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

Nothing to do with disability or PIP.

Have looked. Not seeing a duplicate of Tory policies or attitudes.

Tories are unique in their attitude.

Well no, this may be the case

but i was referring to an increased number of illnesses and mental health disabilities being added to the list that people can claim disability benefit for.

Bit confused by this. The manifesto says this:

Reform our disability benefits so they
are better targeted and reflect people’s
genuine needs, while delivering a step-
change in mental health provision. We
will improve PIP assessments to provide a
more objective consideration of people’s
needs and stop the number of claims from
rising unsustainably. While people suffering
with mental health conditions face
significant challenges, it is not clear that
they always face the same additional living
costs as people with physical disabilities.
We will look at the best way to provide
support, including whether treatment or
services could be more appropriate for
some people than a monthly cash payment,
while also delivering a dramatic expansion
in mental health support. At the same time,
we will make the assessment process
simpler and fairer for those with the most severe conditions.

But the Independent article in the OP is focussed on PIP for people with physical rather than mental health problems and the person with mental health problems is already spending PIP on therapy, which presumably is the service that the manifesto has in mind. The article seems to be scaremongering.

There is no list that people can claim for. people claim PIP based on how their disability affects them. I suspect the huge number of people suffering long covid or severe disabilities as a result of being so ill with covid has really increased the numbers claiming as well as MH issues.

What list is this? @IAmNotASheep where might I find a copy? 🤔

PIP is awarded due to how your disability/ies affect you, not what you have. You don't even need a diagnosis (although it helps) to claim.

You can’t see a duplicate because Labour are still ‘thinking about’ the new stuff and carrying on with the existing

Labour are doing nothing different from the Conservatives in this area re clamping down and are also saying ‘ let’s wait and see’……..for what. 🤷‍♀️🤯

So not only are they using the Carry On With Everything route but there could be more that they are too scared to put in their manifesto…….blimey!

We had early intervention. It was called Sure Start. I wonder what happened to it?

National service and forced volunteering will be useless because it's stepping in far too late.

Or you could see it this way: Labour understands that something needs to happen in order to bring people back to living fulfilling lives, but instead of coming out with more punitive shit, they're actually going to spend some time thinking, researching and planning in order to come up with something that will work.

Sort of thing.

@MaryMaryVeryContrary as per usual someone comes along and makes a statement completely unsubstantiated with evidence. If you actually read the evidence then you will see how misinformed you are.

I hope you never need to claim!

The system needs looking at and over-hauling. Direct payments may be part of it.

What usually happens is a throw the baby out with the bathwater overhaul which leaves vulnerable people wanting, rather than the claimants that need to be focused on, being focused on.

There isn’t a survey on how people spend their benefits but I have a lot of personal experience.

Everyone has problems and ‘mental health’.

It’s not remotely practicable to handhold everyone through life on the level you expect

Adults need to take responsibility for themselves.

Correct... PiP is easy enough to get for those who know how to cheat the system...

Maybe vouchers are the way forward.. those who genuinely need help with day to day living will be happy to use them, those who only want cash will be very upset

Agree it’s too late to use this for some but not for the future for others.

Ah, the 'just pull your socks up' school of mental health care. Remind me how well that worked in the past?

So depression, psychosis, PTSD - they don't exist and people just need to toughen up, is that it? 🙄

The national service idea as put forward by the Tories is a piece of crap. Now if there were to be national service in the Scandinavian style - paid, with tuition fees for uni or other courses paid for afterwards as a bonus - I could get behind that, as long as there was a good civilian alternative with the same terms and conditions.

But that would mean investing in young people, and the UK doesn't want to pay for that

I agree one could see it that way.
I also think they should be telling the electorate what to expect and should have thought this through.
We all know the mess everything is in.

I agree, it was never going to be popular policy, look what happened with all the demonstrations in France
I understand the Conservatives have reduced the days to something like 25/26 for the military angle.

I also understand Labour are proposing volunteering but nothing within the military.
Like all policies they will be tweaked if they are put forward to Parliament.

I agree, it was never going to be popular policy, look what happened with all the demonstrations in France
I understand the Conservatives have reduced the days to something like 25/26 for the military angle.

I also understand Labour are proposing volunteering but nothing within the military.
Like all policies they will be tweaked if they are put forward to Parliament.

Time and time again I've heard people banging on about how PIP/DLA is being abused. The Government spouts this rhetoric in the face of overwhelmingly evidence to the contrary and folk believe it. Do people have any concept of how difficult it is to claim this stuff? It took me 20 hours to gather the evidence and write my last DLA claim renewal. I know people who have had to quit work to care for their disabled kids and have still had to go tribunal to receive assistance.

Every single penny of our DLA has been spent on speech therapy, occupational therapy, sensory aids and adaptive technology to help my DS. Anyone who thinks we are sponging off the state can go fuck themselves.

However
This wouldn’t affect you anyway as you are spending all your DLA on your sons needs to manage his disabilities.

The thing is PIP and DLA are spent on different things according to disability so I don’t think vouchers will work. In our house it’s spent on fuel to get to extra hospital appointments, parking at hospital appointments, extra carby food and snacks (type 1 diabetic) extra non carby snacks, libre bands to keep the device from falling off, batteries to run the blood pricker, a phone for the blood sugar app etc etc. How would vouchers pay for all those different things?

Other families will be paying for completely different things. I know one person who gets pip who has to use it towards bills as they are a single person who can no longer work. Ideally the money would go to therapies etc but it can’t.

I don’t see how vouchers would work at all.

I'm autistic and currently suffering a big depression relapse, as in "suicidal ideation" serious. I don't claim PIP (perhaps I should?) but I can tell you now that being depressed costs more than not being depressed because I can't handle cooking right now and am relying on pricier microwave meals.

Being disabled makes life more expensive in ways that are hard for non-disabled people to understand. The expert on how to manage a life-long condition is the person with the condition and they should be trusted to use their PIP wisely to manage it.

• If the person decides to take out a credit union loan to buy a freezer to keep frozen food in so they don't have to navigate stock rotation and use-by dates, and uses PIP to repay that loan, trust their decision.
• If that person decides to use their PIP to buy pricier ready-cut veg because because they have manual dexterity problems and can't slice veg, or they have a history of self-harm and prefer not to have knives in the kitchen for their own safety, then you should trust their decision.
• If that person opts to use PIP to top-up their housing benefit to get a studio apartment instead of a bedsit room because their autism makes sharing kitchens and bathrooms with others really hard, you should trust their decision.
• If that person uses PIP to get a taxi to and from the shops because they can't face the anxiety of public transport, you should trust their decision.

The question is really whether people should be accountable for what they spend that money on.

I'm horrified that you, as a mental health professional, are even entertaining that question, and I am concerned for the well-being of your patients as this idea that they cannot be trusted will influence how you work with them.

That is one of the two biggest objections. The admin for a voucher scheme would gobble up any savings and then some.

The other is of course the idea that disabled people are not to be trusted to spend money wisely, which is othering and demeaning.