To ask you to submit your contribution to the Green Paper on PIP...

[WiddlinDiddlin]

Not interested in any benefits bashing, but if you want to make a contribution to the consultation, here's your chance to do it.

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/pathways-to-work-reforming-benefits-and-support-to-get-britain-working-green-paper

There is a Petition topic.

YABU for posting here.

PIP isn’t an out-of-work benefit, so that report title is ludicrous.

I wish we could go back to Labour being left wing and Conservatives being right.

People always emphasise that on here, but only one in six PIP claimants are in any form of employment. So it’s perfectly reasonable to look into the role of PIP in encouraging long term unemployment.

As someone who has worked in this area, the average number of responses to these consultations is extremely low, generally once you eliminate the useless ones (rants, political statements, random abuse, completely unworkable demands etc) there are well under 100. So please, please, if you want to seriously contribute to this do get involved. There are lots of accessible events with travel expenses paid on that link, as well as virtual ones.

Not a petition and deserves a lot more views than it'd get in there (given the number of responses to the thread in there, which has been up several days).

AIBU is rammed with benefits rage bait threads, so why not put this in front of those people, its their chance to have their say where it actually matters!

I strongly suspect this'll be forced in the direction of if you can work you won't get PIP or something of that ilk.

"encouraging long term unemployment"? Obviously nothing to do with the fact they might be too disabled to work

The topic is Petitions and activism, and it’s the perfect place for what you are doing.

What? Like the existence of the NHS encourages illness? That kind of “reasoning”? How very odd.

They have no idea how much expense will fall on local authorities and employers if they cut PIP as the delivery method for narrowing inequalities. They really need to get some competent advisers. Oh and legislate to make employers accept qualified disabled candidates.

I'd like to see the end of PI.P. It's a disaster.

And replace it with what?

In what way?

A sensible payment that pays out to disabled people.

How would this 'sensible payment' differ from PIP?

In my experience if you are in work and even if your employer has make significant adjustments to allow you to continue to work your're chance of making a successful claim for PIP are very slim. Many assessors automatically assume that if you can do some work then you can't be entitled to PIP.

Would you care to expand on that by any chance?

It’s absolutely true. I only got a PIP award in the end because I read the criteria after my second refusal and took it to tribunal. The PIP assessors were both absolutely obsessed with the fact I was in work. They clearly thought it was a “gotcha” issue. Two different geographical areas, several years apart.

So many claimants report similarly, so it’s quite obvious why PIP continues to disproportionately go to those who are out of work. Most disabled people who are in work, don’t have time or energy left over to pursue tribunal cases. I only attempted it when I had the flexibility of freelancing.

Even then, my main driver in pursuing it was my fury that they were ignoring their own criteria and all the evidence I gave them of the adjustments and additional expense it takes to keep me in work.

I’m by far (multiples) the higher earner in my marriage but I wouldn’t have got to my current level without throwing a lot of extra money at the issues that have cropped up over the years. I probably would have done PT and coasted. Not everyone has the funds spare to back themselves, and disability costs are high.

How very mysterious.

So no further elaboration on replacing a benefit that pays out to disabled people with... a benefit that pays out to disabled people.

I remain unenlightened.

Thanks for this. I want to respond but my response will be an angry and rambling mess.

I write really rude stuff... then delete it and write something more sensible once the emotion is gone. You can also write 'i don't know' if you don't know what to say to a question.

You don’t have to answer all questions you can answer only some of them.

thanks. It is really important our voices are heard. Am trying to encourage others to submit their contributions too.

I think a lot of people just don't realise they can contribute, or think that contributing is too difficult or they need to know all sorts of clever stuff. They really don't. Just answer the questions you can.

Thats why I posted it here - this has had nearly 3 x the responses the thread in Petitions and Activism has... hopefully thats quite a few more people having seen the consultation and contributed.

I've saved this thread but, since I'm much more likely to remember it if I see it in Threads I'm On, here's my ill-mannered placemark.