What would be your message to government ?

Are you affected by welfare reform, cuts to services, closure of Independent Living Fund, changes to Council Tax benefit, changes within NHS -  and many more…..

You have a blank canvas, can address it to any Minister of your choosing.

You can ask a question or make a statement.

What would be on YOUR canvas? Add comments below

Please note some of the comments will be used by CarerWatch

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Please sign Pat’s Petition here

Then share the link asking as many others to do the same.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20968

 

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Dont turn back time – day of Action Nov 19th – Fawcett Society

On average, women earn less, own less, and are more likely to work and retire in poverty than men.

The government’s approach to cutting the deficit will widen the gap between women and men:

-Female unemployment is rising as jobs are cut in public service
-The benefits and services women rely on more are being slashed
-Women on low incomes are becoming poorer
-The pay gap looks set to widen
-Women’s access to vital support services is being undermined
-Increasing numbers of women are being forced to give up work as cuts to childcare support means their jobs no longer cover the family’s care costs

The government’s approach to cutting the deficit is turning back time on women’s equality. This can’t go on.

On November 19th, join us on the ‘DON’T turn back time’ March in London or host your own ‘DON’T turn back time’ tea party to help us tell David Cameron:

“DON’T TURN BACK TIME ON WOMEN’S EQUALITY!”

For more information and document downloads please see here

Coalition government – a ‘machine’ made from steel

For countless years, with successive governments, family carers have continuously raised their voices outlining the many problems they face, about resources, finances, respite and/or equipment.

Yet no matter how much they chipped away at the brick wall no real action has been taken, by past and present govts. Campaigns have followed one after the other from many individuals, groups, and charities.

We are currently witnessing the biggest shake up of welfare benefits in over 60 years and still the issues surrounding Carers Allowance are not being addressed.  It is the LOWEST of all benefits at £55.55  per week.

As campaigners we will not give up even though the brick wall is now made of re enforced steel. Behind that wall lies a Coalition machine made from cold steel too. It shows NO understanding, NO compassion. It operates so clinically, so precise and its actions prove that it has no heart.

It speaks of Responsibility, Big Society, yet continues on its mission to persecute many disabled people, their families, and carers, with this current Welfare Reform Bill.

Is this the future we want for ourselves, for our children?

A future where disabled people and their families are battered from all directions.

Borrowing the famous words from Winston Churchill and altering them slightly…

Never has so much been given so freely by so few, for the benefit of so many.

 Carers need action and they need it NOW

 Please contact any groups/charities you belong to. Tell them your concerns surrounding Welfare Reform.

Contact your MP . Add your postcode in the box on this link to find their details

Feel free to use this template from Sue Marsh of The Broken of Britain

Support the Hardest Hit campaign which following on from a successful march in May 2011 are now planning local protests.

One simple change re ESA

As individuals any action we take may seem so small, but collectively we can be stronger.

A space to discuss the Dilnot report – funding of Care and Support

Tomorrow sees the publication of the Dilnot Commission’s report into the funding of care and support – a significant policy development for anyone interested in social care for people of all ages.

Discussion on Twitter has used the #dilnot hashtag for people’s thoughts and to share links/information regarding the Commission. ( also #carecrisis and #socialcare)

People on Twitter have built networks and will be interested in the many responses that will be published by individuals/groups/charities etc. For many time will be limited.

Therefore after a discussion among a few people who host highly respected blogs, it was agreed that ArbitraryConstant  (aka Rich Watt) would offer space, so a frank and open discussion could take place by anyone interested in social care issues.

With many thanks to @rich_w, @monstertalk and @jrfemma for their willingness to try this.

So once you have read the Dilnot report, if you want to discuss the details, please join in with the discussion here

Employment Support Allowance and Work Capability Assessments

submitted by Frances Kelly

 

Anyone with a long term illness or disability is already feeling the impact of the government welfare reforms. Incapacity Benefit has been abolished. Sick and disabled people are in the process of being forcibly migrated to Employment and Support Allowance. They are being subjected to Work Capability Assessments which are tests unrelated to their medical condition, tests which they do not understand and which have dubious validity.

 

The government target is for two thirds of sick and disabled people to be moved off the new replacement for Incapacity Benefit. This will be done by ‘helping’ them find work along with a regime of mandatory activity and  threats and sanctions. If this fails they may hit a time limit.

 

The main impact on the lives of sick and disabled people is fear. Fear that the meagre financial support that they depend on will be withdrawn. Fear that they will not be able to cope with the requirements being put upon them. In many cases the stress is impacting on their health and making them less well.

 

This is why the Impact Report published by the DWP on the recent proposed changes to ESA is truly shocking.

 

It isn’t just the inaccuracies in the report identified by Steve Griffiths that are so appalling.

  

It is the tone and focus of the report that is the real wake up call. As far as the government is concerned the impact of these reforms is not about the fear being visited on vulnerable people but solely about how much money will be saved.

 

Have the government completely abandoned any residual of duty of care to people with long term sickness or disability. Do the government now regard people who are disabled only as an economic burden to be minimised or otherwise disappeared.

 

Where is the compassion and concern for the lives of these people. Where is the assessment of how their lives will be turned upside down and made impossible as their only income is reduced and often time limited and stopped. Where is the covenant between the community and people who are disabled.

 

Fear and the loss of security, support and trust is the real impact of the introduction of ESA but shockingly these concerns are not raised in the Impact Report as the focus moves to saving money. The government has just wished all this fear and hardship away.

 

Further details can be found here

 

and here

Carers need statement from Coalition Government re Carers Allowance

In support of Carers Week 2011, CarerWatch set up an information stand in a local Gala hall covering the period Wednesday 15th June through to Sunday 19th June 2011.  

The theme was the True Face of Caring and facts and figures can be found here

It has always been important to reach carers, to provide advice and information, and this year it has become even more vital.

Changes proposed within the Welfare Reform Bill, coupled with cuts to Social Services are going to have a massive effect on many familys.

Families providing care are a necessity and as the number of elderly increases and medicine breakthroughs continue, many people with illnesses will live longer…and the country will rely even more on the foundation that family carers provide.  Carers are a group of people who provide a vital service, yet governments past and present have taken them for granted, have taken their Love for granted.

Carers seem to have been completely forgotten, as benefits are changed around them. Both ‘Refresh Carers Strategy’ and ’21st Century Welfare’ – failed to address the issue of Carers Allowance and now the WR Bill is repeating that mistake. The only detail we know is that CA will remain outside of the Universal Credit.

 However, it still remains the lowest of all benefits, claimed by a group of people that contribute immensely to our society. We cannot and must not allow this opportunity to fully reform CA pass us by.

Carers are used to words of praise, more of which can be heard here from David Cameron last week  but it is NOT enough. No matter how much understanding he says the Coalition has, no matter how many times he says…Thank you, it is NOT enough.

Carers need action and they need it now

Councillor stands down due to party’s policies

A DISABLED councillor has spoken of his anguish at stepping down from politics because he can no longer support the policies of his party.

Councillor Ollie Flitcroft, who has served as a Conservative member of Barrow Borough Council for almost five years, disagrees with the Tory’s national stance on disabilities.

Cllr Flitcroft, a wheelchair user and disability rights campaigner, said he could not represent a party making cuts which would affect the most vulnerable.

read in full here

Parents and staff call on David Cameron to do a U-turn – or quit as the face of the charity

David Cameron is under fire after his government axed grants to a charity that helped his disabled son Ivan.

KIDS – who offer one-to-one care and play facilities – has lost out on almost £250,000, even though the PM is its patron.

And last night parents and staff called on him to do a U-turn – or quit as the face of the charity.

Paul Maggs, whose year-old son Alfie is battling cerebral palsy, said: “Whenever you get a letter from KIDS his name is all over it.

“But how can he continue to be associated when his cuts lead to these services being cancelled?”

Paul, of Hull, added: “It’s a joke. He should intervene to make sure the services get their funding or remove himself from KIDS.”

read in full here

Care cuts row deepens as cases head for court

Families of disabled children facing cuts to respite care are launching a High Court challenge against Lancashire County Council’s budget-slashing plans.

Parents of several children likely to be affected by LCC’s social care spending cuts are claiming the moves breach the Disability Discrimination Act.

At least one of eight respite centres in the county looks set to be closed within a year as part of County Hall’s plans to save £179m over the next three years.

One of the families behind the legal challenge has a 10-year-old boy who has autism and cerebral palsy.

The youngster, who cannot be named for legal reasons, needs one-to-one care round the clock from his parents, older sister and grandmother.

READ IN FULL HERE

DBC launches report into Welfare Reform Bill

Carer Watch members support this protest and some are making plans to attend

A report published today by the Disability Benefits Consortium a coalition of 41 charities and organisations shows how welfare reform changes may harm disabled people.

The report Benefiting disabled people? highlights concerns over the impact of reforms to vital benefits like Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) on thousands of disabled people and their families.

The report, presents the findings of recent surveys. The Disability Benefits Consortium surveyed 6,000 disabled people and found that: