ROFA Comparison of Party Disability Manifestos, with added comments on Green Party’s Social Care Policies

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Jun 032017

UK Disabled People’s Reclaiming Our Futures Alliance

As DPAC has concerns about the Green Party manifesto pledge on social care we have not included an analysis of that at the moment. The reply we had with regard to our query relating to this seems incomprehensible to us at the moment.

https://dpac.uk.net/2017/06/dpac-concerns-social-care-proposals-green-party-manifesto/

reply “I understand that someone has been in touch but just to reiterate that we are in no way suggesting voluntary involvement replacing publicly funded services.

We are totally committed to improving opportunities and support for disabled people, and the community led support service in the disability manifesto is a way to try and put communities and disabled people at the centre of support services so their voices are heard, including providing additional investment, training and support where it is required.
The proposal means that care should be more responsive to the needs of the community and gives the community, and disabled people, a greater voice, being led by them, and being a person-centred approach.”

Manifesto Comparisons: what the parties are saying about Deaf and disability issues

Political party election manifestos differ in size, in format and in the issues they focus on depending on how a party wants to promote itself and to fit with its election campaign.

To make it easier to directly compare the GE2017 manifestos and what they have to say on Deaf and disability specific issues, we have pulled out relevant pledges and collated them under a number of themes below.

At the end of this document you will also find links to the main party political manifestos and to the accessible formats that different parties have made available.

We urge all London Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations to encourage your members to engage in the 2017 General Election and make sure they have or know how to get information to help them decide how to use their vote.

Accessible places and transport

Conservative party

“we will review disabled people’s access and amend regulations if necessary to improve disabled access to licensed premises, parking and housing. We will work with providers of everyday essential services, like energy and telecoms, to reduce the extra costs that disability can incur.”

Green party

“All public transport should be fully accessible and step-free with a phase-in of free local public transport for young people, students, people with disabilities, and older people.”

Labour party

“To make sure that autistic people are able to access the whole of their community and to put an end to social isolation, Labour will set the ambition to make our country autism-friendly.”

“On our railways…In public ownership, we will deliver real improvements for passengers… introducing legal duties to improve accessibility for people with disabilities.”

“We will reform the legislation governing taxi and private hire services, introducing national standards to guarantee safety and accessibility.”

“Sporting events must be open and accessible to all. We will push sports authorities to make rapid improvements on access provision for fans with disabilities.”

Liberal Democrat party

“Increase accessibility to public places and transport by making more stations wheelchair accessible, improving the legislative framework governing Blue Badges, setting up a benchmarking standard for accessible cities, and bringing into effect the provisions of the 2010 Equality Act on discrimination by private hire vehicles and taxis.”

British Sign Language

Green party

“The Green Party is committed to supporting the BSL (England & Wales) Act to make BSL an officially recognised language.”

Labour party

“Labour will give British Sign Language full recognition as a recognised language.”

Disability benefits/social security

Green party

“Redress benefits injustice with a social security system that gives everyone confidence they will get support when they need it, including disabled people.”

Labour party

“Scrap the punitive sanctions regime.”

“The Tories have completely failed on their promise of making work pay and on tackling the barriers to work faced by people with disabilities.”

“Labour will repeal the following cuts in social security support to people with disabilities through a new Social Security Bill published in our first year in office.

We will:

increase Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) by £30 per week for those in the work-related activity group, and repeal cuts in the UC limited capacity for work element;
increase Carer’s Allowance by £11 to the level of Jobseekers’ Allowance;
implement the court decision on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) so that there is real parity of esteem between those with physical and mental-health conditions;
scrap the Work Capability and Personal Independence Payment assessments and replace them with a personalised, holistic assessment process that provides each individual with a tailored plan, building on their strengths and addressing barriers.
Labour will end the privatisation of assessments;
end the pointless stress of reassessments for people with severe long-term conditions.”

“We will change the culture of the social security system, from one that demonises people not in work to one that is supportive and enabling. As well as scrapping the Conservatives’ punitive sanctions regime, we will change how Jobcentre Plus staff are performance-managed.”

Employment

Conservative party

“We will get 1 million more people with disabilities into employment over the next ten years. We will harness the opportunities of flexible working and the digital economy to generate jobs for those whose disabilities make traditional work difficult.”

“We will transform how mental health is regarded in the workplace. We will amend health and safety regulations so that employers provide appropriate first aid training and needs assessment for mental health, as they currently do for risks to physical health, and extend Equalities Act protections against discrimination to mental health conditions that are episodic and fluctuating. We will consider the findings of the Stevenson-Farmer Review into workplace mental health support, working with employers to encourage new products and incentives to improve the mental health and wellbeing support available to their employees. And, as we did with Dementia Friends, we will train one million members of the public in basic mental health awareness and first aid to break the stigma of mental illness.”

Labour party

“Commission a report into expanding the Access to Work programme.” “Autism covers a wide range of conditions that reflect neurological differences among people. We will work with employers, trade unions and public services to improve awareness of neurodiversity in the workplace and in society.”

“We will change the culture of the social security system, from one that demonises people not in work to one that is supportive and enabling.”

Housing

Conservative party:

“We will fix the dysfunctional housing market so that housing is more affordable and people have the security they need to plan for the future. The key to this is to build enough homes to meet demand. That will slow the rise in housing costs so more ordinary, working families can afford to buy a home and bring the cost of renting down… We will meet our 2015 commitment to deliver a million homes by the end of 2020 and we will deliver half a million more by the end of 2022… We will enter into new Council Housing Deals with ambitious, pro-development, local authorities to help them build more social housing.”

Green party:

“Abolish the cruel and unfair bedroom tax.” “Significantly improve housing choice for D/deaf, disabled and older people by requiring all councils to appropriately plan for their housing needs and significantly increase the numbers of homes built to lifetime home and mobility standards over the next 5 years.”

Labour party:

“We will remove government restrictions that stop councils building homes and begin the biggest council building programme for at least 30 years. We will ditch the Conservatives’ ban on long-term council tenancies to give council tenants security in their homes. We want more people to have a secure tenancy in a home built to high standards. Labour will scrap the punitive bedroom tax, which has caused many people to be evicted from their home and their community.”

Liberal Democrat party

“Reach a housebuilding target of 300,000 homes a year by 2022, including direct building by government.”

Mental Health

Conservative party

“It was Conservatives in government that gave parity of esteem to the treatment of mental health in the National Health Service. We have backed this with a significant increase in funding: since 2010 we have increased spending on mental health each year to a record £11.4 billion in 2016/17, with a further investment of £1 billion by 20/21, so that we can deliver the mental health services people deserve. We will now build on this commitment. First, we will address the need for better treatments across the whole spectrum of mental health conditions. We will make the UK the leading research and technology economy in the world for mental health, bringing together public, private and charitable investment. Improving treatment services will not be sufficient, however. We will also reform outdated laws to ensure that those with mental illness are treated fairly and employers fulfil their responsibilities effectively. The current Mental Health Act does not operate as it should: if you are put on a community treatment order it is very difficult to be discharged; sectioning is too often used to detain rather than treat; families’ information about their loved ones is severely curtailed – parents can be the last to learn that their son or daughter has been sectioned. So we will introduce the first new Mental Health Bill for thirty-five years, putting parity of esteem at the heart of treatment.”

Green party

“Bring mental health care in line with physical health care and ensure people experiencing mental health crises are supported close to their home and support networks. Introduce mental health awareness training within the public sector and encourage a more open dialogue on the issue in wider society.”

Labour party

“In order to protect services, we will ring-fence mental health budgets and ensure funding reaches the frontline. We will end the scandal of children being treated on adult mental health wards and stop people being sent across the country, away from their support networks, to secure the treatment they need by bringing forward the ending of out-of-area placements to 2019. Labour will also bring an end to the neglect of children’s mental health. Half of people with mental health problems as adults present with symptoms by the age of 14. Yet, across England only 8 per cent of mental health funding goes to services for children and young people. In recent years, referrals to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services have increased by two-thirds, and the number of young people presenting to A&E units with psychiatric conditions has doubled. Suicide is now the most common cause of death for boys aged between five and 19. Labour will invest in early intervention by increasing the proportion of mental health budgets spent on support for children and young people. We will ensure that access to a counselling service is available for all children in secondary schools. Giving mental health the same priority as physical health means not only ensuring access to services, but also making improvements, to those services. Choice is important in a modern NHS, and patients who receive their therapy of choice have better outcomes. Labour will therefore ask the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to evaluate the potential for increasing the range of evidence based psychological therapies on offer.”

Liberal Democrat party:

“Make waiting times for mental health care match those for physical health care.”

Rights

Conservative party

“We will build on the proud Conservative record in supporting those with disabilities, including the landmark Disability Discrimination Act of 1995. We want to see attitudes to disability shift as they have for race, gender and sexuality in recent years: it should be completely unacceptable for people with disabilities to be treated negatively.”

Green party

“Defend the Human Rights Act and UK membership of the European Convention on Human Rights, and reinstate funding for the Equality and Human Rights Commission.” “Action to tackle racism and discrimination on the basis of faith or disability, real equality for LGBTIQA+ people, equal rights for mixed gender couples to have a Civil Partnership.”

Labour party

“Labour supports a social model of disability. People may have a condition or an impairment but they are disabled by society. We need to remove the barriers in society that restrict opportunities and choices for people with disabilities. We will build on the previous Labour government’s commitment to people with disabilities in 2009 as signatories to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and incorporate it into UK law.”

“Labour will strengthen access to justice for people with disabilities by enhancing the 2010 Equality Act, enabling discrimination at work to be challenged. We will ensure that under the Istanbul Convention, disability hate crime and violence against women with disabilities is reported annually, with national actions plans to address these issues.”

“Labour will retain the Human Rights Act.”

“We will reintroduce funding for the preparation of judicial review cases. Judicial review is an important way of holding government to account. There are sufficient safeguards to discourage unmeritorious cases. We will review the legal aid means tests, including the capital test for those on income-related benefits. Labour will consider the reinstatement of other legal aid entitlements after receiving the final recommendations of the Access to Justice Commission led by Lord Bach.”

“We will extend the Freedom of Information Act to private companies that run public services.”

“A Labour government will enhance the powers and functions of [the Equality and Human Rights] commission, making it truly independent, to ensure it can support ordinary working people to effectively challenge any discrimination they may face. A Labour government will reinstate the public sector equality duties and seek to extend them to the private sector, ensuring all citizens benefit from this Labour legislation.”

“Labour will legislate to make terminal illness a protected characteristic under the Equality Act.”

Liberal Democrat party

“Defend human rights by opposing any attempt to leave the European Convention of Human Rights.”

Social care

Conservative party

“our forthcoming green paper will also address system-wide issues to improve the quality of care and reduce variation in practice. This will ensure the care system works better with the NHS to reduce unnecessary and unhealthy hospital stays and delayed transfers of care, and provide better quality assurance within the care sector. We will reduce loneliness and promote technological solutions to prolong independent living, and invest in dementia research. As the majority of care is informally provided, mainly by families, we will give workers a new statutory entitlement to carer’s leave, as enjoyed in other countries.”

[To note the Conservative manifesto also made a commitment to changing how much people have to pay for social care but since it came out the leader of the Conservatives Theresa May has done a u-turn. The manifesto says: “the value of the family home will be taken into account along with other assets and income, whether care is provided at home, or in a residential or nursing care home. Second, to ensure this is fair, we will introduce a single capital floor, set at £100,000, more than four times the current means test threshold. This will ensure that, no matter how large the cost of care turns out to be, people will always retain at least £100,000 of their savings and assets, including value in the family home. Third, we will extend the current freedom to defer payments for residential care to those receiving care at home, so no-one will have to sell their home in their lifetime to pay for care.” Their position now seems to be that the amount will not be £100,000 but will be set after the election.]

Labour party

“In our first term, Labour will lay the foundations of a National Care Service for England. Our first urgent task will be to address the immediate funding crisis. We will increase the social care budgets by a further £8 billion over the lifetime of the next Parliament, including an additional £1 billion for the first year. This will be enough for providers to pay a real living wage without cutting the quality of care they provide. It will allow implementation of the principles of the Ethical Care Charter, already adopted in 28 council areas, ending 15-minute care visits and providing care workers with paid travel time, access to training and an option to choose regular hours. Labour will also increase the Carer’s Allowance for unpaid full-time carers to align the benefit with rates of the Jobseeker’s Allowance… Improving the quality of social care is a vital part of providing dignity in older age and independence and support for people who are vulnerable or have a disability or a mental health condition. Labour will build a new National Care Service. We will also set out the funding alternatives clearly and honestly, seeking to implement change through consensus.”

Liberal Democrats

“Save the NHS by putting a penny in the pound on income tax to give the NHS and social care services the cash they need.”

“Our longer-term objective will be to bring together NHS and social care into one seamless service – pooling budgets in every area by 2020 and developing integrated care organisations.”

Links to GE2017 political party manifestos

Conservative party: https://www.conservatives.com/manifesto

Green party: https://www.greenparty.org.uk/green-guarantee/all-manifestos-alternative-formats.html

Labour party: https://www.labour.org.uk/index.php/manifesto2017

Liberal Democrat party: https://www.libdems.org.uk/manifesto

Manifesto accessible formats

The Conservative party has not produced any accessible formats.

Green party

Audio: https://www.greenparty.org.uk/assets/files/gp2017/Green%20Party%20pleges.mp3

British Sign Language: the Green party has produced BSL videos for each section of its manifesto

Easy read: https://www.greenparty.org.uk/assets/images/greenguarantee/gg-easyread-summary.pdf

Labour party

Audio: https://www.labour.org.uk/index.php/manifesto2017/accessible-manifesto#manifesto-Summary

Easy read: https://www.labour.org.uk/page/-/Images/manifesto-2017/LabourManifestoEASYREAD.pdf

Key manifesto pledges in Sign Supported English: https://www.labour.org.uk/index.php/manifesto2017/accessible-manifesto

Liberal Democrats

Audio part 1: https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/5909d4366ad575794c000000/attachments/original/1495189781/Lib_Dem_Manifesto_2017_Part_1.zip?1495189781

Audio part 2: https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/5909d4366ad575794c000000/attachments/original/1495189820/Lib_Dem_Manifesto_2017_Part_2.zip?1495189820

British Sign Language: https://www.libdems.org.uk/bsl

Easy read: https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/5909d4366ad575794c000000/attachments/original/1495011810/easy_read_manifesto.pdf?1495011810

#TrashTheTories – who to Vote for in 49 seats where Tories won with a minority number of the overall votes

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May 252017

At the 2015 election, 49 Conservative candidates won seats in which they polled fewer votes than the combined total of Labour, Liberal Democrats, Greens, Scottish Nationalists, Plaid Cymru, and Mebyon Kernow.

This list shows which came closest (Liberal Democrat 19, Labour 29, and SNP 1):

Aberconwy – Labour;

Bath – LD;

Bedford – Labour;

Berwick upon Tweed – LD;

Bolton West – Labour;

Brecon and Radnorshire – LD;

Brighton Kemptown – Labour;

Bristol North West – Labour;

Bury North – Labour;

Calder Valley – Labour;

Camborne and Redruth – Labour;

Canterbury – Labour;

Cardiff North – Labour;

Carmarthen West and Pembrokeshire South – Labour;

Cheadle – LD;

Cheltenham – LD;

Colchester – LD;

Corby – Labour/Labour Co-op;

Croydon Central – Labour;

Derby North – Labour;

Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale, and Tweeddale – SNP;

Eastbourne – LD;

Gower – Labour;

Hazel Grove – LD;

Kingston and Surbiton – LD;

Lewes – LD;

Lincoln – Labour;

Morley and Outwood – Labour;

Oxford West and Peterborough – LD;

Peterborough – Labour;

Plymouth and Moor View – Labour;

Plymouth Sutton and Devonport – Labour/Labour Co-op;

Portsmouth South – LD;

Reading East – Labour;

St Austell and Newquay – LD;

St Ives – LD;

Southampton Itchen – Labour/Labour Co-op;

Sutton and Cheam – LD;

Telford – Labour;

Thornbury and Yate – LD;

Thurrock – Labour;

Torbay – LD;

Twickenham – LD;

Vale of Clwyd – Labour;

Warrington South – Labour;

Watford – Labour;

Waveney – Labour;

Weaver Vale – Labour;

Yeovil – LD.

First They Came for Disabled People and Now for Pensioners

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May 192017

this is a press release from the national Pensioners’ Convention which shows just how savage the attacks against pensioners will be if the Tories are re-elected.

Conservatives offer “Frankenstein’s monster” of a plan to solve care crisis

Posted on May 18, 2017

Conservatives offer “Frankenstein’s monster” of a plan to solve care crisis

Britain’s biggest pensioner organisation, the National Pensioners Convention (NPC) has described the Conservative manifesto pledge on social care as a “Frankenstein’s monster of a plan” which bolts together a number of bad policies.

Jan Shortt, NPC general secretary said: “The Conservative’s manifesto pledge on social care offers the worst of all possible worlds for millions of older people and their families. It’s a Frankenstein’s monster of a plan which bolts lots of bad policies together and still fails to tackle the real unfairness in the care system.”

“Every single pensioner needing care at home will now be forced to pay, regardless of their income, because for the first time ever the value of their home will be taken into account, whilst the number of those in care homes that will benefit will be relatively small by comparison. What makes it worse is that to pay for this proposal, around nine million pensioners are going to lose their winter fuel allowance and all pensioners will see the value of their state pension fall once the triple lock is removed.”

“This plan has completely failed to spread the risk and cost of social care across society as a whole, and in effect has left the burden on the shoulders of millions of older people and their families. It’s actually quite unbelievable that the Conservatives, who rely on the support of older voters, would make such a controversial and punitive proposal. They clearly have no intention of solving the social care crisis.”

#TrashTheTories – Join us in Maidenhead June 3rd from 2pm

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May 142017

#TrashTheTories

Maidenhead – Saturday June 3^rd meet for 2pm at rail station forecourt.

Please join us if you can as Maidenhead which is Theresa May’s constituency has been chosen for Disabled People Against Cuts last national demonstration before the General Election.

With the station as the starting point at 2pm DPAC will take its message #TrashTheTories to the heart of Theresa May’s constituency to highlight the horrors that disabled people have faced on a daily basis since they came to power in 2010.

The UN has found the UK government guilty of the grave and systematic violation of disabled people’s human rights and we will be making it clear that enough is enough, to the voters of Maidenhead.

The Tories have heartlessly attacked disabled people with their vicious anti-austerity cuts which have hit disabled people 9 times more than any other group and those with the highest support needs 19 times more.

In all the years we have been campaigning, it has never felt so desperately important to get the public to understand; Tory policies are starving, isolating and ultimately killing us.

Trains to Maidenhead leave from Paddington station about every 15 minutes and take between 30-47 minutes. The train company is Great Western and return fare is £11.80.

Some funding is available to cover travel costs and if you need help with these email us mail@dpac.uk.net

Life goes on amidst the election chaos – help needed with research

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May 122017

Digital Games for Rehabilitation and Recommender Apps with Privacy Management for Disabled People

I am a senior lecturer in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Glasgow and am a member of DPAC Glasgow. I am carrying out this survey with an Italian colleague. We are both disabled.

The survey covers two related studies on (i) digital games in the rehabilitation of disabled people and (ii) mobile recommender apps with privacy management for disabled people. It has ethical approval from the University of Glasgow

Please do consider participating. Please contact me if you would like further information

Contact details: Dr Marion Hersh, marion.hersh@glasgow.ac.uk.

Survey link (English version): https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/3515817/Digital-Games-for-Rehabilitation-and-Recommender-Apps-with-Privacy-Management-for-Disabled-People

Survey link (Italian version): https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/3552385/Giochi-per-la-riabilitazione-delle-persone-disabili

There are also companion versions for teachers, therapists and other professionals working with disabled people which will be available online soon. Please contact me for the links.

Further information: There is increasing interest in the use of games in education and rehabilitation and a large and ever increasing number of mobile apps. There may therefore be potential for the use of games in the rehabilitation of disabled people and the development of recommender apps to aid disabled people in finding products that meet their needs. Both rehabilitation games and mobile recommender apps may obtain information about the user and the context. This raises the issues of privacy management. However there are few studies which examine these issues from the perspective of disabled people. This research is aimed to fill these gaps. We aim to collect information, opinions, suggestions and expectations about the use of (i) digital and interactive games in the rehabilitation of disabled people and (ii) the use of recommendation apps with privacy management for disabled people. This brief questionnaire is intended for disabled people and the parents of disabled children under 16, who will complete it on their behalf.

Write Urgently to Your Local Newspaper #TrashTheTories

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May 082017

It is vitally important that every disabled, and young person is registered to vote as both groups are under-represented in elections.

We are therefore asking all DPAC supporters to write urgently ie. this week to their local papers.

Here is a template letter you can use

Dear Editor,

I’d like to invite any readers who aren’t yet registered to vote to register before May 22^nd and to use their vote in the forthcoming General Election.

You can register on-line in minutes at https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

All you need is your National Insurance number or alternatively you can register by phoning Electoral Services at your local council.

Anyone who may not find it easy to get to the polling station can also ask for a postal vote or proxy vote before May 23^rd.

Make your vote count in this election.

Yours faithfully,

Doris Day

You can find contact details for your local paper by googling.

Call out for people living in or near Pembrokeshire

News, Action, All Posts, Benefits No Responses »

May 072017

Do you live in or near Pembroskeshire and have been affected by Tory cuts?

If so, we want to hear your story.

We’re putting a newspaper piece together for Pembrokeshire newspapers and desperately need your stories. Our aim to publish a collection of people’s stories to maximize the impact of the piece.

Please write to us if;

You know someone, or have yourself been affected by Tory benefit cuts?
You know someone, or have yourself had to use food banks?
You know someone, or have yourself been made to go on a workfare program?
You know someone, or have yourself had your disability benefits cut even though you (or they) are unfit for work?
You know someone, or have yourself been made homeless as a result of Tory policies.
You know someone, or have yourself fallen into debt due to working family (or working) tax credits cuts?
You know someone, or have yourself fallen into debt due to bedroom tax or other cuts.
You know someone, or have yourself been forced to use payday loans due to benefit cuts.
Have you been sanctioned unfairly? Do you know anyone who has? Do you have any other stories you would be willing to share with us?
You can remain anonymous if you prefer to do so. Anything you tell us will be treated in the strictest of confidence.
PLEASE tell us your story, the local press in Pembrokeshire are waiting to hear. We need your stories to tell the wider public what is really going on! And we have already been told that we will be published so PLEASE send them in to us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yours, Pembrokeshire People’s Assembly Against Austerity.

Email Lynda; pembrokeshirepeoplesassembly@ gmail.com

Or contact us vis the Pembrokeshire People’s Assembly (against austerity) Facebook page here; https://www.facebook.com/ groups/172685536228983/

Many thanks,
And we look forward to hearing from you “

DPAC Direct Action workshops : Lock Up Your Wheelchairs

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May 052017

Do you want to share and develop your skills around organising with other disabled people in your area?

Do you want to learn new skills?

If you’re interested then come and join DPAC Disabled People Against Cutson the ‘Lock Up Your Wheelchairs Tour’ in Leeds and other venues around the country.

DPAC has been at the fore-front of street resistance to austerity since their formation in 2010.

Disabled people have led the fight against welfare reforms. Remploy closure, closure of the Independent Living Fund, Atos, Maximus and many, many more issues.

Now DPAC are undertaking a visit to places around the country to hear from local people what the issues and campaign priorities are locally; and to work with local disabled people and their allies in sharing and developing campaign skills.

To address these the one-day workshops will cover areas such as:Planning & carrying out Direct Action which is inclusive & accessible for all.

Media Skills – Messaging, Press Releases, Doing Interviews

Legal Advice – Knowing Your Rights

Keeping Safe & Secure

Banner/Prop Making

Other area specific issues identified by local disabled people

i) we need to confirm venues (Think DPO’s, trade unions buildings,

community centres etc). So the questions are:

ii) do you have access to an accessible space for around 20-25 people

that we can use for a whole day – for free?

iii) do you know where such a venue might be locally (either free or

cheap)?

iv) can you contact them with a view to getting a date and/or ?
v) if not,

but you want to take part and have no capacity to sort venue, let us

know.

If you are a local disabled person, or non disabled ally and you would like

to attend the tour email us at mail@dpac.uk.net

Please also let us know if you have any specific access requirements or

questions.

These sessions will also need some volunteer support on the day from

local allies. Local activist groups, i.e. Antifa etc, BSL interpreters, PAs.

A poster with all dates confirmed and venues will be released soon.

Places on all can be booked via mail@dpac.uk.net

Greater Manchester 6th may

Chesterfield 20th may

Norwich June 3rd

Leeds 1st July

at 10.30 am

Glasgow 29th July

South London – to be confirmed

Direct Action Workshops with Reclaim the Power, Hebden Bridge, Nottingham and South East

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May 052017

Fighting Fracking? Get skilled up! – Come to one of the amazing Anti-Fracking Training weekends in Hebden Bridge 14th -15th May and Nottingham 3rd-4th June. London/Southeast to be confirmed.

As well as getting lots of skills, knowledge and practice these weekends will be important for networking with others who are resisting fracking in your region – a place to share ideas and resources to help build a stronger, more cohesive movement.

Facilitated by experienced trainers from Seeds for Change and Green and Black Cross, this is a great opportunity to find out about non-violent direct action as an additional, effective tool to combat fracking. We hope that, by reaching people from many communities and groups determined to resist this unnecessary, damaging threat to our environment, our training weekends will help strengthen the movement.
Topics we will cover include:

Why direct action?
Practical direct action techniques
Being creative, capturing the imagination
Planning and organising an action – what is involved?
Buddies and affinity groups
Media – getting the message out
Legal training
As well as learning a lot, we expect to build solidarity and have fun!

To find out more, get in contact and download the application forms, visit the page on the website:https://reclaimthepowe r.org.uk/fracking/direct- action-training/

May 23rd, Bristol, How to Survive Disability Benefits

News, Access to Work, Action, All Posts, Benefits 1 Response »

May 042017

How to Survive Disability Benefits

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/670546233151595/

23 May at 19:00–21:00

Trinity Centre

Trinity Road, BS2 0NW Bristol, United Kingdom

Over the past seven years the government has practically declared war on

those with disabilities, long term illnesses or any other conditions

that make life difficult. Support services that enabled us to work or

live normal lives have been stripped away. At the same time the

politicians and their media lackeys label us ‘lazy’ and ‘scroungers’.

Surviving on Employment Support Allowance (ESA) means navigating an

intentionally brutal bureaucracy coupled with a culture of disbelief. It

also means making it through the dreaded Work Capability Assessments,

that have contributed to the deaths of hundreds of people declared ‘fit

to work’.

Making it through all this is often damaging to our health. It can be

stressful, isolating, anxiety inducing, and seems setup to create the

sort of ‘mistakes’ that can leave people penniless. It doesn’t always

have to be this way! We can come together to support each other through

the processes. We’ll be sharing knowledge, tips and tricks to making it

through ESA and look at ways we can join together to confront the system

head on.

This should be of use to anyone who is on ESA and/or related benefits

such as PIP or supporting someone who is. Please be aware this is a

skill share and there won’t be time for folks to offer comprehensive

advice on individual cases (although we can help direct you to places

that offer further support).

Trinity is a very accessible venue, details are here:

https://www.3ca.org.uk/accessibility If you have any accessibility needs

beyond those listed please contact either the venue or ourselves

bristol@afed.org.uk

As always this event is free to attend, but donations to help cover room

hire are appreciated. Hot & Cold drinks & snacks will be available to

keep you going. We’ll also have some anarchist pamphlets, papers,

magazines and stickers some for free/donation and others for a few quid.

Keep an eye out for future events, including our monthly Capitalism: a

Survival Guide workshops!

Please remember that whilst we encourage debate of ideas, we do not

tolerate attacks on individuals; especially in a way that uses

oppressive or threatening behaviour. Whilst we are not at our usual

venue of Hydra Books this month, we’ll still stick to their safer spaces

policy which you can read here : https://www.hydrabooks.org/safer-spaces/

Stop Cuts to Independent Living in Camden, May 8th 6.15pm

News, Action, Independent Living No Responses »

May 042017

Stop Camden Council cuts to social care

· NO hiking up care & transport charges to older and disabled people

· NO closing Netherwood dementia centre & others

· YES to free homecare as in Hammersmith & Fulham

Camden Adult Social Care scrutiny committee meets about these plans onMonday 8 May 2017

Town Hall, Judd Street, London WC1H 9JE

King’s Cross/Euston tube

6.15pm join Save Netherwood Campaign, People’s Centre for Change and WinVisible outside the Town Hall

7pm in Council Chamber – our deputations will speak to councillors, please come and support.

Image may contain: 17 people, people smiling, people standing

Watch on webcast:

https://camden.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/285252

More info: WinVisible 020 7482 2496 win@winvisible.org

Yes to free, quality care — we’ve earned it!

No to charging, rationing, profiteering and neglect.

Apparently they’re Liars & Cheats but they’re Tories so what would you expect – Mass tweetout

Action, All Posts, Politics 1 Response »

Apr 242017

These are a list of GE 2015 election fraud MPs who cheated to win their seats. Their twitter names are included in this post and we suggest people remind them of what they’ve done. You might also like to add in @theresa_may to any tweets you make.

The twitter details are collated at the end of the post for easier use.

Wells

James Heappey beat Liberal Democrat Tessa Munt by 7,585 votes.
Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat) 18,662 32.8%

Spending limit: £16,092.51

Declared: £14,575.64

Not declared: bus, hotels, food

Total estimated overspend: £633.13

@JSHeappay

Northampton North

Michael Ellis beat Labour’s Sally Keeble by 3245 votes.

Spending limit: £12,248.64
Declared: £11,418.70

Not declared: bus, hotels, food

Total estimated overspend: £1,320.06

@Michael_Ellis1

North Cornwall

Scott Mann beat Liberal Democrat Dan Rogerson by 6,621 votes.

Spending limit: £14,732.43
Declared: £14,476.55
Not declared: hotels, food.

@scottmannmp

Weaver Vale

Graham Evans beat Labour’s Julia Tickridge by 806 votes.

Spending limit: £14,856.63

Declared: £13,720.32Not declared: bus, hotels, food

Total estimated overspend: £1,013.69

@GrahamEvansMP

Sherwood

Mark Spencer beat Labour’s Léonie Mathers by 4647 votes.

Spending limit: £15,187.20
Declared: £12,760.00

Not declared: bus, hotels, food

Total estimated overspend: £277.20

@Mark_Spencer

Thornbury and Yate

Luke Hall beat Liberal Democrat Steve Webb by 1495 votes.

Spending Limit: £14,709.21
Declared: £13,128.08

Not declared: bus, hotels, food

Total estimated overspend: £568.87

@LukeHallMP

Kingston

James Berry beat Liberal Democrat Ed Davey by 2834 votes.

Spending limit: £13,660.32
Declared: £12,296.37

Not declared: bus, hotels, food

Total estimated overspend: £786.05

@JamesBerryMP

Broxtowe

Anna Soubry beat Labour’s Nick Palmer by 4287 votes.
Conservative gain

Spending limit: £15,000.09
Declared: £14,106.96

Not declared: bus, hotels, food, except for £140 paid to Beeston Conservative Club for “refreshments for Team 2015 activists”

Total estimated overspend: £1,256.87

@Anna_Soubry

Amber valley

Nigel Mills beat Labour’s Kevin Gillott by 4205 votes

Spending limit: £14955.09
Declared: £13881.62

Not declared: bus, hotels, food

Total estimated overspend: £1,076.53

@NigelMillsMP

Morecambe and Lunesdale

David Morris beat Labour’s Amina Lone by 4,590 votes.

Spending limit: £14,626.23
Declared: £14,118.09

Not declared: bus, hotels, food

Total estimated overspend: £1,641.86

@Davidmpmorris

Yeovil

Marcus Fysh beat Liberal Democrat David Laws by 5313 votes.

Spending limit: £16,242.54

Declared: £14,870.73

Not declared: bus, hotels, food

Total estimated overspend: £778.19

@MarcusFysh

Pudsey

Stuart Andrew beat Jamie Hanley by 4,501 votes.

Spending limit: £12,823.38
Declared: £12,314.60

Not declared: bus, hotels, food

Total estimated overspend: £1,641.22

@StuartAndrew

Plymouth Sutton and Devonport

Oliver Colvile beat Labour’s Luke Pollardby 523 votes.

Spending limit: £12,846.18

Declared: £8,769.37

Not declared: bus, hotels, food

Total estimated overspend: £1,926.81

@olivercolville

Lincoln

Karl McCartney beat Labour’s Lucy Rigby by 1,443 votes.

Spending limit: £13,136.28

Declared: £12,628.68

Not declared: bus, hotels, food

Total estimated overspend: £1,642.40

@KarlmccartneyMP

Torbay

Kevin Foster beat Liberal Democrat Adrian Sanders by 3,286 votes.

Spending limit: £13,217.88
Declared: £12,193.42

Not declared: bus, hotels, food

Total estimated overspend: £1,125.54

@Kevin-j-foster

South Thanet

Craig Mackinlay beat UKIP’s Nigel Farage by 2,812 votes.

Spending limit: £15,016.38
Declared: £14,837.77

Not declared: bus, hotels, food

Total estimated overspend: £1,971.39

No twitter

Nuneaton

Marcus Jones beat Labour’s Vicky Fowler by 4,882 votes.

Spending limit: £14,768.88
Declared: £13,435.51

Not declared: bus, hotels, food

Total estimated overspend: £816.63

@MarcusJonesMP

Cannock Chase

Amanda Milling beat Labour’s Janos Toth by 4,923 votes.

Spending limit: £15,355.23
Declared: £14,465.95

Not declared: bus, hotels, food

Total estimated overspend: £1,260.72

@amandamilling

Cheltenham

Alex Chalk beat Liberal Democrat Martin Horwood by 6,516 votes.

Spending limit: £13,229.34
Declared: £12,576.45
Not declared: bus, hotels, food

Total estimated overspend: £1,497.11

@AlexChalkChelt

Dudley South

Mike Wood beat Labour’s Natasha Millward by 4,270 votes.

Spending limit: £12,295.68
Declared: £11,452.60

Not declared: bus, hotels, food

Total estimated overspend: £1,306.92

@mikejwood

Sutton and Cheam

Paul Scully beat Liberal Democrat Paul Burstow by 3,921 votes.

Spending limit: £12,760.38

Declared: £12,461.20

Not declared: bus, hotels, food

Total estimated overspend: £1,850.82

@scullyp

Bury North

David Nuttall beat Labour’s James Frith by 378 votes.

Spending limit: £12755.40

Declared: £7151.30

Not declared: bus, hotels, food

Total estimated overspend: £3,448.10

@DavidNuttallMP

Following further investigation by Channel 4 News, another six MPs have been identified who were visited by the Battlebuses but failed to declare the costs.

They are Neil Carmichael, MP for Stroud, @stroud-neil

George Eustice, MP for Camborne & Redruth, twitter account not used

Jake Berry, MP for Rossendale and Darwen, @JakeBerry

William Wragg, MP for Hazel Grove, @William_Wragg

John Stevenson, MP for Carlisle, @JohnStevensonMP

Mary Robinson, MP for Cheadle @MaryRobinson01

Collated twitter details

@JSHeappay, @stroud-neil, @JakeBerry, @William_Wragg,

@JohnStevensonMP, @DavidNuttallMP, @scullyp, @mikejwood,

@amandamilling,@AlexChalkChelt, @MaryRobinson01, @StuartAndrew,

@olivercolville,@KarlmccartneyMP,@Kevin-j-foster,@MarcusJonesMP, 3

@JSHeappay, @Michael_Ellis1,@scottmannmp,@GrahamEvansMP,@Mark_Spencer,

@LukeHallMP,@JamesBerryMP,@Anna_Soubry,@NigelMillsMP,

@Davidmpmorris,@MarcusFysh

With thanks to Daily Mirror for this information from their article

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/busted-29-tories-how-broke-7467603

#TrashTheTories May 2nd meet 12pm Old Palace Yard

Action, All Posts 1 Response »

Apr 222017

13 million Disabled Voters say time for politicians to take us seriously May 2nd meet 12.15 pm Old Palace Yard
As more and more disabled people are affected daily by the vicious cuts inflicted on us by the Tories. Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) are calling on all disabled people to register and vote in the forthcoming General Election to make sure that the Tories cannot win.The 13 million disabled voters in the UK and their families very much hold the balance of power in this election, yet politicians continue to ignore us as a serious political force – but we are and will prove this in 2017.
With the Trash the Tories (#TrashTheTories) campaign, DPAC will be making sure that disabled people and their demands are not forgotten by candidates in the forthcoming election. Nor will we sit back quietly now the UN has found this Conservative government guilty of the “Grave and Systematic violation” of disabled people’s human rights.
Our lively protest on the final day that Parliament sits before the election will be followed up by further actions around the country against politicians who have voted for policies harmful to disabled people since 2010. This will culminate with a protest in Theresa May’s constituency of Maidenhead. 
Funding available to help with any travel or PA costs you may have. If help needed please email details to mail@dpac.uk.net
 
Further reading 

The 5 Tory benefit cuts taking force this week that could affect YOU
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/tory-benefit-cuts-today-disability-10144250?service=responsiveCancer patient’s family stands to lose £50k under benefit cuts
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/apr/02/cancer-patients-family-stands-to-lose-50k-under-benefit-cuts
Benefit cuts: Five cuts coming into force this week – and they could affect you

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/benefit-cuts-five-cuts-coming-into-force-this-week-and-they-could-affect-you/story-30248892-detail/story.html
Limited life changes of disabled people in Britain revealed by damming report

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/apr/03/limited-life-chances-of-disabled-people-in-britain-revealed-by-damning-report
Imminent tax benefit cuts set to hit families hard and benefit the richest

https://www.itv.com/news/2017-04-05/imminent-tax-and-benefit-cuts-set-to-hit-families-hard-and-benefit-the-richest/
ESA disability benefits are changing – THE WEEK – here’s what you need to know

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/esa-disability-benefits-changing-week-10169466
Charity highlights impact of move from DLA to PIP

https://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/23869
Universal credit benefit just changed today- here’s how it will affect you

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/universal-credit-benefits-just-changed-10197976
UK cutting benefits for people with incurable disease

https://presstv.ir/Detail/2017/04/10/517472/UK-Benefit-DWP-PIP
50000 disabilied people lose adapted vehicles in Tory benefits shake-up

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/50000-disabled-people-lose-adapted-10203451
The DWP decided to take away a disabled women’s Motability car after tickling her with a feather

ww.thecanary.co/2017/04/12/dwp-decided-take-away-disabled-womans-motability-tickling-feather/
Thousands of disabled people lose special cars due to controverial scheme

https://www.itv.com/news/border/2017-04-12/thousands-lose-cars-due-to-change-in-disability-benefits/
Disability benefit claimant was asked why she had not killed herself

https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/disability-benefit-claimant-was-asked-why-she-had-not-killed-herself/
Companies behind controversial disability tests set to get millions more in cash than planned

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/companies-behind-controversial-disability-tests-12891576
Man who lost mobility scooter under PIP brands assessment “outrageous” as 50000 have vehicles taken away

https://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/health/man-who-lost-mobility-scooter-under-pip-brands-assessment-system-outrageous-as-50-000-have-vehicles-taken-away-1-4975759
Pushed to the brink

https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-c9a6-Pushed-to-the-brink#.WQCrUYjyuUk
Unfair disability benefit changes

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/yoursay/letters/15227004._Unfair_disability_benefit_changes_/
Sharp rise in rejected claims for disability benefit

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/apr/17/sharp-rise-in-rejected-claims-for-disability-benefit
Shock rise of people given ZERO points in the Tories’ cruel disability benefit tests

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/shock-rise-people-given-zero-10237346
DWP’s unfair twist for disabled people

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/apr/17/dwps-unfair-twist-for-disabled-people
200000 people facing cuts to disabiliy benefit

https://home.bt.com/news/uk-news/200000-people-facing-cuts-to-disability-benefit-11364173718886
The systematic Tory abuse of disabled people

https://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/the-systematic-tory-abuse-of-disabled.ht

Time to Trash the Tories #TrashTheTories #GE2017

All Posts, Action, Politics, Who2Vote4? 8 Responses »

Apr 202017

General Election Meme #TrashTheTories

You can download all the graphic images for the #TrashTheTories Campaign here to use yourself and share.

Take part in our online #TrashTheTories campaign

This week Theresa May announced yet another Tory U-turn scrapping their fixed term parliaments to call a surprise General Election. This couldn’t possibly be because the CPS is likely to charge 30 of the corrupt bastards with fraud I suppose?

Like most other people I’ve probably had enough elections in the past couple of years to last almost a lifetime but it does give us all an opportunity to show how powerful disabled voters are and to get rid of the Tory vermin once and for all. And we need to do that for all of those previously driven to their deaths and for others still being harassed and vilified simply for being disabled.

For the past 7 years disabled people have been treated as scapegoats for the rancid and vile Osborne austerity agenda. As a group of people we have endured cuts which have impacted on us 9 times more than others and for those with the highest support needs 19 times more. The UN has found the UK Tory government guilty of the grave and systematic violation of disabled people’s human rights thanks to the efforts of DPAC and our supporters who presented evidence to the inquiry carried out in October 2015. So we have indisputable evidence from an internationally respected organisation about the atrocities people have been forced to endure.

It is vital that disabled people and their friends and families are registered to vote on June 8^th and that they do vote to get rid of the Tories.

The deadline to register to vote is Monday 22nd May. If millions of people register in the next two weeks, then we’ll have already won.

Here are things you can do to make it happen:

1. Don’t lose your vote

If you’re not already registered to vote, register now. It takes just 2 minutes, and all you need is your national insurance number. Remember, if you’re a UK resident from the Republic of Ireland or a Commonwealth country you’re eligible to vote.

If you’re not sure where you’ll be on 8th June, make sure you register for a postal vote. Just fill out this form and post or email it to your Electoral Registration Office. It must reach them by 5pm on 23rd May, so make sure to send it this week.

If you want a postal proxy you must apply by Tuesday 23 May.

If you want a different type of proxy vote (someone to vote for you), you must apply by Wednesday 31 May.

For an emergency proxy vote, for example if you end up in hospital, it’s 5pm on the day of the election.

2. Get everyone you know to register

If every single one of us gets five people to register, we’ll win this election. Do your bit, make sure your friends and family are all registered to vote by 22nd May.

Share this video

Share this video on your Facebook and forward this email to five people telling them to register to make their mark on this historic election.

While real change is unlikely to happen without a leftist Labour party in power our first battle must be against the Tories and ridding ourselves of them. In the 2015 general election Ed Miliband effectively threw away the bulk of the Labour vote in Scotland by refusing to run on an anti-austerity agenda and this will be problematic this time round but not impossible to combat.

What if you have a Labour MP who you don’t think it’s worth voting for? I’ve already seen people in Southwark saying they would never vote for the Labour MP there and then there’s Birmingham Yardley’s MP, Edgbaston’s MP and others. Worse could you/should you vote Lib Dem aka the little yellow Tories with a seemingly homophobic leader if they offer the opportunity to trash the Tories? Tactical voting to eradicate one scourge on mankind or voting from the heart might be the choice only you can make.

You’re all adults so in spite of requests we have no intention of telling you how you should vote but will be presenting various facts, figures and policies for you to consider over the next few weeks plus organising some fun activities on and off-line for you to take part in.

Graphic Images to download and share (all made by the ever-brilliant Brian Hilton)

You can also download all the graphic images for the #TrashTheTories Campaign from here https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B37vGQoIDyPrVFBITDVoQkNzX0k

General Election Meme #TrashTheTories Ballott Box Meme for the #TrashTheToriesCampaign Loud hailer meme for the #TrashTheTories Campaign

Theresa May “Our Blood on Her Hands” Memes

Theresa May "Our Blood on Her Hands" Memes #1

Downloadable Leaflet

Lost DLA or PIP due to 20 metre rule?

News, Action, All Posts, Benefits 7 Responses »

Apr 122017

Have you lost DLA or PIP due to the change in descriptors from 50 metres to 20 metres in the mobility test.

If so and you’re willing to speak to a journalist about this please contact Emily Dugan from Buzzfeed news. They are doing a series of articles about disability cuts and need to speak to people.

emily.dugan@buzzfeed.com

020 3814 1907 | 077 1770 2566

@emilydugan

West Midlands Mayoral Campaign

News, Action, All Posts No Responses »

Apr 102017

ITV are filming with the West Midlands Mayoral Candidates on Wed 19th April at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.

They are looking for someone who has had or is having problems getting accessible accommodation in that area and would be happy to ask questions to the candidates about what they might do to improve the situation for those with a disability.

If you can help please contact Alice Key | Production Journalist | ITV News Central

www.itv.com/central

alice.key@itv.com
084488 14131.

Twitter: @alice1992key

April 29th East London, MH campaigning event

News, Action, All Posts, Mental Health, MHRN No Responses »

Apr 012017

A group in East London are putting on a MH event on Sat 29 April.

Here’s the eventbrite link.

Please book if you want to come, and circulate to anyone you think might interested.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-irresistible-rise-of-mental-health-crisis-taking-a-stand-in-east-london-tickets-33110761178

This is a meeting for organisations and individuals involved in campaigning around mental health in East London. We want to offer a space for people to get together and talk about how we might support each other and share resources in the face of the growing crisis in the UK’s psychological welfare and mental health provision – in the boroughs of East London in particular.

We are a group of mental health professionals and service users campaigning around various aspects of mental health and welfare, some of us involved with the Mental Wealth Alliance and its campaigns around workfare and the psycho-compulsion of benefits claimants with mental health difficulties.

We have hired the Scott Room at Oxford House for the day, and will be putting on a free showing of I, Daniel Blake to help us tune in to the connections between psychological distress and austerity politics – poverty, homelessness, the housing crisis, benefit cuts and the dismantling of the welfare state, low wages and zero-hour contracts, ever-increasing inequalities of wealth, income and resources, cuts and privatisation in all public services.

The rough programme for the day is:

10.00 am arrive – coffee and tea
10.30 am introductions – who we are and what we are interested in.
11.15 am showing of Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake and discussion
1.15 – 2.00 pm lunch together – bring food to share
2.00 – 3.30 pm how can we support each other in our campaigns and our lives?

The event is free. We will be asking people on the day to donate what they can towards the costs.

Potential Legal Challenge to £30 p.w. ESA Cut – defendants needed

News, Action, All Posts, Benefits, legal challenges 4 Responses »

Apr 012017

From Monday (3rd April), new recipients of employment and support allowance deemed healthy enough to carry out ‘work related activities’ will get up to £1,500 less each year than existing recipients. Anyone who feels able to work and does so for over 12 weeks but then needs to reclaim ESA will be treated as a new claimant.

When this cut was announced DPAC sought the views of a barrister as to whether this could be legally challenged and the answer was once someone is affected by it then it can be challenged.

We are in touch with a solicitor who is keen to pursue a legal challenge and therefore need to find someone eligible for legal aid willing to make one. We believe this could not only be a new claimant but anyone who might wish to work more than 12 weeks but who would then be disadvantaged if they needed to reclaim ESA at a later date.

If anyone is interested in knowing more and able to help with this incredibly important legal challenge please email us mail@dpac.uk.net or contact us via @dis_ppl_protest

The Institute of Fiscal Studies has put forward a useful round up of this savage cut

https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/9117

Cut to employment and support allowance

Employment and support allowance (ESA) is the main out of work benefit for working age individuals who are judged not to be ‘fit for work’ due to a health condition. There are currently around 2.2 million individuals claiming ESA, of whom 250,000 are waiting for a health assessment, 1.6 million are in the ‘support group’, and 400,000 are the ‘work-related activity group’ (WRAG). The latter group are those deemed healthy enough to carry out ‘work related activities’, such as CV preparation or skills training.

From next Monday (3^rd April) new WRAG claimants will receive £73.10 a week – the same as jobseekers’ allowance (JSA) claimants – rather than £102.15 a week as is currently the case (those in the support group are unaffected). This change will not create immediate losses of benefit income, because only new recipients are affected. Ultimately though, of course, all claims will be assessed under the new less generous rules. To give a sense of how quickly this will cut the generosity of benefits in practice, in the recent past around 60,000 people a year have started an ESA claim and ended up in WRAG – so we would expect approximately that number to get less money over the coming year than they would otherwise have got. In the long run this is expected to save the government about £650 million per year, with around 500,000 recipients getting £1,400 a year less than they would otherwise have got, on average.

What do we know about the sorts of people who are placed in the ESA WRAG? First, around half of them are entitled to ESA because of mental or behavioural disorders. Second, they tend to be somewhat older than JSA claimants, with about half being between 50 and the state pension age compared to about a quarter for JSA. Third, they tend to be on ESA for a relatively long time, as shown in Figure 1. Hence, while this change will align the weekly entitlements of ESA WRAG and JSA claimants, it is worth bearing in mind that the ESA claimants will tend to live on these amounts for substantially longer – around four in five WRAG claimants have been claiming for over two years, compared to less than one in five for JSA.

Figure 1. Proportion of claimants by length of claim, various benefits

Note: Before being placed in WRAG or support group or being declared ‘fit to work’, claimants must go through an assessment, during which they are entitled only to the basic JSA rate. The above data include time spent in the assessment phase, which typically takes at least 13 weeks. This is part of the reason why the ‘up to 6 months’ bars are small for the WRAG and support group. However, since this policy only affects claimants post-assessment, the left-hand stacked bar does give an accurate picture of claim durations for the group affected by the policy change. Source: DWP Tabulation Tool: Employment and Support Allowance, May 2016, Office for National Statistics, UK Labour Market: March 2017, Table BEN02

People might respond to this change in several ways. First, they may not choose to claim ESA in the first place: since JSA will afford the same financial support as WRAG, the financial incentives to go through the medical assessment rather than accept the additional work conditions of JSA are reduced. Second, those placed in the WRAG might challenge the decision to try to get into the support group and receive the now much higher entitlement. At the moment around 20% of those placed in WRAG challenge the decision at least once, so there is considerable scope for this to become more prevalent. Third, as the government’s policy costing document points out, they may try to claim other benefits. The main option available here is personal independence payment, a non-means tested disability benefit. Not only does this provide income directly (between £22 and £141.10 per week), but receipt can also be an automatic passport to higher ESA entitlements. Fourth, they could move into work. Claimants may be constrained in the extent to which they can respond in this way – WRAG claimants have after all been declared by the government to have ‘limited capability for work’. On the other hand, a DWP survey found that 30% of WRAG claimants are already looking for work, and some research suggests that employment decisions among the disabled can be sensitive to the level of disability payments. However, many – perhaps the majority – will not respond in any of these ways and will therefore have to make do with an average of £1,400 a year less than they would otherwise have got.

Paid Internship Vacancies, Oxford

All Posts, Access to Work, Action No Responses »

Mar 302017

People and Planet based in Oxford have paid internship vacancies available in a fully accessible workplace.

Their latest campaign is around challenging racist narratives in the media and promoting ethical journalism on migrant’s rights.

This sits alongside our fossil fuel divestment campaign and our workers rights campaign in the electronics industry in the globalSouth.

For more information see hhtps://peopleandplanet.org/work-with-us

PIP assessment – your experience

News, Action, All Posts, Benefits 23 Responses »

Mar 212017

Let us know about your experience of the PIP assessment

Inclusion London have been invited by the Chair of the Work and Pension’s

Committee to give written evidence on the process of being assessed for the

Personal Independence Payment PIP – your experience will inform our evidence.

The questions the Committee are particularly interested in are:

1. Which aspects of the current assessment process for PIP are and are not

conducive to accurate decision-making? What improvements could be made?

2. Do Atos and Capita staff conducting PIP assessments possess sufficient

expertise to make accurate decisions on claims involving a wide range of

mental and physical health conditions?

a. Do the staff take enough account of additional evidence supplied by

claimants?

2. Is the face-to-face assessment appropriate for claimants with a range of

different conditions?

3. What changes are needed to improve the accuracy of decisions made in initial

assessments and in mandatory reconsideration, given that the majority of

decisions that go to appeal are overturned?

a. What are the most common reasons you come across for decisions

being overturned on appeal?

b. Is the mandatory reconsideration stage functioning properly? How

could it be improved, or should it be abolished?

4. What is the impact on claimants of delays in getting an accurate decision on

their claim, and how could this be reduced or better managed?

Please send your experience to Henrietta.doyle@inclusionlondon.org.uk

asap or by Wednesday 12 April 2017

possible PIP legal challenge -update

News, Action, All Posts, Benefits, Disability Activism 6 Responses »

Mar 172017

Thanks to everyone who contacted us about this possible challenge. The solicitors have spoken initially to a number of people and are now able to try to seek a barrister’s opinion. If you haven’t been contacted yet then it may be after that opinion is available that you may be for witness statements to add to the case.

We’ll keep everyone informed of what’s happening as soon as we can.

March 30th National Day of Action Against Sanctions – organised by UNITE community

News, Action, All Posts, Benefits, Disability Rights 1 Response »

Mar 122017

Stop benefit sanctions

Thursday 30 March 2017
National Day of Action Against Sanctions
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More and more people are facing benefit sanctions. Half a million people have had their benefits suddenly stopped by sanctions in the last 12 months No Sanctions logo

That’s half a million people, many of whom have been plunged into poverty, unable to heat their homes or even eat. How is this meant to help prepare people for work?

Benefit sanctions must be fought against

These sanctions are cruel and handed out for ridiculous reasons such as:

Arriving minutes late to a meeting
Not applying for jobs when waiting to start a new job!
Missing an appointment on the day of the funeral of a close family member.

This has to stop.

nite demonstration outside the Department of Work and Pensions in London – watch the video here – See more at: https://stagingui.unite.awsripple.com/growing-our-union/communitymembership/day-of-action-against-sanctions/default.aspx#sthash.QsxxyCRf.dpuf

Unite demonstration outside the Department of Work and Pensions in London – watch the video here – See more at: https://stagingui.unite.awsripple.com/growing-our-union/communitymembership/day-of-action-against-sanctions/default.aspx#sthash.QsxxyCRf.dpufTake other action

Share your story – we are looking for people who have been sanctioned to tell their story.
We want to show the reality and impact on people’s lives – show your support – share on Twitter and Facebook #No2Sanctions

JOIN US – Thursday 30 MarchPlease join an event near you on Thursday 30 March to stop benefit sanctions in your community.

We will continue to add new actions on a regular basis, so please check back.

For further information please email your Unite community cordinator (see below).

London & Eastern – David Condliffe
Herts and Beds Branch: Luton, Jobcentre, Guilford Street – 12.00 noon.
Contact: Rachel Holmes, Branch Secretary – Email: RedR8chel@hotmail.com | Mobile: 07526282356.

Kilburn Jobcentre – 12.00 to 1.00 pm.

East and West Midlands – Shaun Pender
Protest & Film – Stop Benefit Sanctions – Save Eastern Ave JCP
Manor Top, Sheffield – 5.00 to 9.00 pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/405106473173499/

South East – Kelly Tomlinson

North East, Yorkshire & Humberside – John Coan

North West – Sheila Coleman
Wirral Community Branch has created a Thunderclap:
https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/53094-stop-benefit-sanctions

South West – Brett Sparkes
Lemon Quay, Truro 12.00 to 3.00 pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/1835696733335875/

Bridgwater Jobcentre: 11.00 to 1.00 pm
Bridgwater High Street, next to Admiral Blake: 11.00 to 1.00 pm

Film | I, Daniel Blake – 7.00 to 9.30 pm
Venue: Somerset Film @ The Engine Room, 50-52 High St, Bridgwater TA6 3BL Phone: 01278 433187. £3 standard ticket but if people can afford more there is a solidarity ticket at £10.
For more information visit: https://www.somersetfilm.com/diary/?action=evrplusegister&event_id=147
https://www.facebook.com/events/1420001918045217/

We will also be raising money for Bridgwater food bank.

Wales – Mary Williams

Scotland – Jamie Caldwell
Outside Dunfermline Jobcentre – 11.00 am

Ireland – Albert Hewitt
Portadown Jobs & Benefits Office – 12:00 to 1.00 pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/256582661460078/

– See more at: https://www.unitetheunion.org/growing-our-union/communitymembership/day-of-action-against-sanctions/#sthash.jVbfpy3m.dpuf

Please sign up to GMCDP’s thunderclap for Manchester Mayoral elections. We know Burnham failed us on ILF lets make him do the right thing now.

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Mar 122017

Please sign up and share GMCDP’s Thundeclap in support of its Disability Manifesto. Can we get the Greater Manchester mayoral candidates to sign up to our Disability manifesto? Hopefully with your help we can! #DisabilityManifestoGM

It’s easy to do, just click on this link:

https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/53910-gmcdp-manifesto

About the Manifesto:

Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People has developed a Disability Manifesto in the run up to the election of the new Greater Manchester Mayor.

The manifesto concentrates on the areas of power and influence that new mayor will have. Topics include Independent Living, Housing, Inclusive Further Education and Skills Sector, Transport and Disability Hate Crime

The manifesto has been developed in collaboration with our membership and other local Disabled People’s Organisations.

The manifesto has been sent to all the mayoral candidates and we are urging them to work with and for disabled people by signing up to the manifesto.

Read our manifesto:

https://gmcdp.com/manifesto

More on UN report -200 interviewees and 3,000 pages of evidence were all wrong.

News, Action, All Posts, UNCRPD 5 Responses »

Feb 142017

The Government has responded to the petition you signed – “Force the government to act on the eleven recommendations of the UNCRPD report”.

Government responded:

This Government engaged fully with the inquiry process. However, we strongly reject the findings and believe that the core intentions of many of the recommendations are already being fulfilled.

This Government engaged fully with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (the Convention) inquiry process. In their report, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (the Committee) expressed appreciation for our support throughout the process, which included facilitating a visit to the UK and providing written evidence on numerous occasions.

On receipt of the report, we considered the findings alongside our own evidence. In making this comparison, it was clear that there were individual facts in the report that were incorrect. Additionally, the report failed to place the reforms investigated in the wider context of improvements made and the support available. For example, in discussing Article 27 ‘Work and Employment’, the report barely mentions the raft of work-related support available to disabled people and therefore presents a highly partial view.

The UK supported the development of the Convention and was among the first countries to sign it in 2007. Our approach to disability equality, which focuses on inclusion and mainstreaming (with additional support provided as necessary) and on involving disabled people in decision-making, is very much aligned with the Convention. The report itself recognised that “at a national level, it appears that the welfare system together with a social and health care system provide a solid base for the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities and that the system has allowed persons with disabilities to achieve an acceptable level of autonomy and
DWP E-Petitions Response independence”. It also recognised measures to reinforce choice and control in the UK through the increased personalisation and localisation of services.

This Government considered the recommendations made by the Committee. Many of the recommendations promote approaches and actions that we already take, such as actively engaging disabled people in policy design and delivery. Others promote actions that the UK Government has already identified as areas for improvement; the Government response sets out some of the work being done across the UK to ensure progress in these areas, such as increasing the accessibility of information and tackling negative attitudes towards disabled people. Several recommendations are prescriptive in nature, sighting specific methodologies that should be implemented. The UK is committed to meeting its obligations of progressing towards the full participation and inclusion of disabled people in all aspects of life on an equal basis. However, how we ensure this progression remains for the UK Government, and the wider parliament, to decide.

The UK is a strong parliamentary democracy, where the voices and opinions of disabled people are represented and listened to, and disabled people’s rights are respected, promoted and upheld. It is also a world leader in disability issues. We are proud of the work we do to support people with disabilities and health conditions, both domestically and abroad. And we believe that the core intentions of the recommendations are already incorporated into UK policies and practices, and delivered in a way that fits with the values and structures particular to the UK.

However, we do recognise that there is more to do to meet the Convention’s ambition of full participation and inclusion, and this Government is committed to continuing progress towards this. Taking employment as an example, our aspiration is for disabled people to get the same opportunities as others to find work while ensuring that people who cannot work because of a disability or health condition receive the support they need. That is why this Government is committed to, and working towards, halving the disability employment gap. The ‘Improving Lives’ Green Paper seeks views on how to ensure that health and welfare systems support people who can work with better opportunities to stay in employment, while protecting people who can’t work, with a view to meeting the Government’s ambition.

This Government champions work because of its power to transform people’s lives. We strongly believe that, though welfare provides necessary social protection, it is not the only way to help disabled people live independent, inclusive lives in which they can fulfil their potential. Implementing the Convention articles requires more than higher welfare payments. It requires society-wide shifts in attitudes and behaviours, innovative approaches to health provision, and concerted efforts to break down persistent barriers preventing disabled people from living independently, working, and enjoying full inclusion in their communities. This Government remains committed to working across government and sectors to ensure that these changes take place, supporting disabled people in the UK to fully participate in all aspects of life on an equal basis.

Department for Work and Pensions

Click this link to view the response online:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/172393?reveal_response=yes

The Petitions Committee will take a look at this petition and its response. They can press the government for action and gather evidence. If this petition reaches 100,000 signatures, the Committee will consider it for a debate.

The Committee is made up of 11 MPs, from political parties in government and in opposition. It is entirely independent of the Government. Find out more about the Committee: https://petition.parliament.uk/help#petitions-committee

Thanks,
The Petitions team
UK Government and Parliament

Southampton Hots Up – Battle for Independent Living Continues.

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Feb 132017

#CareHomesStink

#RightsNotTelecare

#SupportNotCuts

Details of the Protest in Southampton & Online

This letter has come from the leader of the council.

Dear Tim,
I appreciate that some of you prefer to demonstrate against the Labour Council rather than the Tory government. But if you are going to do this please have the decent thing and contact us and check whether the thing you are demonstrating against is true. I know we are in the era of ‘alternative’ truth and ‘false news but we do expect you to know better.

The Facts
1. The Care act came in in April last year and requires us to complete annual reviews of all those in receipt of a care package. This created an additional burden on our already stretched social workers. It was proposed and approved that the Council employ through Capita additional social workers to carry out these reviews.
2. No instruction was issued with regard to the outcome of these reviews. No incentive was given to Capita to save money we simply wanted the reviews done.
3. Capita were unable to recruit enough Social workers to complete the work and an offer was made to the ones they had to work some weekends for an extra payment (£200).
4. The vast majority of these reviews (all of which were carried out by fully qualified and registered social workers) lead to no change. Some were adjusted to change the way a service was delivered using modern technologies and these have lead to a saving to the Council. A saving that means less jobs will be cut this year and less other services reduced.
5. An appeals process exists with these assessments’ which has been used by precisely zero clients.
6. As part of our arrangement with Capita we are gradually taking over this work with our in house team working alongside Capita employees. We expect in due course to take over all these reviews.

These are the facts – so please tell me what you are demonstrating about.

Simon

So if those are the facts why do the leaked emails say – either the Labour council leader has no idea about what is happening in Southampton or -well – or he’s just downright lying. Take your pick.

1) From Sue Thomas, sent 15/9/16

Hi All,

The cavalry is on the way!!!

Have just heard from Adam Tait we have 3 new colleagues joining us on Monday, pulling the stops out to make sure they can ‘hit the road’ with you with the minim delay.

Adam is also suggesting some incentives for the Team. He is well aware of some of the difficulties we have had, and that you are giving me the best performance you are able.

But, now we need MORE!! The suggestions below are cut & paste from Adams e-mail to me.

FROM ADAM’S E-MAIL

I’m not sure how weekend working might go down with the existing team (as a one off) but if we included these days we have an extra 4 days available for eight of the team people and two available for 11 of the team until we have TIB on 27^th September. I would suggest we offer an extra incentive if any of the team are prepared to work these weekends or part of…. starting this weekend. It’s short notice but if we paid their existing rate at time and half or double time you may get some take up? I’m not sure if we would need to report these days within the MI suite but that’s not my call. An alternative might be payment of increased hours worked in the week. Again as a one off.

In addition, as the next week or so is so critical I am happy to roll out an extra incentive scheme at the earliest point whereby if a person manages to improve their performance by x% from the previous 4 week average they receive a £y bonus. 10% = £100, 20% = £200 etc. This can be measured across both productivity levels and the savings achieved. If one person improves their productivity by 20% and savings by 20% they receive a £400 bonus.

AGREED WEEK-END RATE TIME & HALF

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY AND CONTACT ME NO LATER THAN 5PM WITH YOUR RESPONSE (EVEN IF YIOU ARE NOT INTERESTED) THIS IS NOT A LONG TERM COMMITMENT – IT’S EMERGENCY FIRST AID TO ENSURE OUR SURVIVAL!!!!

If you want to discuss with me you’ve got my numbers.

Regards – Sue

Sue Thomas – Lead Practitioner,

Capita Review Team,

Adult Social Care,

Southampton City Council,

Southampton SO14 7LY

2) From Sue Thomas, 8 November 2016:

Good Morning,

Another late night last night – Conference Call. Followed by several hours ‘bashing my brains’ for answers.

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY – THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT

As you know our Productivity and the Financial Efficiencies we are making are under great scrutiny.

Looking at all the figures in the Reports last night it was very clear that both Productivity and Efficiencies have fallen dramatically.

The senior managers who are leading this transformation want to know why it appears we are failing to realise the results in service delivery and savings they anticipated

By commissioning this Project. They in turn are being asked to explain to Councillors of SCC.

Issues such as changes to the Team, Reduced size of Team, Annual Leave, Bank Holidays etc. have all been taken into account but things still don’t add up.

I have stressed how hard you are all working – but we don’t appear to be getting the results we had during the Pilots.

As I said at the Team Meeting yesterday I think it may be about the ways in which we are working – IF IT’S NOT ABOUT HARD WORK, IT MUST BE ABOUT SMART WORK!!!

I HAVE PUT MY NECK ON ‘THE CHOPPING BLOCK’ – YOU HAVE PRODUCED THE RESULTS BEFORE, I KNOW YOU CAN AND I BELIEVE YOU WILL DELIVER THE RESULTS REQUIRED.

NOW I HAVE TO PUT MY MONEY WHERE MY MOUTH IS – PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!

REMINDERS

BE ASSERTIVE WHEN MAKING APPOINTMENTS – SCC ARE REQUITRED BY LAW TO COMPLETE THESE ASSESSMENTS/REVIEWS (NEW LEGISLATION 2014)

AS MANY VISITS AS POSSIBLE BEGINNING OF THE WEEK – WEDNESDAY PM – RECORDING

CASE ‘OPEN’ DAY OF VISIT – MINIMISES DAYS CASE LEFT OPEN (ASSUMING INACTIVE/UNPRODUCTIVE)

CLOSE WHEN ANY REFERRALS HAVE BEEN MADE (MAX 2 DAYS)

L.D WILL TAKE A LITTLE LONGER – THIS IS RECOGNISED BY ALL.

15 min. CALL OUT!! TELECARE –IN!!

ASSESS NEED NOT WANT.

ACTIVELY ENCOURAGE DIRECT PAYMENTS

CAREFUL ATTENTION WHEN RECORDING WORK SHEETS, YOUR WORK SHEETS INFORM THE WEEKLY REPORTS FOR THE DECISION MAKERS – DON’T SHOOT YOURSELF IN THE FEET!!

THE WORK SHEET IS CHANGING THIS WEEK PLEASE TAKE EXTRA CARE.

THINK ABOUT ASSET BASED ASSESSMENT, FOR THOSE OF YOU NOT FAMILIAR I WILL BE SENDING INFORMATION.

We don’t have very much time to turn this situation around. if we can’t/don’t do it all the hard work you have put in so far will have been for nothing.

Not to put too fine a point on things WE ARE ALL ON THE WAY HOME.

I AM NOT ASKING YOU TO STAND BEHIND, ME I’M ASKING YOU TO STAND BESIDE ME SO WE CAN BRING THIS PROJECT TO A SUCCESSFUL (FOR ALL OF US!!) CONCLUSION TOGETHER.

Regards – Sue

Sue Thomas – Project Lead Practitioner,

Capita Review Team,

Adult Social Care,

Southampton City Council,

Southampton SO14 7LY

DPAC’s response to Simon:

Capita offered their staff bonuses of up to £400 to cut people’s packages (Capita said that this was never introduced but they haven’t denied that they made the offer).
Capita’s freelance social workers were paid more than £1,000 a week (after tax) and put up in three-star hotels while they were encouraged to cut people’s packages.
The emails clearly show that they were asked by the council to produce savings (ie cuts).
The Council Leader says “. Some were adjusted to change the way a service was delivered using modern technologies and these have lead to a saving to the Council.” We do not believe Telecare is an acceptable alternative to human support and nor are packs of incontinence pads. If the council leader thinks the following email from a Capita manager is acceptable, then he should be ashamed of himself and needs to resign: The manager suggested an “extra incentive” for the team if they could improve on their previous “performance” and suggested that the bonus “can be measured across both productivity levels and the savings achieved. If one person improves their productivity by 20 per cent and savings by 20 per cent they receive a £400 bonus.” The council never commented on the ‘extra incentive’ email, we can’t think why not.
Does he also think the other email that was sent by capita to their team is acceptable? “The senior managers [from the council] who are leading this transformation want to know why it appears we are failing to realise the results in service delivery and savings they anticipated by commissioning this project. They in turn are being asked to explain to Councillors of SCC [Southampton City Council].”
Another thing to note is that the whistle-blower said that it was the service-users with no support networks to advocate on their behalf with the council who were often the ones who were having their packages cut. This might explain why there have not been any appeals (if that’s true).
I suspect that, if you take away the care packages that included residential care (which are almost impossible to cut), the proportion of direct payments packages that were cut is significant.
I notice the council leader says that ‘No incentive was given to Capita to save money’. That doesn’t mean that they didn’t tell Capita that they wanted them to save money (which they did). My understanding is that Capita knew they would lose the contract if they didn’t make those savings. That seems like an incentive to me…

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