PIP Fact Sheet: Courtesy of 'Disability Alliance'

Personal Independence Payment

This factsheet gives a basic introduction to the proposed personal independence payment (PIP). It is based on what we know so far and will be updated as we get more information.

You can find out detailed information about the current benefit system in Disability Alliance's Disability Rights Handbook, available to buy at www.disabilityalliance.org/drh36.htm

All our publications are available at www.disabilityalliance.org/shop.htm. You can also place an order by contacting Disability Alliance on 020 7247 8776 (this is not an advice line) or by fax on 020 7247 8765. All our factsheets are available at www.disabilityalliance.org/fact.htm.

What is PIP?

The personal independence payment (PIP) replaces working age disability living allowance (DLA) from 2013-14.

Part 4 of the Welfare Reform Bill 2011 currently going through Parliament contains proposals to introduce PIP.

What are the rules?

To get the personal independence payment you must:

· be age 16-65

· satisfy the daily living and/or mobility activities test for 6 months prior to claiming and to be likely to continue to satisfy this test for a period of at least 6 months after claiming.

As yet there are no plans to extend PIP to children under 16 or claimants who are over 65. However migration from DLA may apply to these groups at a later date.

Draft regulations on the daily living and mobility activities test have now been published.

How much is PIP?

Personal Independence Payment will have two components:

· daily living component

· mobility component

Each component has two rates.

· daily living component standard rate – If the person’s ability to carry out daily living activities is limited by the person’s physical or mental condition; and the person meets the required period condition.

· daily living component enhanced rate – if the person’s ability to carry out daily living activities is severely limited by the person’s physical or mental condition; and the person meets the required period condition.

· mobility component standard rate – if the person is of or over the age prescribed for the purposes of this subsection; the person’s ability to carry out mobility activities is limited by the person’s physical or mental condition; and the person meets the required period condition.

· mobility component enhanced rate - if the person is of or over the age prescribed for the purposes of this subsection; the person’s ability to carry out mobility activities is severely limited by the person’s physical or mental condition; and the person meets the required period condition.

As yet the amounts for these rates have not been set.

People with a terminal illness (same definition as for DLA) will automatically receive the daily living component enhanced rate and will not have to satisfy the period condition for the mobility component.

People in care homes, hospitals or prison will not receive PIP.

The Activities tests

In order to qualify for any component of PIP you will have score points in relation to certain activities.

The activities for daily living are:

1. planning and buying food

2. preparing and cooking food

3. taking nutrition

4. managing medication and monitoring health conditions

5. managing prescribed treatment other than medication

6. washing, bathing and grooming

7. toileting and managing incontinence

8. dressing and undressing

9. communicating with others

The mobility activities are:

1. planning and following a journey

2. moving around

As yet we do not know the points awarded for each task within these activities or how many points are required to satisfy a particular component.

Daily Living Activities

1. Planning and buying food and drink.

a. Can plan and buy food and drink unaided.

b. Can buy food and drink only with continual prompting.

c. Can plan food and drink only with continual prompting.

d. Can plan food and drink only with continual assistance.

2. Preparing and cooking.

a. Can prepare and cook a simple meal unaided.

b. Can prepare and cook a simple meal only with the use of an aid or appliance.

c. Can prepare and cook a simple meal only with continual prompting.

d. Can cook a simple meal using a conventional cooker only with continual assistance.

e. Can prepare a simple meal for cooking only with continual assistance.

f. Can cook a simple meal using a microwave only with continual assistance.

g. Can prepare a simple snack only with continual assistance.

3. Taking nutrition.

a. Can take nutrition unaided.

b. Can take nutrition only with the use of an aid or appliance.

c. Can take nutrition only with the use of a therapeutic source.

d. Can take nutrition only with intermittent assistance or prompting.

e. Can take nutrition only with the use of a therapeutic source and with intermittent assistance.

f. Can take nutrition only with continual assistance.

4. Managing medication and monitoring health conditions.

a. Does not receive medication or need to monitor a health condition; or can manage medication and monitor a health condition unaided or with the use of an aid or appliance.

b. Less than once a day requires continual assistance or prompting to manage medication or monitor a health condition.

c. Once a day, requires continual assistance or prompting to manage medication or monitor a health condition.

d. Twice a day, requires continual assistance or prompting to manage medication or monitor a health condition.

e. At least three times a day, requires continual assistance or prompting to manage medication or monitor a health condition.

5. Managing prescribed therapies other than medication.

a. Either is not prescribed therapies or can manage prescribed therapies unaided or with the use of an aid or appliance.

b. Where prescribed therapies are required for up to 3.5 hours a week can manage only with intermittent assistance.

c. Where prescribed therapies are required for between 3.5 and 7 hours a week, can manage only with intermittent assistance.

d. Where prescribed therapies are required for between 7 and 14 hours a week, can manage only with intermittent assistance.

e. Where prescribed therapies are required for at least 14 hours a week, can manage only with intermittent assistance.

6. Washing, bathing and grooming.

a. Can wash, bathe and groom unaided.

b. Can bathe unaided but can groom only with the use of an aid or appliance.

c. Can bathe unaided but can groom only with continual assistance from another person.

d. Can wash unaided but can bathe only with the use of an aid or appliance.

e. Can wash unaided but can bathe only with continual prompting.

f. Can wash unaided but can bathe only with continual assistance.

g. Can wash, bathe and groom only with continual assistance.

7. Managing Toilet needs or incontinence.

a. Can manage toilet needs or incontinence unaided.

b. Can manage toilet needs or incontinence only with the use of an aid or appliance.

c. Can manage toilet needs only with continual assistance.

d. Can manage incontinence of either bladder or bowel only with continual assistance.

e. Can manage incontinence of both bladder and bowel only with continual assistance.

8. Dressing and undressing.

a. Can dress and undress unaided.

b. Can dress and undress only with the use of an aid or appliance.

c. Can dress and undress unaided but can only select clothing appropriate for the environment or dress in the correct order with intermittentprompting.

d. Can dress and undress lower body only with intermittent assistance.

e. Can dress and undress unaided but cannot determine appropriate circumstances for remaining clothed.

f. Can dress and undress upper body only with intermittent assistance.

g. Can dress and undress only with continual assistance.

9. Communicating with others.

a. Can communicate with others unaided.

b. Can communicate only with communication support.

c. Cannot, even with communication support, understand or convey a choice to an unfamiliar person.

d. Cannot engage socially with other people due to such engagement causing either-

(i) overwhelming psychological distress to the claimant; or

(ii) the claimant to exhibit uncontrollable episodes of behaviour that would result in substantial risk of significant distress to either the claimant or another person.

e. Cannot, even with communication support, understand or convey choice to a familiar person.

f. Cannot, even with communication support, understand a simple verbal or non-verbal instruction or warning from another person.

g. Cannot, even with communication support, convey a basic need by either verbal or non-verbal means.

Mobility Activities

1. Planning and following a journey.

a. Can plan and follow a complex journey unaided.

b. Cannot follow any journey alone due to such a journey causing overwhelming psychological distress to the claimant.

c. Can follow a complex journey only–

(i) if the journey has been planned by another person; or

(ii) with the continual prompting or intermittent assistance.

d. Cannot follow any journey due to such a journey causing overwhelming psychological distress to the claimant.

e. Can follow a simple journey only -

(i) if the journey has been planned by another person; or

(ii) with the continual prompting or intermittent assistance.

2. Moving around.

a. Can move at least 200 metres unaided or with the use of a manual aid.

b. Can move at least 50 metres but not more than 200 metres either unaided or with the use of a manual aid.

c. Can move up to 50 metres unaided.

d. Can move up to 50 metres only with the use of a manual aid.

e. Can move up to 50 metres only with the use of a manual wheelchair propelled by the claimant.

f. Can move up to 50 metres only with the use of an assisted aid.

g. Cannot either–

(i) move around at all or

(ii) transfer from one seated position to an adjacent one unaided.

What the rules mean

aid or appliance - a device to improve either a physical or mental function or both. It includes a prosthesis but does not include an aid or appliance ordinarily used by a person without a physical or mental condition which limits that person’s ability to carry out daily living or mobility activities;

assistance - physical intervention by another person

assisted aid - a wheelchair propelled by another person or an aid or appliance propelled by a motor;

bathe - take a bath or a shower;

buy -

(a) determine how much money is required to purchase food and drink

(b) assess the availability of the money referred to in (a) and

(c) purchase online, by telephone or in a shop

continual - throughout the entire duration of the activity;

cook - heat food at or above waist height

communicate - convey and understand information in the claimant’s native language

communication support -

(a) support from a person trained to communicate with people with limited communication abilities: or

(b) use of an aid or appliance

complex journey - a journey:

(a) which involves more than one mode of transport; or

(b) to an unfamiliar destination

groom -

(a) comb or brush one’s hair

(b) wash one’s hair; and

(c) clean one’s teeth, above a level of self-neglect

intermittent - for at least half the duration of the activity

level of self-neglect - a level that is considered socially unacceptable

manage incontinence - manage evacuation of the bowel or bladder including using a collecting device or self-catheterisation but not clean after evacuation

manage medication - take medication at the time advised by a healthcare professional

manual aid - an aid or appliance other than a wheelchair or an aid or appliance propelled by a motor.

medication - prescribed medication

mode of transport - includes walking

monitor a health condition -

(a) detect significant changes in a health condition; and

(b) take action advised by a healthcare professional,
without which the health condition is likely to deteriorate significantly

plan - in the context of food, means determine what food and drink the claimant reasonably requires and, where the claimant’s physical or mental condition requires a specific diet, determine what food and drink is required for that diet

prepare - in the context of food, means the activities required to make food ready for cooking or eating

prescribed therapies - therapies prescribed by a healthcare professional to be carried out at home.

prompt - remind or encourage and references to prompting are to prompting by another person

simple journey - a journey:

(a) which involves only one mode of transport; or

(b) to a familiar destination

simple meal - means a cooked, one course meal for one using fresh or frozen ingredients

snack - an uncooked meal using fresh or pre-prepared ingredients

take nutrition -

(a) cut food into pieces

(b) convey food or drink to one’s mouth; and

(c) chew and swallow food or drink; or

(d) take nutrition by using a therapeutic source

therapeutic source - means parental or enteral tube feeding using a rate limiting device such as a feed pump;

toilet needs -

(a) get on and off the toilet; and

(b) clean oneself after using the toilet; and

unaided - means without:

(a) the use of an aid or appliance; or

(b) assistance or prompting

wash - means clean one’s face, hands and underarms above a level of self-neglect.

Where can I get more help or information?

You can view draft regulations for PIP on the DWP website at http://tinyurl.com/67a88qp.

You can view information on the Welfare Reform Bill at www.disabilityalliance.org/welfarereformbill.htm.

9 May 2011

TaxiCard and Freedom Pass Consultations in Lambeth

As part of its ‘Cuts’ programme Lambeth Council has come down hard on disabled Lambeth residents. Not content with the vicious attacks already mounted against us by Central government; Lambeth sees fit to stick the boot in as we try to parry the blows being delivered by the ConDems – anywhere else this would be viewed with outrage and looked upon as kicking someone while they’re down

Late last year Lambeth announced a series of draconian cuts to the TaxiCard Scheme – the only decent door-to-door public transport resource available to many disabled people across the Capital.

However, because Lambeth failed to carry out a full ‘equality impact risk assessment’ before implementing the cuts they’ve suspended the cuts while a full consultation goes out to users.

May I suggest that all TaxiCard users or their representatives follow the link below?

http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/surveys/acs/taxicards.htm

Respond to the questionnaire; don’t let Lambeth off the hook.

TaxiCard is a vital link for disabled people. It affords us the freedom to travel to the places we wish to visit at times we dictate.

Similarly, Lambeth Council is considering making changes to the eligibility criteria for awarding Freedom Passes. While they are bound by certain national qualifying criteria; Lambeth is looking to exclude people with mental health problems, as some within this group do not fulfil the national criteria, and currently receive discretionary awards.

Such exclusion would prove disastrous to many people with mental health conditions. People in this category often depend on networks of friends and family, as well as mental health resources, to get by.

As with TaxiCard some of these resources will be a distance away. Is it right that someone with a mental health issue is denied contact with someone she or he may rely on to function properly? It is neither exaggeration or drama to state that some people will resort to suicide if they feel they’ve been so cut off, so isolated from the very humanity they feel makes their existence bearable.

We must fight with every fibre within us to stop Labour in Lambeth from making cuts to either of these vital services.

Toenails and I

My toenails grow at an alarming rate. The nails on the left foot, the one I don’t mention in polite company, grow faster; this I put down to the coldness of the member – the nails are trying to escape their frigid domain!

Johnson to Force Another London Underground Tube Strike

Eamonn Lynch and Arwyn Thomas, two London Underground sacked Tube, have won ‘interim relief’ from an Employment Tribunal (decisions to award this resource are extremely rare and invariably indicate a win for the employee).

Because of this, the RMT has balloted its members, successfully, for industrial action. Of course, the management, or their boss Boris Johnson, could call for immediate reinstatement of the unlawfully dismissed drivers; thus putting a stop to this action.

Boris Johnson, as a Tory I realise that you have difficulties with laws and regulations (see Cabinet Office ‘Red Tape Challenge’); indeed, you find the concept of rules and regulations that afford working people a degree of health and safety and fairness in the workplace an alien one.

However, and herein lies the rank hypocrisy, you’re also a dyed-in-the-wool member of the ‘law-and-order’ Tory Party. Therefore, unless you want to paint yourself a bigger hypocrite than you undoubtedly are already, I suggest you adopt some of those Tory ‘law-and-order’ principles and reinstate the two-sacked London Underground tube drivers, Eamonn Lynch and Arwyn Thomas.

You can stop this strike at the same time as showing the Capital you’re not in favour of bullying people at work. However, I don’t think you will.

Johnson will use this strike in his propaganda war against trade unions. He’ll accuse trade unions of holding the Capital to ransom with its unfair demands. What he’ll fail to say is the drivers at the centre of the dispute have won a ruling that will in all probability go in favour of the sacked men.

Further to this he won’t tell the Capital why it is as Mayor of London, and thus in charge of Transport for London, in effect overseer of all public transport in London and the running of the entire transport system, private and public, why in his three-tears of tenure he has never sat down with the unions.

He sits down with bosses; he sits down with representatives of housing; and, he sits down with the large charities. Yet, when it comes to leaders of organisations that have a far more democratically representative of their members than say, the CBI, Tenants and Residents Associations or any of the big Charities, he refuses to negotiate.

While supportive of any action taken by the RMT on behalf of any members wrongly dismissed; like most people, I’m of the view that a strike is the measure of last resort – and by most people, I include most trade unionists.

As a disabled person I’m also, acutely aware of the disruption such events have on us. Tube strikes make it extremely difficult for me to access buses as a wheelchair user; and, as such, I generally tend not to travel on such days. Luckily, I work from home so this doesn’t cause me difficulty there. But then, I also refuse to travel on such days out of a sense of solidarity to both the strikers and to other bus users – one less person on the system and all that.

“She was also seen using...the swimming pool.”

“She was also seen using...the swimming pool.” So concluded a report on a woman charged with disability benefit fraud.

Well, that did it for me. It’s selfish people like this woman, having the temerity to pretend to be disabled; but not content with this subterfuge she then has the audacity to compound the situation by going swimming.

Disabled people making out, somehow or other, that they can use the properties of water that almost render the swimmer weightless, thus allowing greater freedom and movement of otherwise rigid and weak limbs...blah, blah, blah.

This is a blatant abuse of what is after all a commonly used public resource. Can we expect this class of people to intrude into our everyday lives? What next? They’ll be shopping, making out as though supermarkets can really in any meaningful way cater for their, well let’s be honest, strange needs.

This is truly thin end of the wedge territory we’re getting into here. Why, they’ll probably come up with some excuse next as to why they should be allowed to drive by themselves. The very idea of one of these people let loose on our highways.

Goodness, the very notion has made me come across unnecessary. At this rate I’ll have to book myself a course of treatment at my local flotation tank centre; at least I’ll be safe from these disabled types there...they don’t float as well, do they?

Report from March 26 Demo

The TUC Disability Committee agreed that the TUC ‘March for the Alternative...’ should be an event that highlighted the severity of cuts experienced and to be experienced by disabled people in the UK. Without claiming a hierarchy of cuts, disabled people can look forward to the following:

1. A reduction of 20% of claimants when Disability Living Allowance changes to a Personal Independence Payment

2. Possibility of 80,000 living in residential homes losing Disability Living Allowance Mobility Component;

3. Migration from Incapacity Benefit to JobSeekers Allowance will find scores of thousands of disabled people financially worse off;

4. Contributory ESA, paid only to those with sufficient NI contributions, is to be time limited to 12 months;

5. A Work Capacity Assessment that is viewed by all except the nasty right as draconian;

6. If migrated to JSA people losing disability status; thus, unable to access extra resources given to disabled jobseekers;

7. The Independent Living Fund being scrapped – this will cause thousands of disabled people to be trapped in their homes;

8. Housing benefit cuts;

9. The removal of security of tenure from social housing tenants, this disproportionately impact on disabled people;

10. Eligibility criteria dropped for all but critical care support. This will mean people with substantial care needs not being able to bathe themselves; being unable to clean themselves after voiding their bowels; not being able to shop or cook...

11. Care packages cut; whereby disabled people will receive the most rudimentary of care and support; maybe just enough to fend of hunger and illness. No provision for poverty of the soul; or social starvation;

12. Access to Work is cutting back on items it will fund. Thus employers becoming more loathe than they already are to employ disabled people;

13. Supported employment schemes, including Remploy, threatened with closure, by fair means and foul;

14. Cuts to community transport systems;

15. Removal of eligibility for Freedom Passes to people with mental health disabilities – experts in this field of disability are predicting a rise in suicides as a direct result of isolating people with mental health disabilities from families, friends and support networks;

16. Reductions in the TaxiCard’s subsidy; the contribution made by the user doubling; and, the two-swipe system being abolished. So, limiting the resource to around about a one-mile journey.

17. Cuts in police budgets will see setbacks in their response to disability hate crimes.

As can be seen, disabled people are really under the cosh. But then, we’re an easy target. The wheel that can’t turn won’t squeak; so, no grease for us. Except, our small voice and near-invisibility was noted by the TUC; and accordingly we were told we could have a presence at the front of the march. This wasn’t an act of charity; no, it was a political decision made in order that people watching this march would see that the movement has disability at its heart; not some bolt-on remembered after the event.

As the Chair of the TUC Disability Committee, and due to my profile within the wider disability movement, I was chosen to speak on behalf of disabled people. When chosen it was agreed that my speech should reach out to disabled people in and out of work; people with visible and invisible disabilities; those with physical and sensory as well as those with learning and mental health disabilities.

This was no easy task. On the one hand I was presented with a lengthy list of cuts and a plethora of different organisations and impairment specific groups all hoping to get a mention. In the end I decided to be impairment non-specific. Disability is disability and can be a distraction, divisive even, when people try to force their particular area of disability, or more usually impairment, up the agenda.

The one concession to disability organisations I did make within the speech was to mention ‘Remploy’ by name – my 16-years of, first working for Remploy; then organising and representing members holds a special place in my heart. Other than that, it was disability-organisation-free.

It’s probably no boast to state that the 26^th March protest attracted more disabled demonstrators than any single event, probably ever. We turned up in our thousands in chairs, on crutches, with sticks. We came with friends, with carers/PAs, trade union branches, disability organisations and alone. We marched, hobbled and wobbled, were pushed and pushed ourselves along. With or without vision we wended our way along the route drinking in the sights, sounds, smells as well as feeling the frisson of electricity, of hope, generated by hundreds of thousands of people with a common cause.

The feedback I’ve had from both disabled marchers and rally-goers is positive, mainly.

Demo Outside Daily 'Heil' HQ in Kensington on 14 April

Held up a bit in traffic around Chelsea I arrived outside the Daily Heil bunker at around 3.50 pm. At the time, an hour+ after its start time, there were about forty people clustered quite tightly around the front of the building, which was dressed in scaffold.

A line of around 15-18 Old Bill, resplendent in Met yellow day-glo jackets, stood guarding the portal of the Daily Heil. Guarding what exactly? Are they fearful for the freedom of the press; scared that we might confiscate it from them on the grounds of misuse. Or, are the police deployed to ensure that truth doesn’t somehow manage to break into the Heil and inveigle its way into print.

Somehow, today’s anti-hated Heil protest lacked some conviction. Since disability comes in all shapes and sizes, visible and invisible, the protest today wasn’t obviously about disabled people.

There were some wheelchair users, three or four. A smattering of vision impaired people, or so the long white sticks suggested. And, a banner from an autistic group.

The slogan’s shouted, especially the sing-along ones, could have related to any cuts demo. In fact, possibly due to the lateness, some of the slogans used against the Heil, ATOS and the police were quite crude, totally out of context to the demo.

Making puerile and offensive comments, totally unrelated to the issue, doesn’t, in my view, progress our argument. No, it serves to reinforce stereotypes; protestors held up as caricatures, ‘renta leftie’ types.

If we’re to progress our cause we need to control what goes on. I didn’t feel in control of today’s event, a feeling shared by a couple of other disabled demonstrators to whom I gave a lift home.

Let’s see if we can raise the profile of disabled people for the demo on 11 May. While I’m happy to work with anyone to make the day a success, I do hope it is we, disabled people, who will be running the show. The others are welcome; but please, let us lead.

The Start of the Demo

Shan’t attempt to give a broad canvas of Saturday’s march, as the day didn’t pan out that way for me. No, the event was a veritable whirligig of wonderful snapshots; a kaleidoscope of different activities fused together to create one of the most successful labour movement demos ever!

After several incidents on the way to the event we were led out by the march stewards and invited to take up positions behind the lead banner – you know, the one held at about chest height. The TUC had allocated me a steward for the march, Wayne a Unite organiser and good Comrade; and, Wayne spotting the last remaining place along the banner’s length pushed me towards it.

There had been an agreement that, due to the disproportionate punishment we were receiving by these cuts, disabled people should visible at the front of the march.

So far so good; however, as I put my arm forward to hold the banner, as if from nowhere an elderly woman rushed past me and hopping over my legs and footplate gripped onto the remaining section of banner.

Not very comradely; and, of course now there was no visible representation of disabled people at the very front of the march; something we’d been promised. The banner snatcher being taller blocked me from view.

For the sake of solidarity, I won’t name the sprightly 76-year old General Secretary, and London Region secretary, of the National Pensioners Convention; but may I ask next time, please pick on someone your own size!

Cameron's Big Society

Cameron states ‘We’re all in this together’,

As if, pleading poverty is somehow clever;

Because, as he knows and now so do we,

The poor pay while the rich get off scot-free.

How many bankers will really feel the pain,

Of working longer without financial gain;

Will they see their terms and conditions erode,

Their wages shrink while their pensions implode.

No, this is the plight of common waged slaves,

Who’ll soon have to work right up to their graves,

Since pensions schemes were raided for gold,

They can’t retire until they’re knackered and old.

How about the brokers who sit on their wealth,

Riches accrued both underhand and by stealth;

Filthy lucre amassed and then secreted away,

To tax-free havens where they’ve no duties to pay.

A warning to tax cheats both here and abroad,

We’ll hunt you down and charge you with fraud,

Then allow twelve citizens honest and upright,

To deliberate together to determine your plight.

Once you’re found guilty we’ll expect the judge,

To make bloody sure his findings are not a fudge,

And, as your greed will be taken into consideration,

You’ll be sure of a stretch of quite lengthy duration.

What's This 'We'?

If we’re ‘all in this together’, for real,

How comes there is so little appeal,

Amongst those of us at the sharp end,

You know, the ones with least to spend.

If we’re ‘all in this together’, was true,

Why do the many pay while the few

Silver-spooned insulated millionaires,

Strut through life without any cares.

If we’re ‘all in this together’, made sense,

Why do the rich then go on the defence,

When we show them a way out of this hole,

One that doesn’t throw millions on the dole.

If we’re ‘all in this together’ why are the poor

Still standing in queues at the rich man’s door

Men made rich from the sweat of others,

By the toil of us workers; sisters and brothers.

We’re ‘all in this together’ us, working folk,

And, we can see the country ain’t broke;

If all tax cheats just paid what they owe,

We'd flourish and the economy'd grow.

The Doubting Solipsist

A solipsist took himself to task

The day he deigned to ask

All those living within his midst

Just who he was; did he exist.

His life had been, until today

Preordained in such a way

That there could be no doubt

‘He’ was what life was all about.

With seeds of doubt now sown

Our solipsist began to bemoan

That his thinking wasn’t exclusive

Others thoughts might be intrusive.

Since knowledge is not confined

To within the limits of one mind

How do you ascertain what’s truth

Who holds the burden of proof.

The ‘self alone’ does have a place

But, not for all the human race;

Yet, there are people out there

Who need solipsism’s rarefied air.

Our War Against the Media

Forever we’ve fought for inclusion. Once-upon-a-time we were largely invisible to the general public. Indeed, plaster representations of us stood outside shops with begging boxes. That was about as close as many people felt comfortable to us.

The pace of change, though slow, was beginning to gather speed; and in the last 20+ years we’ve seen legislation such as the NHS and Community Care Act; the introduction of DLA; the DDA in 1995; and Direct Payments.

Though there were still mountains to climb in the form of societal and economic barriers; our lives were beginning to improve; and we were gaining more freedom. With this freedom came greater visibility; which for the most part was a positive. No longer where we confined to the shadows; society’s mistakes hidden behind walls.

Visibility came with a price.

Stories about Incapacity Benefit began appearing towards the end of the Tories 18-year reign of despair. And, as a last act spite the Tory’s established the Benefits’ Integrity Project. The BIP was, ostensibly, put in place to clean up fraud amongst disabled claimants. Of 55,000 cases investigated the BIP unearthed only 50 potential cases of fraud – 0.09%!

You’ll note ’50 potential cases’. As I recall the overwhelming majority of these were not prosecuted, because it’s hardly fraud if you fail to report an improvement in your condition, especially when you don’t actually feel any improvement, or benefit of improvement.

The newshounds of the Heil and other such rags soon got onto the scent, deliberately, laid by the Tories and refreshed by New Labour. The scummy sensationalist-end of TV joined in the hue and cry; and before long disabled people were seen as cheats and parasites.

It’s probably no co-incidence that disability hate crime began to feature more frequently on the radar at this time. With media overexposure we became easy targets for those who allow newspapers to do their thinking. The kind of people who need to refer to the Sun or Heil in order to find out who today’s scapegoats are.

In some ways ATOS is the final manifestation of the process of our demonization. First, governments use us to massage their criminally high unemployment figures. Then, we outgrow our usefulness as ideology is re-twisted to shape the next desperate election manifesto. The media is then given licence to invent, or more properly re-invent, disabled people as lead-swinging cheats who have brought the country to its knees economically with their profligate ways.

The government knows the true extent of fraud amongst disabled claimants; but, in keeping silent it is in tacit agreement with scummy lazy journalists who regard us as legitimate targets to smear across the column inches of their rags.

Incensed by what they read people feel it is their public duty to abuse disabled people. So much so that recently a disabled woman collapsed outside a neighbour’s house. As she lay dying her neighbour felt it his civic duty to piss upon her while his friends laughed and recorded the incident on a mobile phone. Nobody deserves to spend their dying moments subjected to such inhumanity – what have we become!

Thus demonised it is easy for companies like ATOS to carry out the government’s bidding. Doubtlessly many of these ATOS assessors allow scummy newspapers to form their opinions for them. Why wouldn’t they, seeing as they’ve sold their professional integrity to the DWP for a pittance.

A Response to a Critical Review of my Hyde Park Speech

AC, thanks for your critical review of the speech I made on Saturday. When elected to act as spokesperson from the TUC Disability Committee I knew the biggest challenge would be the speech. As we know disabled people are at the brunt of both the cuts and are indeed, in some quarters, blamed for the deficit. Off the top of my head I can’t recall how many different areas we are facing cuts, somewhere between 14 and 16 I believe.

So, I was presented with this challenge. To make a speech on the effects of the cuts on disabled people coming from all directions over a two or three-year period. Cuts that will impact on people with visible and invisible disabilities; cuts that will hurt people with sensory and physical disabilities; cuts that will attack the benefits and resources of people with mental health and learning disabilities – and, all this in three minutes!

From time to time I’m invited, as Chair of Unite’s national disabled members committee to speak at Branch meetings on various areas of disability, mostly employment related, but as is so often the case on disability benefits and resources which are inextricably linked to the daily lives of our disabled members.

At these meetings I have the luxury of time. So, I’m able to translate the DLAs, the ILFs, the WCAs, the AtoWs into commonly held language. Here I can, in words of one syllable (though that’s hard with disability) explain how for instance Access to Work can be accessed; or, how Disability Living Allowance can act as a gateway to other resources.

The weeks running up to last Saturday were filled with emails and phone calls from people making suggestions as to the content of the speech. Someone wanted me to distinguish between visible and invisible disabilities; others asked that mental health issues be highlighted; a couple wanted me to say how disgraceful it was that ILF was being scrapped; and, someone even wanted me to make a special plea for people with neurodiverse conditions – this was fast becoming more of a Gettysburg Address than a three minute speech!

Finally, I was advised to try to keep it general, avoid specific impairment groups or organisations which, with one exception, I managed to do. Rather than attempt to tackle the main benefits’ changes and cuts, DLA to PIP, IB to ESA or JSA, cutting-back of Access to Work, etc I could have, for instance, focused on one area. The scrapping of DLA for a PIP would quite easily have occupied a three-minute slot.

Implying that most of the audience wouldn’t understand technical benefit words or jargon is perhaps to suggest that they have somehow or other totally ignored the media bombardment that disabled people have endured for the past 15 or more years – as evinced on these boards. It’s to imply they’ve not been reading or listening to the more serious end of the media who give coverage of benefits’ issues, most recently reports from the Budget.

Yes I could have delivered a three-minute speech that explained in lay terms what we, disabled people, are going through. For instance, I could have explained the purpose of Disability Living Allowance (around 30 seconds) going on to give an outline of its replacement, the Personalised Independence Payment (another 30 seconds). Then, the migration from IB to the two levels of ESA; explaining the losses in benefits if you draw the JSA short straw (60 seconds). And, finally giving a mere flavour of the viciousness that Work Capability Assessments produce would have, to do it justice, deserved a minute or two.

Life has taught me that the gift of retrospect is the most coveted above all others. While I take on AC’s criticisms in the constructive way they were offered; I’m not convinced three minutes is adequate time to convey a message of such enormity and complexity unless it generalises, which sadly means explanations on greater detail suffer.

Tonight I’m attending my local SOS’s meeting. This is the kind of venue where I’ll be able to explain more fully exactly what DLA is and how damaging it can be to an individual if they lose the benefit. Similarly, I can talk in greater depth about eligibility criteria for care support. Personally, I believe that local fora are better to get this kind of message across than a crowd of 300,000+ who, often, attend such events to add their weight and solidarity; who, on Saturday, attended to demonstrate their disquiet at the dissolution of the welfare state.

A Disabled Person in Denial

If there is any part of this that your body cannot cope with, it is something you cannot do. just like some of us cannot play netball. Why cant we just accept we cant do it and leave the people able to to follow the queue and ride etiquette to have fun amongst themselves

Sarah Helen, if you propose ‘missing the point’ as an Olympic event for the games after next, I’ll second you. Needless to say we’d be entering you for the event and doubtlessly you’d bring back gold medals, especially one in the freestyle category.

Sure, if your impairment is such that you can’t run, don’t be too upset that you can’t get a place on the wing for Chelsea. If you have osteogenesis imperfecta looking for a career as a boxer might not be advisable. However, these are things that limit you due to the nature of the impairment, not disability.

Because you cannot physically run means you cannot play professional football. No amount of reasonable adjustments will rectify this. Similarly, if you are prone to easily broken or fractured bones there are no reasonable adjustments possible to counter the likelihood of serious injury – even when your opponents only a punch bag!

For most theme park rides the user does not have to have special skills or abilities. Therefore, provided the ride itself does not present a threat to the user, why shouldn’t disabled people be able to enjoy these thrills?

Stretching such logic to its most preposterous limits would mean because a train is too high to board we should just accept we can’t board the train and leave the people able to board to do so and enjoy the ability to use trains.

Why stop there? If you have vision impairment and need adapted equipment to enable you to work, just accept that there is somebody who can do the job unaided and so let them have the benefit of employment. For, to do otherwise would be rank selfishness on the part of the blind woman.

Reasonable adjustments can be made for queuing, with little or no cost to either he service provider or its other customers. However, if people regard disabled people receiving reasonable adjustments as some sort of benefit, then there is little hope for us ever-achieving equality. What kind of society are we on the outermost fringes of that would begrudge another human being the most insignificant of concessions.

Some Cuts Coming Your Way

A rough list of benefits and resources cuts hitting, or about to hit, disabled people.

1. DLA to PIP

2. Possibility of 80,000 living in residential homes losing DLAMC

3. IB to ESA or JSA

4. Contributory ESA, paid only to those with sufficient NI contributions, is to be time limited to 12 months,

5. WCA

6. If migrated to JSA people losing disability status; thus, unable to access extra resources given to disabled jobseekers

7. ILF being scrapped

8. Housing benefit

9. The removal of security of tenure from social housing tenants disproportionately impact on disabled people

10. Eligibility criteria dropped for all but critical care support

11. Care packages cut

12. Access to Work is cutting back on items it will fund

13. Cuts to community transport systems

14. Removal of eligibility for Freedom Passes to people with mental health disabilities

15. TaxiCard’s subsidy is dropping; the contribution made by the user doubling; and, the two-swipe system being abolished. So, limiting the resource to around about a one mile journey.

16. Cuts in police budgets will see setbacks in their response to disability hate crimes

Broken of Britain

Broken of Britain

The following piece was found on the 'Broken of Britain' website (see below for link) and gives a detailed breakdown of some of the cuts faced by disabled people under this butcher's crew of a coalition.

http://thebrokenofbritain.blogspot.com/2011/01/cuts-list.html

Cuts List

1. Housing: There is a major shortage of accessible housing in the social sector meaning many disabled people are already forced to rent in the more costly private sector where it is incredibly difficult to find an accessible property. Estate agents do not have to keep details of adaptations or access features, so in addition to the significant rent shortfalls most Local Housing Allowance recipients face, disabled people are additionally disadvantaged by barriers to searching for a home. Mind The Step estimates that 78, 000 households which include a wheelchair user live in homes which are not fully accessible. The allocation of accessible social housing is already woefully inadequate; in 2008-9 only 22% of local authority and housing association ‘wheelchair standard’ properties allocated to households including a wheelchair user. Plans to remove security of tenure from social housing tenants disproportionately impact on disabled people, as costly adaptations are a barrier to moving regardless of size of property.

2. Housing Benefits: Provision for an additional bedroom for a non-resident carer where a disabled person has an established need for overnight care is a welcome step but will not be awarded automatically. It also fails to address the need for extra space to use a wheelchair, store equipment, receive dialysis or other medical treatment experienced by many disabled people. Anyone under 35 who is disabled but not in receipt of middle or high rate care component of Disability Living Allowance will receive the shared room rate despite shared housing being impossible to access for many disabled people for a myriad of reasons. The recent announcement that DLA is to be scrapped means it is currently impossible to assess the full impact of these two changes. From October 2011 the LHA will be reduced from the 50^th percentile of Broad Market Rent to the 30^th forcing disabled people to rent the very cheapest properties which are more likely to be inaccessible. Linking LHA to the Consumer Price Index which does not take into account housing costs will further limit disabled people’s access to suitable housing. Housing benefits are to be time limited to 12 months for people in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance, after which benefit will be reduced by 10% for those still out of work. This must be understood in the context of the controversial Work Capability Assessment designed to strictly limit the numbers of disabled people entitled to Employment & Support Allowance. Discretionary housing benefits have been increased in recognition of the expected hardships the reduction in LHA will cause, but these can only be claimed for a maximum 13 weeks meaning they are completely unsuitable to protect disabled people’s homes in the longer term. Changes to the amount of mortgage interest payments have been estimated to potentially lead to additional 64, 000 disabled people becoming homeless.

3. DLA/PIP Sweeping changes were announced to DLA in the CSR which intend to reduce overall eligibility by 20-25%. The higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance used by disabled people to pay for transport outside their homes via motability vehicles, powered wheelchairs and accessible taxis will no longer be paid to state funded care home residents as the government deem the local authorities should provide transport services. However, people self funding their care home places will continue to receive the HRM, making the argument that LA’s provide appropriate transport dubious at best. This will see 9/10 Livability care home residents as ‘prisoners’ in their own homes, left with just £22 p/wk to pay for toiletries, glasses, clothing, entertainment and potentially also for suitable wheelchairs costing tens of thousands of pounds, currently often funded via HRM.

4. In ADDITION to this reduction the government have now announced their intention to scrap DLA altogether and replace it with Personal Independence Payment (PIP). The intent is to reassess all DLA recipients from 2013 at vast cost and further reduction to entitlement. The consultation implies that anyone who receives support from a source such as social services will no longer be entitled to PIP. It also implies that if there a mobility aid such as a wheelchair could be used that will preclude entitlement to PIP even if the only way to fund purchase of that mobility aid had previously been through DLA. Disabled People’s Organisations are asking the question, ‘just which disabled people will actually be able to qualify for this benefit’?

5. IB/ESA Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is the controversial replacement to Incapacity Benefit described in June 2010 as ‘unfit for purpose’ and the ‘responsibility’ of ministers by Danny Alexander MP. ESA will be replaced by the Universal Credit but reassessment by the flawed WCA, criticised as not working properly by its own creator will continue at huge financial and personal cost.

6. Contributory ESA, paid only to those with sufficient NI contributions, is to be time limited to 12 months, raising very serious questions about the ‘insurance’ part of NI. This will cause significant hardship to families reliant upon ESA and may well lead to further unemployment and higher overall benefit claims as families find the only way they can provide care to the disabled member is for the carer to drop out of employment altogether.

7. There are many changes to the provision, entitlement to and charges paid for receiving social care. The Independent Living Fund which provided for the highest level support needs in combination with the local authorities is now to be scrapped without consultation. Despite the government insisting the local authorities should not need to reduce the provision of social care, areas such as Birmingham are restricting it to those with ‘extra critical’ needs only, a higher threshold than the four bands set out in the government’s fair access to care services guidance whilst most local authorities intend to increase charges. The practical impact of this can be seen in the recent decision byKensington & Chelsea council to remove night care from a former ballerina, who will now be left to lie on soiled incontinence pads at night as it is cheaper than providing a carer to assist her to a commode.

8. Access to Work provide funding for disability-related equipment for working disabled people. It supported some 37,000 disabled workers last year. Touted as "improvements" the reform redefines what it is "reasonable" to expect an employer to provide for disabled staff. Some things which will no longer be funded are voice activated software and specialist chairs. It might seem reasonable to say that an employer hiring for an office position should provide the new employee with a chair but a specialist chair costs significantly more than standard, sometimes many thousands. Multiply that across all the equipment on the list and suddenly it becomes significantly more expensive for an employer to hire a disabled employee.

9. Transport. In addition to the removal of the high rate mobility component of DLA from care home residents (starting 2012) there are also cuts to various council funded communityThe impact of the cuts varies in each borough but the general picture is of disabled people facing cost increases of over 65% for a vastly restricted service. transport schemes. Taxicard is a vital scheme which provides door to door transport for older and disabled people in London.

Please add any cuts you are aware of in the comments section and we will update this list accordingly, thank you