With the Spending Review due next week , what will it hold for unpaid carers.
Families providing care are a necessity and as time unfolds, as the number of elderly increases, with medicine breakthroughs many people with illnesses will live longer….the country as a whole will rely
on the foundation that family carers provide. They are a group of people that provide a vital service, yet governments’ past and present have taken them for granted, have taken their Love for granted.
We cannot, and must not, allow this to continue.
In this present economic climate we are already witnessing many cutbacks within Local Authorities…….
1. Care criteria are being tightened
2. day centres closing
3. respite allocations reducing in many areas
4. meals on wheels costs increasing dramatically
5. care package costs increasing
6. transport for disabled either stopping or priced out of reach
7. carers grants under threat
…………… and so the list could go on.
Yet through all this, the one thing that remains constant is the love and support given freely by families. They provide a foundation that would be a great folly for any government to ignore.
We recognise that many carers want to return to/remain in work, and realise that any support given to them is vital.
However we cannot, and must not, ignore 24/7 carers. Failing to recognise their input is storing up even further trouble for the future by placing added pressure on already stretched Social Services departments and the NHS.
For too long now the issue of Carers Benefits have been swept under the carpet, been put on the back burner time and time again, by past and present governments. Now we have the proposal of a Universal Credit .
Carer Watch contacted Iain Duncan Smith, Chris Grayling and Paul Burstow asking for clarification on how this new system would apply to carers. Carers are NOT unemployed , they need provide care to a minumum of 35 hours per week for a pittance of £53.10.
To date there has been no reply, but any response received from them will be shared here and across the online community.
Families need answers and they need them now.
16 October 2010 at 17:02 |
I have a real-life issue with carers allowance right now, in the fact that my carers allowance has been stopped because I am attending a ‘full-time’ uni course which is in fact 11 hours taught (total 20 hours including homework as per tutor). Previous legislation considered full-time to be over 21 hours but when I rang to clarify last week was told that in the last week it had been changed and there was no definitionn of hours and CA would be stopped forthwith. My argument is that my caring responsibilities remain the same and when Im at Uni my son is at school and I do my homework at home to make sure I am always around if he needs me.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and if anyone has similar issues please contact me.
16 October 2010 at 20:57 |
Hi Jayne
I think you have been wrongly trated. You need to go to CAB and also appeal that decision.
16 October 2010 at 18:51 |
Quote
Carer Watch contacted Iain Duncan Smith, Chris Grayling and Paul Burstow asking for clarification on how this new system would apply to carers. Carers are NOT unemployed , they need provide care to a minimum of 35 hours per week for a pittance of £53.10.
To date there has been no reply, but any response received from them will be shared here and across the online community.
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FACT
Minimum wage act came into being in the 1999/2000 tax year.
FACT
You must provide at least 35 hours care,to claim the carers allowance.
FACT
A payment with conditions is a contract, and to pay less than the minimum wage has been UNLAWFUL for the last ten years.
FACT
Carer Watch is right when they say carers are NOT unemployed
Carers and the cared for look like being easy victims of a LIB/CON where the National Debt and mismanaged public funds at local level are concerned.
Grenville Green
Justice for Carers
17 October 2010 at 08:18 |
Grenville wrote
FACT
Minimum wage act came into being in the 1999/2000 tax year.
FACT
You must provide at least 35 hours care,to claim the carers allowance.
FACT
A payment with conditions is a contract, and to pay less than the minimum wage has been UNLAWFUL for the last ten years.
FACT
Carer Watch is right when they say carers are NOT unemployed
Carers and the cared for look like being easy victims of a LIB/CON where the National Debt and mismanaged public funds at local level are concerned.
Grenville Green
Justice for Carers
It needs a carer to take the government to court to challenge the government on the issue of the amount of CA being paid to carers. Sadly time is running out CA will be an obselete benefit before to long.
17 October 2010 at 08:21 |
It’s a shame that a carer/carers didn’t find a way to challenge the government in the courts regarding the amount of CA sadly time is running out before to long CA will be an obselete benefit.
17 October 2010 at 19:19 |
Carers Allowance. INJUSTICE
It is a sad affair when something so wrong has not been challenged by a coalition of charities.
A number of years ago I approached a local solicitor for help, and also brought the matter to the attention of this forum and several charities.
Although most were sympathetic, in the end it was clear I had to go it alone. After caring on the bread line for many years I was not about to risk losing our family home as I was not entitled to Legal Aid.
Cheryl is right when she says “sadly time is running out before to long CA will be an obselete benefit”.
There is a way to correct this injustice, but we would have to challenge the government in a British court. We would then most likely have to proceed to the European Courts, and this takes money.
Is there a lawyer out there who would represent us?
Is there a union of carers who would chip in to take this matter forward?.
Government, council officers and the SS, are well aware carers will carry on the best way they can, because they care for a loved one.
Although sympathetic, political groups, charities and unions will not help. What they do, is use the vulnerable for their own hidden agenda.
Until we get off our collective knees and take a legal fight to the government. NOTHING WILL CHANGE.