EDCM Campaign against cuts to benefits paid to parents of disabled children

[KateMumsnet]

Hello

Today Every Disabled Child Matters, with whom we worked on our Respite Care Campaign, is calling on the government to rethink its decision to cut support for up to 170,000 families who have disabled children.

The Welfare Reform Bill proposes to cut benefits paid to low income or out of work families with disabled children by 50%. This amounts to a drop of £1400 per year - although these families often face higher basic costs than others, and may also find it harder to get employment which allows them to continue caring for their children.

If you'd like to write to the PM and ask him to reconsider, EDCM have made it easy to do so via this link. And don't forget to let us know what you think here on the thread.

Thanks

MNHQ

No idea about what happens with DLA; from what I can see that is more to do with PIP from 2013 and kids are supposedly to remain as they are now but who knows- technically it is the lower rate being scapped though.

Ds3 was also awrded until 16 at a lower rate than he should have ahd prompting me not to appeal in favour of longevity: we shall see! I think getting MR or HR at a tribunal for the boys who attend specialist schools should be doable but such a PITA to have to fight, and so exhausting too. We shall see. I;d LIKE to go back to work, we will try our plan and then if that fails panic then.

is this what ds3 faces?

Peachy thanks for explaining that - I couldn't find reference to that on the EDCM response - it just said 'carers' were unconditional. I'm obviously looking at the wrong piece of paper - have you got a link to the gov'ts plan?

Abend- no but I know someone who has; I will ask her to come here and post it. Horrid feeling it is buried in White Paper.

A lot of the new plans seems to work like this though: they still talk about 'disbaled', 'sick', 'carers'- but theya re changing the definitions deep in the paperwork.

what happens when your child becomes an adult and yet you are still caring 24 hours a day?

Hi kal,I think the adult in need of care can claim DLA in their own right and their carer claims Carers but don't quote me on that.

Signed. I can't believe what I am reading on a daily basis what this government is proposing. We are subsidising their (23 out of 29 are millionaires) drinks at the bar as they wind down from a busy day destroying lives far far away from their own.

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Windy- yes.

Locally parents are not offered respite or a place in resi unless they are terminally ill or the child is at risk; this removes them from the workplace yet the Government will expect them to work regardless. Or take a workfare palcement with own childcare responsibilities- except certainly here there is very little childcare (one nursery absed after school club that takes until 14th birthday when of course any SN would magically vanish and that has a year long waiting list anyway) for anyone over 12, and none if they have SN. It's a massive double whammy that will affect the very poorest and most vulnerable.

Sorry about no link; Mumsnetter who had it missing in action, hope to goodness she is OK. it is buried though in the white paper under the definition of carer from 2013.

Having just read about the Prime Minister's quip on Torrettes, I think we have a good idea at the strength of support in Government for any child, especially those who are disabled. Makes me sick, when you consider how keen all politicians are to use their children's ailments for sympathy votes.

Although I am astounded anyone is surprised- IME (too much sadly) you get two types of parent amongst the disabled community: those who are supportive to all and kind, and those who looks at any child they perceive to be less severely disabled than their own child and thinks that means the other child is undeserving.

Simply, I assume in a general Sn environment DC would be in the latter group. After all he claimed DLA for his son, so he MUST think other people deserve it less than his son did.

I don't have any extra information to add but am posting on here to show my support for the campaign.

I e-mailed via the link, got the confirmation e-mail but haven't heard anything else.

Signed.

The sticky threads are very counterproductive for me: I skip them all, always. Came to this via a link to another thread. Might it be worth having the stickys show up twice - in active convos as and when bumped as well as in a stickys list?

this is important

Would it be worth Emailing that link to our MP's Peachy?

I emailed mine before Christmas about the reforms and he did say he was going to look into it, Do you think that link could add a little more weight to our argument. Surly, if we can get as many MP's as possible to read it, more should agree and get this thing stopped.

Only 11,000 have signed

Absolutely yes Mole

I have mine

It is doing the rounds big time on twitter (sorry, as the youngsters would say, 'trending' ) but news channels not picking up.

What about the local radio stations and papers?

Big stories are usually picked up by the bigger papers after reading them in a smaller publication.

Seems not, complete media shutdown- trended all day yesterday, hit every MP, Lord, Celeb etc- plenty of celeb support too, Stephen Fry, Bianca Jagger, Mark Thomas, Tim Minchin, Sue Perkins- yet shutdown.

basically, the message is sod off we don't care. And that is from EVERY party it would seem. People are already dying from cuts yet- nothing.

here and disability boards full of people scared enough to be considering suicide

It's in the Dail Mail!

here

I've tried to make a comment which includes a link to the petition, I'm hoping it get's added to the comments board. There's a lot of support for it on those comments board.

Daily Mail FFS, that's twice I've spelled that wrong on different threads.

Apparently Loards have defeated the Gov on 2 parts of the welfare reform, one being the time limit for ESA and the other about disabled chidren - what I'm not sure but the second I find out I'll let you all know.

To sum up: the government has astonshingly lost three straight votes in the Lords. They are for the following amendments:

? To retain automatic eligibility for ESA for young disabled people who are unable to work
? To impose a two year time limit for ESA claimants, overriding the government's proposal that claimants be reassesed after 12 months
? To exempt cancer patients from the proposed ESA limit.

This is an extraordinary start to the welfare reform bill voting season. More votes will take place on similarly controversial issues in the next fortnight, including next week on disability living allowance.