Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group — the Kwug Blog: disability benefits

Showing posts with label disability benefits. Show all posts

Thursday, 6 July 2017

6 July 2017 latest news stories from Disability News Service

Thursday evening is a good time to pick up the latest news stories from Disability News Service.

So, here goes with a copy-and-paste job:

Latest Stories

July 6, 2017 0 New disabled MP accuses government of ‘eugenics’
July 6, 2017 0 Police watchdog criticised over investigation into murder of disabled refugee
July 6, 2017 0 Disabled MP forced to miss Commons debates because he has nowhere to sit
July 6, 2017 0 New disabled MPs back fresh call to reopen access fund
July 6, 2017 0 Years of austerity have left personal assistance in ‘very fragile state’
July 6, 2017 0 Using personal assistants works, research concludes… but it can go wrong
July 6, 2017 0 PIP reassessments cause more than half DLA claimants to lose Motability rights
July 6, 2017 0 Foodbank study suggests disability benefits should rise
July 6, 2017 0 Pub discrimination leads one year later to Disability Pride

Friday, 18 November 2016

Disability News Service headlines 17 Nov 2016

DNS is published every Thursday, and well worth referring to from the end of that day.

Wednesday, 5 October 2016

Deadline 21.10.2016 for Ministry of Justice 'consultation' on scrapping of disability benefit tribunals

Sorry for earlier typo on this deadline. The actual deadline is Thursday 27 October.

Deadline 27.10.2016 for Ministry of Justice 'consultation' on scrapping of disability benefit tribunals

Q: When is a 'public consultation' not a public consultation?

A: When the consulting organisation does not notify those most affected by the proposed changes that the 'consultation' is happening — while parasitic companies that profit from the proposed changes have paid up departments to respond to and drive government policy.

Benefits and Work Publishing report:

Virtual abolition of PIP, DLA and ESA appeal tribunals as we know them (1)
The government is poised to bring an end to the shaming success rates at benefits appeals, but they will do so by nobbling the appeals system rather than by improving decision making.
In the future many more appeals will be “on the papers” where success rates are drastically lower, hearings that do take place will be on the phone or via Skype type links and most appeals will be decided by a solicitor (often retired) sitting alone, without a medical wing member or a disability wing member....
ConsultationThe whole plan is open to consultation until 27 October 2016. However, judging by other recent consultations, the outcome – regardless of the evidence submitted – is a foregone conclusion.
You can read more about the plans and give your views on the Justice website. (2)

Officious authority demands that claimants notify them of any changes to the claimants' circumstances. So why don’t the Government write benefit claimants directly to notify us of such proposed changes?

I am reminded of the time that I was at a ‘Manpower Services Commission’-run ‘Employment Rehabilitation Centre’ in 1978. We were told that the ‘vocational assessment’ reports made about us there were “too confidential” for us to ever have home access to them outside the presence of a ‘Disablement Resettlement Officer’ or their Assistant. Further, the medical reports made on us there were deemed, “Too confidential for you to ever have access to,” for fear that our knowledge of what was in could be detrimental to our health.

By contrast, I believe that sick and disabled people knowing of this ‘consultation’ and getting support in responding to it can result in better outcomes for us than our being kept entirely in the dark about it.

The deadline is 27 October, further info at Ministry of Justice website and give them your views here.(3)

By Dude Swheatie of Kwug

Link addresses

Thursday, 4 August 2016

Crapita suspends PIP assessor and other stories published 4 August 2016

Comrades will appreciate hearing that this story of a hateful disability benefits entitlement assessor getting some sort of 'come-uppance':

http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/capita-suspends-assessor-after-disablist-racist-facebook-posts/

Incidentally, this instance is not the first time that a disability-benefits-eligibility assessor has been outed for hateful views by way of their Facebook content.

http://blacktrianglecampaign.org/2011/08/07/atos-employee-derides-sick-disabled-facebook-profile/

I am also pleased to report that my finding a May 2016 press release on Sunday by way of a Google search for the American 'health insurance' company Unum helped source another new Disability News story:

http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/mental-health-charity-sparks-concerns-after-unum-link-up/

The contacts to whom I fed that story by email were Mo Stewart, Prof. Peter Beresford, and Disability News Service's sole reporter John Pring.

The latter Google search stemmed out of an extension of the Internet search rankings experiment outlined in the blog post

http://kilburnunemployed.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/michaela-community-schools-discipline-universal-credits-in-work-services-and-search-engine-rankings.html

Other latest stories from Disability News Service published today:

'Dude Swheatie of Kwug'

Tuesday, 14 June 2016

'Mandatory Reconsideration' as a disability benefits DWP dirty trick

Thanks to Twitter feed of HANGBITCH for highlighting this Sentinel News story, Sharp collapse in success rate of disability benefit challenges.(1)

See also the Kilburn Unemployed blog post DWP dirty tricks update 10 June 2016, on how the Disability Minister accounts for the successes of disability benefit claimants as tribunal appellant victors.(2)

Perhaps inhumane government is more likely to blame, stymie and condemn the vulnerable than to protect and thank the vulnerable for their persistence in getting things right? Regarding protecting and thanking the vulnerable for their persistence in getting things right, maybe this Government believe there is a 'conflict of interest' between its usual voters on the one hand, and the votes they would be likely to gain by really protecting and thanking the vulnerable for their major contribution to society? When asked what he thought of Western civilisation, Mahatma Gandhi responded, "I think it would be a very good idea."(3)

Sunday, 29 May 2016

Reassessment harassment by DWP worsens PTSD

People who have undergone the process of serial reassessment by the DWP of their benefit claims can no doubt resonate with David's assertion that the DWP's harassment has made his symptoms worse.

For more details of David's specific case, go to http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/dwp-puts-child-abuse-trial-at-risk-by-insisting-on-pip-reassessment/

Wednesday, 16 March 2016

Report on the action against Remploy Maximus 'job coaches' in GP surgeries

Demonstrators from Kilburn and beyond opposing IDS' plans
to sneak in compulsory 'treatment' for not-fit-for-work people

There was lively action against Remploy job coaches being put into GP surgeries.

The protest was outside a GP surgery in City Road, Islington. The Council is apparently supporting the pilot. This is apparently a pilot project, but we have to assume it will be rolled out more widely. The very idea is outrageous. It seems particularly targeted at people with mental health conditions. It will destroy trust between doctors and patients, if these job coaches can see patient records.

Clarence had an IDS mask on. Abby was a Maximus Job Coach – Maximus own Remploy.

Paula Peters spoke very well as usual. Video of her speech has also been uploaded to youtube. We also had support from a junior doctor, Dr Mona Ahmed. There is a short video of her speech here.

Various other professionals also offered support. Plus there was also two speakers from the campaign to restore bursaries for student nurses.

'Bandaged' and 'blinded' demonstrator proclaims Iain Duncan Smith's
mass murder crimes against vulnerable people

After a noisy and good natured protest at the GP surgery, a decision was then taken to march down the street to Old Street and block Old Street roundabout. There was some fairly good coverage in the Guardian online the next day – link http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/mar/04/protest-london-plan-embed-job-advisers-gp

See also
http://www.islingtontribune.com/surgeryjobcoaches
http://www.islingtontribune.com/GBjobcoachesprotests
http://www.islingtontribune.com/jobcoachesthreatentrust
http://www.islingtontribune.com/jobcoachesGP

Monday, 3 November 2014

Don't let IDS cut sickness benefits

People's need before the wealthy's greed

Swheatie notes that there was a time when disability campaigners realised that 'the Atos test' or 'Work Capability Assessment' by which Employment & Support Allowance was administered was really a targeted benefit cut. (Sort of like sanctions are now to JSA claimants, while an estimated average of 356 Londoners are sanctioned daily.) And the 38 Degrees campaigning website did not recognise that campaigning against the testing regime should be a voting option for its campaigners to vote upon prioritising.

And serial retesting for ESA has been a form of 'Russian Roulette'.

The petition authors say that they have worked all their lives. Too many disabled jobseekers, meanwhile, have been punished for 'not fitting in', however hard they have tried, until they/we have claimed disability benefits and won them after tribunal. I am a very slow learner but now apply my understanding to campaigning with Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group. By what fruits do the purveyors of callous indifference toward disadvantaged minorities measure their lives? Each attack on the life prospects of disabled people is another notch on the record of how successive UK Governments have defaulted on the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.

Now 38 Degrees seems to have grown up and woken up. So let us support this petition and encourage 38 Degrees to go further.

Proceed to Don't cut sickness benefit petition to Secretary of State for Work & Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith

Benefits sanctioned? Take mass action!

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Contact us:

Facebook: Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KUWG1

Telephone: 07724 843 973

Meetings: 3pm - 5:30pm
Thursdays, Kingsgate Community Centre
107 Kingsgate Road, London, NW6 2JH

Meeting structure

Helping you feel at home: We meet weekly in the Small Hall at KingsgateCC and start gathering from 3pm, attempting to start the meetings at about 3:15pm and definitely before 3:30pm.

Bring and share refreshments are included. We are not like the 'No eating or drinking on the premises' jobcentre.

The formal meetings start with firstname and what benefit we are on or a one-liner about what brings us to KUWG. (Pensioners and other allies welcome.)

We then ask for casework from those present, arrange who will help with what case, and go onto discussing campaigning leafleting and such outreach activities. We also arrange who will do the chairing or facilitating and note-taking for the following week. Rotating these roles helps minimise the risk of being dominated by one person and helps us build our skills as we share the workload.

Meetings actually finish at about 5:20pm to allow for putting tables and chairs back and leaving the kitchen facilities ready for the next group.

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