forever being cancelled time after time.
If they could sort this out people could get well and return to work.
None are so blind than those who will not see!

Yeah I thought so too. I think you actually get sanctioned which is a reduction rather than a complete stop. I also thought the 18 hours a week thing was higher I have primary school kids and thought it was 30 I work 42 hours so makes no difference to me but 18 hours is really low.

Who are all these people who are getting benefits because of "milder mental health issues"? I was offered online CBT once and it was awful. Really patronising and "take deep breaths if you are feeling anxious" type of thing. Fine if you have very mild symptoms and are not capable of looking up self help on the internet but completely pointless for me and actually made me feel worse. I bet that's what they will be offering as "therapy" because it's cheap.

We're coming closer to an election. He's not winning over the ultra racists so he's moved on from small boats to try to capture the benefit-basher vote instead.

There you go - Tory propaganda working successfully again.

They need the public to fight amongst themselves to take the focus off their crap party and politics.

The real enemy is not those on benefits - look up the huge amount of tax diversion by the super wealthy (including Sunak's wife).

If only they'd put in the support needed to help people get back into work, they could help many people but they wont cause they just don't care.

My dh has bipolar and the only help there is getting work after being out of the work force a very long time is a careers adviser, who treats him the same as someone able bodied. He's starting volunteer work soon to help him get some confidence cause he isn't able to cope with the whole process of applying for jobs with no support at the moment. There were some great schemes in the bast to help people, today there is nothing.

As usual this is nonsense to try to get a few more votes from Daily Mail readers types.

Waiting lists for therapy are ridiculous already.

(Trigger warning)

I made plans to end my life last September and always I did receive urgent support from the Crisis team I am still on the waiting list after being assessed as needing weekly counselling. So that's 8 months and counting.

Where does that ridiculous little man think the provision for therapy would come from? another expensive contract for his rich mates that would cost the tax payer more than a small level of benefit fraud ever would?

Disabled people need support, not to be treated as criminal.

I work but I found out that it is a nightmare to get employers to stick to home working/flexible working agreements or to be considered for a job if you have had time off for surgery or while dealing with a bad period of ill health. My current employer assured me I would only need to be in the office once a month when they hired me and then six month later ask me to go there once a week. A 4.5 hour commute is not something I can physically cope with.

Sunak should look at to make it easier for people with long term health conditions to get into a job and keep it and that involves looking at discrimination agains the employment of people with health issues and the expectation that everyone needs to do a 9 to 5 chained to their desk when flexible options mean many people with disabilities can get and keep a job.

Overall it is abysmal that this government is trying to kick down and blame the disabled, the sick and people in 'small boats' for its own failures, greed and corruption.

I am truly ashamed of what this country has become under the Tories.

Mental health and general health issues have shot up because of Covid, long NHS waiting list, poverty and chronic underfunding of social and mental health services and crappy work conditions (zero hour contracts, low wages). Also I assume the ridiculously high cost of housing mean that some people would not be able to make ends meet with a minimum wage job.

I guess it is easier for the Tories to blame the little people than to tackle the actual causes...

Sounds perfect to me.
People have always had to prove they are looking for work.
The rest will stop benefit fraud and people who are swinging the lead.

It's a lot easier to cut benefits than actually support disabled people into work.

I'm disabled. I use a wheelchair. You'd be amazed how many organisations don't take my application forward after they know that.

I think this is great - the tories are self sabotaging it seems to be something they are actually good at!

Personal Independence Payments

Hundreds of thousands of people with anxiety and depression could lose access to payments worth up to £700 a month and instead be offered therapy to help them back to work

The Mail's "journalists" don't understand what PIP is, do they? FFS.

None of this will come to fruition as the Tories will be out of power. In the meantime, all this ableist rhetoric will really help those with poor mental health, won't it?

Grumpy is entitled to his/her opinion and Lots of people feel the same. There’s headlines about UC going up 6.7% and yet many people have seen no increase in their wages.It can be galling to see this. (Obviously no one wants to see those in need suffer).

No one disagrees that tax avoidance should continue and these loopholes should be closed.

6.7% of not very much is not very much.

The one year dole thing is looking to emulate how things are done in Europe, e.g. France.