cuts - Wednesday's Spending Review

[mrsbaldwin]

Brace yourself ladies - these cuts are big, there will be tens of thousands of public sector redundancies and it's said (by the Fawcett Society amongst others) that they will disproportionately affect women.

Some workers will get some sort of payoff, and some will be pleased to go. Some will find new jobs.

But I reckon the overall effect (licks finger and holds it in the wind) will be to drive down women's wages, meaning that once you are made redundant from your public sector post you may find more work but it will be at a lower rate and the extra competition for jobs across the board will drive wages down across the board. This may be true for men as well but I think it will affect women - mums - more.

If you are watching the press coverage on Weds, what do you think the effects of the cuts and the job losses for women (and mums) will be?

But at the moment many level 3 courses are funded by local authorities- it is all very smoke and whistles. It is impossible to know what is new money and what is being cut etc.

What goes for the scholarship fund to come in?

How do we find what the new cap be for Hb know mines above lha rates already so pay the surplus as they don't take into account reason I need seperate bedroom for ds is because of his sn

also if council tax benfit be cut that's even more to find out already stretched purse

Any news if there going to allow winter fuel alliance for disabled of just all pensioners regardless of income or us the bonus £10 a year get at Xmas meant to cover extra heating costs

I have been reading the Spending reveiw document, The main points regarding welfare I have picked up are as followed ( I hope they will answer some peoples questions, if not then pelase ignore me):

• Caps on the total amounts of benefits households can recieve, limit of about £500 a week for a couple and £350 a week for single.(households recieveing DLA, War Widows pensions or working tax credits are exempt)

• Withdrawing child benefit from households with a higher rate tax payer.

• Couples with children must work at least 24 hours a week between them to qualify for working tax credit.

• Lowering the amount of childcare costs that can be claimed from tax credits to 70%

• Freezing the basic element and 30 hour element of WTC for three years.

• Increase in child element above indexation by £30 at first, then £50

• 12 month time limit for contributopry ESA

• Increase shared room rate age from 25 to 35 for HB

• Reduce spening on council tax benefits by 10%

• removing the mobility componant of DLA for people in residential care

• Freezing maximum saving credit award, on pension credits

• Support for Mortgage interest scheme extended for another year, reduce the waiting period to 13 weeks, and raise the capital alowance to £200,000

• Cold wather payment tempory increase has been made permanent

• Uprate the basic state pension by triple guarentee of earning, 2.5% or prices, which ever is higher.

Sorry for the awful typing above

roundthebend4 I don't think there's been any change to winter fuel allowance.

Do we kmnow then the 24 hour cap comes in?

otherwise our worst fears are recognised as I am a FT carer and can't seem to get work around it, and DH has a FT training course as well as working and he can't get more than 20 hours out of the business right now. That should change over the next eyar (internet shop launch) but if ti's before then we're well fucked, frankly.

The 24 hour come in next april I think, that tax year is when the predicted savings start

' It's supposed to bring benefit recipients standard of living in line with those who work for a living. i.e., shared house until average ftb age = 37.

'

argh

most people on hb work

what's so hard about that basic gact?

Just to let you know, we've got a summary of the Spending Review which we're going to be adding to over the course of the day here

baggycoconut - arent changes to wtc going to come in over the next two years because of the talk of a universal benefit?

A lot of this is to do with the fact that statistically pensioners vote and young people don't.
I think crime is going to increase and since the old lady's will be the only ones worth robbing that isn't going to be pretty.

Ty

Ok as ds carer am protected to a point though would change that in. Instance if meant ge was not disabled

buggers regarding winter fuel allowance would been nice if this could been done fairer

And the 10% in council tax benefit I imagine might hit me

£500 a week sounds a lot. But my rent is £300 a week plus £60 pr so council tax that be£140 left to pay bills and feed 4 dc

Ironic someone told me im lucky as won't be affected since ds is disabled I nearly hit them

blimey, is this true??

"In the 1970s, 11 per cent of households in social housing had no earner, by 2003-04, this had risen to 69 per cent."

• Spending Review

why - Yes just checked and it is the freeze in basic and 30 hour coming in 2011. The 24 hour qualifiaction does start in 2012. I am looking at the tables stating how much will be saved each tax year, and basing these on that.

Yes, completely true. I was when I heard it on the radio at lunchtime. It's a terrible state of affairs.

Chandellina - I saw that and found it odd, as in GO speach he alluded the figure to being 30% now, so bit strange he cant seem to keep the figure stright himself.

Chandelina- yes, but becuase a very large % are retired: when I grew up on an estate in the seveties most were famillies- whose older members are now hitting retirement.

I think 70% of Mum's estate are retired, at least.

ok, i guess you'd have to know the proportion of pensioners, but they'd have to be the vast majority for that figure, and I can't imagine they are.

The top three costs are Health, followed by Defence followed by local government/communities.

Health is over 100 Billion!!!!!!

Defence is in the region of 40 Billion

Local government 33 Billion.

Would I be massively unreasonable if I suggested that the NHS is completely unsustainable?

Thanks baggycoconut - that is a bit of a shock, isn't it.

I had best start looking for a 8 hour job now

Actually Chanfe it wouldn;t surprise me:

think about it- with LT tenancies every young family esp. when the estates were built- 30' / 40's may have become elderly

Then pretty much all people in private rented move into state housing when tehy retiree as privates won;t touch most retired people.

Which I reckon could well be a lot.

Add in disability and sickness, which is clearly going to be over represented in state housing, then you're absolutely at a very large percent indeed. Especially when in manya reas you wont even get to the top of the list without such needs nowadays.

Which isn;t to say there isn;t a % who are choice, or even geneuine unemplioyed; but the figure is misleading.

Now, it seems the more I look that my ds's (ASD) are stuffed as neitehr would ever be able to sahre a room- oh no that's me stuffed, they will be here for life then, i'll never get to cut my rent bill; and ds32 will be on goodness knows what becuase he won;t be working and short of a miracle, ASD ain't gonna heal.

So, I now have to make our working hours up by 8 and simultabneously care for life; and it won;t affect the disabled and carer? LMAO.

Govcernment review document in entirety

Having number cru ched the best ways to reduce impact on me within real possible avenues (ie accepting Sn childcare is not available to me) are:

1. leave DH and be a single carer / Mum

2. put the ds's with autism in care and get a job. I'd like a job, but not at that cost.

3. The one we will satrt wioth- increase DH's business and me either become a partner or employee; this isn;t gusranteed in a recession obviously so 1 or 2 above may yet apply; and it will certainly mean DH being away more hours, therefore I will do more care alone, ergo I can be ebaten up more often (it atkes two just to bath DS1, as he flails and kicks out)

oh joy.

Hallowese You've missed out welfare and pensions