To think dh is winding me up when he says some people on benefits are getting £500 a week?

[angelos02]

I'm pretty sure he's talking bullocks? Otherwise why the fuck would anyone do a minimum wage job?

Practy the petrol and parking is for my HOSPITAL APPOINTMENTS as I said earlier.
It's hardly out and about!!!!!!

Being severely disabled does not mean you get free parking/ have a bb.

He is entitled to AA.

practy

Do you pay carers to help you wash, toilet, eat,cook,and dress?

If you are severely disabled you will normally be entitled to a disabled parking badge. In my hospital that gets you free parking.

I have never heard of AA, thanks. He will be entitled to that as he is housebound.

My partner helps me.

If you are severely disabled by learning difficulties or autism both of which severely restrict mobility then often you won't have a blue badge.

How lucky for you, now can you get your head round this

Lots of people's partners cant or they don't have one

My husbands left me with 4 kids and believe me I am struggling to get help. I don't know where or what these boasty people who have 50" tvs are or what they are getting but my reality is very different. I'm ill and have spent the last 2 months living off CTC and CB because I'm unable to work and wont claim jobseekers and they tell me I'm not entitles to ESA. I don't know what to do.

Practy then you are very lucky my school and I attend six different hospitals , in every one you have to pay even though I have a blue badge.

My dc not school!

It's pretty simple really those who need it or are disabled should be getting the help needed. Those who choose to be lazy and not bother getting work should be struggling but this is often not the case.
My daughter has been awarded high care dla but low mobility..which I don't complain about because she can get about..she's just clumsy. She has complex learning disabilities including severe dyslexia and dyspraxia.

I am shocked that other hospitals do not give people with Blue Badges free parking.

Umm yeah, I have a BB and practically live at my local hospital. I go there at least once a week-going there today in fact!- and we have to pay for parking. This costs us a fortune. TBH, i would be happy though if they had adequate BB parking at all. They've just had a major refurbishment and what was the BB carpark is now a building site yet there's been no alternative provision. Trying to get a wheelchair out in a normal parking space in an incredibly busy multi-storey, is NOT fun, I can tell you

Nice to see that the "they could live somewhere cheaper" is used up thread.

Its also nice to see how much humanity some of you have.
You will not be better off if someone else is made worse off through benefit cuts, end of, a rough calculation shows 16% of public spending is spent on benefits other than pensions. Even if they cut it completely, your tax wouldn't go down by 16%. The green eyed monster does you know favours.

“Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well- warmed, and well-fed.

Oh yes, the 'you can just move somewhere cheaper ' argument. Because moving is completely free (if you discount letting agency fees, removal costs, decorating costs etc ) and stress free (if you discount things like finding new schools, transport issues, finding a new job etc ). And anyway, people like that deserve it for being poor. Fuck, I am just welling up at the compassion from some people on here.

Oh yes, the 'you can just move somewhere cheaper ' argument. Because moving is completely free (if you discount letting agency fees, removal costs, decorating costs etc ) and stress free (if you discount things like finding new schools, transport issues, finding a new job etc ). And anyway, people like that deserve it for being poor.

Who said moving is free? We should have better protection for private tenants so they too don't have to move frequently. The beauty with that is that it isn't a benefit costing money.

there are many people on HB living in areas that are not only not cheap, but among the most expensive areas in the country. I would certainly support something like HB as a temporary measure. We of course don't want to pile on the misery when someone loses their job. But HB isn't a temporary measure as you can get it for life. So this idea that it's for when you temporarily fall on hard times is just not true.

And living in a cheaper area isn't punishment. it's just part of life. With the exception of the very wealthy few, we all can't just live where we want. Many of my friends, as well as I, don't live in prime london for the practical reason that we can't afford it. So like a huge portion of the population, we commute. I don't expect to be housed in central London by the government, even though it would make my life a ton easier (both DP and I work there).

The issue with HB tenants living in expensive areas is mainly confined to London and some of the other big cities, though. For the rest of us, the problem is that rents are out of control pretty much everywhere - especially in those places where the jobs are. And of course a lot of landlords don't accept HB tenants, so that makes moving even more difficult.

I don't think HB was ever intended as a temporary measure - that's a straw man. The majority of people who receive HB are in work. The problem is that the rental sector in the UK is utterly dysfunctional. The government said that introducing the benefit cap would bring down rents - it hasn't.

In your post you imply that HB tenants all expect to live the life of Reilly in central London - that is bollocks. They just want somewhere to live, preferably commutable distance from work and with some security in terms of their tenancy. If you think that's too much to ask, you are part of the problem.

The problem is that the rental sector in the UK is utterly dysfunctional.

no disagreement there.

In your post you imply that HB tenants all expect to live the life of Reilly in central London - that is bollocks.

no I didn't. I assume their financial life is a struggle.

They just want somewhere to live, preferably commutable distance from work and with some security in terms of their tenancy. If you think that's too much to ask, you are part of the problem.

That's the problem right there. There's my issue. EVERYONE wants those things. Some of those things can actually be obtained with relative ease (secure tenancies for example, we just need political will for that), but others cannot. Unfortunately, there isn't enough housing to go around for everyone to have that. What everyone not on HB are told is that they are at the whim of the market. Countless people commute because that's all they can afford. So, it is in fact too much to ask for most people (including me).

The "prime London property" thing is a bit of a myth to be fair. Statistically there are about 800,000 recipients of HB in London true, but there will be a statistically tiny number living in private rental properties at a large cost.

There may be a good number in HA, social housing and Peabody properties, but you have to qualify for them too!

Its the green eyed monster again..

I cant understand how ppl cant see that if these ideas are followed through and ppl do move out of more expensive areas who is going to care for the elderly relatives when the time comes if the family members have moved away. The cost will fall to the local council They wont be able to use family members as cheap carers if those family members have been forced to move.

And Dragons for the umpteenth fucking time ...........the extra hours are usually intermittent and inconsistent in many jobs and the system cant keep up.

That has already happened, I moved away because of housing costs. This will simply exacerbate the social care crisis.

There may be a good number in HA, social housing and Peabody properties, but you have to qualify for them too!

and for some reason they don't count in the public housing bill?

They do of course, but they are prime central London properties that are not available to "private rent", which may explain the jealousy factor coming in.

Cause its essentially: " I can't afford it, they are there, if they weren't there I would have what they got."

Doesn't work like that.

practy exactly... If you price people on low people out of the rental market to such an extent that they cannot afford to commute to work, then you are going to store up problems.