Tues 24 Oct 2017 KUWG Public Meeting against local jobcentre closures

Agenda for KUWG Public Meeting Against Jobcentre Closures,
Tuesday 24/10/17 6.30pm-8.30pm Kingsgate  Community Centre, 107 Kingsgate Road, NW6 2JH

How to get there

6:15pm: Room set up and grabbing a seat!

6:30pm-to-8:15pm: Meeting

8:15pm-8:30pm: Room clearance

Chairperson: A KUWG member who uses Neasden Jobcentre

Speakers

• Giselle as KUWG and Chair of Unite Community Brent, with the aid of a big map, highlighting how people especially with walking problems will be seriously affected, and thus more easily sanctioned
• John Kilvington from Somali Cultural Centre, on the absurd cases he has had and how it obviously will make people with language and cultural issues prone to misunderstand and get sanctioned. 
• Winvisible [Women with Visible and Invisible Disabitlities] to confirm our experiences and offer their campaigning skills.
• Pete Firmin as Chair of Brent Trades Council will speak about how workers could be affected, and mention how other closures of public buildings impact the community.
• Tulip Siddiq MP has sent message of support. 
• MP Dawn Butler has been asked to come or send message of support. 
• Siân Berry Green Party Member of the London Assembly has sent her apologies. 
• Brent Green Party member Peter Murry will speak from a Green Party Trade Union Group perspective
• Green Party Member Alan Wheatley has sent KWUG placards as room decorations, while he cannot attend in person
• Councillor Shama Tatler (Brent Council) who wrote to DWP about proposed closures has been requested to attend.
• PCS [jobcentre workers union] speakers invited, but no response.

PS: WinVisible add:

Tues 24 Oct - WinVisible speaking at KUWG meeting vs Jobcentre closures

Tues 24 October 2017, 6.30-8.30pm

Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group (KUWG) have invited us to speak at their:

 

Public meeting on the proposed Jobcentre closures of Kilburn & Neasden JCPs

the impact on claimants and what we can do

at Big Hall, KINGSGATE COMMUNITY CENTRE,

107 KINGSGATE ROAD, NW6 2JH

(wheelchair accessible)

Speakers include: Giselle Winston (“Benefit Tales” blogger, KUWG member); John Kilvington, welfare rights worker at Camden Somali Cultural Centre.

We’ll be speaking about how the closures will affect people, and what we’ve been doing, including pressing the exemptions from ESA/PIP exams, and about the latest benefit concessions won by public pressure.

(See our blog for self-help info, search “exemption”.) 

In March, we attended the PCS (DWP staff union) meeting in Parliament against Jobcentre closures.

Come along if you can!

Tuesday 24 October update: Cllr Sham Tatler writes:

Thank you for your email.

Unfortunately I cannot attend due to a prior engagement.

I too share your concerns over the closures and the impact they will have on vulnerable residents, particularly as they are in areas in most need.

I had written to the previous minister, and am currently engaging with the DWP over the closures. I have asked to see their equality impact assessment as I am not certain they have taken into account the difficulties our residents will face. I have told them, that we do not understand the rationale for the decisions and am seeking assurances on making sure our residents are protected and not under-served.

I will be continuing to raise the issue and happy to engage with you.

Kind regards

Cllr Shama Tatler

Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Growth, Employment and Skills

Labour Councillor fo Fryent Ward

London Borough of Brent

Sat 9 July to Sun 31 July demonstrations, discussions, workshops and fundraisers in London

Sat 9 Jul, 11am-4pm [BODY]-CAPTURE workshop on how bodies are captured in biometric data. About health, care & surveillance by Autonomous Tech Fetish at The Common House, 5E Pundersons Gardens, London. E2 9QF http://www.commonhouse.org.uk/event/atf-bodycapture/

Tue 12 Jul, 6.30-10pm Tyranny Of The Clock by Brick Lane Debates. What does time mean under late capitalism? Share & discuss at the Hive Dalston, 260-268 Kingsland Road, E8 4DGsuggested donation £5/£3 https://www.facebook.com/events/1347069208643755/

Wed 13 Jul, 10am PIP – Rotten To The Core! Gather at Kennington tube station & march towards Atos, Vauxhall PIP consultation Centre, 65 Sancroft Street SE11 5NG https://www.facebook.com/events/908415682618292/

Wed 13 Jul, 1.15pm PIP – Rotten To The Core! National Day of Action by Disabled People Against Cuts, Winvisible & Mental Health Resistance Network. At C(r)apita PLC, 71 Victoria Street SW1H OXA  http://dpac.uk.net/2016/06/pip-fightback-national-day-of-action-against-pip-13th-july-pipfightback/ #PIPFightback

Thu 14 Jul, 5-8pm Sit Down 2 Defend Our NHS by NHS Solidarity. We’ll march from St Bartholomew’s Hospital,  EC1A9 to City of London where we’ll sit down in protest against cuts & privatisation in the NHS 5 Year Forward View.https://www.facebook.com/events/245797525796605/

Fri 15 Jul, 7pm Power – fundraising for Crossroads Women’s Centre musical night by female performers. At The Good Ship, 289 Kilburn High Road, NW6 7JR tickets: £8/£6https://www.facebook.com/events/1710653685824078/

Sat 16 Jul, 10am–4pm Rethink Mental Illness – London Campaign Event Find out about Rethink’s campaign priorities for next year & meet other Rethink supporters across the nation. Apply by email & state preferred London location: involvement@rethink.org 

Sat 16 Jul, 12-5pm No Austerity! No Racism! Tories Out! Emergency Demo by People’s Assembly & Stand Up To Racism. Outside BBC Broadcasting House, Portland Place, W1A 1AA (tube: Oxford Circus) https://www.facebook.com/events/997373007038180/

Sat 23 Jul, 11am March To Save Our Services: Bromley by Unite the Union at Norman Park, Hayes Lane, Bromley BR2 9EF http://dpac.uk.net/2016/06/march-to-save-our-services-bromley-11am-saturday-23rd-july/

Tue 26 Jul, 1pm-5pm 1^st Burnout Workshop with Roots Collective. Open to all at KUWG. At Kingsgate Centre, 107 Kingsgate Road, NW6 2JH

Tue 26 Jul, 8pm-1am Beats Against Cuts – London’s finest DJs raise funds for Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC). At Bedroom Bar, 62 Rivington Street, EC2A 3AY £5 advance / £7 doorhttp://dpac.uk.net/2016/07/beats-against-cuts-londons-finest-djs-line-up-to-raise-funds-for-dpac-26-july-at-2000-100/

Sun 31 Jul, 12-5pm (free) Radical Journalism Day Class by Red Pepper, London N1. Fundamental journalistic principles with tips for research. http://www.redpepper.org.uk/media-training/

National Day of Action Against 'Personal Independence Payments' regime Wednesday 13 July 2016

Reminder: The national day of action against the new Personal Independence (PIP) regime occurs two weeks tomorrow.(1)

Command click on the London demo poster photo to access more detail from the DPAC website

This is being called by Disabled People Against Cuts, the Mental Health Resistance Network (MHRN) and WinVisible (Women with visible and invisible disabilities). PIP figures from the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) suggest that the change from Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP has been a cost-cutting-by-cutting-number-of-claimants exercise.(2) That echoes the 2007 move from Incapacity Benefit (IB) to Employment & Support Allowance (ESA) was.

The two companies that deliver the DWP's eligibility testing regime for PIP are Atos and Capita. When Atos was gaining notoriety for its administration of the Work Capability Assessment by which ESA eligibility is underscored, Glaswegian GP Dr Margaret McCartney in 2011 that they treated people like "claimants, not patients," inferring that normal medical ethics need not apply to their profit-oriented, payment-by-results activities.(3) So it does not look as if they have changed the error of their ways.

Claire Glasman of WinVisible told Disability News Service:

“[The change from DLA to PIP] is impoverishing people, trapping people in their homes, making their lives a misery.“We have no confidence that people’s situations are being properly assessed.“There were problems with DLA as well but that was a lot more responsive to people’s situation.”(4)

How will you respond?

Link addresses

1. http://dpac.uk.net/2016/06/pip-fightback-national-day-of-action-against-pip-13th-july-pipfightback/
2. http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/pip-figures-fuel-concerns-over-cuts-while-activists-plan-day-of-action/
3. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/sickness-benefit-clawback-firm-tells-1096774
4. http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/pip-figures-fuel-concerns-over-cuts-while-activists-plan-day-of-action/

KUWG ESA casework workshop, Tues 21 July, 11am to 1pm, Cara's Cosmic Café, 237 Kilburn High Road, NW6

Workshop flyer for Tuesday 21 July, 11am-to-1pm @ Cara's Cosmic Cafe, 237 Kilburn High Rd,. NW6-
Get to Grips with ESA

Get to Grips with Employment & Support Allowance (ESA)!

A workshop for people new to casework or peer support

Hear how to make the strongest claim to get what you are fully entitled to, including the Support Group.

Speakers from WinVisible (women with visible and invisible disabilities) followed by discussion.

Tuesday 21 July, 11am to 1pm

Cara's Cosmic Café, 237 Kilburn High Road, London NW6

The venue is accessible for wheelchair users

Lunch will be provided, donations are welcome

Wed 8 July – join anti-austerity Budget Day protests

Guest blog post from WinVisible

Dear friends,

Tomorrow Wed 8 July -- oppose £12 billion more cuts while Osborne benefits the rich.
We’ll be at these important Budget Day protests.  Please spread the word and bring your friends.

We say the same as people in Greece: No to greedy banks and brutal austerity!

 

·         “Balls to the Budget!” 10.30am Downing St, 11.30 Houses of Parliament
Disabled People Against Cuts, Class War, Streets Kitchen, Black Dissidents, London Latinxs, Columbian Women in Action, Occupy, Brick Lane Debates & others
Meet 10.30 in Whitehall opposite Downing St, look out for our banners: Global Women’s Strike, Women of Colour GWS, WinVisible.

 

·         People’s Assembly. Protest Osborne's Emergency Budget – click on link to see local actions for National Day of Action
LONDON ACTION: Assemble at Parliament from 5:30pm. Mass "die-in," where
everyone will lie on the ground as if dead in front of Parliament to highlight the deaths caused by cuts to welfare services and benefits. Look out for our banners.

WinVisible Self-Help Benefit Rights Sheet now available

From Women with Visible and Invisible Disabilities

Our updated & expanded Self-help benefit rights sheet is ready!
	Rights info and helpful suggestions about how to defend your  benefits, housing and other entitlements: Council Tax  ●  Bedroom tax ● People in private rented accommodation ● Universal Credit – is it coming in? ● Challenging benefit sanctions ● Sickness and disability benefits ● Debt advice
The best-known advice agencies mainly tell people how to comply with the new rules. Most don’t give us the information we need to fight our cases. The information here comes from sharing our practical experience with other grassroots groups, claimants, anti-poverty, single mums, tenants’ rights and disability campaigners, and a few lawyers bringing legal challenges. This Benefit self-help rights sheet (and printable 18-page pdf attached to this email) is expanded from our 2013 self-help info. It was put together mostly through a huge voluntary effort. WinVisible put in many days on behalf of the community campaign for everyone’s entitlement and against “welfare reform”. Thanks to all the claimants, campaigners, advisers, lawyers who contributed their experiences, expertise and leaflets!  Women who used the rights info say: “I got a letter from Atos telling me not to come to the exam, I think this may be down to the MP's letter, ain’t that great, thanks it’s all down to your advice.” “I actually did not get a form for ESA reassessment this summer, even though I had no confirmation of receipt of the letter we wrote.  It just didn't turn up and consequently I have been able to have a summer without hospitalisation for the first time in three years. So that is fantastic news and I am immensely grateful.”

Your MP, bedroom tax and disabled people

From WinVisible [Women with Visible and Invisible Disabilities]

Dear Friends,

This Friday 5 Sept, the Affordable Homes Bill is coming up in Parliament, which would exempt disabled people from bedroom tax. It’s a Private Members’ Bill brought by Lib Dem MP Andrew George.

Please contact your MP and ask them to vote for the Bill – see it here