Stop the Abolition of DLA

[Glitterknickaz]

The government are proposing to get rid of DLA in favour of PIP. full consultation here

Riven started a fantastic thread in Chat with the very pertinent point that this applies to everyone, that every one of us could be just one step from disability themselves.

There is NOTHING in the media about this. These proposals could mean poverty for the disabled and their families in this country. It could leave some in residential care completely isolated from their families and support networks through the removal of the mobility component.

My family has already been hit three times through the NHS, education and aiming high, via the cuts, if they now remove the money from our pockets we are going to be in a heat or eat situation.

Please MNHQ do something, as many are oblivious to these proposals and what they will mean, including those who themselves already claim DLA.

'onerous', remember?

Guess who has only posted on this thread?

Funnily enough, last night's bridge dweller had only ever posted on here too.

yeah, I'd been advised they'd been banned.... reported to MNHQ but nothing happening...

Will report now Glitter

A big thank you to everyone whos supporting this thread, Please if you have five mintues sign one petition or email your MP.

Ive just spend 6 weeks filling in my a 12 page response to the DLA as I rely on it and obviouly have more insight than most.

Dont be fooled into thinking surely those who need it will still get it, as in all disability benefits inclduing the dreaded ESA we are all in for a rough ride.

You could be the one tomorrow who wakes up with a incucurable illness and have to fight that and fight for benefits at the same time.

I would like to say I feel so heartened by the positive responses I have read here about the awful cuts and changes to ESA and DLA for ill and disabled people.

The DWP currently have a backlog of 29,700 complaints about ESA which have not yet been referred to a tribunal. The next highest backlog is disability living allowance with 9,600 outstanding. Outstanding complaints about all other benefits administered by the department number just 19,750.

These figures were revealed by Maria Miller, minister for disabled people in October 2010. As many more people have since been put through assessments since then by a Private company using flawed methods, you can imagine that the number has risen greatly since then?it hasn?t even begun! Already the CAB have been receiving over 8,000 complaints a month about these matters.

This must be stopped. Innocent people have been at the mercy of unfair and biased tests and no more people should be put through this until the problems have been rectified.

One thing I would like to see agreed upon is that any child, or adult, who has already been given a ?Lifetime? or ?Indefinite? award of DLA, because of the severity of their condition, should not have to be re-assessed. They have already gone through the ordeal of submitting 40-50 page forms, GP letters, Consultant and Expert reports, had medicals etc. It is simply cruel and inhumane to expect them to have to go through it all again when their condition has not changed. It will only cost more money and it will mean an ever-increasing number of appeals added to the already unsustainable backlog. This means real people without the money to support their real needs for a very long time.

In case anyone hasn't seen it yet, here is the petition to Maria Miller -

www.petitiononline.co.uk/petition/petition-the-minister-for-disabled-people-to-recall-the-public-consultation-on-dla-reform/569/c8512b4d876d6cf76157883125f63386

sorry late to this thread, had campaigns in hidden topics.
will have a good read now, how good to see so many people posting about such a important topic that will affect everyone at some time.

I am very worried about the idea of dd loosing money as she has a powered chair.......do you think the fact she will always need someone with her(no danger sense, severe CP) will help.

MmeLindt

DLA has nothing to do with whether you're working. It can be used to pay for a wheelchair and taxis into work, for example, because those are additional costs someone has because they are disabled.

The proposal is that DLA be abolished. So if your father currently gets DLA, he won't any more. If he were under 65 he could presumably then apply for Personal Independence Payments, which are meant to cover the same things, but the funding will be 20% less than DLA (lower payments or fewer awards, who knows). Possibly he could apply if he's over 65.

I don't know much about Attendance Allowance for over 65s, but there was an attempt under the last government to cut or abolish it (I think the idea was to give the money to local councils instead, but not ringfence it. So for many people that would have meant losing help entirely.)

Benefits and Work ran a campaign at the time.

Disability Now reckon the same scheme will be tried again shortly.

It's inconceivable your father will still be getting DLA in a few years time if this goes through.

FioFio good point, dd's was caused at birth, can't test for that.

poppyknot

I have heard nothing about the timing, but it seems suspicious to me. It's almost as if they wanted to hide an attack on a vulnerable group during the Christmas season...

MmeLindt

I'm afraid your Dad is wrong on this. The plans are to reassess everyone, regardless of age or severity of disability. It's stupid, but somebody like me, severely disabled with an untreatable condition will be reassessed, as will others more disabled than me.

Should have added this page from leonard cheshire gives real stories about how the dla cut will affect real peoples lives.

www.lcdisability.org/?lid=14623

Sign their petition no registration required just name and email. Will take you less than 5min

Fio - and others, it's shit isn't it?

You can bet that even if the person claiming has only just completed the pages and pages of questions on the forms, only just had a medical assessment, only just got all the relevant letters from their GP/Physio/Carer.....

That they'll be assessed again under the new rules.

What a waste of time and money.

MmeLindt

at the moment there are no plans to stop DLA for pensioners or children, but it's important to remember that 6 months ago there were no plans to scrap DLA at all

Mouseface

You have it right. And worse than that, as a lot of conditions just never 'get better'. My genetic condition is for life, no matter how many times DWP check. The new plans are for regular reassessment every few years. A complete waste - and we're told government needs to save money.

tabulahrasa - I don't understand, I thought the plan was to scrap DLA altogether and have a new benefit, PIP.

Yes they do want a new version called PIP they want to move the goalposts of a not perfect system but starting out by saying that they are cutting 20% of its budget is so wrong.

It implies no matter how many more people get ill, or take longer to die as advances in medicine improve the budget will be stuck as it is. Then laughingly propose to call the new version both personal and individual

buzzy The majority of families with children with disabilies do not think that SS are capable of doing a fair assessment. I am amongst their number I'm afraid.

There are many problems within Social Work that would not be good for families to get mixed up in.

they are scrapping DLA and introducing PIP, but they're saying that at the moment they're leaving pensioners and children out of it, for now...

but when they first started benefit reforms they said they were leaving DLA out of it..

so basically they're staggering it, lol

Oh, so the usual distraction technique? When challenged about all DLA they'll say, "But we're not taking it from pensioners and children." Then once the change is bedded in it will be, "Just bringing the pensioners and children into line."

We could play PR-technique bingo with this, couldn't we?

pretty much