Felt bored. Mailed my MP

Cantilip

She's Green, so if/when I do get a reply it will not be the standard Labour party line. You will recall from the election that the 'small but mighty Greens' were going to hold Labour to account. Indeed, yes. All 4 of them.

Dear Siân Berry.

I am a single woman of 69.  I have spinal curvature and can only walk with a rollator and also the autoimmune disease polymyalgia rheumatica, then symptoms of which fluctuate.  I live alone without carers.   In current political discourse, dripping as fluidly from Kendall as it did from Stride, ‘the disabled’ are synonymous with those who may be returned to work or sometimes with the mentally ill: I am a non-person.

This is both a denial of fact – the number of disabled people who are under 18 or over 66 (it should surprise no-one that the percentage of disabled people in the population rises with age), and an offensive trivialization of conditions that cannot be rectified -  never mind, dear, a few sessions with a physio/psychotherapist and you’ll be right as rain, off to work you go.

PIP (Personal Independence Payment)  is not means-tested and has nothing to do with fitness for work.  However, as a rule it is only available to those of working age.  I get it because I applied shortly before I reached pension age, in which situation it is continued.

You will be aware the DWP is under investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. You may not be aware of the fine print of relatively trivial stupidity and incompetence

A five-year-old would look at me and lisp, “Mummy, that lady can’t walk properly.”   Let us dwell on the name ‘personal independence’ and ask what limits my personal independence. According to PIP criteria I have no mobility  problems.

1. Can stand and then move more than 200 metres, either aided or unaided.  0 points

PIP - table of activities, descriptors and points (citizensadvice.org.uk)

The last government produced a Green Paper suggesting the cash payment of PIP be replaced by catalogues, vouchers and reimbursement for receipts.  This has not been ditched.

Catalogues and vouchers

1.Have they ever looked at the site of a disability aids company or indeed Amazon.  How can a catalogue possibly encompass it all? Try going to essentialaids.com (one of many) and searching on ‘cutlery’. 

2.  My first thought was Michelle Mone.  Oh really, and what criminal backroom deals will select cheap substandard and untested and therefore dangerous aids for inclusion in this catalogue..  There is a large gulf in trust between the disability community and government and the Labour Party should not do anything to feed it.

3. Have the energy companies agreed to accept vouchers?

4.What are the administrative costs of production and distribution of catalogues and vouchers.  What for that matter is the cost to the environment in paper?  Some disabled people whether because of age or infirmity are not computer literate.  A cash payment is of course set it and forget it from the POV of the DWP. 

5.         When my last rollator died I wanted a immediate replacement of the item I wanted  from Amazon not the item the government thought it could fob me off with. This is a  matter of critical importance to me.  Otherwise I can’t get to the kitchen to make a cup of tea or go to the lavatory.  Do these people understand simple facts?  Why should I be bothered by them?   In fact for this reason I have a spare 3 wheeler to enable me to exist; it has no seat and therefore no means of transporting anything.  People in such situations do not want to be and should not be messed around by bureaucracy.

Vouchers:

Retailers will wish to be bothered with reclaiming from the DWP when they could have cash in hand?  How is change to be negotiated if a £20 voucher is submitted for an item costing £11.99.  If a voucher for £11.99 is solemnly issued, what if the price of the item has risen or fallen?  Every Amazon shopper knows prices are constantly fluctuating.  Supposing one needs two of something, or even three, one for each room, three incontinence pads when some bureaucrat cannot understand things dry slowly indoors in flats where there is no choice and only permits one.

Receipts – so every time someone buys a adapted fork or a urinal, any one of the hundreds of small items that improve life we have to send off the receipt?  You cannot be serious.

The insolence, the contempt, or possibly just the stupidity,  underlying all this cannot be over-estimated.  Some unqualified jumped-up little pipsqueak of a bureaucrat is to decide what I need and when I need it.

Virtual reality is a wonderful thing.  It can simulate many conditions, sensory impairment, difficulty walking, difficulty processing information.  It seems to me it would be an excellent thing if all able-bodied persons engaged in pronouncing on the lives of the disabled had first to undergo induction in which they found out what it was like.  It is little short of intolerable to have people who can stand up without thinking about it, run for a bus, climb stairs, bend down and readily mop up spills on the kitchen floor, cut up vegetables, who do not sometimes sit in wet beds, being unable to move fast enough to reach a receptacle,  pronouncing on what I need to have as good a life as possible  Let Stride, Coffey and their ilk sit in their own urine working themselves up to being able to stand up.

Yours sincerely

DmRitchie

I love this and may do something similar with my own MP. While I do work, my non-visible conditions mean that living costs me more. I cannot use public transport so must drive to and from the office so I need a car and fuel (standard rate of mobility). As few employers offer parking, as they want to encourage staff to use public transport, I need to pay for parking as well. Additionally, because I frequently lose my car, I need to park as near as possible and drop a pin on maps on my phone. So I need a phone with gps (although this is not viewed as an aid by DWP as it is not specific for disability) which while standard today, what options would a catalogue give?

The PIP application and review process is already so complicated, adding more layers of complexity to it will no doubt lead to increased mental health issues for claimants.

DmRitchie

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/901836#Comment_901836

I should say that while I am able to work, I completely understand that there are many who are unable to. Most of whom I'm sure would like to work in rewarding roles that suit their skills and interests (rather than the attitude of some Work coaches who think, "get them into any job!")

Lee56584

I’ve contacted my MP about my claim and so far they’ve been really helpful. I don’t have an outcome yet but it’s nice to have some additional support xx

Albus_Scope

Nice to hear you've had a bit of extra help from your MP @Lee56584 my old MP was really helpful, but since I've moved, they've been like a ghost. But it's always worth trying to get in touch with them. 😊

Ironside1990

I emailed Grahame Morris a while back. I hope i get a reply soon, but writing my feelings down about PIP helped. I felt much better.

Cantilip

Not as bored as I feel about a totally innocuous post I made after Albus's still 'pending approval'. What's the non-existent offence now, I used a word together with bolts to describe the mechanics of how something works, did I include the email of an MP available all over the Web? I was simply trying to help people who weren't sure how to go about mailing an MP. Sometimes I like it here, other times, together with the two closed threads, I think kindergarten.

Cantilip

In case anyone doesn't know the nuts and bolts of this, an MP will have an office in the constituency and a Website, and also an email address at the House of Commons. You can find your MP's name here:

Find your MP - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament

That will give you the name and the HoC email.

If you then search on the name, you can find the MP's Website, which will also have contact information, e.g. for me Ms Berry's full contact info is here.

Contact Siân as a constituent - Siân Berry MP (sianberry.org.uk)

You do have to be a constituent, so you will need to put your address.

Oh and don't hold your breath. So far only an automatic reply as follows

This email has been received by a newly elected Member of Parliament (MP).In the first weeks following an election an MP is likely to receive a significant volume of emails.

Therefore, it is expected that response time to your email will be greater than usual, and your patience is appreciated.

Nightcity

I might email my mp over my concerns, she's lib dem and I voted for her.