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Advocacy is NOT a crime

Action, All Posts, Disability Activism, DWP, News No Responses »

Feb 202015

[Article by Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network]

The so-called Welfare Reforms, started by New Labour and ramped up by the ConDem Coaltion, are nothing less than major cuts that undermine the very idea of social security.

They have led to a blizzard of attacks on the rights of people who find themselves caught within the web of an increasingly ‘Orwellian’ benefit system, which measures its success by how many ‘claimants’ it is able to push ‘off benefits’. A target-driven punitive system of administration has come into being that withdraws the means of livelihood from some of the poorest and most vulnerable for minor misdemeanours such as turning up to an appointment a few minutes late.

This increasingly punitive welfare regime is also having an impact on the right of the unemployed to be represented at DWP meetings, and also on the rights of ordinary people and welfare rights activists to represent the unemployed, despite these rights being enshrined in law.

The gathering attack on the right of the unemployed to representation is underlined by the case of Tony Cox, a Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (SUWN) activist, who was arrested on charges of threatening behaviour, refusing to give his name and address and resisting arrest, whilst representing a highly vulnerable woman in a meeting at Arbroath Jobcentre on the 29th January. The meeting had been arranged specifically to renegotiate what the woman felt was a highly punishing claimant commitment agreement, but when Tony attempted to help negotiate more suitable terms, the Jobcentre manager responded by telling him to leave the building and calling the police.

By the time the police came, Tony and the unemployed woman had left (with the promise of a further meeting), but he was still arrested and charged. This case has serious implications for Tony personally and also for welfare activists everywhere.

This example of harassment of welfare activists is far from an isolated incident, and must by challenged in the most determined fashion. We demand that welfare activists are not prevented from conducting their work and nothing be put in the way of benefit claimants’ fundamental right to advice and representation.

We call on activists and welfare rights groups to organise protests at their local job centres to coincide with the national day of protest on February 25th (when Tony will be appearing at Forfar Sheriff Court) called by Boycott Workfare.

Please also sign our petition: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/advocacy-is-not-a-crime-1

If you want to get a bit of help and advice, to find out more about what we do, or to join
the struggle, please give us a ring on 0789 9798979 or 07803 052239, or find us online: www.scottishunemployedworkers.net
www.facebook.com/scottishunemployedworkersnetwork
admin@scottishunemployedworkers.net

Ed Miliband in Birmingham, March 14th

Action, All Posts, News, Politics 1 Response »

Feb 172015

Ed Miliband and the shadow cabinet are coming to Birmingham on Saturday, March 14^th, International Convention Centre, Birmingham to announce their policy proposals for the general election.

12.30pm – 2.30 pm Join us to protest and to tell Labour we want more from them if they want our votes.
Join the facebook event here https://www.facebook.com/events/609146595896685/

or if you can’ t make it to the protest, support us on twitter

The Labour Party have agreed to scrap the bedroom tax but what else makes them any different to the Condems?
We say nothing we can see in their policies – yet.

The Labour Party have said that although England will now be the only UK nation not to retain an Independent Living Fund (ILF) to support severely disabled people to continue to live in the community they too will close it from June 2015.
We say that is not good enough.

The Labour Party will retain the Work Capability Assessment process as it stands and continue to pay massive amounts of money to a dubious American company, Maximus, to carry out these discredited tests on disabled people.
We say that is not good enough.

The Labour Party will continue with the scrapping of Disability Living Allowance removing over 600,000 disabled people from entitlement.
We say that is not good enough.

The Labour Party will retain sanctions in the Benefit system.
We say that is not good enough.

The Labour Party will retain Workfare but call it something else.
We say that is not good enough.

The Labour Party say they want disabled people to vote for them.
We say not unless you change your policies.

There are 11.6 million disabled voters compared to 6 million trade union members and if Labour want us to vote for them then they must listen to us and change their policies.

Join the thunderclap by clicking below :

Your experience of Universal Credit?

Action, All Posts, media, Universal Credit, welfare cuts 2 Responses »

Feb 172015

We know that IDS’ Universal Credit has been a disaster in wasted costs and scrapped IT. The hallowed tax payer ( i.e poor people not the wealthy who have a set of schemes to avoid tax) have footed the bill for this.

We know that lives have been destroyed, people left without cash, mounting rent arrears, and have lost their homes too- the system is not fit for purpose.

Channel 4 are now doing a program on Universal Credit and how it has affected those it was supposed to help. Please let them know your experiences to give this destructive folly and its impacts a public airing.

Contact: Sarah Hay

email: sarah.hey@ninelivesmedia.co.uk

Tel: 0161 832 2007 or mobile 07976 413 823

Update on #AnthonyKletzander 16th Feb

All Posts, Independent Living No Responses »

Feb 162015

Below is the written response from Ms Carol Homden, Chairperson of The National Autistic Society in relation to the question of abuse of Anthony Kletzander.

Such is the limited “transparency and openness” at the NAS it has been necessary to communicate via an intermediary to put questions to the chairperson. It is not permissible to have direct email, contact with her, even thought she is responsible and accountable for this publicly funded National Charity.

Dear Mr Whittaker

The Chair of the NAS, Dr Carol Homden, has now considered your messages to her and has reviewed the background to your correspondence with the NAS.

The essential facts in this matter are:

. The NAS has no legal or contractual relationship with either yourself or Anthony Kletzander, nor with those who represent him;
. The NAS has no operational presence in the Republic of Ireland;
. The NAS has no influence and does not seek to have influence over government agencies in the Republic of Ireland;

Notwithstanding these facts, the NAS has used its best endeavours to facilitate an agreed way forward for the care of Anthony.

Autism Accreditation, operated by the NAS, accredits several autism services provided by Nua Healthcare in the Republic of Ireland. These services meet the standards required by the accreditation scheme and the status of each service is reviewed every three years.

There is nothing further that the NAS can do in this matter and this correspondence is therefore being brought to a close.

This indifferent piece of rhetoric from The Chair of NAS attempts to distance NAS from their active role in continuing to uncritically support an institution where Anthony Kletzander is abused.

NAS choose “jurisdiction” and lack of “contractual obligations” as their defence to “wash their hands of any responsibility” of the abuse of a young man with Autism.

Ms Homden has failed to address the central question.

Whilst she acknowledges continued NAS accreditation of NUA Institution – why did NAS recently undertake an intermediate review of Nua institution, outside of their stated accredited protocol, and provide additional endorsement of Nua Institution, without any reference whatever to the allegations of abuse ?

Rather than attempt to quell growing anger about the role of NAS, she has compounded NAS shame by hiding behind the jargon of standards.

Ms Homden, makes no mention of UN Human Rights or concern about the abuse for a young man with Autism, simply that Nua Institution have conformed to the appropriate standards of NAS protocols.

I am very sorry Ms Homden you may want to close down communication on this issue, but supporters of Anthony Kletzander will not accept NAS being an apologist for an institution, where allegations of abuse have taken place.

The NAS continued accreditation of Nua means you are inextricably linked to the allegation of that abuse.

Many of institutions and professionals took a similar view as Senior managers of the NAS, about the systematic abuse in Rotherham over many years. We now know of the dreadful ordeal for many disempowered young people.

We can not allow such indifference to happen again.

Joe Whittaker

Protest Co-ordinator and friend of Anthony Kletzander.

Please join the protest of 6pm on 3rd March 2015 at The Royal Hall in Harrogate against the callous indifference to abuse of Anthony Kletzander by the NAS and demand answers to serious questions. Or if you can’t get to the Harrogate protest, you can tweet to the NAS using @Autism and the hashtag #AnthoyKletzander to show support for the protest.

Please Sign and Share the Petition to Free Anthony Kletzander

Please Donate to the legal fund, or if you can’t afford to donate but want to help, please share the link and ask others to donate.

Severe mental health condition? Tough. We think you might be fit for work even if Atos didn’t.

All Posts, DWP, ESA, WCA 2 Responses »

Feb 152015

Reblogged from Kate Belgrave, with thanks.

This fits in nicely with David Cameron’s “let’s smack a few more people on benefits around and not talk about corporate tax-dodging theme:”

Here is a letter received very recently from a DWP “work coach” by Sean* (name changed), a Northamptonshire man who I’ve known and written about for several years. He has Asperger’s and severe depression.

Sean finds day-to-day life very difficult to handle (he struggles to leave his house a lot of the time). He actually finds day-to-day life so challenging that even Atos agreed that he shouldn’t have to work. After a face-to-face assessment for his WCA about two years ago (I attended that assessment with him), Atos placed him in the support group for Employment and Support Allowance. As many of you will know, people in the ESA support group are neither required to work, nor to look for work. That’s the whole point of the support group. It’s an acknowledgement (a grudging one, I suspect) by the system as we have it that some people simply aren’t in a position take a job. From Benefits and Work: “the ESA support group is for claimants who the DWP consider to have such severe health problems that there is no current prospect of their being able to undertake work or work-related activities.” Once you’re in the support group, that should be the end of that, at least until your next assessment.

But here is this letter all the same. Disturbing reports of other people in the ESA support group getting letters like this, or calls to attend work-focused interviews, now abound. Sean received this letter out of nowhere and it scared the hell out of him. I imagine that scaring the hell out of him was at least in part the point of the exercise. The DWP doesn’t like people with mental health conditions to feel too secure.

And they don’t. As you can read for yourself, this DWP letter calls Sean to an interview this week to talk about “returning to work” or “starting a new job,” how to “find the right job” and how Sean’s benefits might be affected if he did go to work (even though the government’s assessor has said that he can’t). Even more incredibly, the invitation calls Sean to a group information session. This suggests to me that whoever sent it never read Sean’s file, or even glanced at it. A group session? Sean finds groups of people so challenging that he can barely bring himself to leave the house a lot of the time. He said he couldn’t handle the idea of travelling across town to sit in a room with complete strangers to discuss very personal details.

That is one of the many reasons why the letter is crass in the extreme. There’s a flimsy attempt in it to acknowledge that Sean is not actually obliged to attend the meeting (“not attending will not affect your [benefit] payment,” etc), but the real message is loud and clear.

It was certainly loud and clear as far as Sean was concerned. The message he took from it was that even when the government’s own notoriously harsh medical assessors have agreed that a person can’t work, the government is very much of the opinion that the person can work – and should be pushed to work, more to the point. “Your attendance at this session is voluntary….we nevertheless would like you to consider attending this session,” the letter reads. The threat here is discernible. If anyone who has paid me over the years said “you don’t have to attend this meeting, but I’d like you to,” I’d know exactly what they meant. Sean’s wife Maggie* (named changed) told me the threat became even more explicit when she rang the DWP to say that Sean would not attend the meeting (Maggie makes a lot calls on Sean’s behalf, because he doesn’t like to talk with officials, or on the phone. Maggie herself has a severe mental health condition. She has a schizophrenia diagnoses and has spent a lot of time in hospital). Maggie said that when she called, the DWP said it would note Sean’s non-attendance “this time”- the implication being that he would be asked to attend again. Maggie said she told the DWP that Sean would never attend such a session. She said that the DWP told her not to say Never. Ahem. Neither Sean nor Maggie think they’ve heard the last of this. I doubt they have either.

I have been thinking about all of this as Cameron has tried to divert us from stories about his tax-dodging mates with stories about people with drug problems who are on benefits. It’s all very interesting, you know. I have long believed that this government and others like it want to eliminate all disability benefits. They want people to believe that everyone can work and always work if they’re given enough of a shove. I think this government particularly wants everyone to believe that people with mental health problems are dragging the chain on purpose – that all anyone with a condition like severe depression needs is a nice cup of tea and a gentle (and then less gentle) kick in the pants to get going. The fact that someone with a severe mental health condition receives the sort of letter you see above tells you everything you need to know about the direction we’re travelling in. Atos was hired to ram home the entirely baseless theory that a lot of sick and disabled people on benefits were fit for work. The next stage will be about ramming home the entirely baseless theory that all sick and disabled people on benefits are fit for work.

I’d expect a government that wanted to push that idea would hire an aggressive and voracious welfare-to-work scheme provider to assess people’s fitness for work from this point on – you know, a company that exist to push the welfare-to-work concept (rather than the welfare-because-people-need-it concept) in exchange for heaps of public dosh. Oh wait. It has.

DPAC are investigating instances where people in the support group are being sent letters by the DWP

We are asking people to contact us if you are in the ESA Support Group and have been contacted by your Jobcentre to attend an interview, or group training session. Please email us at mail@dpac.uk.net and we will get back to you.

We will never disclose your name or personal information without your permission, but we may use your case (after your name and all personal details have been securely removed) to campaign against this. If you say no to this, we will not use the information in any way, and your information will still help us to understand what is happening.

A Truly Chilling Move: Now Maximus Are Trying To Buy Remploy

All Posts, Maximus No Responses »

Feb 152015

Reblogged from Johnny Void, with thanks

US based multinational Maximus could be set to expand their monopoly over the lives of sick and disabled people by buying up what’s left of soon to be privatised Remploy. This brazen move is sure to inflame anger against the company who are already facing protests after winning the contract to take over running the despised Work Capability Assessment from Atos.

Shortly after the government embarked on the cruel and vindictive closure of the Remploy factories, parts of the organisation were hived off and turned into a sort of state run welfare-to-work company. Then last year it was announced this would be sold off to the private sector under an initiative bizarrely called Project Jupiter.

Just two companies have submitted bids to buy Remploy, Maximus and Prospects. Both of these companies are already involved in the welfare-to-work sector and the Remploy deal comes with a big juicy DWP contract to run the Work Choice scheme, alongside contracts to run parts of the Work Programme and the Access To Work scheme for disabled workers. In other words they buy Remploy and the DWP spends the next few years giving them their money back.

Maximus have even produced a cringe-making youtube video (comments currently open) for the staff at Remploy with sinister Chief Executive Richard Montoni and his glassy-eyed corporate lacky Bruce Caswell spinning away the crimes of these profit hungry vultures. Do not belive the fucking hype. Richard Montoni earns a staggering $5 million a year to spout this shit. In the US Maximus have faced both protests and law suits as they have gobbled up ever more public services, including contracts to disqualify people from free healthcare. In Saudi Arabia they quite happily operate a gender segregated workforce, with ‘male candidates preferred‘ for some roles despite their claim to be equal opportunity employers. In the UK they are already heavily involved in workfare and the harrowing benefit sanctions regime which has been linked to a growing number of suicides.

Should Maximus be successful in buying Remploy then their power over sick and disabled people’s lives will be chilling and unprecedented. Disabled people who needs funding for adjustments at work through Access To Work will be assessed by Maximus. People who need to take time off due to sickness or disability will soon have their absence acredited by Maximus, not their GP, as part of their Fit For Work contract. If someone has to leave work because of a health condition then it will be a Maximus run Work Capability Assessment which decides whether they are eligible for sickness and disability benefits. If they are found fit for work, or even possibly able to work in the future, then, depending on where they live they may be sent on the Work Programme. With Maximus. If unemployed disabled people want to join the so far voluntary Work Choice scheme then they will be sent to Maximus. These bastards need to be stopped.

The decision on who gets to buy Remploy will be made in the next few weeks with an announcement expected in March. You can share your thoughts with them on twitter @Remploy and @MAXIMUS_news.

In the meantime please spread the word about the Day of Action Against Maximus set to take place on the 2nd March. Please tweet, share, blog and post everywhere: https://dpac.uk.net/2015/01/maximus-day-of-action-2nd-of-march-list-of-events-around-the-uk-scrapwca/

Above pic from: https://www.facebook.com/PhillEvansIllustration

Middle Class Solutions To Working Class Problems: Why Charities Like MIND Keep Getting It Wrong

All Posts, charities, Mental Health 3 Responses »

Feb 132015

Reblogged from JohnnyVoid, with thanks

Iain Duncan Smith must be pissing himself. A report released at the end of last year by mental health charity MIND could not have gone further in endorsing the core ideas that lie behind his bungled and brutal welfare reforms.

The report is titled “We’ve Got Work To Do” and claims to demand ‘fundamental reform’ of the workplace and social security system to better support people with a mental health condition. Sadly it is calling for nothing of the sort and is underpinned by the exact same lies and toxic assumptions that have driven both Tory and Labour welfare reforms.

Just like the DWP, MIND have adopted the flawed medical consensus that work is good for your health. The charity does acknowledge that this isn’t actually always true, but falls short of saying that work can be bad for your health, instead arguing that “inappropriate or poor quality work can have as negative an effect on people’s mental health as not being in work”. They base this opinion on research carried out in Australia that found that “the mental health of those who were unemployed was comparable or more often superior to those in jobs of the poorest psychosocial quality.” In other words work can be worse for your mental health than being unemployed, rather than just equally bad as MIND claim.

It is not nit-picking to point out the discrepency between what this research found and what MIND say it found because it reveals the charity’s opinions to be based on ideology, not facts. This same factual slippage occurs elsewhere in the report when MIND begin by saying that most people with mental health conditions want to work, which later becomes everyone with a mental health condition wants to work. The truth, as revealed in the footnotes to the report, are that only around 58% of people out of work due to a mental health condition strongly agreed they wanted to return to work whilst 20% did not feel they were well enough.

These two distortions – or let’s call them lies – have allowed the despised Work Capability Assessment, benefit sanctions and workfare all to be misrepresented as ‘support’ or ‘help’. In truth these measures destroy lives. The medical consensus that work is good for you does often not apply to those on the lower end of the income scale who face being forced by Jobcentres into the kind of work likely to make them ill.

MIND’s Chief Executive Paul Farmer claims at the beginning of the report that there have been “improvements in how people with mental health problems are supported”, although it is unclear what they are. There then follows an emotive journey about someone’s journey through the benefit system after leaving work due to depression. This is actually where their journey would stop, because unless they could provide reems of medical evidence to the Jobcentre they would be disallowed benefits for giving up work. That this reports begins by misrepresenting the benefit system as it currently functions just shows how removed these giant disability benefits charities have become from the lives of those they claim to support.

Instead the ‘fundamental reform’ they call for is actually more of the same or worse – such as the dangerous idea that sensitive health information from the Work Capability Assessment should be passed over to Work Programme providers like A4e and G4S. This is like your boss having access to your medical history and appallingly MIND relaxed about this as well.

Much of the early part of the report is taken up by calling for improvements in the working environment for people suffering mental ill-health. Which is fine, everyone wants that, except greedy employers who worry it might cost them money or who harbour nasty little prejudices about mental health. According to MIND themselves this is about 40% of them. Yet one of MIND’s recommendations is that the Maximus run ‘Fit To Work’ service – the new telephone helpline which will be used to certify time off instead of GPs – should more effectively engage with employers. About the only decent thing about Fit To Work, which is designed to bully people back into the workplace before they are better, is that currently you have the right to keep your boss out of any discussions.

The final part of the report discusses what future welfare-to-work schemes should look like for those with a mental health condition. The charity are calling for “new specialist scheme for people with mental health problems on
ESA”. A scheme which should be run by those who “have expertise and experience of working with people with mental health problems”. And here lies the real reason for this report. It’s a fucking advert to any incoming Labour Government to give MIND a lucrative contract to run a new welfare-to-work service.

There is no longer any doubt that endless Atos assessments, workfare and benefit sanctions are creating a crisis in the lives of those with a mental health condition. The tragic death toll rises ever higher. Yet nowhere in this report does MIND call for these brutal policies to be scrapped. Even if MIND were handed a contract to be nicer to people on ESA this would still leave those who have been found fit for work abandoned and dumped onto mainstream unemployment benefits alongside those whose condition is at yet undiagnosed. On twitter yesterday MIND claimed they couldn’t call for sanctions to be scrapped for people who are unemployed because it wasn’t a key issue. If your mental health condition isn’t bad enough to be able to claim ESA then tough shit seems to be the charity’s response if you get sanctioned.

The thing is, naked profiteering aside, MIND are not bastards. They have dedicated front line workers who don’t get paid anywhere near enough and are sincere committed people. Workers who would probably agree that benefit sanctions and the Work Capability Assessment should be scrapped immediately. They see the carnage that is being caused everyday.

The problem is that reports like these are overseen and commissioned by highly paid charity executives who live lifestyles that their service users and lowest paid staff can only dream of. These lifestyles lead them to make assumptions based on their own distorted experience of the world. Over time they become unable to avoid inflicting solutions to the problems faced by working class people based on their own middle class values because that is all they know.

It is near impossible for someone on a huge salary who does a job they love to understand why someone may not feel up to working at present. That, to someone like MIND Chief Executive Paul Farmer, really does seem like madness. Likewise charity bosses have no real understanding of why it might be dangerous to allow other bosses to snoop around your health records. Bosses think bosses are lovely people who would never abuse their powers – or at least not without a damn good reason. And bosses know best, they tell each other that all the time.

Charity bosses in particular have their own view of themselves as benevolent experts confirmed everyday by politicians and journalists who would far rather talk to them than someone on the dole. Their whopping salaries provide further proof of their own ability. As do arse-licking middle managers who continually tell them how wonderful and clever they are, to their faces at least. So Paul Farmer must be is right because he’s Paul Farmer and MIND are right because they are MIND and anyone criticising them just doesn’t understand. Because they are not experts.

That’s how MIND alongside other disability and anti-poverty charities can so easily dismiss the demands of grassroots campaigns comprising of disabled people and benefit claimants. Groups which are more or less united in calling for benefit sanctions and the WCA to be scrapped completely. These people are not experts. At worst they might even be service users. And you don’t want them getting too uppity. Before you know where you are you’ll have working class people running organisations together to address working class problems. Then there’d be nothing at all for poor Paul Farmer to do. He might even have to get a real job.

What a Waste!

All Posts, charities, Disability Activism, Disability History, Disability Rights, Independent Living, Reclaiming our Futures, Social Model No Responses »

Feb 112015

Ian Dury had it right when he sang What A
Waste, says Mark Harrison.

In the words of Ian Drury – What a waste! I am referring to the exclusion of disabled people in society and the attitudes and behaviours of Government, both local and national, towards us. As a society we need to turn our approach to disability on its head.

This Government has initiated a poisonous discourse in order to justify targeting disabled people through austerity. By the 2015 election, more than £28bn in benefits and entitlements will have been taken away from disabled people. At the same time, disabled people are twice as likely to live in poverty as non-disabled people. In Austerity Britain, where the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer continue to claim “We are all in this together”, disabled people will pay 9 times more towards reducing the budget deficit than the average citizen. Those who are severely disabled will pay nineteen times more.

We are not benefit scroungers or burdens, we are not too expensive or units of costs that we as a society cannot afford, we are not brave, courageous or ‘special needs’. We are human beings like everybody else. If you cut us we bleed. You call us names and bully us, we hurt. You pity us and stick us in the charity box, we behave like charity cases. You segregate us in separate institutions and we become institutionalised. You do everything for us and wrap us in cotton wool then we become dependent. You have low expectations of our abilities and you damage our growth and development.

Disabled people don’t want this; we just want to be treated equally. We don’t want to be labelled as ‘special needs’ and charity cases. We want to live in the mainstream like everyone else. We want the barriers to us leading equal lives removed. If you label us as charity cases then what happens when you lose interest and move on to the next ‘good cause’? Labels are for tins not disabled people!

So what is to be done to address this waste? It is our responsibility – all of us – to remove these barriers. The barriers are ‘man made’ so it is our responsibility to break them down and consign them to history together. Disabled people can’t do this by ourselves we need allies. We need non-disabled people to get along side us and not accept the apartheid lives many disabled people are forced to live. We need disabled and non-disabled to be passionate about disability equality just like we are about women’s, racial and sexuality equality.

Disabled people have enormous amounts to give if afforded the opportunity and responsibility. Let’s end this waste and call time on out of date 20^th Century attitudes and behaviours. Together we can consign them to the dustbin of history where they belong. Let’s get passionate together about disability equality and removing those barriers, wherever they are. Our Government has signed and ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities https://www.un.org/disabilities/

This provides a comprehensive road map for achieving disability equality – let’s implement it.

Mark Harrison

Mark Harrison is CEO of Equal Lives,
formerly known as the Norfolk Coalition of
Disabled People.

January 2015

Kilburn Unemployed Workers’ Group’s verdict on David Cameron: “He’s A W*****”

All Posts No Responses »

Feb 112015

With many, many thanks to Kilburn Unemployed Worker’s Group for brightening up our day and to Kate Belgrave for sharing it:

Here’s the words.

“Taking from the poor to pay the rich”

(to the tune of ‘Glory, Glory Hallelujah’)

David Cameron is a W*****
He’s descended from the royalty and bankers
He’s sitting on the people like a canker
Just taking from poor to feed the the rich.

(Chorus) David Cameron is a W*****
David Cameron is a W*****
David Cameron is a W*****
He’s taking from the poor to pay the rich.

A million people using foodbanks
A million people using foodbanks
A million people using foodbanks
He’s taking from the poor to pay the rich.

The very richest people got a tax cut
The very richest people got a tax cut
The very richest people got a tax cut
He’s taking from the poor to pay the rich.

(Chorus) David Cameron is a W*****

The disabled live in fear and trepidation
The disabled live in fear and trepidation
The disabled live in fear and trepidation
He’s taking from the poor to pay the rich.

His Eton chums are ‘All in this together’
His Eton chums are ‘All in this together’
His Eton chums are ‘All in this together’
They’re taking from the poor to pay the rich.

(Chorus) David Cameron is a W*****

His Bedroom Tax is leading to evictions
His Bedroom Tax is leading to evictions
We’re entering an age of mass evictions
He’s taking from the poor to pay the rich

A Third of British people now below the poverty line
A Third of British people now below the poverty line
A Third of British people now below the poverty line

(Chorus) David Cameron is a W*****

They’re creating modern slavery through workfare
They’re creating modern slavery through workfare
They’re creating modern slavery through workfare
They’re taking from the poor to pay the rich.

(Chorus) David Cameron is a W*****

Make up your own verses – here’s some more verses:

Who is it that gives tax breaks to the wealthy?

Welfare reform is killing the disabled

He’s selling off our children’s education

He’s closed down much of ‘Care in the Community’

Who is it that gives tax breaks to the wealthy?

Social cleansing’s happening in London

He’s privatised the National Health Service

He’s thrown away our National Insurance

Their statistics are all lies and obfuscations

And if you liked that – here’s another by Fritz O’Skennick

Please Help Cover Legal Costs for 5 arrested Activists in Toronto

All Posts, OCAP No Responses »

Feb 072015

We are relaying an appeal for legal funding for 5 activists arrested in Toronto, from our friends and allies in Canada, Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP)

Dear friends and comrades,We need help raising funds to support the women arrested on November 25th, 2014! On this day, an OCAP delegation of five women went to a Shelter and Housing Support office of the City of Toronto while a rally of hundreds gathered in the adjacent park. These women were demanding that the City act on its promises to reduce overcrowding in the shelters and, in particular, to open two 24-hour safe space drop ins for homeless women and trans people who face an especially high threat of violence on the streets.

The struggle for a 24-hour drop in space for women and trans people began in September 2013 when a woman was raped by two different men in one night as she slept on the steps of a community agency in the Dundas and Sherbourne area. After many deputations, meetings and rallies, the city promised that it would keep shelter occupancy below 90% capacity and open a 24 hour drop-in for women and trans people in 2014. Lamentably, efforts to open new shelter beds and a 24-hour drop-in were stalled and nothing was set in place for the Winter of 2014/2015. Ten days into January of 2015 four men died on the bitterly cold streets of Toronto as a consequence of inadequate shelter space.

While the city has promised, again, to put the 24-hour drop in on the Spring budget, and create more shelter beds in 2015, this was not without
great struggle and determination on behalf of community members. Still, shelter spaces are dangerously over crowded and unfit to meet the complex needs of those without shelter.

We would greatly appreciate your support. Funding from your donation will go to support the legal costs of those 5 women who were arrested on Nov. 25th for daring to demand safe shelter, and decent, accessible and affordable housing for all. In the event that we surpass our goal, all of
the remaining funds will go to future anti-poverty and homelessness organizing efforts.

To donate by credit card or online banking, please go to our Go Fund Me page: https://www.gofundme.com/kc0i70

Thank you for all of your support, financial and otherwise.

OCAP

www.ocap.ca
Twitter: @OCAPtoronto
Facebook: facebook.com/OcapToronto

Labour say no to #ILF in England but we’re not dead yet

Action, All Posts, ILF, Independent Living Fund ILF, News 2 Responses »

Feb 052015

In view of the Labour Party at last confirming they will not keep the ILF open in England, although there will be funds in Scotland, Northern Ireland and also probably Wales we’re now asking for as many DDPOs and individuals to sign up to an eaction to send an email directly to their MP

https://www.pcs.org.uk/savetheilf

and also a petition to Ed Miliband and Ed Balls

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-the-independent-living-fund-1

Protest against NAS&NUA 6pm Tues 3rd March The Royal Hall, Harrogate. #AnthonyKletzander

Action, All Posts, Independent Living No Responses »

Jan 312015

See https://www.autismprofessionalsawards.org.uk

Supporters of Anthony Kletzander will gather at 6.0 pm outside the Royal Hall, Harrogate.

Nua Healthcare is the institution where Anthony Kletzander is incarcerated and abused.

https://dpac.uk.net/2015/01/anthonykletzander-when-managers-of-residential-institutions-call-abuse-care/

Nua sponsored the National Autistic Society Professional Autism Awards for Clinical Excellence in 2014.

Supporters of Anthony brought an end to Nua sponsorship, for the 2015 awards.

NAS/NUA relationship continues. https://www.businessandleadership.com/business/item/40507-nua-healthcare-stands-out-I

This is despite Nua Healthcare (UK) failing Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections. Nua have since de registered their provision with CQC.

https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-679471140 and https://www.cqc.org.uk/provider/1-631787360

NAS continue to give NUA “Autism Accreditation”. NUA continue to abuse Anthony Kletzander a young man with Autism.

Nua deny Anthony’s right to his communication.

Nua, deny Anthony’s right to be free from antipsychotic medication (Anthony has been subjected to emergency hospitalisation on two occasions whist in the “care” of Nua. Prior to Anthony being institutionalised he was free from any medical complications he had no history of epilepsy, now he is on several medications.

Nua, deny Anthony right to be free from forced unpaid Farm Labour

Nua, deny Anthony’s right to independent living

Noel Dunne, general manager of Nua wrote to the families of all people within Nua, he used the NAS accreditation and “stamp of approval” to reassure families that Nua is a safe place for people with Autism. This letter followed when an Irish television programme RTE, exposed abuse, with
hidden cameras, in another Irish institution, Aras Attracta, https://youtu.be/RydAoa-7ePU

The RTE programme had a similar impact to the BBC, Panorama programme Winterbourne View in the UK 2011.

Irish Institutions for disabled people are under serious scrutiny from the mass media and general public in Ireland.

It is hypocritical of The National Autistic Society to award professionals for Autism practice, whilst they retain “an active silence”s at the abuse of Anthony Kletzander, a young man with Autism.

Anthony’s support group will be organising a peaceful protest outside the Awards ceremony at 6pm on the evening of 3rd March 2015, Royal Hall, Harrogate to inform people attending this event of the abuse of Anthony by Nua and hypocrisy of NAS.

Anthony’s mother will travel from Dublin, to take part in the protest, alongside friends and supporters. Linda Kletzander will be describing the impact the Nua abuse is having on Anthony and the whole family and her shock at the active silence of NAS

If you intend to join the protest please contact Joe Whittaker ( Whittakerjoe5@gmail.com ) to collect details or visit the facebook events page https://www.facebook.com/events/1557496471159771/

If you can’t make the protest but still want to support, you could make a donation to Anthony’s legal fund: https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/0tLga?utm_campaign=story-update&utm_medium=email&utm_source=01-2015

Posted on behalf of:
Joe Whittaker
Whittakerjoe5@gmail.com

Help needed with 2 legal challenges on PIP and sanctions

Action, All Posts, Benefits, Legal aid, legal challenges, welfare cuts, Welfare reforms 1 Response »

Jan 292015

Legal Challenge re-PIP claims

We are aware that many disabled people are having problems with the way the new Personal Independence Payment (PIP) system works, and many people are having to wait a really long time for an assessment or decision. We know some people are waiting months, which is unacceptable.

If you are planning to apply for PIP, or have applied and are currently waiting for an assessment or decision, we can put you in touch with some solicitors who may be able to provide you with some free assistance which may speed up your claim where there is a delay. If you would like to find out about this please email us at mail@dpac.uk.net

Legal Challenge re- Sanctions

We are also looking for ESA claimants who have been sanctioned, or threatened with a sanction, because they have not been able to undertake work related activity for some reason which is connected with their disability. For example, the claimant cannot attend training because their mental health problem prevents them from travelling or from working in a group of people they do not know. In such a case, we could argue that the DWP should make reasonable adjustments such as providing them with training via the internet or providing them with means of travel to training as appropriate.

The best time for a case to start is probably at the point when a sanction has been threatened and before it is imposed, but get in touch if your benefit has been reduced as well.

We also hope that the question of the lawfulness of sanctions can be looked at as well but need some individual cases first.

If you are interested in getting involved with either of these cases please contact us at mail@dpac.uk.net

The battle for independent living and political hypocrisy

Action, All Posts, ILF, Independent Living, Independent Living Fund ILF, Politics, UNCRPD, welfare cuts, Who2Vote4? No Responses »

Jan 282015

While Labour profess to support fully the right to live independently for disabled people we are now in a situation following plans to close the Independent Living Fund where England is left as the only UK country which will not have it’s own form of a fund to continue to support the additional funding requirements of those who have high support needs.

For any political party to say they want disabled people to have the same rights, choices and chances as any other citizen rings hollow without a commitment to keep in place even if on a temporary basis the funding necessary for this to happen.

The Labour Party’s official response to many people who have contacted them with regard to supporting keeping the ILF open has outlined a number of points which we would like to address.

1) The “inconsistencies” in delivery which you mention were the result of unequal take up between different local authorities and was symptomatic of the failings of local authority administered social care support. As a national model of service delivery the ILF is far more successful and cost effective than local authority administered social care. The latest ILF annual report records a user satisfaction rating of 97%. Overheads for the ILF come in at just 2 % of the budget in comparison with an average of 16% for local authorities. It is in fact a model of service delivery that should be built upon rather than shut down. We understand that provisions in the Care Act are aimed at reducing inconsistencies between local authorities, nevertheless the inconsistencies you cite as a problem of the ILF are many times worse in the current system upon which ILF users will now be solely reliant as a result of the closure.

2) You also state that ‘ we understand the Fund is already being wound down, and staff numbers are already reducing’. This maybe correct but it is equally the case that there is very little being done in terms of winding down the ILF that could not very quickly be undone, even after actual closure of the ILF. This information has been provided by ILF staff and a former strategic director at ILF and has been shared with Labour’s shadow DWP team by PCS union and others. This means that if a Labour government were to be elected in May 2015 it will very much be Labour’s decision to go ahead with closure in June.

3) In turn that brings us onto the fact that should Labour be elected to government next May it is they who will be in power and responsible for the UK’s failure to protect disabled people’s human rights under the UNCRPD, and it is they who will be deemed responsible for the continuing grave and systematic violation of those rights when the UN investigation into the UK takes place after the election. We believe this would cause unnecessary and easily avoidable embarrassment to a newly elected labour government with international repercussions.

Whilst we welcome Labour’s goal of trying to ensure in the longer term that those currently supported by the Independent Living Fund can realise rights to live independently and with dignity, the ‘whole person care’ through which Labour intends to deliver on this goal is at this stage only a proposal and any benefits resulting from it are a long way off. Moreover, as respected experts in the field such as Professor Pat Thane have pointed out, the current system is simply not functioning at the necessary level. Relying on the integration of health and social care as a solution to the crisis in social care is thus an irresponsible gamble to take with people’s lives.

Since the closure to new applicants in December 2010 disabled people who missed out on the ILF have suffered dramatically worse outcomes than existing ILF recipients with equivalent support needs. We have provided Kate Green with a number of case studies showing the reality of independent living for disabled people who would have been eligible for ILF but are now only receiving LA social care support. We are not just talking about disabled people no longer being able to go to work, or ever have a holiday or go to university, we are talking about people unable to leave their homes, left without access to food or water, unable to wash more than a couple of times per week.

Whilst the intention of issuing guidelines to local authorities is well meaning, it is unrealistic within the current climate to see these securing the futures of existing ILF recipients. Cash strapped local authorities are very aware of the dangers of setting precedents for providing levels and types of social care support to some individuals and not for others. An LA could easily consider itself to have more to risk by following than not following the guidelines. In order to ensure equity between all adult service users they may well feel they have no choice but to level down.

In the short term we are asking that the ILF be retained as the only way to realistically guarantee protection for existing recipients. Disabled people are aware that this is not a big ask: the ILF represents a relatively small amount of money; the ILF will not be wound down beyond easy repair before May 2015.

The alternative is that disabled people’s right to independent living will be wiped out, potentially for generations. Once a people lose choice and control over their lives, disempowerment sets in and rights that have been smashed aside over-night can only be won back over a long and hard road.

As it stands, if Labour are elected in May 2015, the final nail in the coffin of disabled people’s right to independent living as it currently exists will be hammered in under a Labour government. It does not have to be like this. The Labour Party has a golden opportunity to make a principled stand in support of disabled people and our rights to equality, inclusion and equality by supporting the continuation of ILF. Disabled people are mobilizing and campaigning across the UK, through initiatives like Operation Disabled Vote. A principled stand by Labour on the ILF ahead of the General Election would be welcomed by the 12.2 million disabled people in the UK, our families, friends and supporters.

What you can do to help

We’re therefore asking people to email or tweet to Labour to say that England must not be the only UK country without an Independent Living Fund and that we know and have shown them the evidence that it is not too late to keep an ILF in England as well as in other UK countries. If Labour want disabled people’s votes then they must give an assurance that in the short term at least they will keep the ILF open until such time as something better can be put in place.

You can email Iain McNicoll, general secretary of the Labour Party at onenationpolitics@labour.org.uk

Ed Miliband at ed.miliband.mp@parliament.uk

And Kate Green at kate.green.2^nd@parliament.uk

Or you can tweet them @IainMcnicol

@ed_miliband

@kategreenSU

Please also contact your Prospective Parliamentary Candidates and let us know what replies you get.

Does Ed Miliband Promise Labour Will #SaveILF?

Action, All Posts, ILF, Independent Living, Independent Living Fund ILF No Responses »

Jan 262015

Please share this this post widely to help us get wide coverage of #saveilf on facebook and twitter

Ed Miliband’s comments on the ILF on 26th Jan still leave us none the wiser as to what Labour intend to do about the ILF

@IlfSave At a Q&A with @Ed_Miliband this morning, he gave a solid and passionate commitment that @UKLabour *will* #saveIFL. We’re with you.

— Trudie McGuinness (@trudiemc) January 26, 2015

@JuJuMarlow @IlfSave This morning Ed Miliband committed the next Labour government to saving the ILF. — Malcolm Fincken (@MalcolmFincken) January 26, 2015

Today @David_Cameron pledges tax cuts whilst @Ed_Miliband pledges to save #ILF. There’s a real dividing line in this election. #VoteLabour

— Val Hudson (@val_hudson) January 26, 2015

update

We’re waiting for confirmation from a VERY silent Labour party after tweets by 2 Labour party candidates stating not
once, but in the case of Trudie McGuiness 3 times that she heard Ed promised to save ILF.
Meanwhile we have the transcript of what he said and we still can’t manage to decide if he said he’d save ILF or that he wouldn’t. Your guess is as good as ours but do let us know what you think?

Possibly at some time in the near future the Labour party will be able to enlighten us all.

Ed transcript:

“First of all we said to the government they should not get rid of the independent living fund in the way they are doing. What they are doing is getting rid of it and passing it down to the local authorities, passing that money down to the local authorities.

So, firstly they should not be getting rid of the Independent living fund. And we’ve said that if it does go to the local authorities that budget has got to be protected.

We’ve got to find ways of protecting that money for some of the most vulnerable disabled people, some of whom I’ve met and who are saying “this is a terrible situation what’s happening to the independent living fund”.

Secondly, we’ve got to stop the assault on disabled people in relation to the medical tests that are going on and have fair and proper medical tests when it comes to the medical system.

{audience member – inaudible] Well you are right sir. We’ve got to sort out the way that these medical tests work. And we’ve said we are going to reform what is called the work capability assessment so that it gives a proper deal to disabled people.

Last thing I’ll say to you is this. We’ve got to actually enforce the law when it comes to disabled people. Because there are lots and lots of disabled people who want to work, want to actually go out and be part of the working population and can’t because they are not getting the help to do it.”

Green Party Would Save the Independent Living Fund #SaveILF

All Posts, ILF, Independent Living Fund ILF No Responses »

Jan 242015

DPAC #SaveILF Lobby at House of Commons. Jubilee Room, hosted by Caroline Lucas MP

At a lobby held on 6th January Independent Living Fund recipients called on MPs from all political parties to save the ILF. Caroline Lucas MP who sponsored the lobby told the meeting that her party the Greens are fully behind the call to keep and re open the ILF.

Tracey Lazard, CEO of Inclusion London said: “The Independent Living Fund (ILF) was set up to enable disabled people with the highest support needs to live in independently in the community. The fund has transformed the lives of generation of disabled people who otherwise would have been shut away in residential care .The shameful plan to close the ILF will have a devastating impact on ILF users. With social services funding cut by 26% and a further £10 billion of cuts to Local Authority in the pipeline the closure of the fund will leave ILF users facing a future back in institutions or living without the independence, choice and control that most non disabled people take for granted. The commitment by the Green Party to keep the ILF open will be welcome by disabled people across this land as a rare moment when a party turns the rhetoric of fairness and justice into a policy and action that stands up for disabled people who have been so disproportionately hit by austerity cuts”

The lobby also heard from the SNP how the Scottish government will not only be keeping but also investing money in setting up a Scotland ILF open to new applicants. Welsh and Irish politicians from the SDLP and Plaid Cymru also pledged their party’s support.

Read Caroline Lucas’ article for the Independent newspaper on the closure of the ILF here:
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/scrapping-the-independent-living-fund-would-devastate-thousands-9992591.html?origin=internalSearch

Watch footage from the lobby on 6th January here: https://dpac.uk.net/2015/01/pictures-and-video-from-the-saveilf-lobby-of-parliament-and-whitehall-roadblock/

For the latest on the ILF situation in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (with thanks to Brian Hilton from GMCDP)

Wales: The Welsh Government consultation on the future arrangements for the ILF ended on the 23rd December with the preferred options seem to be either setting up a successor to the ILF or creating up a new Independent Living Scheme in Wales. Regardless of which option is chosen, there is a commitment that any future arrangements will be underpinned by the Welsh Governments “Framework for Action on Independent Living“.

Northern Ireland: Health Minister Jim Wells has confirmed that the ILF will be retained in Northern Ireland. Further details are still be announced and so far all we have is what was reported last week in the Derry Daily newspaper.

Scotland: The latest update from Learning Disability Alliance Scotland, states that Self Directed Support Scotland will be hosting the Scottish ILF Development Manager who will report to the newly formed project board and that an additional £5.5 million will be made available foe new ILF applications.

Maximus Day of Action 2nd of March – List of 28 events around the UK (updated Feb 20th) #ScrapWCA

Action, All Posts, Disability Activism, local groups, Maximus, News 3 Responses »

Jan 232015

See Information about the Day of Action on Social Media here

Cartoon Maximus - Same Circus - Different Clowns by Phil Evans

Cartoon: Maximarse – Same Circus – Different Clowns by Phil Evans. You can more of his work on his Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/PhillEvansIllustration

Planning for the Day of Action to Welcome Maximarse to their new role as assessors for the cruel and hateful WCA is taking shape, and we now have actions planned or in planning for:

Aberdeen, Balham, Bournemouth, Bradford, Brighton, Cardiff, Croydon, Dundee, Ealing, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hull, Inverness, Ipswich, Leeds, Leicester, Lincoln, Manchester, Norwich, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Reading, Sheffield, Sunderland, Toronto, Truro, Wrexham and Maximus HQ in central London.

If you can get to one of these protests – great ! You can see details of each event list below. If you would like to contact the organisers of any of the actions beforehand – mail us on mail@dpac.uk.net and we will be able to put you in contact with them.

Keep an eye on this page – we will keep it updated with locations all over the UK where actions are planned, and details of new actions are coming in to DPAC central thick and fast so keep an eye out for updates.

If there isn’t a protest where you live – why not organise one? – we can help you with advice, leaflet designs, placard designs and put you in contact with local groups near to you, if you are interested email us on mail@dpac.uk.net

If you can’t make a protest, we are going to have a social media day of action as well. Details of that will be going up on this website in the near future.

Finally, at the end of this post, we have included an instructional video on how to organise a DPAC protest that we think everyone should see.

We would just like to add that the Day of Action is aimed at the objective of ending the Work Capability Assessments and destroying the credibility of Maximus which should be relatively easy to do given their appalling track record. We do not want these protests to give Maximus or their new employee, Sue Marsh, an opportunity to accuse us of attacking their poor staff as ATOS falsely claimed.

** Stop Press ** UKUncut will be joining with us to take part in the Day of Action against Maximus

*** Stop Stop Press ** We have been informed that our friends and allies in Canada, Ontario Coalition Against Poverty will be holding a solidarity action with us against Maximus Offices in Toronto – details of this to follow

MASS DAY OF ACTION AGAINST MAXIMUS! 2^ND MARCH 2015.

Protest	Location	Time(s)	Events Page
Aberdeen	Details to be announced
Balham	Irene House, 218 Balham High Road, Balham, London, SW12 9BX	10.30 Am – 12noon	https://facebook.com/events/921882261178305/
Bournemouth	Details to be announced
Bradford	Bradford City Centre, Wool Exchange Buildings, 22 Bank Street, Bradford, BD1 1PR	8.30 am to 10.30 am	https://www.facebook.com/events/1589908967913041/
Brighton	West Lees House, 21-35 Dyke Road, Brighton, BN1 3GD, (North End of the Clock Tower, Next to Old Job Centre.)	1pm	https://www.facebook.com/events/1542104427509/
Cardiff Run by DAN Cmyru	Block 2, Government Buildings, St Agnes Road, Gabalfa, Cardiff, CF14 4YJ.	1 -4 pm	https://www.facebook.com/events/1541199339470550/
Croydon	Stephenson House, 2 Cherry Orchard Road, Croydon, CR0 6BA	10 am – 6pm.	https://www.facebook.com/events/641182419342826/
Dundee	Details to be announced
Ealing	Medical Assessment Centre/Ealing Job Centre, 86-92 Uxbridge Road, West Ealing London W13 8RA	9 am -10.30 am	https://www.facebook.com/events/876381712418630/
Edinburgh	Argyle House, 3 Lady Lawson Street, Edinburgh, EH3 9SJ	1pm-3pm	https://www.facebook.com/events/334127460115256/
Glasgow	Corunna House, 29 Cadogan Street, Glasgow, G2 7RD	12.30 -2 pm	https://www.facebook.com/events/1429430507348206/
Hull	Job Centre Plus, Hill Britannia House, 2 Ferensway, Hull HU2 8NF (Organised by Hull People’s Assembly)	1pm to 2 pm	https://www.facebook.com/events/1508382406051019/
Inverness	Details to be announced
Ipswich	Medical Assessment Centre, St. Felix House, Silent Street, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP1 1TF.	1 pm onwards.	https://www.facebook.com/events/1513102252288548/
Leeds	Leeds Briggate LS1 6NP (meet near the Bodyshop)	12 noon until 2 pm	https://www.facebook.com/events/369677073211238/
Leicester	1st Floor, Rytland Centre, Halford Street, Leicester, LE1 1TQ		https://www.facebook.com/events/522105471264765/
Lincoln	Medical Assessment Centre, Viking House, 98 Newland	1 pm onwards	https://www.facebook.com/events178533808358604/
London Central Maximus HQ	Maximus HQ Level 1, Queen Anne’s Gate, London, SW1H 9BU	1 – 5 pm	https://www.facebook.com/events/771842739517758/
Manchester	Albert Bridge House, Bridge Street, Manchester, M60 9AT	12 noon until 4 pm	https://www.facebook.com/events/346833825508275/
Norwich	St Mary’s House, Duke St, Norwich. NR3 1QA	1pm	TBA
Portsmouth	Medical Assessment Centre, Wingfield House, 316-334 Commercial Road, Portsmouth PO1 4TA	1 pm until 5 pm	https://www.facebook.com/events/1609767919257826/
Plymouth	Argosy house, longfield road, plympton, plymouth, PL6 8LS	12 noon until 3 pm	https://www.facebook.com/events/951081494902471/
Reading	St Mary’s Butts, Reading, RG1 2LG	11 am – 1 pm	https://www.facebook.com/events/1404292959867177/
Sheffield	Medical Assessment Centre, 1 Hartshead Square, Sheffield, S1 2FD.	1- 3 pm (meet first at 12.30 pm at City centre)	https://facebook.com/events/1526799147602672/
Sunderland	Sunderland Job Centre, 60-66 John Street, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear SR1 1QT	11 am-1pm
Toronto	Details to be announced	4pm UK time
Truro	Pydar House, Pydar Street, Truro, Cornwall, TR1 2XD (the current WCA Assessment Centre) After a while spent there protest will move on to Truro City Centre outside the JobCentre Plus	12 noon until 2 pm	https://www.facebook.com/events/1002956276384446/
Wrexham	Medical Assessment Centre, Ty Maelor, 15-17 Grosvenor Road, Wrexham LL11 1BW	1pm – 3pm	https://www.facebook.com/events/519696384836975/

#AnthonyKletzander When managers of residential institutions call abuse – “Care”!

All Posts, Independent Living, international No Responses »

Jan 232015

The exposure of physical and emotional abuse by staff against disabled people at Aras Attracta, a residential institution, was secretly filmed by RTE in the Republic of Ireland, there was a public outcry. A similar Panorama programme in the UK, over three years ago where abuse of disabled people by staff at Winterbourne View Institution was also secretly filmed.

Both were truly horrible programmes to watch and reflected very badly on residential “Care” in both UK and Ireland. I suspect they are not the only Countries where institutional abuse happens. The general public in Ireland and UK were collectively stunned and outraged at what they had witnessed on public television.

It is however, a truism for the growing number of advocates of Independent Living that ” residential settings” for disabled people is inherently flawed and do not “care” about the individuals within them. Governments around the globe, publicly encourage, well supported Independent living, which is the preference for increasing numbers of disabled people, their families and the society in which they live, as a valued approach for disabled people to make their contributions to their communities.

The letter from Nua Healthcare.

The letter below was sent to families of people resident in Nua Healthcare by The Chief Operating Manager, Mr Noel Dunne, seeking to reassure people, after that dreadful abuse was exposed on RTE , that all was wonderful and carefully monitored in Nua Healthcare Institution.

Nua Healthcare do not call their Residences, “institutions ” they prefer to use the term ” Low Density Housing” The website brochure for Nua Healthcare appears like an All Inclusive Holiday in some exotic location.

https://www.nuahealthcare.ie

It is important for all the supporters of Anthony Kletzander, that the reassurances from Noel Dunne at Nua Healthcare institution are littered with hypocrisy and untruths. Mr Dunne, rightly condemns the abuse seen by millions on TV he is however, rather economical with the truth when it comes to Anthony Kletzander, institutionalised in Nua Healthcare since December 2013.

The letter below from Noel Dunne,Chief Operations Manager for Nua Healthcare is copied below. The comments in bold italics are from Joe Whittaker friend and advocate of Anthony Kletzander.

I believe that if a person uses social media to expose injustice, the person exposing that injustice has to take responsibility for their actions. This is why I have give my home contact details to the solicitors of Nua Healthcare Institution, when they threatened me with legal action several months ago. I again invite them to do so if they believe I have written any untruths, I have made, about the treatment of Anthony Kletzander in Nua Healthcare Institution.

Date of letter 18 Dec 2014

Re: RTE Prime Time, 9th December 2014 – Aras Attracta

Dear Mr and Mrs ,

Further to a recent RTE Primetime television programme which reported on sustained abuse towards the residents of Aras Attracta, a HSE facility in Swinford, Co Mayo, I wish to outline the following facts and reassure you of our good name and reputation as an agency synonymous with quality person-centred services.

Anthony Kletzander is incarcerated in Nua Healthcare, his parents were told directly by Mr Noel Dunne, when Anthony was admitted after institutional abuse at Redwood,Starmullen, on 19th December 2012.

” if you report any issue to the press about Nua , Anthony is out of here”

( comments from Joe Whittaker Anthony’s friend and advocate)

Based on my knowledge of our service and further supported by my ongoing house visits and meetings with frontline staff, it is my firm belief that Nua Healthcare continues to deliver the highest quality of service within each of our registered houses.

Anthony was admitted to emergency hospital on two occasions, from Nua Institution, following antipsychotic medication and “poor care” Both these emergency admissions, were never explained or discussed with the parents of Anthony.

The antipsychotic medication was against Anthony’s wishes, and the express wishes of his parents. Mr Noel Dunne ignored the express concerns of Anthony and his parents.

Anthony’s parents had informed Mr Dunne of the dangers for Anthony subject to certain drugs. It was deeply disturbing for the family that they were refused access to the medication given to Anthony by Nua senior Staff. Mr and Mrs Kletzander had to serve a solicitors letter, to Nua to get the list of the medicine and dosage administered to Anthony.

(from Joe Whittaker Anthony’s The friend and advocate)

Most recently, Nua Healthcare underwent an intermediate review of its autism services. This review was conducted independently through the National Autistic Society, who subsequently reported sustained good practices within our services.

The National Autistic Society (UK) accepted sponsorship from Nua Institution for The Professional Autism Awards in 2014. After, concerns in relation to Anthony Kletzander, The National Autistic Society (UK) ended the sponsorship from The National Autistic Society for the 2015 Professional Autism Awards. (Joe Whittaker Anthony’s friend and advocate)

Throughout 2014, we also facilitated inspection across the majority of our registered disability houses by HIQUA, the authority responsible for driving quality, safety and accountability in residential services for children, older people and people with disabilities in Ireland. As a matter of public record, we demonstrated that our services are delivered to the highest standards.

The inspections carried out in Nua Healthcare Institutions in UK by The Care Quality Commission, a National inspection body, Mr Noel Dunne is the named person responsible for provision. This provision failed to maintain standards in important areas.(from Joe Whittaker Anthony’s friend and advocate)

Full report available on Google : Care Quality Commission UK. Search for Nua Healthcare UK.

https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-679471140

As I watched the RTE Primetime report my own immediate reaction was to feel disgust, sadness and shame. I could not believe people who had been placed in a position of trust for another’s safety and well-being could break that trust in this most appalling and disrespectful way.

Mr Noel Dunne, ‘People in Glass Houses should not throw stones’ (from Joe Whittaker Anthony’s friend and advocate)

Anthony’s friends, who made a specific and a first visit from Holland, to see Anthony, were not allowed on Nua Healthcare premises. They were not allowed to see Anthony’s room at Nua. They were told only next of kin were allowed on Nua Institution premises. Such are the concerns expressed to Anthony by Mr Dunne.

(from Joe Whittaker Anthony’s friend and advocate)

Although I am confident in our services and each of the staff within it, I assure you that we will not become complacent.

Anthony’s advocate and supporters will never be complacent about the abuse Anthony experiences at Nua Healthcare Institution. (From Joe Whittaker Anthony’s friend and advocate)

We will maintain zero tolerance of abuse in any of its forms and we will never forget our responsibilities to the men, women and children who avail of our service and for whom we are most privileged to support and care for.

Mr Noel Dunne

1. Why does Nua give Anthony drugs against his wishes?

2. Why do you ignore and deny Anthony’s means of Communication?

3. Why did you force Anthony to work on Nua Farm UNPAID, which he hates?

4. Why do you refuse to support Anthony’s right to live independently?

Should you wish to discuss any concerns, please contact any member of our senior management team. Finally, should you wish to visit our services and or discuss any aspect of it, please feel free to make that request and we will certainly facilitate it.

We invite Mr Noel Dunne to publicly debate with Anthony and his supporters about residential Abuse in all its forms at Nua Healthcare Institution ? (from Joe Whittaker Anthony’s friend and advocate)

Thanks you for your continued commitment to our service and for trusting us to provide services for you family member.

Yours sincerely,

Noel Dunne (signed)

Chief Operating Officer

This article will appear on National and International blogs that support the rights of disabled people to live independently, free from Institutional care.

Joe Whittaker

friend and advocate for Anthony Kletzander.

Urgent Call for witnesses and images from Westminster Abbey Action.

All Posts, Disability Activism No Responses »

Jan 222015

There is an urgent need to speak to people who were at the Westminster Abbey action on 28th June last year, and did any of the following:

Took notes on the day (particularly if they cover both before police came, and afterwards);
Were asked to give any kind of formal statement (this could include any stop and search, or being required to give details such as name and address) by police;
Have still or video images of the event (again, particularly if these cover both before and after police came);
If you were refused passage through the police cordon (particularly what reasons were given for this by police).

If any of these apply to you, please get in touch by emailing – mail@dpac.uk.net.
Thanks in advance for your support.

Maximus: The Company That Dare Not Show Its Face #ScrapWCA

All Posts, Maximus, WCA 2 Responses »

Jan 192015

Reblogged from Johnny Void, with the usual thanks

The logo likely to be used on the paperwork for the Work Capability Assessment

Maximus – the US based firm brought in to replace Atos to carry out benefit assessments – will hide their corporate identity behind a hastily erected front company in an attempt to avoid damage to their brand The Guardian revealed yesterday.

According to the paper, the company will not use its logo on letters sent to claimants facing the notorious Work Capability Assessment, instead using a neutral name such as “The Centre for Health and Disability Assessment”. In fact this company has been up and running since June 2014, suspiciously several months before it was announced that Maximus would be taking over the contract from Atos. The Guardian should probably have known this, because they are currently running an advertisement for a Social Media Manager for the new company on the recruitment part of their website.

The company was established by senior Maximus directors Leslie Wolf and William Smith and is based in the their offices in East Sussex.. Already they are using this fake ID to recruit Functional Assessors and other staff to work on the new contract with the DWP as they desperately attempt to find enough healthcare professionals who are nasty enough to take on the role.

The suffering caused by the Work Capability Assessment is well documented with an ever growing list of tragic deaths linked to the process. Despite this Maximus claim that the press coverage of Atos and their shambolic handling of the assessments has been “unjustifiably negative” and that in future people should blame the government if they don’t like what Maximus does. This incidentally was exactly the same line Atos used when they whined about people complaining about them. The idea that it is perfectly possible to hold governments responsible for the shitty things they do, and equally condemn the vile shitbags who profit from them, never seems to have occurred to this mercenary bunch of vultures.

It looks like Maximus are also using the same medical recruitment firm @sjbmedical that Atos used to hire staff. Any healthcare professional considering working for these bastards should remember the words of a former Atos disability analyst:

“The job was making me sick …. It’s against my principles to treat people with long term illnesses in such a disgusting way, so I had to give it up.

“People go into those interviews and talk openly to you because you are a nurse and they trust you.

“Then your skills are used against them, to take away their benefits and destroy their lives.

“I can’t be a part of that.”

Join the Day of Action Against Maximus called by Disabled People Against Cuts on March 2nd.

Anthony Kletzander – Update from Joe Whittaker 15th January

All Posts, legal challenges, professional oppression 3 Responses »

Jan 162015

15 Jan 2015 — The Health Service Executive ( HSE ) continue to deny Anthony’s Human Rights, whilst paying €1000 per day, from the public purse, to fund private institutional abuse.

Anthony’s struggle for Independent living has been rejected by HSE, yet again.

Following an official mediation process. The details of that process are subject to a confidentiality agreement, which all participants signed.

I can however, disclose that a legally binding agreement, that evolved within that mediation process, signed by both parties: that HSE would provide a written response to Anthony’s family on 7th January 2015, was broken by HSE, who decided to give their bizarre verdict one week later on 14th January 2015.

In addition the HSE Area Manager signed an agreement prior to the mediation that HSE would cover All costs and expenses of the mediation. HSE subsequently reneged on this agreement, by refusing to pay the travelling and subsistent expenses for people supporting Anthony.

Area Manager of HSE gave no explanation.

The actions of HSE has demonstrated yet again the contempt and lack of integrity of a senior HSE manager, for due process and their disreputable behaviour in refusing to abide by their signed agreement, to cover all costs of mediation.

The HSE have also demonstrated a total disregard to Anthony by choosing to accept the voice of highly paid professionals, whilst refusing to accept Anthony’s own voice, and his preferences ,which have been consistently supported by his parents, who continue call for independent living.

The struggle for Anthony’s right to independent living will continue.

HSE have previously incarcerated Anthony in Redwood Institution, for three months assessment. during this time Anthony was abused, by highly paid professionals, by using anti-psychotic medication and refusing Anthony his right to attend His own case conference. Redwood has recently been exposed in the media following a detailed External Inspection Report, where there were major failings in Redwood to maintain acceptable standards of care for the residents.

The Redwood Inspection Report: https://hiqa.ie/system/files/inspectionreports/2433-27-September-2014.pdfn

Redwood was the centre we complained about to Senior Managers at HSE, during Anthony’s incarceration. The HSE managers stated that Redwood was a “Centre of Excellence”, with a highly expert multi disciplinary team, such language is used to camouflage abusive practice. It was one of those very same HSE senior nursing managers, who was part of the abuse of Anthony at Redwood, and making the same grandiose, statements about Nua Residential Healthcare institution. Nua healthcare in UK have had similar inspection failings in the UK reported by the Care Quality Commission. ( CQC)

https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-679471140

HSE continue to pay Nua Healthcare Institution a reported fee of €1000 per DAY to incarcerate Anthony. ( Nua and HSE refuse to disclose the exact figure, which I am informed could be a great deal more)

Anthony’s incarceration in a private residential institution, illustrates the
hypocrisy of HSE in Ireland, who publicly advocate “independent and community based living” for disabled people, when in fact they are colluding with Private institutions and handing over large sums of money from the public purse to institutionalise and segregate disabled people, from their local community.

This is about public institutions squandering public money to fund private greed at the expense of disabled people. This morally corrupt relationship has to be exposed and ended.

We need your continued support to purse this important campaign to free Anthony.

The HSE continue to threaten Court action against the family.

I will continue to work independently for Anthony, as his friend and advocate exposing the abuse of Anthony at Nua Institution and question the connivance of HSE to allow this abuse to continue.

I present The Health Service Executive, in Ireland, their team of solicitors, Nua Healthcare Institution, Redwood Extended Care Institution with an invitation, if they believe, I have made any inaccurate statement/s in relation to the abuse of Anthony Kletzander, whilst in NUA or Redwood, they have my contact details and they should take any legal proceedings against me they consider appropriate. I am willing to be subjected to questioning in the Irish Courts.

I also invite staff working past or present, in Nua Healthcare Institution and Redwood Extended Care Institution, to contact me, in confidence, to share any concerns they may have about institutional life of disabled people.

To all of those supporters of Anthony please distribute this information far and wide to your friends and networks concerned about such abuse.

I desperately need your contributions to pay for legal support, to stop the abuse of Anthony Kletzander. Every £1 will help. You can donate via this link https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/0tLga/tw/247RT2

In addition if you know of other example of abuse in residential care, let us find a way to expose it and stop it.

Thank you,
Joe Whittaker
whittakerjoe5@gmail.com
Friend and Advocate with Anthony Kletzander.

Male Candidate Preferred – How Maximus Behave When They Think No-one’s Watching

All Posts, Maximus, News No Responses »

Jan 152015

Reblogged from Johnny Void with thanks
In Saudi Arabia – where Maximus operate welfare-to-work style schemes for the government – gay, lesbian and transgender people can face punishments ranging from flogging, to imprisonment and even execution. Women are forbidden from carrying out many jobs, and workplaces operate under strict gender segregation. The regime’s Saudization programme means that companies in the private sector who employ non-Saudi nationals may be charged a fee or even prohibited from carrying out government contracts.

Yet on their website Maximus Gulf claim to be an equal opportunity employer who recruit people without regard to “race, color, gender, age, religious beliefs, national origin, disability, sexual orientation”. This is of course a lie, as this advertisement for a Business Manager with the company – asking for a male candidate and Saudi nationals only – clearly demonstrates. It is not the only job vacancy with the company that appears to specify gender requirements, and this is hardly surprising since Maximus themselves quite happily operate a segregated workforce in the country.

Which shows just what a breath-taking fucking hypocrite their UK Marketing Director @mariodunn1 is when he tweets things like this:

It seems that Sue Marsh is not the only one prepared to throw away deeply held principles when a big fat Maximus cheque lands on the doorstep.

Join the Day of Action against Maximus called by Disabled People Against Cuts on March 2nd.

Maximus Marketing Boss Called The NUS Student Wankers And Described A Guardian Contributor As Cretinous

Action, All Posts, ESA, Maximus, News No Responses »

Jan 152015

Reblogged from Johnny Void, with thanks

Believe it or not the above tweet referring to the NUS as student wankers was posted by Mario Dunn, the Communications & Marketing Director for Maximus – the company taking over from Atos to carry out the despised assessments for sickness and disability benefits.

Dunn is a former special advisor to the Labour Party who worked at the Department of Health between 2005-2010. Now he is responsible for “all aspects of communications, stakeholder engagement, marketing and brand management” for Maximus but still has the time to have tantrums on twitter – usually in defence of the crimes of the Israeli government. He is also passionate in his support of Tony Blair, calling a piece which mildy criticised the former Prime Minister ‘cretinous’. His choice of language perhaps reveals the truth about attitudes towards disabled people at Maximus.

Dunn will be working with Bill Gunnyeon the former DWP chief medical adviser who it was revealed this week will also now be working for Maximus. He will join former Atos medical director Professor Michael O’Donnell who joined Maximus last year and who previously worked for UNUM, the insurance company who boasted about ‘driving government thinking’ on reforms to sickness and disability benefits.

Maximus have claimed they will be different to Atos. So far they look exactly the fucking same.

Join the Day of Action Against Maximus on March 2nd – please spread the word – facebook page now up.

16th January: Protest against ‘Assisted Dying’ Bill

All Posts, Assisted Dying Bill, News 1 Response »

Jan 132015

Press Release: 12^th January 2015 @ 13:00
__________________________________________________

“NOT IN OUR NAME”
Terminally ill and disabled people speak out against the Assisted Dying Bill ahead of their protest outside the House of Lords on Friday, 16^th January 2015.

Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill will be debated in the House of Lords on Friday, 16^th January 2015. Members of Not Dead Yet UK and others, will protest against the Bill outside the Houses of Parliament. They will carry pictures and statements from 80 terminally ill and disabled individuals whose conditions prevent them from travelling to London or sitting outside in cold weather.

Celebrity supporters of the Bill are well known already but politicians need to hear and value the opinions of people living with terminal illnesses and severe disabilities. We oppose any change in the law on assisted suicide because we fear it will put lives at risk. We do not accept that safeguards proposed in the Bill are adequate.

Not Dead Yet UK firmly believes that terminally ill and disabled people need the full protection of the law, especially at times when they, their families and friends may be fearful of the future. That is why we oppose the Assisted Dying Bill.

Sian Vasey, a Not Dead Yet UK member, said, “When people ask to be assisted to die, this is often in isolation and before everything possible has been done to alleviate their situation in terms of medical, social and emotional support. Fears for the future are the most common reasons for a person to request assisted suicide”.

Photo opportunity

Date: Friday, 16th January 2015

Time: 10:00AM – 1:00 PM

Venue: Old Palace Yard (opposite the House of Lords)

Sign up to the Thunderclap on twitter or facebook https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/21181-opposing-an-assisted-dying-law

Notes to Editors:

Not Dead Yet UK is a campaigning network of disabled people founded in 2006 to oppose legislation on assisted dying for disabled and terminally ill people.
NDY UK is an international ally to Not Dead Yet, USA https://www.notdeadyet.org/
Not Dead Yet UK promotes equality for disabled people in a secular context; it is not faith centred or allied to any organised religion. Its supporters come from all sections of the community. Its guiding principles are to value the lives of terminally ill and disabled people and oppose assisted suicide.

Alarm Bells are ringing, answers please Kate Green

All Posts, ESA, News, WCA 5 Responses »

Jan 122015

Shown below is a video clip of Shadow Minister for Disabled People Kate Green speaking at the SERTUC disabled workers’ network meeting 30 October 2014, filmed and passed to us by Kate Belgrave

In this clip Kate is saying (from 1.23 in the video) “We are going to make sure that the work capability assessment is returned to its original purpose of being the first step in the process to diagnose and identify what sort of support somebody who could work at some point would need to have in order to enable them work, and so we will give every single person who goes through the work capability assessment, at the end of their assessment, a statement of how their condition or impairment impacts on their capacity to work. That will refocus the assessment into the right mindset, how to situate (? unclear) your capability for work. It will also, we hope, empower the individual, because that statement will be yours to take to your employer or your work programme provider or training provider and say ‘this is is what I have to contend with. How can we work together to build the support that I need.'”

Our very serious questions to Kate Green are:

Will this be the policy of any incoming Labour Government?
There is no recognition in this statements that people in the Support Group are not able to work, as judged by the already harsh WCA regime, do you really mean that the support group no longer has any meaning?
When you say “everybody going through a Work Capability Assessment”, do you mean this to include (among others):
1. Claimants with terminal conditions who do not have long left to live
2. Claimants with severe mental health conditions who are at risk of suicide, or harming themselves or others
3. Claimants with severe learning difficulties or cognitive impairments
4. Claimants with high support needs, who will no longer receive ILF funding?
Does Labour intend that the support group will no longer exist for people judged unable to work?

We are extremely concerned about this statement and we call on Kate Green to clarify what these words mean and respond to our questions listed above.

We will publish in full her response on this blog

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Ed Miliband and the shadow cabinet are coming to Birmingham on Saturday, March 14th, International Convention Centre, Birmingham to announce their policy proposals for the general election.

DPAC are investigating instances where people in the support group are being sent letters by the DWP

update

Ed Miliband and the shadow cabinet are coming to Birmingham on Saturday, March 14^th, International Convention Centre, Birmingham to announce their policy proposals for the general election.