So they want to replace PIP/DLA money with vouchers?

[moneyinthebinthatsmrtim]

I don't understand it. It is really worrying me.

This payment helps pay for so many things. I doubt these vouchers would cover that, or give the freedom to shop or buy from where you want or need to.

I included DLA because it's really just the child's version of PIP. Eventually, my profoundly disabled child will be an adult and will have to be on PIP

Is there really any truth in this? I can't see any articles directly quoting Labour or Conservative. I might just be in such a worry that I have missed that bit

Apologies if there is another thread on this too. I am happy to get this one taken off if that's the case

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/pip-disability-benefits-plan-rishi-government-critics-b2537209.html

Which companies and what will Labour be doing about them?

1. I looked at the costings for local mobile hairdressers and single-chair guy is cheaper than mobile, plus I don't have to deal with the anxiety of having someone in my really untidy home and knowing where I live and I don't have to run the hoover afterwards to deal with the clippings.
2. The kind of people who think IABVVVU for going to a single-chair hairdresser would also regard a mobile hairdresser as a "luxury" that I should do without, should my wages ever fall enough for me to reconsider my dignity-versus-money assessment of making a PIP claim.

Not read the link. However the more I struggle to get my disabled child's needs met, the more I'm convinced he would be more secure in supported living as an adult. I'm always trying to work towards independence, but if they keep on trying to cut back harder and harder he won't be able to survive and I don't want him to become a burden on his siblings.

That doesn't detract from the fact most claimants should be supported. But the current PIP system is awarding people who should be expected to at least attempt to evidence what PIP is for, or aim for recovery or work. Or even community service of some kind i'd support.

Fewer than 0.5% of claimants are as you describe. You'd make life harder for the other 95.5+% to get at these tiny few? Shame on you.

www.google.co.uk Have fun!

Dos people think the voucher will come in to affect I really hope not coz I'm just stressing out I'm not sleeping coz I'm worried my anxiety is killing me help

I read all the PP, i don't keep track of who posted what on a thread with hundreds of posts funnily enough.

You posted on a thread about the additional costs that PIP would or should pay for as if that's what they should pay for?

Because if you're posting on a thread about your additional costs on a thread about what PIP may entail, people are going to assume you're talking about what is, or should be, in your opinion paid for by PIP.

And FYI - tell me you don't have to worry about money and aren't living like most of the UK is when you say 'Huel isn't expensive'.

No, I really do not think that it will, and I would say that there is no point worrying right now. The best thing that people can do is to use their vote wisely. Your situation sounds quite hard. Hopefully you have real life support.

The poster you are quoting is posting about what additional costs mean for her. And that is at the heart of it - a voucher system will not work, because the additional costs of being disabled are different for every disabled individual. Sure, there are some categories where people are likely to have a lot in common - but equally there are going to be outliers which are incredibly valid for the people they apply to, and there are going to be so many of those that administering a voucher system is going to cost a multiple and possibly even an order of magnitude more money than it's going to save.

That being so, the only possible conclusion to draw is that a voucher system is about cost cutting and punishing people for being disabled.

Again, tell me you didn't read my posts without telling me you didn't read my posts.

My stance, as stated repeatedly, is that PIP should not be vouchers and it should not be picking items from a catalogue. PIP should be money without conditions attached because what a given disabled person finds helpful will not be something that anyone else can predict and, importantly, is not something that other people should be policing.

The purpose of my list is to give a real example of some things that a disabled person, me, finds useful that someone else would not predict.

FYI: Huel is cheap compared to, say, HelloFresh, especially when you consider that Huel has a long shelf life so I don't lose it to spoilage.

Managing use-by dates is one of the things that I consistently cannot do.

Ya I came homeless last year because my money stopped I don't want that to happen again

Contact your local council and see if they can offer support with the forms. My council have a service called 'Income Boost' and I was given help with my form. I had someone come to my home and they went through all my hospital reports and letters and completed AND returned the form for me. I am physical disabled. My MHP referred me to get the help. I also think citizen advice bureau will also help you complete your forms.

@FastLeader, @pointythings put it much more clearly than me:
a voucher system will not work, because the additional costs of being disabled are different for every disabled individual.

I was trying to show, rather than tell, to make that point.

So the issue is poverty then…

A very well researched area that shows how poverty and social aspect affects everything else.

Plus of course you still have no idea of the ‘gaming’ and the lack of ‘direction’ isn’t a MH problem first. Or if it’s coming from a school system that wasn’t supportive enough (eg due to diagnosed or in diagnosed SEN) etc etc….

No the issue is there is nothing that means you HAVE to work. No able bodied teen should be sat about gaming and claiming UC.

So in addition to believing that people with mental ill health should just pull their socks up, you also believe that poverty doesn't exist in the UK and if it does, that it has no effect on anyone. You're Jacob Rees-Mogg and I claim my £5.

They’re not mentally ill, they’re nihilistic and a bit lazy. Their mental health then declines through a lack of routine and too much alcohol/weed/late nights on repeat. Go ahead with the smears and hyperbole that I never even hinted at, just makes you look silly.

My sons PIP and UC go on keeping my extremely vulnerable ds stimulated, he's out of education now and day services won't touch him as he has high support needs. So it's down to us.

It goes on many, many overnight breaks (( along with a fair chunk of my wages if I'm honest )) I can just see the daily mail having a field day when I'm putting in receipts for activity weekends, train rides to nowhere (( he likes trains so we take him up and down the country to train areas he likes )) and hotels 😬🤣🤣🤣

As an example, and a really basic one I think.

Im using PIP to buy an electric wheelchair. I chose the one that works best for me (MANY different criteria, incl the weight, size, ability for the back to recline, ability to cope with cobbles because of where I live and so on.

Will those vouchers allow me to buy that particular wheelchair that works for me or I’ll to make do with what they are proposing (eg limited number of suppliers). What about people who prefer a scooter because it’s lighter and you can dismantle it?

The characteristics of even ONE product as ‘simple’ as a wheelchair is actually extremely complex because of all the different needs. And I’m not even going into the ones that are so specific that the NHS is actually paying for it.

Then of course you have the fact everyone uses it for different things. I’m getting acupuncture with great results. I doubt they would ever give vouchers for that. Or for supplements - that people all buy online.
Others will use it to buy ready meals (can’t cook). Air conditioning (can’t cope with heat) or the opposite putting the heating on more (bedbound getting cold). People might find some foods don’t agree with them and stick to specific diets. The list is endless really.

Crack and heroin addicts spend hundreds of pounds a week, more commonly, a day.

Benefit payments just make them have a few easier hours.

There are literally no crack or heroin addicts solely funding their habit from benefits.

They never have money for more than a few hours. It's a bottomless pit, they'll never be enough. And once the benefits run out they'll steal, rob, lie, cheat, defraud and sex work, abuse, and exploit.

Crack and heroin addicts already commit most of the burglaries and robberies in the UK but sadly, addiction is powerful and many people even when offered treatment, don't want it or find it too difficult or just don't want to change enough to do so.

Drugs feel good. Same as alcohol. They effect dopamine and serotonin receptors and because of that, if you do them very regularly, you will very regularly feel not as good when you're not doing them, so you want to do more.

That's what addiction is and how it works on a neuropsychiatric basis.

Most of the chronic addicts you see on the streets are receiving an alcohol or drug service and have been through rehab once or multiple times.

Nothing recovery can offer will ever feel as good as using, which floods the brains neurotransmitters.

That's why people keep doing it. It's a fallacy that all these addicts are crying out for help which isn't available. It's available for most people and for the people that it isn't, they're blaming the system and saying 'oh i'll stop when...' but even inpatient rehab services have really bad relapse rates.

Because there's nothing to compare to using. So it comes down to the person choosing to prioritise their health, family, relationships, safety and wanting to be a productive member of society.

Many don't.

How about making sure people pay tax properly (companies included).

Why take away money from the poorest/vulnerable?

Being disabled is hard enough, and it is made harder by not having the money to pay for things to help. I don't get anything fancy with what I get for pip, it just covers what I need (medication costs, takeaways for when I'm too fatigued and my husband is at work and therefore can't cook for me, my phone which I need to order medication, reminders, staying in contact with friends and family because I can't see them often, ktape or supports for my joints which are prone to dislocation, etc.).

Despite my husband working full-time with a good wage (£50k a year), we struggle tremendously monthly. We have never been on holiday, we rarely go out, rarely go to restaurants (and we use tesco vouchers to make them more affordable when we do), we can't afford weekly food shops for the whole month so for the last two weeks of the month we're low on food, my husband is using a 5 year old phone so we can afford for me to pay for mine monthly as I need my phone more than he does (which is £30 a month), we buy our clothes second hand (including our son's), his car has had an engine warning light for over a year as we can't afford to fix it (it's a 10 year old car too that has been paid off), we have no savings whatsoever, we cut our own hair. My PIP and UC does not cover anywhere near the amount I would get if I could work. I'd love to be able to work, but I can't. I didn't ask to be disabled, and my disability is not my fault (I was born with it).

I doubt we're the only ones in this situation.

Who isn’t paying tax properly?

Will these vouchers go towards people who use CPAP, and need things such as heated hoses for the winter, mask liners, to ease pressure on the face,and nose from constant mask wear. Filters that need replacing frequently. Will they cover those things? What about humidifiers to ease the discomfort of dry, cold air? Can a friend of my family get a voucher for all those things, or will they need to waste time, and energy filling in forms, and using headspace to find money (from where!), to pay for those things up front. The people in Government who come up with these ludicrous ideas are really showing their privilege.

The vast majority of people claiming PIP do not have conditions on this level.

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/personal-independence-payment-pip/success-rates

More than half of people who apply for PIP, are successful.
The success rates for various conditions are:
Obesity - 78%
Personality disorder - 60%
Phobias - 45%
ADHD - 49%
Depression - 50%
Writer’s cramp - 30%

Is this a benefit which is ‘incredibly hard’ to access?