by Dr Éoin Clarke (PhD)
As we all know the Welfare Reform Bill is now law. The 2012 budget showed that excluding the extra set up costs for the Universal Credit, there is £5.5bn of savings (read cuts) on top of the CSR £13bn cuts in Welfare spending.
George Osborne also signalled that a new Comprehensive Spending Review would be tasked with finding between £10-11bn more ‘savings’ in Welfare spending.
So, yes things are bad, and yes things are about to get a whole lot worse.
But guess what, when all that is absorbed, all hell is going to break loose.
By common consent the much maligned ATOS are unscrupulous in their obstruction of disability campaigners efforts to highlight their wrongdoing.
Last week’s conference showed how ATOS have switched all of their appeals to a judiciary style format of court room & judge.
Well, guess what? The Tories have drafted in ATOS’s larger and uglier big brother to cause more misery on benefit claimants.News has emerged that Serco have been asked by the DWP to conduct an investigation into how more ways to cut benefit claimants’ funding can be found.
One recipient of a cold contact email from Serco was so incensed at Serco’s efforts to rope him into the process that @AlexSmithNP got in touch to show me this letter here
It clearly shows an increased role for Serco in finding more ways to cut welfare spending. Recently Serco have been scandalised throughout the developed world for their ill treatment of child detainees and their involvement in Nuclear proliferation.
They are on a banned list in Norway from applying to the Norwegian Fund that invests in long term infrastructural projects.
This is because the Norwegian government has declared them ‘unethical’.
The news that this company will be increasing its £4.5bn profiteering operation in the area of disability assessments will cause serious alarm among the sick and disabled.
THE DETAILS
https://events.serco.com/ei/getdemo
Health and Disability Assessments: Exploring the role of Occupational Therapists
You are invited to a Serco Event
Health and Disability Assessments:
Exploring the role of Occupational Therapists
Date: Thursday 19th April, 10.30 – 15.00
Venue: College of Occupational Therapists
Cost: Free to BAOT Members
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)are seeking organisations to:
Conduct objective and independent Health and Disability Assessments; to
help ensure that state support is targeted at the right individuals;
to ensure that the support reflects their circumstances and that fraud and error
are reduced.
Serco are seeking to engage with OTs and OT Businesses to explore how
they can support the delivery of a range of Health and Disability
Assessments, traditionally conducted by Medics.
The event, chaired by Dr Stephen Duckworth OBE Ph.D. MSc LRCP MRCS FDS
(Honorary) will cover:
• An introduction to the DWP Health and Disability Services Assessment Framework
• The role of the OT in Health & Disability Assessment
• Opportunities to work with Serco
• Setting up and running a small business
If you are interested in finding out more about this event and how to register, please click on the following link:
https://events.serco.com/ei/getdemo.ei?id=283&s=_6AK0KB0DA
For more information about Serco, please visit our website:
http://www.serco.com/
College of Occupational Therapists | 104-114 Borough High Street
Southwark, London, England SE1 1LB, United Kingdom
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WHO IS SERCO? WATCH THIS VIDEO!
5 Responses
I cannot reat the article as your self-advertising stuff on the right obscures a lot of text. Shame as I think it may be interesting.
Thanks for telling us – think it should be fixed now
Serco in a nutshell http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyFkXmx8gxc
Cheers
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/07/public-sector-outsourcing-shadow-state