Bedroom tax axed in Scotland: Holyrood rivals back SNP Government’s £15m plan to banish hated spare-room policy

Daily Record Lion

 

Hallelujah
Hallelujah

 

IN what is a stunning victory for the Daily Record-led campaign, Deputy FirstMinister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed the £15m proposal yesterday which means the vicious Con-Dem policy will effectively be abolished north of the Border.

Nicola Sturgeon addresses the SNP annual conference
Nicola Sturgeon addresses the SNP annual conference

 

ALEX Salmond is to banish the bedroom tax from Scotland.

The Scottish Government have agreed to cover the full cost of housing benefit cuts for Scots hammered by the vicious Con-Dem policy.

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said yesterday they are “more than willing” to put in the extra £15million required.

The move – a stunning victory for the Daily Record-led campaign against the charge – will mean the misery-causing policy will effectively be abolished north of the Border.

Labour have been calling for the cash to be made available in the Scottish Government’s budget, which will be finalised in a Holyrood vote on Wednesday.

And the details of the move are likely to be agreed in behind-the-scenes talks between Finance Secretary John Swinney and Labour finance spokesman Iain Gray.

The deal would see Labour vote for an SNP budget for the first time since the Nationalists won power in 2007 – in a clear message of cross-party determination to rid Scotland of the bedroom tax.

However, there is still some debate over how extra cash will be allocated to bedroom tax victims.

Sturgeon wants the UK Government to change the law so the money can be provided through her preferred method of discretionary housing payments (DHPs) distributed by councils.

That would require the Con-Dems to lift a cap on the amount of money Holyrood can provide to council tenants who have fallen behind on their rent.

Labour would be happy with this method, but believe there are equally good alternatives if the UK Government should inconceivably decide to block the plan.

Sturgeon has now written to UK Welfare Minister Lord Freud asking for the cap to be lifted.

She said yesterday:

“The bedroom tax penalises some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

“We know that more than 12,000 children are affected and 80 per cent of households hit contain an adult with a recognised disability.

“We have already provided as much help as legally possible to those suffering from this unjust policy but we are unfairly restricted in what we can do.

“For example, despite Scotland having 20,000 more households affected by the bedroom tax than London, the DHP allocation for Scotland in 2014-15 is £35million less than London.

“The Scottish Government are currently spending up to the legal limit in order to mitigate the effects of the bedroom tax on people across Scotland.

“We are more than willing to put in the extra £15million, which would increase the amount of help available to a total of £50million.

“If Westminster lifts the legal cap – which they can easily do – we will be able to help the 76,000 people in Scotland who are suffering from this cut.

“In order to make this legally possible, Westminster needs to lift the cap for Scotland and UK ministers should act now.”

Under the bedroom tax, claimants lose 14 per cent of their housing benefit if a spare bedroom is deemed unoccupied. The cost ranges from £14 to £25 a week.

The move has hit disabled and vulnerable people hardest, plunging many into rent arrears, and the Record has been in the forefront of the bid to abolish the tax.

The Scottish Government have already pledged to spend £68million in each of the next two years to mitigate changes to the welfare system introduced by the UK Government.

They have also agreed to contribute £20million each year to the DHP budget, which is also getting £15million from the UK Government.

An extra £15million in Wednesday’s budget would take the amount up to £50million – the total cost of the bedroom tax in Scotland.

Scottish Labour last night welcomed the commitment to provide the extra money.

Welfare spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: “A U-turn on the bedroom tax is a victory for common sense but more importantly a victory for the thousands of social tenants who would have the burden of the bedroom tax removed.

“We have consistently urged the SNP, over more than a year, to support tenants and social landlords by providing the money to cancel out the bedroom tax in order to stop people building up rent arrears.           

 

Jackie Baillie MSP
Jackie Baillie MSP

 

 

“It’s time to get this money out there to help the people that need it by using any of the ways we’ve suggested, such as topping up the Scottish welfare fund or by local authorities creating hardship funds.

“Faced with my Member’s Bill and evidence of clear legal mechanisms that enable the Government to provide the resources, there is no further obstacle to effectively cancelling out the bedroom tax in Scotland.

“I am delighted that John Swinney has finally listened and is prepared to make the right decision.

“I want to pay tribute to those who have campaigned tirelessly against the bedroom tax, including Govan Law Centre and the No2 Bedroom Tax campaign who petitioned the Parliament, and, of course, the Daily Record.

“Scottish Labour listened and acted and our joint efforts put pressure on the SNP Government to change their minds.”

Labour’s Gray confirmed last night that his party will vote for the SNP budget if it includes the £15million bedroom tax provision.

“If these measures are confirmed in Parliament on Wednesday we will on balance be able to support the Scottish Government’s budget for next year,” he said.

Last week, Holyrood’s welfare reform committee called for the UK Government to axe the tax or give Holyrood the powers to get rid of it.

They made the demand after publishing the damning findings of a detailed investigation. They concluded the tax is unfair, hitting the vulnerable hardest and possibly actually costing the public purse money.

And there are fears the bedroom tax is set to get even worse. Con-Dem plans to introduce a new universal credit will see families hit by the bedroom tax within three months of a loved one dying and their room becoming unoccupied.

The Scottish Daily Record

52 thoughts on “Bedroom tax axed in Scotland: Holyrood rivals back SNP Government’s £15m plan to banish hated spare-room policy

  1. JJ says:

    Congratulations to both parties for coming together, putting aside their differences and acting in our interest. The political fitba has ended in a victory for both parties!

  2. bobchewie says:

    Good to see this happening .
    After all wealthy people with mansions are not surchaged with a tax on extra rooms ..so why is benefits cut for those with an ” extra ” room
    Its just another part of finding any old excuse for slashing benefits .it is in effect another form of benefit sanction
    And to introduce clearances in areas
    The crazy part is it forces people to move whilst the localism act prevents people from moving ..some councils wanted to avoid rehousing homeless people and have them placed in the private sector..then BTL landlords said they didnt want them and cclaimed Universal Credit would prevent them getting paid rent.
    Thus creating poor people being shuffled about from pillar to post .

  3. John Lanigan says:

    That’s one in the eye for the “Better together Campaign”. Scotland can do so much more once we break free of Westminster.

  4. bobchewie says:

    Meanwhile on a different planet :

    Daily Shite ( Star )
    ” White Dee: I Deserve to live off benefits ” ( why the attack on her I wonder ? perhaps her caring for others doesn’t fit their message of lazy types )

    Then:
    ” Benefit blitz on scroungers “from the daily sexpress ( produced by porn merchant dirty des )

    1. geoff reynolds says:

      I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY AGAIN, TO STRESS HOW IMPORTANT IT IS FOR A CLAIMANT TO HAVE ALL THE FACTS AT HAND WHEN CHALLENGING A DWP DECISION………

      IT IS YOUR RIGHT TO REQUEST ALL INFORMATION THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF WORKS AND PENSIONS HOLD ON YOU.

      SEND THEM A LETTER, RECORDED DELIVERY OF COURSE, AND ASK FOR YOUR INFORMATION.

      IT COSTS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING……………….

      GIVE IT A GO!!!!

      MY INFORMATION ARRIVED IN THREE LARGE ENVELOPES AND WAS OVER SEVEN INCHES, 18CM DEEP.

      STRANGELY MY HISTORY SHOWED THAT I HAD EASILY MAINTAINED OVER 15 POINTS, NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE BENEFITS IN THE PAST, YET WHEN TESTED BY ATOS, ACHIEVED ZERO………

  5. David Moynagh says:

    Once again, the Daily Record at the heart of fighting for the less fortunate whilst the evil and sinister westminster government would rather drive our sick and disabled to utter despair and suicide. The Daily Record is to be admired for its magnificent and caring efforts. By highlighting the evil nature of westminster welfare policy , it gives us all the more reason to vote for independence and wave sincerely felt “Good Riddance” to westminster. I shall certainly be voting YES to independence and continue to read the Daily Record… a caring and socially aware SCOTTISH newspaper.

  6. GEOFF REYNOLDS says:

    HAVE YOU GOT YOUR TICKETS FOR THE DWP ATOS LOTTERY?

    SATURDAY NIGHTS ROLLOVER, TAKEN FROM THE RECENT MORTALITY COUNT, IS FOURTEEN THOUSAND AND RISING.

    COULD YOU BE AN UNLUCKY WINNER?

    ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS MATCH ALL THE “DESCRIPTORS AND YOU COULD WALK AWAY WITH THE BIGGEST PRIZE EVER AWARDED IN HISTORY……………

    “YOUR LIFE”

    ALREADY MANY HAVE JUST MISSED OUT, FEELING DEPRESSED, HUNGRY AND SUICIDAL.

    THERE IS NO NEED TO BUY A TICKET.

    ENTRANTS WILL BE INFORMED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF WORKS AND PENSIONS.

    ALL YOU NEED TO QUALIFY IS AN EXISTING DISABILITY, EITHER PHYSICAL OR MENTAL.

    THE WINNING NUMBERS ARE DRAWN BY AN UNQUALIFIED HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL.

    PREVIOUS WINNING ENTRIES CAN BE FOUND AT A CEMETERY NEAR YOU, OR SCATTERED ON HALLOWED GROUND.

    ALL CLAIMANTS WILL BE CONTACTED BY POST (BROWN ENVELOPE)……………….

    ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE PART IN THE DWP ATOS LOTTERY OF LIFE?

    ALL ENTRANTS WILL HAVE THE UNIQUE PLEASURE OF BEING RE-ENTERED INTO THE DRAW, 3 MONTHS AFTER THE TRIBUNAL HAS DECIDED OTHERWISE.

    FIFTEEN POINTS WILL DECIDE IF YOU QUALIFY FOR THE SUPPORT GROUP, WRAG OR THE CEMETERY……………..

    YOU HAVE GOT TO BE “IN IT TO WIN IT”

    WHO WILL BE THE LUCKY PERSON THIS WEEK??????????????

  7. dave wilky says:

    I`m english and I wish we had the opportunity to get rid of these Westminster scum and vote for independance from them[I live in Newcastle]. I say to Alex Salmond and bonny Scotland get rid of the chalice round your necks [ Westminster] and be free.

  8. GEOFF REYNOLDS says:

    How can it be classed as anything other than “DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION?”

    WHAT ACT EMPOWERS THE DWP TO PERSECUTE THE LONG TERM DISABLED BY DEMANDING MULTIPLE HEALTH CHECKS OVER SHORT PERIODS OF TIME?

    WHY ARE PROMINENT MINISTERS TURNING A BLIND EYE TO THE DEGRADING LEVELS OF PERSECUTION AGAINST THE WEAKEST AND MOST VULNERABLE?

    I HAVE SEEN MANY REPORTS BLAMING THE LIKES OF ATOS, FOR RECALLING DISABLED CLAIMANTS FOR RE-EVALUATION, BUT THE CAUSE IS NOT THEM, IT IS SOLELY THE DWP!

    PROBABLY ACTING ON INFORMATION FROM THE “WORTHLESS NUDGE UNIT”, THE DWP SEEK TO CONTINUE TO INFLICT GRIEF AND A FEELING OF WORTHLESSNESS AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY, ON THOSE LEAST LIKELY TO RESIST…………..

    A LONG TERM PHYSICAL OR MENTAL DISABILITY IS CLASSED AS SOMETHING THAT CONTINUES FOR MORE THAN A YEAR,
    WHY ARE CLAIMANTS SCRUTINISED AFTER ONLY A FEW MONTHS?
    THERE IS ONLY ONE ANSWER, ” TO TRY AND DRIVE THEM TO SUICIDE”

    IT MAY BE SAD, BUT IT’S TRUE.
    THEY ARE PLAYING MIND GAMES THAT WILL END UP WITH ANOTHER CLAIMANTS DEATH, THE UNREPORTED CASUALTIES OF A HEINOUS ATTACK ON THE DISABLED………………..

    WHY EVEN BOTHER TO GO TO A TRIBUNAL, WHERE YOU ARE RECOMMENDED A BINDING DECISION FOR, SAY, TWO YEARS, ONLY TO BE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST AND ASKED TO UNDERGO FURTHER TESTS AFTER THREE MONTHS?

    THIS SHOWS THE UTTER CONTEMPT THAT IS HEAPED UPON THE DISABLED BY THE COLLUSION OF THE COURTS SERVICE, WHO LOOK THE OTHER WAY, AND THE TWISTED DWP ……………

    THE FOLLOWING EXTRACT BEARS TESTAMENT TO WHAT I SAY;

    To answer your question ‘how long would it be before Atos would be allowed to call a person in
    for another medical’ Atos Healthcare does not decide when to invite a claimant for a further
    Assessment, Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) instigates this action.

    NOT ONLY DOES HUMAN RIGHTS LEGISLATE AGAINST THESE THINGS, SO DO DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION AND EQUALITY LAWS………………

    THE GOVERNMENT ARE FUCKING WITH PEOPLES LIVES, SANCTIONS ARE THE PRODUCT OF AN EVIL REGIME.

    SANCTIONS AGAINST DISABLED ARE THE PRODUCT OF A “MURDERING REGIME”

    PLACE THE TWO TOGETHER AND YOU HAVE THE MAKINGS OF,

    “AN ACT OF ETHNIC CLEANSING BY LEGISLATION”

    ……….MURDER BY DECREE, ENDORSED BY THE QUEEN.
    Reply

  9. Annos says:

    The SNP and Scottish NuLabour are only doing this to gain votes, they really don’t care, just like the Tories/LibDems.

    As for Jackie Baillie MSP, if you watch the Scottish Parliament as I use to, you would see what a loathsome, two faced individual she really is, please remember this in the link below, where was Jackie Baillie MSP when this was going on

    http://www.bedroom-tax.co.uk/0216/bedroom-tax-eviction-nightmare-as-scots-labour-run-council-threatens-to-boot-scottish-daily-record/

    Scottish NuLabour know that if they don’t support the SNP over the bedroom tax it will cost them a lot of votes, two faced to the end, NEVER, EVERY TRUST Scottish NuLabour or English NuLabour, or the SNP, they are all playing the people for fools.

    1. GEOFF REYNOLDS says:

      A CHALLENGE;

      “pure,unadulterated evil”

      Try as i may, to understand why anybody would seek to do harm to another, is beyond me………..

      What kind of person, working for the DWP, could remove a persons benefits, knowing that it might lead them to commit suicide?

      How could an individual perpetrate this evil on another human being, let alone an animal?
      ……………and yet we see it every day in the newspapers!

      The role of the welfare system is supposed to help those in greatest need, not exacerbate their misery to fever pitch.

      Disability denial and the sanctioning of the poorest has suddenly become the norm in the UK, is it the altered mindset of the people that allow this, or something much more sinister?

      Since when has it become socially acceptable to kick those who are in most need, the vulnerable, the weak and the needy?

      I was brought up to recognise that we are not all created equal, that some carry a burden, and that burden however small, must be addressed accordingly……………………….

      The DWP is now, not a welfare organisation, but a tool of the state that is used to inflict pain, not interested in helping, honed to demonise.

      The PCS Union is the equivalent of Hitler’s SS, a regime that instils fear rather than aid……………………

      “USING THE AGE LONG EXCUSE OF, WE WERE ONLY FOLLOWING ORDERS”, they continue to decimate the lives of innocent people at the behest of their evil paymasters, the DWP.

      How long can this union continue to butcher the innocent without someone breaking rank and making the “EVIL” available to the public?

      RUNNING AND HIDING IS THE ACT OF A COWARD, IT’S ABOUT TIME YOUR UNION GREW SOME BALLS AND STOPPED THE MURDER IN IT’S TRACKS…………………………..

      YOU ARE THE KEY TO EVERYTHING THAT IS ROTTEN AND FETID IN OUR ONCE PROUD NATION………………..

      EXPOSE THE GOVERNMENT FOR WHAT THEY ARE, or crawl into your protected job titles shivering like wobbling jellies, your knees knocking from the fear of sanctions that you dole out on a daily basis!

      “TARGETS, WHAT TARGETS?

      “SPEAK UP FOR FUCKS SAKE OR CARRY THE INDELIBLE STAIN OF BLOOD FOR ALL THE CASUALTIES OF YOUR WAR AGAINST THE WEAK”……………………………………………………………..

      I AM JUST ONE, YOU ARE MANY, TOGETHER YOU ARE A UNION……

      “USE THAT STRENGTH TO SPEAK OUT”

    2. richard turbine says:

      you bet we lost our daughter to a labour corrupt city council who with police and social workers abducted our daughter without going to a scotish court because off the evidence we have see our video link off our fight for justice for our daughter ps the same corrupt council told lawyers not to act for us some democracy here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVZ7dKZHGj8

  10. GEOFF REYNOLDS says:

    “CHAPTERS FROM THE HEAVILY FINED AND DISCREDITED UNUM INSURANCE, UNLEASHED ON THE UK SICK”

    THIS MORNINGS NEWS HERALDED THE START OF A NEW HEALTH SCAM CAPER TO BE UNLEASED ON THE “LONG TERM SICK”.

    TO PUT IT BLUNTLY, ONCE AGAIN YOU ARE BEING TAKEN FOR A BIG RIDE BY THE SAME AMERICAN INSURANCE GIANT, UNUM, WHO WERE FINED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR RUNNING A MASSIVE DISABILITY DENIAL SCAM IN THE STATES………….

    A COUPLE OF YEARS BACK, UNUM STARTED ADVERTISING PRIVATE HEALTH CARE INSURANCE ON OUR TV CHANNELS BUT OUR GOVERNMENT WARNED THEM OFF BECAUSE THE LINKS TO OUR WELFARE REFORMS SMACKED OF COLLUSION!

    EVERY TIME OUR GOVERNMENT HAD MEETINGS ON WELFARE, GUESS WHO WAS PRESENT, UNUM OF COURSE!

    YOU ARE BEING SOLD DOWN THE RIVER BY A FEW WELL PLACED LOBBYISTS IN PROMINENT POSITIONS IN OUR GOVERNMENT OFFICES.

    THEY ARE ESSENTIALLY PAVING THE WAY FOR THE DEMISE OF OUR NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE TO BE REPLACED BY PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE.

    YESTERDAY IT WAS REPORTED THAT CIRCLE HEALTH HAD BEEN AWARDED A 1.5 BILLION HEALTH CONTRACT, THE ROT HAS ALREADY BEGUN………………

    DONATE TO THE TORIES, GET A FREE KNIGHTHOOD AND PROSPER BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS…………..

    TODAYS NEWS HIGHLIGHTS A NEW STRATEGY IN CONTROLLING LONG TERM SICKNESS, WITH A TARGET OF SAVING A PROJECTED 70 MILLION PER YEAR.

    THIS MY FRIEND, IS PURE BULLSHIT!!!!!

    THE DISCREDITED UNUM CORPORATION TRIED THIS EXACT STUNT IN THE USA.
    WHAT THEY INTEND TO HAPPEN, IS FIRMS SENDING EMPLOYEES WHO HAVE BEEN SICK FOR FOUR WEEKS OR MORE, TO AN ATOS (DON’T MAKE ME LAUGH), HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL……….

    NOT A REAL DOCTOR, OR YOUR EXISTING GP OR SPECIALIST, BUT TO AN INEXPERIENCED EX BED PAN WASHER WITH A GLOSSY CERTIFICATE FROM THE LIKES OF DERBY UNIVERSITY………….

    THATS RIGHT! YOU ARE TO BE EXAMINED AND RECOMMENDED FOR TREATMENT BY A COMPLETE CHARLATAN.

    YOU HAVE WITNESSED THE COMPLETE FUCK UP BY ATOS HEALTHCARE, THIS IS THE FINALE…………

    DOCTORS IN THE UK SHOULD BE UP IN ARMS ACROSS THE UK. MEDICAL BODIES SHOULD BE FLEXING THEIR MUSCLES.
    IT LOOKS LIKE ACCREDITED HEALTH WORKERS ARE SET TO BE MADE REDUNDANT ON THE WHIM OF A HEALTH INSURANCE RACKET.

    BUT DO NOT FEAR, THE NEW HEALTH CHECKS WILL NOT BE COMPULSORY, BULLSHIT I SAY………………….

    THERE IS ALWAYS A TWIST IN THE TRUTH WHERE THE DWP ARE CONCERNED………….

    IN THE USA IT WAS ALSO SOLD AS NON COMPULSORY, BUT WITH THE THREAT OF HAVING YOUR SICK PAY DOCKED IF YOU DIDN’T CONFORM.

    YOU ARE BEING SOLD DOWN THE RIVER, EACH AND EVERY DAY BY HEALTH LOBBYISTS WHO HAVE OUR GOVERNMENT IN THEIR BACK POCKETS………………

    THESE IDEAS ARE FAR FROM NEW, I WORKED IN A FIRM THAT TRIED TO PULL A FAST ONE, FIFTEEN YEARS AGO.
    THEY TRIED TO SEND THE UNQUALIFIED FIRST AID WOMAN FROM THE FACTORY TO OUR HOMES TO SPEED UP OUR RECOVERY!

    THE UK IS DICING WITH DANGER,”WOULD YOU TRUST AN UNSKILLED GOVERNMENT LOCUM TO MAKE ASSESSMENTS ON YOUR HEALTH CAPABILITIES?”

    “I CERTAINLY WOULDN’T AND NEITHER WOULD ANYBODY ELSE WHO COULD SEE PRIVATE HEALTHCARE AS THE PRIME MOVER”

    GOOGLE UNUM AND VIEW THE CORRUPT LINKS TO OUR GOVERNMENT HEALTH BODIES, YOU WOULD BE AMAZED!

    1. GEOFF REYNOLDS says:

      THE DWP ARE DESPERATE TO OFFLOAD THE BILL OF THE LONG TERM SICK……………….

      WHO BETTER TO HAND IT OVER TO, THAN THE PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE INDUSTRY, WHO WILL ALWAYS DEEM YOU FIT FOR WORK RATHER THAN PAY OUT………………………….

      WAKE UP BRITAIN……………..

  11. GEOFF REYNOLDS says:

    ” THE DWP SEEK TO INCREASE THE DEATH TOLL”

    Half Of Claims For New Disability Benefit Rejected As Massive Backlog Develops
    Posted on February 11, 2014 by johnny void | 9 Comments

    atos-finalEarly figures from the DWP reveal that half of all claims for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) have been rejected. Appalling the figures also show that claimants are waiting up to six months for a decision on their claim whilst a massive backlog is developing.

    PIP replaces Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and is currently being rolled out for new claims only in some parts of the UK. Most DLA claimants will not be re-assessed until Autumn 2015 when the notorious Atos, along with bungling Capita, will begin the work of stripping vital benefits from a fifth of disabled people.

    PIP began in April with 31,900 claims made by July, jumping to 99,600 by August and 171,800 by October. At the end of the year 229,700 total claims had been made for PIP. Despite this just 43,800 decisions had been made by December 2013.

    These figures include people with terminal conditions who are fast tracked through the process under special rules. When this group is removed from the figures, just 34,200 decisions had been made by December, despite a caseload of 22o,300 people awaiting a decision by the end of the year.

    Most of these claims were rejected. For those not covered by the ‘Special Rules For Terminally Ill People’ only 37% of PIP claims were successful.

    Government ministers have lied through their teeth to justify stripping away this vital benefit from disabled people. Last year Esther Mcvey made the astonishing claim that 50% of DLA claims were successful on the basis of the application form alone with no corroborating medical evidence. The true figure was around 10%.

    McVey also claimed that “vast majority of claimants get the benefit for life”. In truth only 23% of people received an ‘indefinite award’ in 2010 (PDF), and 24% in 2009.

    The worst impact of PIP is set to come after the next election – and Labour have not said they will halt the re-assessments if they win. But these early figures give a hint of the vicious shambles to come with almost a quarter of a million disabled people already waiting months on end for a benefit they need – but probably will not get.

    To read the latest figures visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-management-information

    Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid

  12. Stepping Razor says:

    Trying to save London & the tube from the floods !! So the home counties are flooded !! To protect London from flooding !!

    At all cost, what ever it takes. —– 10 people drown !!

    Next week the famine & disease will start. The flooded people are having fights with the gov agencies, so send in the army to keep the peace from people rioting in a flood.

    On the spot again – Sand Bags make the water level higher if you have enough sand bags. The sinking ship literally !!

    Lots of floaters – Lets have a vote on it floaters !!

    Perhaps it all geos down sink holes like the welfare reform budget & antics & tax avoidance & denial factories.

    Just the tip of the iceburg for fat flowing water in rivers & underground rivers that are being created t present.

    SR

  13. geoff reynolds says:

    On the 18th of this month, next tuesday, i am at a tribunal to try and have my DLA reinstated.
    They took it from me last july after i failed to fill in a form about how my disability affects me, in order to know if they are paying the right amount of benefit……………….
    Rather strange really, because it effects me like it has done for the last fourteen years, since an accident at work………..

    The questionnaire which they sent me, sought two signatures. One to say i gave my permission to access my GP’s records they hold on me, and also to make it available to a hcp they might use.
    The other signature was the one to state that i had told the truth and action could be taken against me if i had been telling porkies.
    The questionnaire is the tick box bullshit type, where whatever you wrote would be construed as a change of circumstance to accelerate you to an early PIP test .
    I wrote and told them my circumstances had not changed. They decided that if i did not fill in the questionnaire, they would terminate my DLA.
    They did.
    Even stranger still, they sent me a letter explaining my disability and how it effects me, but went on to say my disability is not in doubt, they have stopped my money for not completing the questionnaire.

    The questionnaire is not marked by anyone of medical knowledge, just a DWP decision maker.

    Several MP’s have criticised these tick box questionnaires, stating they are not fit for purpose. I agree.
    One of the questions was, how many days a week do you have difficulty walking?
    Another, how many times a night does another person need to be awake to watch over you?
    How long on average, does another person need to be awake to watch over you at night?
    Is there anything else you want to tell us about why you need someone to watch over you at night?
    How many nights a week do you need someone to watch over you?

    I have never seen so much crap in my life!!!

    “we are human beings, not fucking robots”

  14. GEOFF REYNOLDS says:

    Two thirds turned down for new disability benefit

    Two thirds of applicants for new disability benefit the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) have been turned down, the first official government statistics reveal.

    While over 99% of claims made for people with terminal illnesses were successful, figures reveal only 37% of standard PIP claims were granted a cash contribution towards the extra costs associated with a long-term health condition or disability.

    The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has received on average 30,000 claims per month for PIP, which was introduced for new claims in April.

    Now being rolled out for existing claims of Disability Living Allowance (DLA), PIP includes a face-to-face assessment and regular reviews.

    Evaluations assess a claimant’s ability to carry out a range of everyday activities alongside reading and verbal communication.

    According to the DWP, only 6% of new DLA claimants had a face-to-face assessment with a healthcare professional – meaning over half of all decisions under the previous system were made without additional corroborating evidence.

    Minister of state for disabled people, Mike Penning, said: ‘Personal Independence Payment has been designed to better reflect today’s understanding of disability – particularly to update our thinking on mental health and fluctuating conditions.

    ‘We are world-leaders in support for disabled people with the UK’s spending on disability-related benefits a fifth higher than the EU average. Our reforms – as part of our long-term economic plan – will ensure this support is better targeted at those who need it most.

  15. Annos says:

    “Tenant evictions reach their highest level ever recorded”

    “Those belongings they could not pack were then left on the driveway in the rain.

    They and their two young children subsequently spent several weeks sleeping in their car.

    “There’d be the two boys in the back, under a couple of quilts. My wife would be up front here. And we’d eat in here,” he told the BBC.

    “The following morning, we’d go to McDonald’s, so the boys could brush their teeth and then go off to school.”

    Three months after the eviction, they have managed to get a single hotel room, but only have enough money for two more nights.

    They cook pasta in an electric kettle and warm up tinned food with hot water in the washbasin.”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26160569

  16. Stepping Razor says:

    Disabled people left in limbo while vital benefit decisions drag on

    NewStatesman – 13th Feb 2014

    Of the 229,700 new claims made since the Personal Independence Payment was introduced in April last year, only 43,800 decisions have been made.

    The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has released new statistics on the number of completed applications for Personal Independence Payments (PIP). Out of a total 229,700 new claims made since the benefit was introduced in April last year, only 43,800 decisions have been made. Many disabled people are being left in limbo as they wait to find out whether they will receive this vital benefit.

    These statistics reveal a woefully low decision rate and suggest that we will see an even bigger backlog as more claims are added to the mix. Although some of these claims may be recent, a large number are not being decided within a reasonable time frame. Many of these cases will also be new applicants to the system, young people who have just turned 16, waiting to find out if they will get any support or not.

    PIP is the benefit that is replacing Disability Living Allowance and affects everyone with a disability of working age, whether they are able to work or not. The purpose of DLA was to contribute to the extra costs faced by disabled people with care, supervision or mobility needs. This might have been in the form of a communicator guide to allow a deafblind person to go shopping or attend appointments, or for a family to have a specially adapted car to accommodate a wheelchair. PIP will still contribute to these extra costs, but the Government want to focus the benefit on people with the ‘greatest needs’. In our experience, determining this need isn’t always as clear cut as the DWP might hope.

    Full Article NewStatesman:-
    http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/02/disabled-people-left-limbo-while-vital-benefit-decisions-drag

  17. GEOFF REYNOLDS says:

    REPORT ON THE HIGH INCIDENCE OF SUICIDES AMONG BENEFIT CLAIMANTS

    Benefit claimants much more likely to commit suicide: report
    People claiming benefits are up to six times more likely to commit suicide than men and women in work, according to new research published on Wednesday.

    The research was carried out by The Hague health board, national statistics office CBS and Leiden University’s medical centre. The researchers analysed the backgrounds of the 15,178 people who committed suicide in the Netherlands in the 10 years between 2002 and 2011.

    ‘We expected to see more suicides under benefit claimants but the differences were very notable,’ researcher Renske Gilissen told the Volkskrant. ‘Single men are considered more likely to commit suicide but being on benefits would also appear to be an important factor.’

    Women

    The research showed men on benefits were 4.5 times more likely to kill themselves, while women on benefits were six times as likely.

    The number of suicides in the Netherlands has risen steadily since 2007, when there were 1,345 deaths. Last year, there were 1,753 suicides. International studies have shown a link between rising unemployment and a rising suicide rate, the Volkskrant said.

    The researchers said more must be done to train social security officials, debt councillors and the police to spot signs of depression.

    © DutchNews.nl
    Click here!

    1. John Lanigan says:

      Training needed to spot Depression is it?
      While it’s helpful to see a report that underlines the link between those out of work / on benefits and suicide, unfortunately, training debt counsellors, police etc. won’t do much to stop the suicides. As long as we live in a country that has major institutions, including government, rubbishing the seriousness of depression little will be done to help those affected.
      Depression is all to often misunderstood and when it comes to benefits claimants they face an uphill struggle trying to get what they are entitled to as decision makers and tribunal judges alike fail to take on board the debilitating effect of depression.
      It is these benefits claimants who feel that they are not being taken seriously, not helped, and disgracefully denied benefit, who are most likely at risk.
      The theory of living on benefits as being a life choice is almost laughable when you consider the reality of trying to get benefits in the first place. To be treated so badly at every turn must indeed be a life choice?
      People need to know the truth about life on benefits. Who knows when they themselves may have to make a claim and try to live on £71.70 per week to feed, clothe and pay the bills, while looking for a minimum waged job.That’s when they will find out the hard way.
      However, Scotland is in a better position than the rest of the UK at the moment as the people who live in Scotland will have the chance to vote for Independence this year, that will be a vote for the people to decide on the future of Scotland and that includes how we care for those who need the most help. Scotland could change the situation if they vote for a new start with Independence.

      1. GEOFF REYNOLDS says:

        BILL GUNNYEON, THE CLOWN AT THE HELM OF THE DWP WHICH OVERSEES ANYTHING MEDICAL, MUST BE SHITTING HIMSELF OVER BEING SUED FOR THE SPIRALING DEATH COUNT UNDER HIS WATCH….

        APPARENTLY, THIS FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST ASKS FOR CLARIFICATION OF HIS JOBE ROLE…………..

        “YOU WILL NEVER GUESS”……………………

        IT HAS BEEN DESTROYED………….

        HOW CONVENIENT………….

        Dear Mr Wood,

        Thank you for your Freedom of Information request received 21January 2014. You asked;

        Please supply the job description of the DWP’s Chief Medical Adviser.

        A job description for the Chief Medical Adviser was produced as part of the recruitment
        exercise when the position was advertised in 2004 but the five year retention period for
        recruitment papers has now lapsed and the documents deleted/destroyed.

        As a member of the Senior Civil Service (SCS), the Chief Medical Adviser is subject to Civil
        Service wide performance management policies and procedures within a Cabinet Office
        framework. A member of the SCS will agree key work objectives with his/her line manager in
        line with these procedures and work objectives will be regularly reviewed to ensure alignment
        with Departmental priorities. There is no requirement to maintain a job description as part of
        this process.
        If you have any queries about this letter please contact me quoting the reference number
        above.
        Yours sincerely,

        DWP Strategy FoI Team

  18. GEOFF REYNOLDS says:

    “WHAT IS THIS COUNTRY COMING TO?”

    Police in north London have seized blankets, sleeping bags and food donations from rough sleepers in a crackdown on homelessness. A local paper reported that the belongings, mostly donated by sympathetic members of the community, were snatched by police from a group of homeless people as they sheltered in an abandoned public baths for the night.

    The nine people, including a man in his sixties, were seeking cover from a cold night in Redbridge and were left stunned when their worldly possessions disappeared into the back of a police car.

    One of the men targeted in the action, Adam Jaskowiak, pleaded with officers to be allowed to keep his possessions for warmth. The 34-year-old said: “They [the police officers] were just taking the sleeping bags and chucking out everything. I asked to keep it, and the food, but they said ‘No’.

    “I just grabbed as many of my things as possible and put them into a bag and ran.”

    Police later confirmed that the shocking intervention was part of a co-ordinated effort to “reduce the negative impact of rough sleepers”.

    Chief Inspector John Fish told the Ilford Recorder: “The public rely on the police to reduce the negative impact; this includes the need for us to assist in the removal of tents and bedding from public spaces and other inappropriate locations.”

    In response, Joanne McCartney, chair of the Police and Crime Committee at the Greater London Assembly, has written to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner asking for an explanation for the seizure.

    Her letter, seen by The Independent, raises doubts over the legality of the police’s approach and asks Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe on whose authority the officers acted.

    “These are the most vulnerable people in society and they have to be offered assistance,” Mrs McCartney said. “To take someone’s only source of food and warmth seems to be extremely draconian and misguided to say the least.”

    The move has also sparked outrage from the voluntary sector. Rita Chadha, head of the Refugee and Migrant Forum of East London, said the move was dangerous as well as confusing. “We are going through one of the coldest summers we have ever had, it’s a strong possibility that someone could die,” she said.

    1. GEOFF REYNOLDS says:

      “KNOW YOUR PLACE 2”

      YESTERDAY I ATTENDED A TRIBUNAL TO TRY AND GET MY DLA REINSTATED.
      IT HAD BEEN STOPPED LAST JULY BECAUSE I DID NOT FILL IN A QUESTIONNAIRE ABOUT MY DISABILITY AND HOW IT AFFECTS ME.

      STRANGELY THEY NEEDED THE INFORMATION TO SEE IF I WAS GETTING THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF BENEFIT…………

      I THOUGHT THIS RATHER STRANGE, AS I HAD NOT REPORTED A CHANGE OF CIRCUMSTANCE AND THE DWP’S OWN DOCTORS HAD AGREED MY DISABILITY WAS UNLIKELY TO CHANGE IN THE FUTURE.

      THE QUESTIONNAIRE WAS TITLED, DLA80 OCTOBER 2011?

      I HAVE BEEN EXISTING ON £32.23P SINCE THEY STOPPED MY DLA. THIS PAYMENT IS INDUSTRIAL INJURIES BENEFIT.

      UPON ENTERING THE COURTROOM I WAS FACED BY THREE PEOPLE, A MAN IN THE CENTRE, WITH A WOMAN EITHER SIDE.
      THE MAN INTRODUCED HIMSELF, TELLING ME HE WAS A SOLICITOR OR LAWYER.

      HE THEN INTRODUCED THE WOMAN TO HIS LEFT, AND STATED THAT, “I THINK YOU HAVE MET BEFORE”.

      HE THEN WENT ON TO TELL ME THAT THERE WAS ANOTHER LADY PRESENT AT THE SIDE OF THE ROOM AND THAT SHE WAS JUST AN ONLOOKER, A PERSON WHO WAS GOING TO JOIN THE TRIBUNAL PANEL AT A FUTURE DATE.

      THE LADY FROM THE DWP MUST HAVE THEREFORE, SAT TO HIS RIGHT.

      WHAT ASTONISHED ME FROM THE OUTSET, WAS HOW A FEMALE DOCTOR THAT HAD BEEN PRESENT AT ANOTHER ESA TRIBUNAL I HAD PREVIOUSLY ATTENDED, BE SITTING ON THE SAME BENCH????

      IF, AS THE COURTS SYSTEM PROFESSES TO BE, TRULY INDEPENDENT…………

      WHAT WAS SHE DOING HERE AT ALL?

      ………….AND WHO WAS THE MYSTERIOUS WOMAN ATTENDING AT THE SIDE?

      I ASKED THE MAN, THE CHAIRMAN, WHY I WAS SENT A QUESTIONNAIRE RELATING TO DLA, AND DATED 2011, WHEN I HAD BEEN INFORMED ON 3RD MARCH LAST YEAR THAT PIP WOULD BE INTRODUCED ON THE 8TH APRIL LAST YEAR, TO SUPERSEDE DLA PAYMENTS………..

      IN FURTHER CONVERSATION I MADE IT PLAINLY CLEAR THAT I HAD BEEN INFORMED ON THREE OCCASIONS BY DWP, THAT THE STOPPAGE OF MY DLA COULD NOT BE APPEALED.
      AFTER A FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST I WAS TOLD THAT IT COULD BE APPEALED, AND SHOWED HIM THE REQUEST TO PROVE IT…..

      QUOTING STATEMENTS FROM PIP LEGISLATION I TOLD HIM THAT ACCORDING TO WHAT THE DWP TELL US, PIP REPLACED DLA AND ALL PREVIOUS AWARDS, WHETHER FOR LIFE OR SHORT PERIODS HAD COME TO AN END.

      HE EXPLAINED THAT THIS WAS NOT THE CASE, THAT ANY AWARD UNDER EXISTING DLA, STILL STOOD!

      EXPLAINING THAT I WAS STRUGGLING TO LIVE, THE AMOUNT I RECEIVED WAS BELOW THE MINIMUM THE DWP STIPULATED, NONE OF THE BENCH BATTED AN EYELID.

      I EXPLAINED THAT I WAS SURVIVING ON CREAM CRACKERS, CUP A SOUP AND OUT OF DATE, 8P MUSHY PEAS………

      STILL NO REACTION……

      MENTIONING I HAD A SON OF SEVENTEEN AND A PARTNER WHO WORKED AT M&S FOR A FEW AFTERNOONS, GOT NOWHERE FAST.

      THE BENCH ASKED ME TO LEAVE AND ON DELIBERATION SAID I HAD LOST MY CASE.

      I TOLD HIM TO STICK IT UP HIS ARSE!

      …………WHAT I FIND MILDLY AMUSING IS THAT A LADY HAD PUT FORWARD A FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST, ASKING THE DWP IF PIP COULD BE SANCTIONED.

      THE DWP HAD SENT BACK A MESSAGE STATING PIP COULD NOT BE SANCTIONED.

      ON THE SAME DOCUMENT THEY ALSO LISTED OTHER BENEFITS WHICH COULD NOT BE SANCTIONED, AMONG THEM DLA………..

      “sanctionable benefit” means (subject to subsection (2) and to any regulations under section
      10(1)) any disqualifying benefit other than–
      (a) joint-claim jobseeker’s allowance;
      (b) any retirement pension;
      (c) graduated retirement benefit;
      (ca) personal independence payment;
      (d) disability living allowance;
      (e) attendance allowance;
      (f) child benefit;
      (fa) child tax credit; (fb) working tax credit;
      (g) guardian’s allowance;
      (h) a payment out of the social fund in accordance with Part 8 of the Social Security
      Contributions and Benefits Act 1992;
      (i) a payment under Part 10 of that Act (Christmas bonuses).
      If you have any queries about this letter please contact us quoting the reference number
      above.
      Yours sincerely,

      DWP Central FoI Team

      1. GEOFF REYNOLDS says:

        Have any of the readers ever noticed the handiwork of the DWP’S now infamous, psychobabble “NUDGE UNIT”.

        Yes, the part of the DWP that they have decided to get rid of before the full story comes out………….

        Every document written by the DWPcontains some hidden, veiled threat to take away your benefits unless you comply.

        I will give you a couple of examples;

        DLA QUESTIONNAIRE,
        CONSENT,
        WE MAY WANT TO CONTACT YOUR GP, OR THE PEOPLE OR ORGANISATIONS INVOLVED WITH YOU, FOR INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR CLAIM. THIS MAY INCLUDE MEDICAL INFORMATION.

        YOU DO NOT HAVE TO AGREE TO US CONTACTING THESE PEOPLE, BUT IF YOU DON’T AGREE, WE MAY BE UNABLE TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE ENTITLED TO THE BENEFIT YOU ARE CLAIMING.
        PLEASE TICK ONE OF THE OPTIONS AND SIGN BELOW.
        ………………………………………………………………………………………………..
        BLUE BADGE SCHEME;

        PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING DECLARATION.
        PLEASE SIGN THE BOX ON THE FOLLOWING PAGE TO INDICATE THAT YOU HAVE READ, UNDERSTAND AND AGREE WITH EACH DECLARATION.

        NOT TICKING ONE OF THESE DECLARATIONS MAY MEAN WE ARE UNABLE TO SUPPLY YOU WITH A BLUE BADGE…………..

        ………even stranger, on the blue badge application it states;
        I AGREE TO THE LOCAL AUTHORITY CONTACTING AN ACCREDITED HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL IF NECESSARY, FOR THE PURPOSE OF OBTAINING FURTHER INFORMATION IN SUPPORT OF MY APPLICATION.
        also…
        I UNDERSTAND THAT I MAY BE REQUIRED TO UNDERTAKE A MOBILITY ASSESSMENT WITH A HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL, WHO IS INDEPENDENT OF MY EXISTING CARE AND TREATMENT, IN ORDER TO DETERMINE MY ELIGIBILITY FOR A BLUE BADGE…….

        SINISTER HOW AN UNQUALIFIED, EX BED PAN WASHER CAN TAKE AWAY YOUR DISABILITY FREEDOMS?

        1. GEOFF REYNOLDS says:

          “THE DWP WOULD NEVER TELL BLATANT LIES, SURELY?

          Dear Mr Reynolds
          Freedom of Information Act – Request for Information
          Our Reference: FOI IR 0306

          Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) review request which was received on 28
          March 2013. In that request, you asked for a review of your FOI reference 5116.

          You asked:

          I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Work and Pensions’s handling of
          my FOI request ‘U n u m corporations failure to record a conflict of interest.’.

          Its quite obvious that there is a conflict of interest, hence your reluctance to answer.

          Please be assured that your request has been given our full consideration and that all aspects of
          your review were taken fully into account.

          The review was conducted by an independent official of the Department, of the relevant grade
          and authority to carry out such requests. The case has been examined afresh, and guidance has
          been sought from domain experts to ensure all factors were taken fully into account.

          After consideration the internal review has confirmed that DWP does not hold any information on
          the Corporation identified above, as they are not connected to the DWP Medical Services
          Contract.

          You might find it helpful if I explain that Freedom of Information (FoI) Act is about the supply of
          recorded information held by the Department rather than explaining or confirming whether your
          assumptions are correct or not.

          If you have any queries about this letter please contact me quoting the reference number above.

          Yours sincerely

          DWP Business Management Team
          Health & Disability Assessments (Operations)
          ………………………………………………………………………………………………..

          ………and yet;

          13. UnumProvident is actively engaged with the Government, policy-makers and large employers to share best practice and to see where our systems and approaches might be applied more widely. We are currently working with the Department of Work and Pensions on this, and have had discussions with officials in HM Treasury and the Prime Minister’s office. We have met with officials to help better understand the nature of the IB casebook, and to discuss how our commercial experience and expertise might be more widely applied. In addition, we will shortly be supporting the National Employment Panel in its work on the New Deal for Disabled People through a secondment of one of our senior managers.

  19. Toddy says:

    Just been with GEOFF REYNOLDS to his tribunal in Scarborough.

    They had stopped his DLA and he was fighting to have it reinstated.
    Geoff put forward a powerful case but sadly the decision went against him.

    Geoff is registered disabled for life and they refused him his lifeline, what kind of evil bastards are running our country?

    He told the magistrate that he has a seventeen year old son at college, a partner who works a couple of afternoons at Marks and Spencer and is struggling to live on £32 per week.

    Outlining that they were living on cup a soup, cream crackers and out of date, 8p mushy peas, the panel did not show any feeling whatsoever.

    I was completely stunned at the verdict.

    I have witnessed disability denial that i thought i would never see in this day and age.

    What is happening is pure unadulterated evil, perpetrated at the most vulnerable.

    Toddy.

  20. Toddy says:

    OK AL;Just been with GEOFF REYNOLDS to his tribunal in Scarborough.

    They had stopped his DLA and he was fighting to have it reinstated.
    Geoff put forward a powerful case but sadly the decision went against him.

    Geoff is registered disabled for life and they refused him his lifeline, what kind of evil bastards are running our country?

    He told the magistrate that he has a seventeen year old son at college, a partner who works a couple of afternoons at Marks and Spencer and is struggling to live on £32 per week.

    Outlining that they were living on cup a soup, cream crackers and out of date, 8p mushy peas, the panel did not show any feeling whatsoever.

    I was completely stunned at the verdict.

    I have witnessed disability denial that i thought i would never see in this day and age.

    What is happening is pure unadulterated evil, perpetrated at the most vulnerable.

    Toddy.

  21. GEOFF REYNOLDS says:

    THATS ABSOLUTELY CORRECT RAZOR, THEY STOPPED MY MONEY BECAUSE I REFUSED TO FILL IN A QUESTIONNAIRE THAT ASKED ABOUT MY CIRCUMSTANCES EVEN THOUGH THEIR OWN DOCTORS HAVE SAID THEY WILL NOT CHANGE IN THE FUTURE….

    THE QUESTIONNAIRE ASKED FOR A SIGNATURE THAT SAID I WOULD GIVE PERMISSION TO THEM TO SEND ME FOR ANOTHER BOGUS APPRAISAL IF THEY DEEMED MY CIRCUMSTANCES HAD CHANGED.

    WHATEVER THE CLAIMANT WROTE ON THE QUESTIONNAIRE, THEY WOULD DEEM IT TO BE A CHANGE AND WHISK YOU OFF TO AN EX BEDPAN WASHER FOR A BOGUS MEDICAL REPORT.

    SAME OLD VEILED THREATS ON THE QUESTIONNAIRE, “IF YOU DON’T AGREE, WE MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO PAY YOUR BENEFITS”……………………….

    WHAT A FUCKING LAUGH!!!

    I HAVE BEEN LIVING ON INDUSTRIAL INJURY BENEFIT OF £32 PER WEEK SINCE LAST JULY, AND I HAVE A GROWN UP SON AND A PARTNER……………….

    THE MINUTE YOU SIGN ANY DOCUMENT FROM THE DWP YOU ARE,

    “ENTERING INTO A CONTRACT AND HAVE GIVEN UP YOUR RIGHTS”

    YOU ARE BEING HERDED TO GO FOR AN EXAMINATION OF YOUR ABILITY TO WORK, IN FRONT OF A STATE SPONSORED CHARLATAN WHO HAS BEEN ON A SHORT COURSE TO GET A GLOSSY CERTIFICATE, NOT RECOGNISED EVEN IN DEEPEST PERU…………………

    ATOS AND ALL THE OTHER FINANCIAL MALINGERERS THAT PURPORT TO UTILISE HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS ARE NOTHING BUT A SPIN OFF, OF THE DISABILITY DENIAL MACHINE OF UNUM CORPORATION OF AMERICA.

    I AM COMPLETELY BEWILDERED WHY THE AUTHENTICITY OF A CHARLATANS STATEMENT, OVER THAT OF A TRUE DOCTOR, HAS BEEN GIVEN ANY CREEDENCE IN THE UK.

    THEY ALL SING FROM THE SAME SONG SHEET, THESE BASTARDS………………

    REPLACING ATOS WITH ANY OTHER IS JUST A THREE CARD SHUFFLE………..

    SAME OLD SHIT, DIFFERENT UNIFORM!

    1. GEOFF REYNOLDS says:

      “HOW MANY TIMES HAVE MEMBERS OF PUBLIC BEEN TOLD BY THE DWP THAT THEY CANNOT APPEAL A DECISION?”

      “HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DENIED THE RIGHT TO AN APPEAL?”

      “HOW MUCH MONEY HAVE THE DWP MADE BY DENIAL OF A CLAIMANT’S RIGHT TO AN APPEAL?”

      ………and yet;

      YOU STATE, “HOWEVER, THE REGULATIONS WOULD APPEAR.”

      THIS IS NOT DEFINITIVE. CATEGORICALLY STATE THE CASE ONE WAY OR THE
      OTHER PLEASE.

      The Department cannot provide a definitive reply to your question. As stated in the previous
      reply, the decision on whether or not to accept an appeal is for the Tribunal judge to make.

      I should also like to add that you have now been informed on numerous occasions that the
      Freedom of Information Act is about the supply of recorded information held only, and is not
      about entering into a debate. As you have once again submitted a request which is attempting
      to engage in debate and is not for recorded information held by the Department, I find this
      request to be invalid and vexatious in nature. In view of this the Department is under no
      obligation to answer it, and will not enter into further debates or respond to further FOI
      Requests on this matter.
      If you have any queries about this letter please contact me quoting the reference number
      above.
      Yours sincerely,

      DWP Central FoI Team

      …………………………………………………………………………………………..

      anything can be appealed, please remember this!

  22. jed goodright says:

    hey guys, things have moved on since 3rd february

    latest dwp missive says people should have to pay to appeal dwp decision – that is, thise who have no money have to pay to appeal’ Highlights once and for all the nature of dwp – PERSECUTION is the name of the game – I think this is internationally unacceptable

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/10653076/Benefits-claimants-face-charges-to-challenge-decisions-over-payments.html

    1. John Lanigan says:

      The DWP introduced mandatory reconsiderations in the hope that it would deter people from appealing bad decisions. As that plan is not working due to so many wanting bad DWP decisions reversed, they are now scraping the bottom of the evil machinations barrel in order to see if they can further thwart social justice.
      Lets make sure they don’t get away with it!

    1. GEOFF REYNOLDS says:

      “DWP AND THE TRIBUNAL THIEVES”

      SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO I WAS ADJUDGED AS DISABLED FOR LIFE………………….

      ON TUESDAY I HAD TO ATTEND A TRIBUNAL TO TRY AND HAVE MY DLA REINSTATED AFTER IT WAS REMOVED FOR FAILING TO FILL IN A QUESTIONNAIRE THAT WANTED TO KNOW HOW MY DISABILITY AFFECTED ME.

      THE REASON I DID NOT FILL IN THE QUESTIONNAIRE IS OBVIOUS, MY CIRCUMSTANCES HAVE NEVER CHANGED AND I OBJECTED TO HAVING TO MAKE A DECLARATION THAT I AGREED TO BE SENT FOR ANOTHER MEDICAL TO ATOS.

      USING THE LAST MEDICAL FROM ATOS THEY STOLE MY INCAPACITY BENEFIT AND DEEMED ME FIT FOR WORK EVEN THOUGH THEY PAY ME INDUSTRIAL INJURIES BENEFIT………………

      HERE ARE THE FINDINGS OF MY DLA TRIBUNAL;

      1/ THE APPEAL IS REFUSED.

      2/ THE DECISION MADE BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE ON 1/10/2013 IS CONFIRMED.

      3/ MR G REYNOLDS IS NOT ENTITLED TO EITHER COMPONENT OF DISABILITY LIVING ALLOWANCE WITH EFFECT FROM 24/072013.

      4/ THE FACTS ARE NOT IN DISPUTE. THE DTERMINATION IS IN ACCORDANCE WITH REGULATION 18 OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY AND CHILD SUPPORT (DECISIONS AND APPEALS) REGULATIONS 1999 FOLLOWED A SUSPENSION OF BENEFIT USING REGULATION 17 OF THE SAME REGULATIONS. THIS WAS A RESULT OF A FAILURE TO PROVIDE INFORMATION PURSUANT TO REGULATION 32 OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY (CLAIMS AND PAYMENTS) REGULATIONS 1987.

      SIGNED TRIBUNAL JUDGE, D J WALL. 18/02/2014

      …………………………………………………………………….

      strangely,

      one of the adjudication panel was a female doctor who had sat on an earlier tribunal that i attended for ESA.

      ” WHY WAS A TRIBUNAL ALLOWED TO CONTINUE IF THE PRESENCE OF THIS FIGURE COULD TAINT THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE PANEL WHO ULTIMATELY MADE THE ADJUDICATION?”

      1. GEOFF REYNOLDS says:

        TAKEN FROM MY ATOS MEDICAL REPORT, THE CONTENT OF WHICH WAS THE BASIS OF REMOVAL OF MY INCAPACITY BENEFITS……….

        DURATION OF INTERVIEW, 35 MINUTES

        WAS SEEN TO SIT IN A CHAIR AND GET UP UNAIDED (I DID NOT SIT DOWN)

        WALKED TO THE COUCH AND WAS EXAMINED

        WAS ASKED TO PERFORM MOVEMENTS (CLIENT DECLINED ON SEVENTY FIVE OCCASIONS)

        CLIENT SAYS HE WETS HIMSELF BUT DOES NOT TAKE A CHANGE OF CLOTHES WITH HIM WHEN HE GOES OUT (I WEAR A NAPPY)

        CLIENT DECLINED TO BEND EITHER RIGHT OR LEFT KNEE.

        CLIENT ABLE TO STRAIGHTEN BOTH RIGHT AND LEFT KNEES.

        BEHAVIOUR OBSERVED DURING ASSESSMENT;

        HE WAS OBSERVED TO STAND IN ONE PLACE FOR THE DURATION OF THE INTERVIEW.

        USED ONE STICK TO STAND FOR 33 MINUTES (BEARING IN MIND THE DURATION OF THE INTERVIEW WAS 35 MINUTES)

        with this medical report they took away my benefits and i now survive on £ 32. 32P PER WEEK……………………..

        Leave a Reply

  23. GEOFF REYNOLDS says:

    “THE USE OF WORDS LIKE SHOCK AND AWE WOULD BE AN UNDERSTATEMENT”

    OUR NATION IS WITNESSING A SIEGE AGAINST THE POOREST AND WEAKEST, THE LIKES OF WHICH, HAVE NEVER BEEN SEEN SINCE THE NAZI’S……………………………..

    DEMOCRACY, THE VOICE AND WISHES OF THE PEOPLE ARE DISAPPEARING FAST AS THE NEW REICH TAKES OVER THE HELM.
    YESTERDAY SAW THE OUTCOME OF THE FIVE DISABLED PERSONS QUEST TO OVERTURN THE DREADED BEDROOM TAX.

    THE JUDGES STATED THAT THE COURTS CANNOT GET INVOLVED IN GOVERNMENT POLICY, HOWEVER CONTENTIOUS.

    I HAVE NEVER HEARD SO MUCH FUCKING CLAPTRAP IN MY LIFE………
    EVERYTHING HAS APPEAL RIGHTS, FOR JUDGES TO REACH THIS DECISION IS JUST BARBARIC, THEY, LIKE MORE AND MORE, ARE UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE NEO NAZI’S IN POWER.

    THE JUDGES SHOULD BE IDENTIFIED AND ALL HISTORICAL LINKS TO THOSE CONTROLLING THEM UNEARTHED!
    THE TWISTED WHIMS OF A SELECT FEW ARE BEING UNLEASHED ON THE MAJORITY.
    POLITICIANS NO LONGER REPRESENT THE PUBLIC, THEY ARE THE PUPPETS OF THE MULTI NATIONAL GREED CORPORATIONS LIKE ATOS……….

    WORK CAPABILITY ASSESSMENTS WILL CARRY ON UNDER A DIFFERENT LABEL, THE OUTCOME WILL BE NO DIFFERENT. IT IS THE SMALL PRINT IN THE CONTRACT WHAT SHOULD BE LAID OPEN FOR ALL TO SEE.

    THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS HAVE DIED ALREADY AND EVERYONE IS CONVENIENTLY LOOKING AWAY.

    “THE DISABLED SHOULD ALL MEET IN TOWN CENTRES AND PUBLICLY BURN THEIR ASSESSMENTS AND REFUSE TO UNDERGO ANY MORE”

    I WILL SAY IT ONCE MORE, ALL THE DEPARTMENTS OF GOVERNMENT AT WHATEVER LEVEL, ARE COMPLICIT IN CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, YOU COULD BE NEXT TO FILL A BURIAL PLOT OR AN URN……….

    OUR PROSPECTS ARE DAUNTING BUT IT’S TIME TO HIT BACK OR FOREVER HOLD YOUR PEACE.

    YESTERDAY I UNEARTHED SOME GOVERNMENT PAPERS UNDER THE HEADING “fema camps”…………

    PLEASE GOOGLE IT AND TRY AND FIND THE GOVERNMENTS INTENTIONS TO SEND DISABLED TO WORK CAMPS, TO GET THEIR MINDSET RIGHT.

    I COULD NOT BELIEVE WHAT I WAS READING. IT WAS LIKE AN ORWELLIAN NIGHTMARE DREAMT UP BY DISABILITY HATERS.
    THE CAMPS WOULD ACCOMODATE THOUSANDS OF DISABLED AND THE STATE HAD THE RIGHT TO PUNISH YOU BY REMOVAL OF YOUR CHILDREN……………

    “AUSCHWITZ REVISITED”

    THESE BASTARDS ARE ABSOLUTELY CRAZY AND WILL STOP AT NOTHING IN THEIR NEW EUGENICS DECLARATIONS………..

    OUR DWP WROTE TO ME IN A FREEDOM OF INFORMATION RESPONSE, STATING THEY HAD NO LINKS WITH THE DISCREDITED UNUM CORPORATION.

    THIS IS BULLSHIT, UNUM ARE PULLING THE STRINGS OF OUR DERANGED FRONT BENCHERS, AS ARE THE OTHER MAJOR PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE VENTURE CAPITALISTS.

    YOUR JEWEL IN THE CROWN, THE NHS IS BEING DISMANTLED BRICK BY BRICK IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES AS THE STAKES OF CORPORATE GREED BITE WITH EVER GREATER FEROCITY.

    I AM NOT A CONSPIRACY THEORIST BUT THE EXPLOITS OF WHAT IS UNFOLDING MAKE ME WONDER?

    IT;S TIME TO COME OUT OF YOUR PRIVATE TRANCES AND REVOLT BEFORE YOU BECOME THE VICTIMS OF THE STATE.

    1. Toddy says:

      February 23, 2014 at 8:44 am

      JUDGE J. D. WALL AND TRIBUNAL PANEL GLOAT AS FRIEND PLEADS FOR DLA TO BE RETURNED IN ORDER TO FEED HIS FAMILY PROPERLY”

      I don’t really say a lot, but this week i had the displeasure of witnessing thr true evil in our society. The one that Cameron and his cronies, deny is happening.
      Shocked, i am not. It is occurring in every town across the UK.

      Watching a grown disabled man, a good friend, pleading to have more than the £32 he is given, raised back to his former DLA that was stolen after a worthless ATOS medical.

      Indeed, i left the tribunal with a feeling of mixed emotions, holding back tears as i saw first hand the evil that men do.
      These people on tribunal benches ar far from being human, they are state picked disability assassins.

      My friend explained that he and his partner and son had been reduced to eating cream crackers and cups of soup to survive, going on to tell in detail how they had not been able to light the gas fire for the last four years.
      If the government says that a person needs £71 a week to live on, why force a disabled man and his family to live on less?

      People like Judge J D Wall should be immediately struck off, compassion for another human being is not in their vocabulary!

      I will never forget that awful day as long as i live. It will be firmly etched into my memory.

      The DWP used to pick on me all the time until i mentioned that i had suicidal thoughts. Some things have changed slightly, some treat me like a human being, but others, mainly women, are ever so cruel.
      The rising cost of diesel fuel and forced redundancy caused me to be unemployed.

      Like my friend, we are neither shirkers or whatever else the government run media throw at us, we are trapped by unfortunate events in time.

      Disability Denial is alive and kicking, i have seen it with my own eyes.
      As the tribunal drew to a close, the tribunal judge asked me if i had anything to say.

      I said nothing, tears in my eyes.

      “Why are they persecuting those who are least likely to respond?”

      Or is that government policy, to bully those who already carry the heaviest burden, the disabled?

    1. GEOFF REYNOLDS says:

      CAREFULLY HIDDEN AMONGST THE NEWS ITEMS OF THE BBC, UNDER HEALTH NEWS, IS THE FACT THAT ALL PATIENTS MEDICAL RECORDS HAVE BEEN “ACCIDENTALLY” TRANSFERED TO THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY………………

      THIS IS NO ACCIDENT, IT TAKES AN OPERATION OF MAMMOTH PROPERTIONS, SERVER EQUIPMENT AND SECURITY BREACHES ON AN UNPRECEDENTED SCALE TO CREATE.

      IT IS NOT A SINGLE DISC ERROR OR A MISSING HARD DRIVE OR MEMORY STICK, THIS IS INDUSTRIAL ESPIONAGE CONCERNING THE HEALTH DOCUMENTATION OF UK PATIENTS.

      SOMEBODY, HIGH UP IN PARLIAMENT HAS GIVEN THE GREEN LIGHT TO DISCLOSE ALL YOUR HEALTH RECORDS AGAINST YOUR WILL.

      YOUR DATA HAS BEEN STOLEN AND PASSED ON TO A WEALTH MAKING INDUSTRY, THE SAME INDUSTRY THAT IS PULLING THE STRINGS OF THE PUPPETS IN WESTMINSTER.

      THE SAME INDUSTRY THAT IS STEALING YOUR DISABILITY BENEFITS AND LEAVING THOUSANDS IN MISERY, FEAR OF DESTITUTION AND HOMELESSNESS.

      PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE IS THE INSTIGATOR OF ALL THAT YOU SEE, PERPETRATED AGAINST YOUR, ONCE PROUD NHS.

      BRICK BY BRICK IT IS BEING DISMANTLED AND THE PROCEEDS SHARED AMONGST THE GREEDY……………

      PRIVATISATION BY THE WHIM OF A FEW AT THE EXPENSE OF THE MANY.

      YOU ARE BEING SHAFTED, GOOD AND PROPER, BY MINISTERS WITH LINKS TO HEALTHCARE AND INSURANCE BODIES.

      ANNOS RECENTLY PUBLISHED A PAGE THAT REVEALED OVER 200 LORDS MINISTERS WITH LINKS TO THE AFOREMENTIONED INDUSTRIES!

      200, AND THATS ONLY FROM ONE POLITICAL HOUSE. HOW MANY MUST THE TOTAL BE FROM BOTH CHAMBERS?
      IT MUST BE STAGGERING!

      THE QUESTION MUST BE, WHY ARE THESE MINISTERS, WHO HAVE SERIOUS CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, BEING ALLOWED TO VOTE ON ANY HEALTH ISSUE?

      THEY ARE LINING THEIR GRUBBY LITTLE POCKETS ON THE MISERY THEY INFLICT ON THEIR OWN CONSTITUENTS.

      NO WONDER ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY AND OTHER VITAL SERVICES ARE BEING RAPED ON A DAILY BASIS!

      THESE GOVERNMENTAL THIEVES NO LONGER REPRESENT YOUR VIEWS, JUST THE VIEWS OF THE GIANT MULTINATIONALS PAVING THEIR AGENDAS……………

      LOBBYING IS THE BIGGEST DISEASE THIS NATION HAS EVER FACED……….

      THE GREED OF A VERY FEW IS CONTAMINATING THE WELL BEING OF THE REST OF THE POPULUS.

      “HEADS SHOULD BE ROLLING,WHOVER SOLD YOUR PRIVATE INFORMATION SHOULD BE MADE PUBLIC”

      THIS WAS NO ACCIDENT………………

      ASK YOURSELF WHO WAS SET TO GAIN FROM THIS DISCLOSURE?

      “THERE ARE 200 REASONS IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS”
      Reply

      1. GEOFF REYNOLDS says:

        RECENTLY I FILED A COMPLAINT ABOUT THE WAY A FEMALE JUDGE CALLED NAYLOR, SHOUTED AT ME DURING AN ESA TRIBUNAL…………..

        STRANGELY THE JUDICIARY IS WHAT YOU WOULD EXPECT IN THE UK…………….

        AN COMPLAINTS ARE INVESTIGATED BY THEMSELVES….

        THIS MORNING I RECEIVED A LETTER, THE SECOND, ASKING ME FOR MORE EVIDENCE OF MY COMPLAINT.

        AS YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO EITHER, FILM OR RECORD WITHIN A JUDICIAL CHAMBER, THEY REALISE THAT I WILL BE UNDER PRESSURE TO GIVE ANY SUPPORT TO MY CLAIM.

        IN OTHER WORDS, IT IS COMPLETELY POINTLESS FILING A CLAIM BECAUSE IT IS DEEMED TO BE REJECTED BEFORE IT EVEN GETS READ!

        SO, MISS ERIN SLATER,

        OF CUSTOMER SERVICE OF JUDICIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLAINTS MANAGEMENT, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO INFORM JUDGE NAYLOR THAT SHE CAN CONTINUE TO TERRORISE DISABILITY CLAIMANTS IN THE USUAL MANNER.

        YOUR ORGANISATION SEES FIT TO TURN A BLIND EYE TO THE EVIL PERPETRATED AGAINST THE WEAKEST THROUGH YOUR KANGAROO COURTS…………

        1. stitchedupanbroken says:

          Geoff,I am a reader of your comments. I am educated by you…and some others. How well you speak. My own experience of the ‘governing elite’ confirm your own. This country and its ‘governors’ are riddled with corruption and graft. The BBC is its related mouthpiece: you get there by funny handshakes,people who are connected to people,the school you went to. We(UK residents)are basically living in a country we like to denigrate ie any foreign country whose leaders we haven’t managed to buy or take over.

          On a slightly different matter: I don’t know who I am talking to…maybe someone who is ‘planted’…that’s why I can never,ever be truly honest and open. Remember the Khymer Rouge: they begged people who were educated to be open and come forward to help others. You did so to step forward to have yourself shot in the head. Just so with our governing bodies and elite. They say they want you to step forward to reveal improper practice,but when you do…you single yourself out for retribution. Think along Stasi lines. Think o the ‘plants’ with the police having sex with people who have genuine grievances. I cannot speak openly,that I know. I paid a price for upholding so-called august professional codes of conduct. I know those in power want more power and $$$$$$$.

          I think this country and its ‘grafters’ are building up one hell of a lot of HATE.

          And you know what…the evil monsters who began this regime,and who now wish to capitalise on it…are bringing their sons and daughters to the table to sup on the blood of those they leach on.

          They’re all nesting and feeding one-another. Marrying one another. Counting their money together.

          This might appear strange…but I was dismissive of David Icke and his Lizard theory,but take away the Lizards and behind it all there is a growing and collective elite that is a cabal and that are all working together to enrich themselves…making the rest of humanity drones or subjects…or slaves. Its all of a-coming-together,the Labour-and-the-Tories-the-Libs…all a-heading to the feeding troughs to enrich and gorge themselves. Not nice…but truly Darwinian!

  24. stitchedupanbroken says:

    Have just read the Geoff Reynolds comment about his experience with the judge. Touche. Had the same experience at an ET. And another at a different ET to do with what happened to myself. A judge made no comment when a law firm was effectively blackmailing me with further prosecution if I went ahead with my case seeing it as without merit(I thought that decision was up to the judge!!!)Nothing done. Me frightened. Job done. I backed out of my claim against an employer who refused to look into my complaints into what was happening to staff and patients. Wot a shambles! Nazi Germany and Putins Russia have as ‘independent judges’ as we do over here. Farcical. Yet the toffs are recruiting uneducated boys to go and fight their wars and get their legs blown off in the name of freedom.Wotajoke!

    Geoff,you were braver than me. I never ever thought about complaining about the judge…tho I did make written complaint about the procedure to Citizens Advice.

    I feel so angry and aggrieved by this country and its ‘governors’. I rejoice every time its trounced abroad in it military expeditions. Oh to have been in France when their ruling elite had their comeuppance.

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