Scopes reply to the governments planned concessions to the green paper.
Comments
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I've just read it. But with only 50 MPs, as committee chairs now seem to be happy with the so-called concessions, which I call lip service.
I use a PC and the Guardian does not have a traditional paywall that blocks access to its online content, as it rather relies on reader support through voluntary contributions and subscriptions to fund its journalism.
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I’ve worked 10 years as a Gardener & Estate Ranger in the Private & Public Sector and then 9 1/2 years as a Support Worker. Up until 2020 I was doing ok, I’d battled ADHD, Autism, Depression, Axiety, Spastic Cerebral Palsy, Acid Reflux, Learning Difficulties, Neurodevelopment Challenges from being born 3 months premature alongside Struggling to control my behaviour and emotions.
From 2015 to 2020 I started having to have time off work due to my mental health, in that time I burned myself out! I was working fifty to sixty hours a week and sleeping at work four to five nights a week. I had a manager that was a bully and knew how to turn the screw and make you do extra shifts.
Then the Covid Pandemic hit! After nursing my wife for over four weeks with it alongside going back into work where I was being messed around with my hours, something inside me just absolutely snapped clean in half.
From 2020 to 2023 I slept on the sofa due to an erratic sleep pattern, I was volatile, losing my temper at the slightest thing (non physical), I could be happy one minute, next fly off the handle and then the next shut down, I could barely leave the house for six months, I attempted suicide, I regularly self harmed, my labido went south with the penguins, My ex just couldn’t get a word out of me at times, very rarely we did things together and in the end she pulled the plug on our marriage which led me to a mental health unit, followed by 24 hour supported living, then a multi occupancy house and now a Supported Living Flat where the Support Worker is now the Service User trying to live an independent life.
In 2021 I had to have Gaul Bladder Surgery, I was diagnosed with early onset Osteoarthritis in both hips and lower back and then in 2023 I contracted covid (parting gift from the ex) which led to long covid! I volunteered in 2022 to a physio about using a walking stick to take weight of my left leg due to a hiking injury in 2018. I was also diagnosed with Severe Traits of Borderline Personality Disorder.
Today I can’t use stairs, have to use a frame to help me get off the toilet, I have grab rails, I shower, wash, shave and cook sat on a stool, I use a walking stick inside and outside of the flat, I have a carelink in place alongside an intercom. I have only left my flat once in four months and I’m just an empty shell with no identity and have chosen to walk my path alone. I know I have the back up now of me paying for my own funeral at 3 days shy of my 42 years sitting on this spinning blue ball.
How on earth can this government expect many of us with disabilities to do any kind of work when we struggle to just get through half a day! The Labour Government are living on cloud cuckoo land, they are going against our human rights and going against all laws on disability and equality! I just dread and worry for every single person and families with the impending doom on the horizon.
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It comes up as a subscription and doesn’t let me read without it. How many would need to add their name passerby ?
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It depends more on whether the speaker will select it than the number of MPs adding their names on to it at this stage, even though it would still frighten Starmer. The number of MPs would be more relevant when the amendment is selected by the speaker of the house for a vote and their vote is needed.
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I'm not certain but to me it seems like the very thin promise of not being affected currently on LCWRA wouldn't count for us more than a short time anyway, since they're doing away with the WCA. So then where do we stand?
With reassessment, I've got a feeling this is them being sneaky and as soon as any reassessment comes for anyone it will be new rules and they'll say either it counts as a new claim or reassessments aren't protected. Or whatever other line they can give to get what they want.
Either way, I don't know how any MPs can call these 'massive concessions' when they are anything but that.
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Personal Independence Payment should be paid in vouchers. Never understood why claimants receive money. Vouchers will allow claimants to purchase only items that will help their disability and not spent on irrelevant items. I have been on PIP for several years and believe that the maximum length between assessments should not exceed three years unless a terminal illness is diagnosed.
By switching to vouchers there would a reduction in claimants overnight.
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Hi @MW123 - please, if you have the opportunity, would you ask questions about this section of the Green Paper under
The future of PIP, assessment processes and safeguarding
159. 'Therefore, we will launch a process to review the PIP assessment. This is a major undertaking which will take time and require extensive engagement, so any changes to the PIP assessment would only be introduced following the reforms set out in this Green Paper. To make sure we get this right, we will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this and to start the process as part of preparing for a review. It will also provide an opportunity to consider how to extend the goals and approach set out as a result of this Green Paper through any future change to the PIP assessment. In particular, the ambition is to shape a system of active support that helps people manage and adapt to their long-term condition and disability in ways that expand their functioning and improve their independence.'
- Why is PIP being reformed without the proposed future PIP assessment changes, which are an integral part of this, only being discussed after they hope the bill to pass?
- Will there actually be a guarantee that disabled people & the charities that support them will be consulted about these changes?
- How exactly do they think they can expand a disabled person's function & improve their independence? [Timms has mentioned aids as if with the odd one or 2 then it wouldn't matter if a claimant loses the daily component of PIP]
- In light of the proposed 'concessions,' then will there be one assessment for those that have a current award of the daily living component [mention has been given to changing the descriptors], & another for a new claimant?
As far as UC goes, it seems that the severe conditions criteria that will be used are those found in Appendix 8 of the Work Capability Assessment handbook: for healthcare professionals which says,
'The level of function would always meet LCWRA criteria/the condition is always present'
So why in the 'Amendments to the UC Regulations 2013' which can be seen in the actual UC & PIP Bill, does it say under
40A
(4) A descriptor constantly applies to a claimant if that descriptor applies to the claimant at all times or, as the case may be, on all occasions on which the claimant undertakes or attempts to undertake the activity described by that descriptor.
whereas the regulations currently say,
A descriptor applies to a claimant if that descriptor applies to the claimant for the majority of the time or, as the case may be, on the majority of the occasions on which the claimant undertakes or attempts to undertake the activity described by that descriptor.
A descriptor simply cannot affect a claimant constantly, so why have the words been changed?
I'll also be asking these questions responding, not to the Green Paper 'consultation' directly, but by emailing in a response. Others can also do so by using this if they wish:
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While I understand the thinking behind a voucher system, it entirely overlooks the realities of living with a disability. I’ve relied on PIP for the past seven years, and it enables me to maintain my independence and quality of life. That includes covering essential costs like my cleaner, gardener, private medical consultants, medical tests, laundry services, that I need, none of which can be picked off a shop shelf.
Vouchers would restrict that vital flexibility and deny many of us the specific, tailored support we depend on. Disabilities don’t come with a predefined shopping list. The freedom to allocate support where it’s truly needed isn’t an optional extra, it’s fundamental.
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It occurred to me today that whilst I don't directly use my PIP to pay for a hairdresser, I do have to have my hair cut regularly as I cannot manage it if it gets too long (It starts curling really weirdly) I don't have the energy, so this helps me out. I was also talking to the Dr today about having to pay over £100 a month for diabetic sensors because I don't get them free but they want me to monitor my bloods. I can't see either of these being offered in voucher form.
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erm I think not 🤬🤬🤬 PIP Should not be treated like chuffing Argos Vouchers!! They should keep it as money, going into your bank. I’m sorry but I find your comment to be very crass and something like a Labour or a Conservative MP would suggest. I’m sorry but I’m having to come off this comment as this has really made me mad and really feels like someone having a genuine dig by questioning someone’s disability and that he or she should head down to the Job Centre to collect there B&Q Vouchers each month.
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For those wondering about reassessment, I found this on the Independent, so from the horses mouth so to speak, those with an existing claim upon reassessment will be reassessed via the current criteria and now the new proposed one, meaning we would not have to score 4 points in one category to qualify.
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Hi chiarieds
I really appreciate the points you’ve raised, they resonate with many of the concerns I’ve been reflecting on myself. I’ll certainly will raise your questions , and I already have a list prepared.
That said, I have a sense, though I may be mistaken, that attendance at the meeting could be lower than anticipated, possibly because some feel the recent concessions have addressed their main concerns. If that is the case, it may provide a valuable opportunity for more in depth discussion.
If I don’t have the opportunity to raise everything during the session, I’ll be sure to follow up with her by email so that none of the outstanding questions are missed. I’ve also confirmed attendance at another meeting the following week, which will provide a further opportunity to reflect on the bill and raise any additional concerns.
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I agree with @MW123 about vouchers - I'm unsure how I'd pay for my LPG, as I'm not on mains gas, & certainly need to try & keep warm in winter. Then there's private dental care as there isn't a NHS dental practice available, buying food online, & having the simple, yet surely normal, one week holiday away with my son & his wife when possible (& only once a year), usually not much more than an hour away from where we live as I can't sit comfortably for long.
Would vouchers have helped me buy a new boiler earlier this year after weeks of cold showers in winter so it became a necessity? How could the Gov't justify, let alone legislate, what vouchers could be used for? I think it would be a minefield.
I'm unsure why you think PIP should be reviewed at least every 3 years. Consider, if a claimant has a long-term illness with minimal hope of improvement (tho you can always report a 'Change of circumstances if things do improve), then wouldn't it save the DWP if there weren't so many assessments?
I think the majority of people believe that Personal Independence Payment is both to help with those extra costs, & importantly about that 'independence,' as it's name suggests.
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Then why don't you cancel your claim yourself to contribute to the reduction you're suggesting, as it would also save some vouchers?
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Hi chiaried,
My brain fogs really bad and I’m fatigued so sorry if I don’t make sense . So regarding the scc they’re saying the descriptor used to get lcwra and scc must be constant. That is no good day for that descriptor ie mobility or eating and all day . My conditions may fluctuate throughout the day but they are there every day . I don’t get remissions from my fibromyalgia or ME and other conditions. Not sure how scc would affect me as how can we prove we have the same symptoms 24/7 ? I don’t know if it has any relevance but when it was first reported about the concessions the guardian mentioned they were thinking of making it easier for those with multiple conditions, but I haven’t heard anything of it since .
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is that you Liz ? 😂
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by the way.
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"Creating incentives" to participate?
Incentives as in DO IT or be Sanctioned?
You Cannot "INCENTIVISE" someone to NOT be Disabled.
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Exactly this ☝️I'm on CBESA and lcwra but not pip .... I guess we will have to just wait and see what the finished bill will look like and see where we stand
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