Foreword by the Secretary of State
After less than three months of innovative Coalition Government, we want to begin real change to the benefits system by making it simpler and more efficient, with a view to fewer benefits, fewer layers of bureaucracy and with financial support firmly focused on making work pay. Less than one year ago, I said that unless politicians and civil servants acted to reform our complicated and inefficient benefits system, then further talk about work being the best route out of poverty would be more empty rhetoric.
Too often governments have tried to tackle poverty but ended up managing its symptoms. The changes outlined here are based on a recognition that poverty cannot be tackled through treating the symptoms alone.
The benefits system has shaped the decisions of the poorest in a way that has trapped generation after generation in a spiral of dependency and poverty. This has cost the country billions of pounds every year in cash payments and billions more in meeting the social costs of this failure.
The only way to make a sustainable difference is by tackling the root causes of poverty: family breakdown; educational failure; drug and alcohol addiction; severe personal indebtedness; and economic dependency.
These problems are interrelated and their solutions lie in society as a whole. However, we must recognise that the benefits system has an important role to play in supporting personal responsibility and helping to mend social ills.
We are going to end the culture of worklessness and dependency that has done so much harm to individuals, families and whole communities. Our aim is to change forever a system that has too often undermined work and the aspiration that goes with it.
By actively putting work at the centre of working-age support we want to create a new contract with the British people, which is why we are consulting them in this paper. We will help them to find work and make sure work pays when they do. They in return will be expected to seek work and take work when it is available. No longer will we leave people for years on long-term benefits without contact or support. This contract is about a responsible society working together to improve the quality of life for those who are worst off.
The Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
This consultation is now closed.
None of this makes any sense when you are a person with mental illness.
In the 21st century we have a 19th century set of incentives for people on JSA who are considering working part-time.
£5 which has remained unchanged for decades, is the amount a single jobseeker can earn before it affects their JSA. This is now less than the hourly minimum wage (and far less than the national living wage) and does not encourage anyone to consider part-time work, often a stepping stone to full-time work.
There are other earnings disregard amounts depending upon whehther you are part of a couple or a lone parent, but perversely if you are on a sickness benefit (ESA or IB) you can actually work and earn far more.
So if you are in theory ‘unfit’ for work, you can actually earn far more than someone who is desparately looking for work – please introduce a standard fairer earnings disregard, one that reflects the economic reality of the 21st century.
The standard patter given is that the labour market should not be ‘distorted’ by benefit incentives. I think though that if the NEETs were given a taster of work, and were able to keep more of their benefit while doing this, in the long term this would encourage their work ethic.
Other differences: Pension Credit does not consider whether a job is part-time or full-time it just looks at how much is earnt. JSA, ESA and Income Support should apply the same principle.
Also consider how the regulations could be altered to deal better with agency work. Some people are constantly signing on and off JSA because they have worked over 16 hours in a week. Constant reclaiming is costly and DWP staff intensive.
This country cannot afford the welfare system as it is and it should not be used by politicians to get people off the dole to massage the employment stats, which Gordon Brown did. We also need to put a very big block on the child benefits, again thanks to the last Labour government we are now as a country,overcrowded so limit all benefit to one child in a bid to put a halt to our population explosion.We also have to put a stop to benefits being paid to EU nationals for children living in thier homeland, however if the government were really serious about cuts, they would leave the EU and save billions of pounds and at the same time taking the shackles off the British people allowing them to do what they do best ie. thrash the rest of the World in manafacture, technology and anything else you care to mention.
none of you see it do you? the solution is a simple one. and twice i have posted it here. stop whinging and whining and get behind me. i could solve all your financial worries within a few weeks.
I work in housing and every day I see people who have never worked a day in their lives being able to join a better standard of living than me – WHY!? If you do things the right way in this country i.e. work, save, don’t have children unless you are in the right situation then you are penalised every step of the way.
I completely agree with the welfare state but as Beveridge set it up to be i.e. a safety net in genuine times of need – it should not be used as a career to enable prople to enjoy a better standard of living than most of us who work hard every day of our lives. To be honest I am fed up of people excusing the behaviour of the work shy – I come from a working class background (my parents never received tax credits we just bought what we could afford!)and have worked hard so I don’t have to do rubbish jobs like my parents did – at least they worked though … however, at a very young age I have realised successive governments have nothing but contempt for hard working people whilst they throw money (I thought we were bankrupt) at the idle and feckless. With the greatest respect, I sometimes wonder if politicians are stupid – think tanks on how to cut teenage pregnancy ETC – it is not rocket science just cut benefits, don’t give them houses and you will see the birth rate amongst the teens, unemployed, ETC plummet.
Amanda Platell’s article in last Saturday’s Mail says it all – a woman who speaks sense – Amanda for PM I say.
On behalf of daughter,single,43,no children,made redundant Nov.2009. Income Support not possible as rents a room out.Looking for work and applies for Job Seekers Allowance(JSA).Refused JSA. Why? See below.
Daughter: Complete Tax Years: 6th.April 2006/7 Class 1 Contributions paid
” ” ” ” 2007/8 Self Employed
” ” ” ” 2008/9 Class 1 Contributions paid
Redundant Nov.2009 in DWP benefit year 4th.Jan.2009 to 2nd.Jan.2010.
The 2 Tax Years 2006/7 & 2007/8 are considered by DWP for eligibility and both demand Class 1 Conts. to have been paid.As only year 2006/7 qualifies no JSA is allowed – NIL benefits.
Fast Forward to consider benefit year 3rd.Jan.2010 to 1st.January 2011.In that time frame the 2 Tax Years 2007/8 & 2008/9 need to be considered by DWP – again only 1 Tax year qualifies – result again – NIL benefits.
NOW
Consider another ;Complete Tax Years: 6th.April 2006/7 Self Employed
Claimant ” ” ” ” 2007/8 Class 1 paid
” ” ” ” 2008/9 ” ” ”
Again,say,redundant Nov.2009 in benefit year 4th.Jan.2009/2nd.Jan.2010(as above)
The 2 Tax Years 2006/7 are again to be considered by DWP(as above)…..again only 1 Tax Year qualifies – result,again,NIL benefits.
Again,fast forward to consider benefit year 3rd.Jan. 2010 to 1st.Jan.2011.
Again,Tax Years 2007/8 & 2008/9 are considered by DWP.
BUT NOW
BOTH Tax Years qualify – result – JSA benefit can be paid plus other allied benefits linked to JSA.
Thus it can be seen that the make-up of the 3 Tax Years contributions…Class 1 or Self Employed and their order in time means one claimant will obtain JSA whilst another will not. I see this as an inbuilt injustice in the way the scheme is administered and given the fair/fairness aspects we now hear about benefits this anomaly is surely one that demands equity between ALL claimants.My M.P.has been most helpful over the past few months in bringing this injustice to the attention of both Helen Goodman(Lab) and Chris Grayling(Con) but both chose to acknowledge the problem but state they had no intention of altering the status quo. I hope the work now in progress will alter this sad commentary on past comments – even,dare I say,to benefit my daughter?? I’m aware that the info. above may need reading through more…[truncated by the system]
my own system would would simplify and streamline everything, everyone would qualify and yes, taxes (including income tax and council tax) and rents/housing costs would be paid direct, along with other regular bill payments, before the balance of funds would be available.
my system is not dependant on the amount of tax or national insurance you have paid.. indeed, individuals are not reliant on taxpayers at all once their benefits become self funding (if the dwp picked this up it would cost the taxpayer under £20 per claimant and become self funding within a month).
as the dwp are ignoring this i have the system available commercially and my profits are being used to pay in those on state pensions and benefits.
I have to agree that something must change. I am a busymum working full time in a demanding job at what I consider a reasonable salary. I recieve no means tested benefit. I find myself looking at the figures in the goverments consultaion document and am starting to think I am a complete and utter mug for working hard to support my family. If I left my current job and went to work in an “easy” job on the minimum wage for 16 hours a week I would not be much worse off financially. Life for my family would, however, be considerably better. Mum would have much more time to run the home. There would be no need to arrange out of school care. Everyone would be much less exhaused and able to enjoy life much more. I could ferry the kids to all the afterschool activities they wished. We could spend relaxed hours doing homework and reading together etc.
But no we don’t do that as a family because I think it is my responsibility to support my family while I can.
Hi, my name is Graeme, I currently get DLA Higher rate as I am unable to work. I have Cystic Fibrosis and cannot get around as good as I used to. Stopping DLA would put me and my wife in a very difficult situation and wouldn’t really know what to do and how I could support my wife as she is my carer also.
Thank you
The biggest problem with the benefits system is the number of agencies involved in administering it. People are often confused by what they can or cannot apply for, who they have to keep informed of changes and what help they can expect. What would be the most sensible option would be to have one benefit administered by local authorities with the ability to pay Council Tax and Rent direct. This would give people one organisation to contact and with a less bureaucratic system than the DWP would enable benefit to be administered promptly. The benefit system should also be revised to prevent it becoming an incentive for having children as as a passport to an income source. The more children a person has then the additional benefit per child should be tapered. This one benefit option would require only one means test to take place for the universal payment to be made. A review should also be undertaken to make the universal payment sufficient to allow the myriad of other benefits such as free school meals, free eye tests and free prescriptions for people on benefits to cease giving individuals the right to choose what they spend their money on and to remove a layer bureacracy. The level of benefit paid should be aligned to the minimum wage so that a simple calculation of the effect of commencing work can be completed by the claimant. An overlap of full benefit during an initial period of work to assist in coverng transport costs and any payments in arrears should be allowed subject to a limit of four weeks within a two year period.
disabilities and ill is something that cant be prevented but to all these people who are giving birth (to numerous kids) on the system has to stop its getting ridiculous thing is I know loads who have their children are older and their benefits get cut then go and get a job. I bet statistics would show the working families have less kids than those claiming benefits because 1 they dont have as much money 2 less time on their hands !! get with it government and open ur eyes
yet another out of touch minister, when will you come and live in the real world? pathetic!
I would close the jobcentre’s get rid of the exsisting training providers and sell it all off to the private sector. Incrase Uni places College places and build the low cost housing the in the right places
This paper has failed miserably to address the many issues surrounding family carers. Once again these problems are passed between departments but with no action being taken.
In the recent paper – Refresh of Carers Strategy – http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Lettersandcirculars/Dearcolleagueletters/DH_117249 one of the sections re finances states…
“”"The Government recognises that the issue of carers’ benefits is important and will consider this area separately under plans to simplify and modernise the benefit system. In this call for evidence, we are interested to hear about support other than cash benefits that would help to improve carers’ lives.”"”
Yet we now have this Welfare reform paper,52 pages and carers mentioned twice but not with any detail…pgs 12 and 39
“”1. • support our wider goal of strengthening families, supporting carers and enabling disabled people to have an equal role in society.
2. A reformed system would be based on the same structure of entitlement for people who are not working as now, including help with housing costs and extra support for families, disabled people and carers. “”
Plus unless I missed it Carers Allowance does not get mentioned at all.
Govts, past and present, have ignored the problems re carers benefits for too long now. With the direction they are taking it will not be long before carers allowance disappears yet carers provide a service to this country that is unique.
Many have accepted their responsibilites, when will Govt accept theirs.
i am amazed at the lack of understanding that most people have for the sick and disabled. im also puzzled as to why the work ethic here is work till you drop. one person leaves a derogatory comment.. and lots of people jump on the band wagon.. usually without knowing what it is they are talking about.. well let me inform you.. i was working.. i loved my job.. i became ill… im now one of the infamous sick and disabled.. i used to go out with friends.. i used to do things with my grandchildren.. i used to have a life.. now.. i never go out.. because just to walk a few yards is so painful.. i cant sleep.. i dont eat very well.. and sometimes im incontinent.. and the government think im a scrounger.. the media call me a scrounger… most people who jump on the bandwagon call me a scrounger… well if anyone.. including the chancellor.. or mr. cameron.. or whoever.. want to come and spend a day in my shoes.. come on.. please.. it would be my pleasure.. to watch .. how silly little things .. are like trying to climb mount everest.. even wiping my own behind.. laughable.. maybe so.. but not when its day after day after day.. hour after hour after hour.. and you know whats even worse… the isolation.. ive even considered suicide.. because the pain.. and just coping.. have got me at my wits end.. and on top of all that… im expected to go for medicals for this.. medicals for that.. i cant even wipe my own backside most of the time.. so putting me under constant pressure.. will just make it worse.. do your worst mr.cameron.. im not playing.. and your not playing with my life either.. ive had it.. i like to think i have christian ways.. by that i mean.. how i treat my fellow human beings… with respect and how i would like to be treated.. and not by judging.. yes there are people that will abuse the system.. there always has been.. always will be.. but i would like for someone to put the ratio of figures together.. as to how many cheats.. cheat the benefit system.. compared to how many m.p,s there are.. and how many cheated the expenses.. i think you would find the percentage far higher on the m.p,s.. cheating is wrong.. very wrong.. but with salarys like they have.. im puzzled as to why they felt the need to… but it does clarify.. that cheats exist through all walks of life.. and not just the benefit system.. so next time anyone goes to shout there mouths off about us… stop.. and get yourself educated as to the facts
I gave up working to look after my partner who has chronic MS and is solely dependant on me for almost everything!Have just found out that we will be losing more than 50% of the help we get to pay our mortgage and will NOT be able to afford the difference, which in turn will lead to us having our home taken from us! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS? Shame on you!
Im a 48year old woman who has been suffering with chronic faitgue(M.E) FOR 11 years .I was awarded DPTC in 2001 and have this summer had my dptc benefit withdrawn beacuse I have managed to work 16hrs (pace myself,treat myself as NHS offers little or no treatment for the condition and rest lots).However if I had been off work for 6 months or more in the past few years amnd claimed incapacity benefit apparently I would have continued to recieve the dp tax credit!!!!Am I missing something??Fair?Smacks of government who lack insight ,understanding of particular conditions of illness` sitting in theor ivory tower having recieved so far a life blessed with financial stability and good health. I m pleased for them but where does it leave us………I cant fight this system and work I dont have enough energy or good helath for that!!!!
My sympathies Janjo. Like you I paced myself, but all the time feeling myself getting steadily weaker for 25 years. Eventually I had to move in with a friend because I could not look after myself and could not even make myself face all the form filling any more. I can still get DLA as this can now be done on line. But because, like you, I paced myself all that time, nobody really believed I needed help. Now I am bedbound people STILL think I’m putting it on and won’t help me find medical help. I wake in terror every day and try desperately to escape back to sleep. My partner will feed me, but not help me find what is wrong, because trying to get better is branded as hypochondria. We really can’t win: as you say there is nowhere for us to turn even when we still have the strength to do so. I always somehow expected that with pacing my body would gradually heal: but in doing that pacing I was wasting time when I should have been trying harder to find out what was really keeping me ill. I have now paced myself into being almost entirely helpless, but for tapping out messages like this with one finger. Yet I am made to feel guilty even if I try pleading for help from the NHS: they know that I will eventually lose the will to beg and just die and stop bothering them. And because all my efforts have left me branded a hypochondriac, it seems most people will still blame me when I do.
So take care with your pacing: I hope you have people around you who believe in you enough to help you and champion your cause when you no longer can.
Good luck.
S
PS: After months of waiting for a simple report following months waiting for a home visit from a ‘health service professional’who has not been alive as long as I have been pacing myself: the verdict is: I need pacing and a few phone calls and all will be well. What an utterly useless, ignorant, patronising waste of space the NHS is. So here I am, just waiting to die, with no other choices left and no strength or will left to follow them if there were any.
Please come and get me back to work Mr Duncan Smith: you are now my only hope.
i see not one person has taken any note of my own solution which is very serious and moves are being made to turn this into reality.
it is certainly not any pie in the sky, wouldn’t it be nice if.. scenario.
no-one in power has listened so a new party is being formed for example. and tv advertising is being produced to market this commercially. and profits shall be used to help the disadvantaged.
I understand that the welfare system needs amending to enable people to take more responsibility for themselves which is why I think working people should be given priority on the social housing list to those who choose benefits as a lifestyle.
I do however believe those who are unable to work due to ill health or are elderly should not be disadvantaged.
Pension credits for the unemployed, should not be available until they reach the State Pension Age as the working man has to,at present the age limit is changing, but this will be in the year 2020 when they will be equel.why should a male person that is claiming benifits, upon reaching the age of 61 recieve pension credits of £132.60,and the working man that is paying the Tax that allows this to happen, will only recieve at present £97.65 when he retires at the age of 65, this is no incentive for the unemployed to look for work when they are awarded with the likes of this.
I have spent half my life on benefits and unable to work. I have been kept this way by the NHS. I am now essentially housebound and am unable to stand without great physical distress. But there is no diagnostic tradition or service in the NHS, and nowhere for my GP to send me no matter how much I beg and plead for help in finding out what is wrong with me before it kills me.
I have had quarter of a century of torture between the benefits system and the NHS, quite apart from the illness itself. For years I could just about survive but now all I can do is wait to die. Only by dying can I prove to the NHS that I really need help.
All this wasted life I tried to get better and back to work: with the DSS and media trying to deprive me of benefit if I didn’t get better, on the one side: and the harder I try to get better and request help, the NHS cruelly and callously dismissing me as just a hypochondriac, on the other.
THE LONG TERM SICK CANNOT WIN AND HAVE NOWHERE TO TURN: NOWHERE EVEN TO RING TO ASK FOR HELP (NHS Direct just telling you to go to A&E where they by definition do not bother with the long term sick. However acute and distressing the symptoms.)
The ‘benefits system’ is clearly torturing many other people like me, whose illnesses do not present with an easy diagnosis of cause and cure.
To get people off benefits what we need is to assign each long term sick person to a proper medical research team who are properly equipped to find cause and cure, and stick with the patient until they have done so.
Until then: I have nowhere to turn and am just waiting to die while being tortured with the scorn that everyone routinely reserves for the ‘hypochondriac’ and the ’scrounger’.
I want to do something useful before I die; I want to learn how to earn money; I want to help my partner around the house; increasingly I would be happy if I could even open a packet of crisps without nearly fainting.
Yet to the NHS ‘tests’ have shown nothing – whilst keeping me waiting months and years for each one, because they don’t see any hurry as a life is wasted away – so I am left to rot, and all I could and should be contributing to society and the economy counts for nothing.
In all the time I have been trying to get better there have been a vast number of money saving attempts to drive people out of the benefits system: THERE HAS NEVER ONCE BEEN A DRIVE TO GET PEOPLE BACK TO WORK BY GETTING THEM THE CONCERTED MEDICAL HELP THEY…[truncated by the system]
Ctd.
In all the time I have been trying to get better there have been a vast number of money saving attempts to drive people out of the benefits system: THERE HAS NEVER ONCE BEEN A DRIVE TO GET PEOPLE BACK TO WORK BY GETTING THEM THE CONCERTED MEDICAL HELP THEY NEED!
Please give the invalid the power to get back to work: give the NHS the ultimatum: not the patients whose lives are being tragically wasted away.
PLEASE HELP US BEFORE MANY MORE LIVES ARE BROUGHT TO THE POINT WHERE SUICIDE SEEMS TO BE THE ONLY REMAINING OPTION.
i think you will find the 800 is per month and ur 1064 per month i am fed up no one intentionaly has a baby without the farther if ur man walked out what would you have done killed the baby not all women choose to get pregnant and to bring the child up on there own its just they have to because they have no choice next you will be calling for public hanging for women who become single mothers or better still lets bring a law in and force un married mothers to get rid of there babes how about having a go at the farthers of these kids that just walk out on there kids i thought we lived in a sivilised society it amazes me how many people have a go at people on benifits but as soon as they need the benifits they change there mind i think all mps should have to live on benifits for one month in a council house then they would be a bit more qualified to make fair decisions on the changes that need to be made if any also these mps have never needed to use the benifit system they get paid alot and yet they charge the public for hotel rooms and how is it they are given cars to get to work all the rest have to pay out of there wages to get to work if we made fair savings we probally wouldnt be in this mess i havent herd the mps say we will give up our expenses,cars,child benifit they arent losing anything are you not ment to lead by example
I do think that the welfare system needs to be reformed however I am deeply concerned that vulnerable people who are not fit to work will get their benefits taken away from them. What about the people with learning difficulties or mental health conditions who may seem fine during medical testing but would be unable to hold down regular work due to their illness/disability. I fear that many genuine claimants of disability related benefits are going to lose out. What about the carers of disabled people? If the person they’re caring for no longer qualifies for DLA or AA then they will no longer be entitled to Carer’s Allowance (which in itself if equal to £1.23 per hour as you must be caring for over 35 hours a week to qualify). If they are forced to look for work then who will care for their loved ones? Certainly not Health & Social Care departments!!! They have restriced their criteria to the point that only those with significant care needs receive services (if they’re lucky)!
And so much of what constitutes ‘a genuine claimant’ is based on medical opinion rather than on the real physical eXperience of the patient! So far most of my medical ‘tests’ have come out ‘normal’ but I am almost bed bound because I cannot move about without blowing up like a balloon and becoming too weak to move; gasping for breath; and getting severe abdominal pain that has me in tears. I cannot even get near any resources that could help me get better and I am actually scorned for even trying.
So much hangs on the dedication and sympathy of the GP, and he has almost no resources with which to help the patient he knows. The benefits assessor just ticks boxes with the object of denying help if at all possible.
Cruel and callous, Thatcherite Britain, lives on and on.
So you just keep kicking us IDS: it is the only thing you politicians know.
i have just been advised by my mortgage company that income support are going off the bank off england base rate which means the help i get is more than halved. I understand the government need to save money but being informed 2 weeks before this happens and not by income support is less than helfull as i could lose my home as im under a court order as it is.NO LETTERS HAVE EVEN BEEN SENT OUT TO LET YOU KNOW HOW MUCH BENEFIT YOU WILL RECIEVE THE POOR GET POORER AND RICH GET RICHER TORY GOVERNMENT YET AGAIN ARE THEY GOING TO HELP ME WHEN ME AND MY SIX WEEK OLD BABY HAVE NOWERE TO LIVE .
Very sorry to read this Jane. I nearly lost my home because the DSS took over responsibility for paying the mortgage (Thatcher’s idea that we could not be trusted.) And then only paid their own idea of interest rather than the mortgage co’s. This was OK until the co was taken over: then the new co foreclosed. I was very lucky in that my aged parents were able to settle things with the building soc and buy out the mortgage – wasting loads more money in the process. Sadly I still may lose my house as I can’t look after it and the NHS is still not interested in finding out what is wrong with me and putting it right.
I do hope that some help is forthcoming for you and your child.
Good luck.
btw, just a thought.. its all very well telling people to get a job.. but the jobs just don’t exist out there for full employment.
why should anyone knock themselves out applying for jobs when they don’t even get interviewed?
why should anyone with the skills already but needing a piece of paper to prove they have those skills be denied the opportunity to get that piece of paper because there are no work placements locally (even though a friend was willing to give you a work placement in his/her company in another area) and so be kept on benefits?
(i speak from personal experience. i can’t claim benefits, and instead i am fighting to establish myself as self employed. we make do on my partner’s low wage. if i had been allowed a training place i could be earning a very good wage now.)
my proposal is two fold:
1. when the ministers request further information, the email used to send that request be one that can be used to return that information and continue dialogue instead of one that cannot be used as such.
my experience has been that back in 2009, ministers requested further information regarding certain proposals.
when i have tried to forward that information, it has been filtered out because i am having to use the ministers general email account, or send the information in in letter form – which also gets binned.
my MP has shown himself to be useless and ignored my proposals throughout.
2. my proposals would be to provide an independent source of income, not tied to taxes or national insurance contributions.
instead, this would be derived through a low cost subscription to a genuine service, whereby the user’s of the services are ‘affiliates’ and eligible for referral commissions. however, the average user would not be required to recruit.
instead, various organisations, including government agencies and departments and local authorities would be ’super affiliates’.
these super affiliates would sign up new users to the service, all using the very same place and process to do so.
this would assign an existing user as the new user’s sponsor and therefore lock the sponsor into a lifetime of commission payments.
this system is ready and available right now. also included are benefits such as ring fencing subscription payment in earnings so earnings can takeover payments, and user to user fund transfers from earnings..
regular bill payments and other items are in the works.
earnings can be withdrawn into one’s bank account or loaded onto a genuine pre paid Mastercard.
earnings generated would be around £40,000/month per user and this all costs under £20/user per month, and would very quickly become self funding.
this was proposal was forwarded to every MP, MEP and party pre the previous general election.. it has been forwarded to every department and currently serving minister.. ..and has variously been ignored or dismissed.
i have even approached debt management companies with this and been dismissed. it seems that debtors do not want to be able to repay debts for anything less than £100+/month.
i want to be able to use my profits to grandfather-in pensioners and all those on welfare benefits.. and enable everyone a decent standard of living.
i have read through the preposals and i feel that befor you force single parents back to work you need to sort out the child care laws in this country there is no child care provision for children over 12 so i spoke to a police officer the other week about it and he said it is not against the law to leave your child at home at 12 but if anything happens to the child whilst you have left them on there own then they would get done for neglect i have no family to look after my child and i am a single parent. If i dont go to work i am a scrounger and if i go to work i am a bad mum that could be charged with niglect i am fed up with politions putting people in this situations crime is up in teenagers and people are always asking where the parents are half of these parents are at work trying to earn money so they dont starve maybe if parents were able to stay at home to look after there children until they are 16 and bring them up properly then more of these kids would leave school go to work and less likely to get into trouble with the police am i the only person out here that thinks this way ???????
I am a pensioner and receive Xmas bonus,heating allowance,free TV licence,bus pass, and recently free cavity wall insulation in my house.
I do not need the benefits.
Rather than attempting to extend means testing why not bring such benefits into the tax system at double the amount paid with a notional amount for non cash items such as the bus pass.
For non tax payers – the less well of pensioners – there is nil impact. For the highset earners at 50% tax rate there is total claw back.
HMRC already deal with taxpayers and the changes should be easily incorporated in the PAYE or SA syatems.
Not perfect but simple and also does not break any manifesto promise.
another thing why if u miss 1 payment of council tax u are FORCED to pay the full balance yet on benefits you barely pay anything per mth not to mention you dont get forced to pay the outstanding balance WHY DOES ANYONE EVEN WANT TO WORK when u have benefits ! ! ! !
A relative who returned to work after a short illness, made a late monthly payment for their council tax, was then FORCED to pay the remaining year’s bill IN FULL. This cannot be right.
thats exactly my point yet if you have NEVER worked your fine u dont have to pay it in full it is not fair and certainly not right no wonder all these single mothers have sky+ 50inch tvs etc yet about 10 per month coincil tax and rent ! !
if you recieve council tax benifit you still have to pay it each month you are right it isnt that much but it is alot when you dont get much money each week and if you miss a payment you have to pay the full amount for the year the same as everyone else i am a single mum on benifits and i dont have sky and holidays i struggle to feed my child and all our clothes come from charity shops i dont make a choice to stay on benifits and believe it isnt or a fun life why is it the govement never publish the rates of benifit people actually get then people may realise that the money we live on is so little it is absered if you dont believe me go on gov.co.uk and work it out my council tax is 25 per month and i have to pay for food.clothing,gas.electricity.furniture,tv liecence, the reason
we get help with our rent and council tax is because they dont give us enough money to pay it ourselves
I work for a Local authority and one of the areas which concerns me is the use of mobility allowances. A significant number of people with a learning disability receive high rate mobility. Many of these live with their family and they use the motability scheme to ensure they have a vehicle, however in a lot of cases this becomes the family car and the parent uses it to go to and from work. As a result of this the individual then requires transport which is often funded by the local authority. If the motability vehicle is for the individual with an disability it should be available to them at all times.
The other issue with mobility allowance is regarding those individuals who are in supported living or residential care but the family still deal with the benefits and use the mobility allowance themselves again in many cases to provide a motability vehicle which the family use and not the individual with a disability.
Many individuals with a disability especially those with a learning disability receive high levels of benefit which are used by their family to add to the hosehold income then the local authority are expected to provide services aswell so in effect costing the tax payer double. There needs to be better safeguards in preventing potential financial abuse of vulnerable people.
This annoys me too. I completely agree. What happened to the light blue Robin Reliants…???
I am a 35 year old male and have worked before and since leaving school. I was asked by a friend where I went on holiday this year. I replied Bournemouth to which she said, ‘ Oh, I went to Greece.’ I cannot afford to go abroad let alone a passport. She followed this up by stating she has just booked a holiday to Egypt and can’t wait to go next year. She is single mother of 2 and has never worked, claiming benefits. This made me come up with the idea that IF YOU ARE IN RECIEPT OF ANY BENEFITS… U SHOULD HAVE TO SURRENDER YOUR PASSPORT…??? What do other people think?
Apart from restricting the basic human right of freedom of movement – great idea. Why not go the whole hog and also force them to wear a cowl and bell as lepers used to?
You are missing the point. If she can afford a holiday then why is she claiming benefits? I have worked since I was 13… and never been able to afford a holiday, and never claimed benefits
You’re missing my point regarding your point about giving up your passport. You seemed to suggest poor people shouldn’t be allowed to move around – what next, set up ghettos for them, introduce a curfew etc?
I understand you’re point about the holidays and appreciate why you may get frustrated, but perhaps you’re friend actually handles her money responsibly and saves up towards it, or maybe relatives chip in to help her. There’s still plenty of foreign holidays that go cheaper than stays in the UK. Would you be having a go if she’d had a week in Skegness instead? Incidentally, you’ve just said you’ve never been able to afford a holiday, when your original posting said you’d had one in Bournemouth!!!
MY partner works 40 hrs a wk while i watch the children and by the time we paid rent & council tax were better off on the social thats why so many r on yes theres some who CANT but others who WONT ie if youre going to egypt etc on tax payers money Y WOULD YOU WANT TO WORK and pay for it yourself
I see your point exactly. If people can work they should. If the can’t because no work is available or they are physically unable too then they should receive financial support. There seem to be many people around who could work but dond’t and receive benefits which mean their household income is the same and someone who has worked hard all their life. It isn’t fair. It makes normally reasonable people very cross and almost in fact almost jealous of people who are not working and claiming benefits. If you can’t work you deserve support and probably a holiday. If you can work you should or you shouldn’t get a holiday.
I have worked in the coal mines for 20 years as my father and grandfather did before me. As the pits closed we seen high un employment in the North East Northumberland area. I re trained and went into social services 10 years ago working in a childrens secure unit and in the community for the youth offending service. In this time i have seen a culture within families of 2nd and now 3rd generation worklessness. I was driven to write this following asking a young person aged 13 what job she would like to undertake when she left school. Her reply was she was not going to work but have a baby so she could get a flat as her sister and mother and father have done. Over my years in social care i have seen this over and over again. I my area i have people in there 40s who have never worked and now there children are now parents and have also not had employment. This needs to stop now !!. The government needs to invest in these families in order to break this cycle before it gets into the next generation. My idea would be to set up and train a dedicated intervention team to assess and target these families with the aim of getting these people back into work. There is a programme on channel 4 called the fairy jobs mother which focuses on each family member to address self esteem, literacy and numeracy issues ect. These teams would in the long run save the county money and be able to reduce benefits for individuals who refuse to take on community projects or paid employment. I wold be only to willing to speak with government representitives to share my experiences and ideas.
Regards Kevin Barnfather
Excellent post. I agree with comments made.
yes it’s absolutely rediclous Not to mention they are getting offered soo much money for going back to work ie a friend of a friend (SINGLE mother with 3 kids)has just been told if she goes back to work for ONLY 16hrs a wk she earns 400 per week (not inc childcare) but tax credits will cover upto 75% of the cost my partner works 40hrs a week and including working tax etc we dont get that otr just about the same but he works an EXTRA 34 hrs .Y because we LIVE together ! !
“and now [there] children”
Looks like a bit of literacy help would not go amiss here.
What about the fraud committed by these call centres administering with no discretion on corporate remits. Who monitors fair or legal? Worst are the Banks , LAs , Charities & Insurance Companies misselling & franchising .
And let us not forget the billions of pounds lost by way of tax avoidance, which if dealt with would go a long way to make any spending cuts alot less painfull for many many people.
Have just retired after working as GP since 1974 in a deprived housing estate. Vast majority of benefit claimers are genuine,within the system that’s evolved in Britain.However questionable parental example and poor education often results in lack of confidence,poverty and poor health
Unplanned pregnancies impinge greatly on both mother and existing children.
Better education,contraceptive usage by men and women,parenting skills encouraged, societal shift for smaller later families would be a start to reduce dependency.
Fully agree: sucessive governments have only ever been concerned with further depriving claimants rather than finding what they really need and helping them with it. Keep bludgeoning people while they are down and they will eventually get better: is the mentality of every goverment and DSS official.
I am an AO in the Tax Credit Office
I think that a single universal benefit is probably too complex to get up an running reliably in a reasnable length of time.
I think it would be better to have 3 universal benefits. A disability benefit, a child benefit and a work benefit.
The disability benefit would replace all disability benefits including DLA, Incapacity benefit and the disability elements of other benefits such as tax credits.
The child benefit would similarly replace all child related benefits and the work benefit would replace all work related benefits.
Eventually when the 3 systems are bedded down it may be possible to connect them together, so that income details only need to be reported once.
Another comment I wish to make is that I think it is better to have software with limited functionality that works well, than over complex software that is full of bugs and does unexpeted things. I think it is also desireable that as much processing as possible is done in real tme. One of the biggest problems with the current tax credits computer system is that it sometimes takes several days for someones award to be recalculated in response to changes that are made. I often have to tell applicants to ring the helpline in a few days to find out how much they are going to get.
Self Service and a automated benefit system will simply not reduce fraud in the system, it will infact increase fraud.
We also have to consider Pensions related benefits, for those who have a State Pension and those customers who do not. A Working Age and Pensions Benefit system with clear age criteria, disability benefits like DLA and AA could be removed altogether and instead have increases in the working/pensions benefits awarded.
Housing/Council tax Benefits could be deleivered from DWP Benefit delivery and Pension Centres.
Employment and Support Allowance is awarded to people who have limited capability for work due to mental and physical disabilities. People who are depressed, sucidal and suffer from stress, anxiety and panic attacks when found capable of work face problems staying on Jobseekers Allowance because the standard procedure for JSA is to suspended it if claimant is unable to attend interview without good cause, as a result of JSA suspension housing benefit and council tax benefit is also suspended. Non-dependant deductions in council tax benefit and housing benefit result in a gap in actual rent and benefit entitlement. Additionally, they will struggle to find employment and to adjust in work environment.
I suffer from depression and I am on prozac too but I get no benefits because my partner works so y do u get EXTRA if your unemployed
Do apply for DLA: you may find you are entitled to more than you think and it is simple to fill out the form on line. It does not make it more fair that married and single people are treated differently, but there may – at the moment – be some help for you at least.
Good luck.
I would like to see a ‘living minimum yearly wage’ being decided on, and one benefit to bridge the gap between earnings and the ‘living yearly wage’. Obviously the more you earn the less your benefit would be.
I would also like to see people who are trying to help themselves, get the help they need. I want to move out of the area I live in which has high unemployment and getting worse by the day, to an area which has better prospects for me, but because I am single with now no dependants, and rent my house from a private landlord, I can get no help to relocate, I can’t get a job in the area I want to move into until I’m actually living there, I can’t rent a property there until I am working.
I would also like retraining to be useful. I would like to take my Exectuvie PA diploma but because it isn’t run by a college or University I can’t get funding for it, yet the government funds 3 years an University and a lot of the students come away with qualifications that won’t lead to any jobs.
It’s time also that the government considered there are people outside the age bracket of 18-24 that are unemployed and need help.
I am a disabled man. I live with 2 inoperable brain tumours. I had my benefits cut last year to low DLA in basic terms because I cope. Would you rather someone like me worked and made themselves even more ill and cost the government even more?
I can never work again due to the tumours. No company would be able to employ as I would be uninsurable. I could only manage to do about 4 hours a week anyway.
A woman in my block of flats get full DLA and she can manage to get up and down the stairs. I live on the ground floor. I have had comments like I can use a computer I can get a job. Surely health is more important? This country thinks nothing of paying £2000 a month housing benefit for an aslyumn seekers family house when they lived in a house with £800 month rent. The reason they didnt like the area. Yet because im on the wrong benefits I am expected to pay some rent and council tax living on £130 a week not by choice. I also have to pay for any prescriptions I would need as well.
I feel like going to the press but where would that get me? I did appeal my DLA and it was rejected. Or would you rather I committed crimes or became an addict of some sort so I could be better off.
Read the earlier posts in my blog http://disabledpersonsblog.blogspot.com/ and see what I am going through.
You are giving tax credits, child tax credits and child benefit to familys when they are already on a decent wage surely this could be stopped and save the country some money.
Im 31 does anyone from the DWP have a comment to make or will i have to spend the rest of my life living like this?
Very sorry to hear about your combined health and DWP problem: I have commented elsewhere that this amounts to state sanctioned torture of the sick and disabled. If only they would actually put some effort into getting people access to proper modern medical facilities and treatments: we might feel that somebody even cared. Governments and newspapers all prefer to kick the sick and disabled, and this latest ‘consultation’ shows they do indeed intend to go on doing so until we are all dead. They have wasted quarter of a century of my life so far and there are no signs they will ever stop.
Best wishes are all I have I am afraid,
S
I am part of a family where my partner works and out by rent & copuncil tax national ins n TAX we dont have much spare considering the hrs he works if it wasnt for tax credits we BOTH would NEED to claim benefits and would be less stressfull not getting wages arrested for rent etc
I am a disabled person I live with 2 brain tumours and not fit to work. I was told I am not entitled to the higher rates of DLA in basic terms because I cope. I can never work again. Surely I should be on the high rates. This government are putting me into poverty.
A woman in my flat block gets the full rates she can manage to climb up and down stairs. Would you rather I made my self seriously ill and got job? I
I think the principle of reforming the welfare system is good but what the politicians have failed to recognise is the wage levels and types of employment being offered to somebody like myself at the lower end of the jobs market is so poorly paid and such minimal hours that somebody like myself who is single without dependents who has rent,council tax,food etc to pay for, cannot by any calculation afford to return to work as i will be considerably worse off.
I currently receive Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and JSA(Income Based) and i cannot find a job above £7.00 per hour for much more than 30 hours a week and once my tax, National Insurance, travel is taken into consideration plus my other bills such as rent, council tax, and food is taken into consideration, i would be left worse off than working.
If i apply for working tax credit i will receive £1,300 but with fares into London (as i live in an Outer London borough) i would still be considerably worse off than i am now.
What i am in most need of is retraining but unless its something the DWP approves of i am unable to undertake it full time as it breaks the Income Based JSA 16 hours of training rule, and many of these private retraining programmes cost thousands of pounds eveb if you’re unemployed so how do i elevate myself out of this trap!!
Your plight illustrates the comment I made in my previous post about derisory wage levels Antony ; it is scandalous that so many decent people like yourself are caught in this trap.
I know of another young man like yourself, who is well qualified and keen to join an apprenticeship scheme.
Despite working full time, he cannot afford to join one,nor can he afford decent rented accommodation.
The MPs in the Cabinet have little,or no,direct experience of the benefits system or the poverty trap.
There is too much emphasis on welfare scroungers-this phrase used by the PM-who comes from a very privileged and fortunate background.
Today’s IFS report exposes the regressive nature of the proposed budgetary changes.
Wages have lost their value in real terms-purchasing power-since the 1970s :the minimum wage is derisory and we now have an ever greater number of job applicants.
The Housing Benefit taper,at 65%,is much too steep and is one of the greatest disincentives for those hoping to move into work, even of a temporary nature.
Housing Benefit uptake is rising because of low wages and high property values-driven by speculation in the housing market.
Winter Fuel Allowance and Child Benefit should be means tested and the new draconian changes to incapacity benefit assessments should be reviewed.
It is pointless, unjust and ultimately, costly in both political and social terms, to take from those who already have the least.
Furthermore,why was no-one from the TUC invited to comment ?
These proposals have come mainly from influential figures in the private sector.
DISABLEMENT ALLOWANCE
HIGHRATE: Awarded to persons assessed as being severely mentally physically disabled, deaf, blind, terminally ill, undergoing chemo, dialysis, etc.
LOW RATE: Awarded to persons assessed as being moderately disabled.
Customer is able to work up to 24 hours per week and earn up to standard tax limit. ~ gary riding
Your suggestion may appear a good one, but it shows that you probably have limited experience of what life is like with a disability.
Even if you are profoundly disabled and lucky enough to work, you have to pay the extras e.g./ transport and carers. Meaning that, although you are contributing, you have significantly less personal disposable income than someone without a disability.
I was severely disabled after an accident. After 18 months I was fortunate that I was able to walk unaided. I then told the authorities & surrendered my blue badge. Since then I have noticed how many blue badge holders have a very active lifestyle. I once saw 3 20'ish boys retrieve a blue badge from under the seat of their car & go off to play in a football team.
I do agree that GENUINE claimants deserve all the help they can get. Again there are too many false claimants & counterfeit badges about.
“Since then I have noticed how many blue badge holders have a very active lifestyle. I once saw 3 20'ish boys retrieve a blue badge from under the seat of their car & go off to play in a football team.”
Have you heard of Blue Badge theft? It’s rife in some areas.
I am a Mental Health worker and can see good and bad in reforming the system. At the moment there is little being said about how this is actually affecting people, the reality of the situation-this is being done very badly.
I have assessed people in A & E, suicidal and unable to cope with the repercussions in their lives. People who have mental illness thinking they are going to be put in jail, increase in stress and people being taken off benefits prior to any assistance to get from a to b, impossible for those who are not functioning currently at the level they would need to to even negotiate looking for the work. People who have developed social phobias and can not mix or survive in a work setting one day on benefits the next expected to work, no transitions-this will cost more in the long run because there will be a lot more demand for hospital beds and crisis interventons.
A lot of the principals seem good but ill thought out, eventually the effect may be helpful but tough love of this nature will result in unneccessary deaths and distress. I heard the other day of a very principalled woman who was told she had improved, she was willing to agree with this and try to make ends meet-her income reduced by £120-00 per week, I suggest that if my income went down by this much overnight and even although I had improved, I had not sufficiently improved to be able to hold down a job without some transitional help, I would struggle. In fact if my wage went down by that much, I doubt I would cover my expenses because when you live on little income, it is usually stretched to a large extent.
Yes reform is needed but please do not think that this does not come at very great cost and give some thought to results, especially to the vulnerable. Put some safety nets in place, look at individual financial circumstances and phase in the reforms with support and transition for those affected. Do not be detached from the human suffering, homelessness is likely to increase, suicide rates will go up and demands on the health service will be heavy, when services are being prioritised and realistic reduced.
What is happening is nothing short of barbarick for the vulnerable and does not distinguish fraudulent from genuine.
Very well put Jan: Why though, is there never any outcry demanding that people are got back to being fit to work by giving services like your own the support and resources needed to help us. Particularly there are no inpatient diagnostic facilities at all in the NHS as far as I can tell: the patient all to often is left to self diagnose and then seek a test. If he is wrong a couple of times, he is then a ‘hypochondriac’ and can be left to die with a clear conscience by NHS and DWP alike. I am dying to get back to work: for this I am vilified by both sides.
Best wishes,
S
As someone who has suffered very badly myself and fully aware of the devastating impact the benefit system and its unethical medicals are having on the lives of people with mental health conditions and other disbilities – I just want to thank you for speaking out in your professional capacity as a mental health worker. (I have posted a comment expressing similar deep concerns in Chapter 4)
Agreed!
1) The housing allowance is still far too high.
Scrap family allowance for more than 3 children. Chase those males who father children & do not support them
2) Priority for accommodation should be given to those people with a job or starting a job, or ex service personnel.
3) Do not hand out property to young mums. This allows a life style of benefits & often drugs.
4) Do not give large expensive properties to families with a lot of children. Again this is the start of a benefits culture.
5) All private tenants too provide details of their landlord. All letting agents to do the same. Over half of these landlords do not declare their rental for taxation.
6)A ”whistle blowing” website/free phone number should be provided to weed out the tax & benefit cheats. Financial rewards may also be provided.
7) Recruit additional staff to police the last item. The current system of following people takes up far too much time.
9) People should be more responsible for their own & their children’s actions. Heavy fines & bailiffs to enforce them. More seizure of property for crime.
10) Less money for foreign aid. They burn our flags we send them millions!!
11) We should not be paying out more welfare than the EEC. That is why all the dregs& asylum seekers risk everything to come here from Europe.
I am interested in the diagram on page 20. Why not be a bit more radical, and when someone on benefits starts working give the MORE benefits, so if they earn £50 give them an extra £10 benefits. Then go to the plateau of the disregard, and then the taper rate. This would give a VERY strong incentive to start some, any, work, which will help develop the work ethic
I agree that an integrated approach between the various benefit systems & agencies is long overdue. However, I don’t see why a Carer, who works a minimum of 35 hours a week & for much less than the miminum wage, should then be forced to also work elsewhere as a condition of their entitlement to benefits.
Child Benefit should be means tested. And it should not be paid if the children are not residing in this country.
IB for the reasons of drug, alchohol & obesity should only be paid on condition that the claimant receive professional help for their condition. If they don’t attend the clinics/ rehab centres then they shouldn’t receive their benefits.
The local Jobcentres used to know who was ‘pulling a fast one’, but the last Government sussed that more money was spent on estates than jobcentre staff, so they closed local benefit offices. Does this consultation mean that this Government will consider re-opening them?
I dont know if I have been informed correctly but as I understand it, foreign nationals working in the UK can claim benefits for their children, who remain in their own country and are not resident here. I understand that a similar situation applies to UK nationals working within the EU whose families remain here. If this is correct, then I would be in favour or serious reform in this area, so that any child related benefits should be given on the condition that the child resides with the working parent and hoepfully would ensure that the money is spent within our economy and not that of another country. I also feel that benefits for children should be capped to a maximum of four children per applicant. I have no objection to anyone wanting a larger family – however, I feel this should not be a decision which is rewarded with benefits and that those choosing to have more than four children should do so in the knowledge that they will have to raise them from their own resources and not have assistance from the state to do so.
The only way to control the outpouring of cash into this benefit is to remove the cash from the benefit. Ref my comment,chapter one: Replace the benefit with other methods of ensuring that children are fed, clothed and transported to school. Ensuring that support for children is received by children. In the process, creating new jobs, reducing traffic congestion, and minimizing the chance for abuse of usage.
AS A MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC, I AM OFTEN TOLD BY JOBCENTRE STAFF THAT IF ANYONE
WORKS MORE THAN 16 HOURS PER WEEK THEN THEY CONSIDER THAT TO BE FULL TIME WORK
AND SO YOU MUST SIGN OFF AS YOU CANNOT GET ANY JOBSEEKERS ALLOWANCE.
HOWEVER AS A SINGLE PERSON I DO NOT QUALIFY TO GET ANY WORKING TAX CREDIT
UNLESS I DID MORE THAN 30 HOURS PER WEEK……SO THIS IS A BIG DIFFERENCE
WHICH FAVOURS THE GOVERNMENT.
I can do indefinate permitted work as a disabled claiment of incapacity benefit and find it a real struggle to work 15 hours due to my medical conditions but stick at it for the moral boost. Currently I get access to work help but that stops in October. Give us the support we need to give something back to the communinty. Once October comes I will be paying all my earnings to pay for the support I require to work.
Why are you using Wordpress – open source blog software… and removing the copyright links back? The page design and content maybe Crown Copyright but the software you are using isn’t!
It all fine and dandy.There is a need to make work pay.WHERE ARE THE JOBS COMING FROM.
No one has any confidence in the future.Everyone from the prime minister down is scaring everyone.Very few are sure there job is secure.Everyone is expecting rainy days.Everyone is reluctant to spend. A climate of fear is being created Thats no way to make people leave benefits and look for work
My opinion is that job agencies in the private sector should be abolished. These companies make money off the backs of people who are trying to survive.If employers were obliged to give real jobs once again, people would give more back.Agency workers have no reason to give their all to a company which is not their permanent employer and give them none of the benefits which contracted employees enjoy. Agencies let a worker know where he is working from one week to the next.Although they may offer to find permanent positions, it is not in their interest to do this. They would lose the payment received from the employer for filling openings. Lets get back to the position of an employer taking responsibility for their own recruitment. Giving a greater sense of belonging to employees, and maybe even cutting costs by cutting out the middle man. Perhaps we could start with the NHS and bank nurses
Why not tax benefits in the same way they do with wages fairs fair ! ! more help should be given if someone in a couple is working on their partners behalf while they bring up the children as they are invisible in this system ie I dont get stamp duty paid cos my partner works and i dont claim ANY money (we do get working & child tax)
I actually wish I was on benefits having 2 kids being a single mother earns u just under 800 per mth (income support child benefit tax credits) the same amount of tax credits I get even tho my partners earning fantastic !!thats what my partner earns a mth then has to pay more than half to rent and council tax so were actually left with LESS money working 40hrs than sitting at home on benefits
The only legal way out of poverty is to acquire the education and skills to secure a job in the Global market. State benefits should be realigned with the minimum wages to provide an incentive. People who work to support their families should not be less well of than those on benefits.
Thats hte way it should go why only get the extras when u claim benefits let EVERY working person get the extras too
I am concerned that this coalition government is running before they can walk. Yes we need to save money BUT and it is a big BUT they must get to know the people and their circumstances that are are long term benefits BEFORE they implement change otherwise they will be walking all over the vulnerable without a true understanding of their true vulnerability to any drastic changes. This could make the underdog in society retreat even further into themselves and as a result become more dependent on the healthcare system due to stress/anxiety and depression. Tread very very carefully!!
I totally agree. If a complete new welfare system is to be introduced then its crucial that the experienced staff on the front line are retained to implement these changes. Trying to introduce such a major change with reduced staff will simply not work, the public will the ones to suffer as a system is hurried through with a reduced workforce with unrelaistic work pressures due to cuts
hmm-my wife and I receive entitlements(for that is what they are )and receive nothing else-family breakdown-none;educational failure-both University educated;drug and alcohol addiction-none;severe personal indebtedness-none,economic dependency-no merely receiving what the Welfare State in a civilised Society would proffer to people in our position.My wife became disabled-and could no longer work-she went on renal dialysis i gave up my employment because we wanted to do this at home.It was the responsible thing to do -at the time the Welfare system allowed this, whilst reducing our income substantially,and remain in our home.It is too easy to blame people’s perceived failings rather than situations that may occur to anyone.The decisions taken by your Government-the linking of entitlement increases to a price index that does not include housing costs-we pay a mortgage-the significant reduction in SMI-the introduction of a contrived medical assessment for DLA-a non-out of work allowance which aids my wifes involvement in Society and has already been given indefinately- point to a lessening of our quality of life and reduces the incentives for people in our situation to be responsible.I receive CA and I will fight against attempts to subsume that in any sort of Jobseeker’s allowance-I already work.Similarly I will fight against any attempts to bring conditionality as part of whatever entitlement emerges-I already work. I am not naive my comments will be ignored and utilised as “support” for whatever emerges.
I think the way the new goverment are cutting down on benefit fraud is good, but let me just say i know a friend who knows, people who get something silly like £800 a month, high rate DISABILTY LIVING ALLOWACE, INCAPACITY BENEFIT, and this amount doesnt include there RENT and COUNCIL TAX, and there is nothing wrong with them at all, the thing that is wrong about it that there drug addicts, and spend all the money on drugs my friend tells me, but yet my own mother who had OSIPHEGUS CANCER did get the above benefits mentioned, and this is someone who needs and deservers it, after working all her life paying the TAX’S etc.. i was her carer, she was on high rate and it gets reviewed every 2 years, and they declined it, the renewal of the benefit, and stopped her DISIBILTY LIVING ALLOWANCE she had the tumour removed, but now she is having problems eating and theres a lump on her neck, she doesn’t feel well most of the time, she can’t eat a full meal and is been sick most nights, now the cobnsultant that did her operation has refered her to a specialist for this health issue, but she was told it could come back the cancer, for a few months now she has tried to get this appointment with the specialist, but the hospital kept on saying they were sending her an appointment out, and she never recieved anything, she has finally got one arranged it is soon, but something needs seriousley doing about drug addicts getting large amounts of benefits when there nothing wrong with them, just the one is that there pathetic scrounging people, and yet there are people out there who generally do need it and they decline them, this is a serious matter to be over looked by the new goverment
I think the way the new goverment are cutting down on benefit fraud is good, but let me just say i know a friend who knows, people who get something silly like £800 a month, high rate DISABILTY LIVING ALLOWACE, INCAPACITY BENEFIT, and this amount doesnt include there RENT and COUNCIL TAX, and there is nothing wrong with them at all, the thing that is wrong about it that there drug addicts, and spend all the money on drugs my friend tells me, but yet my own mother who had OSIPHEGUS CANCER did get the above benefits mentioned, and this is someone who needs and deservers it, after working all her life paying the TAX’S etc.. i was her carer, she was on high rate and it gets reviewed every 2 years, and they declined it, stopped her DISIBILTY LIVING ALLOWANCE
Child Benefit should be limited to 2 children (I have 3), and people earning over £40,000pa.
Winter Fuel Allowance for pensioners should be means-tested, especially for those living abroad in sunny Spain!
Tax Credits should be limited to people earning over £40,000pa.
Teenage mums should not automatically be given a flat/benefits.
Housing benefit should be capped at £500/mth. How can an asylum seeker be housing in a 5 bedroom house at the taxpayers expense, when hard-working people could only dream of such accomodation?
Immigrants/asylum seekers should not automatically be entitled to benefits, as they have not contributed anything to the system. My parents were immigrants, had to work and lived in one room (with 4 children!!) when they first came to this country. They came to work, not scrounge.
Unemployed people should be made to do voluntary work in return for benefits.
There should be a time limit for how long someone can stay on benefits before there is a penalty. It’s wrong that someone can stay on benefits indefinately. There is a culture of entitlement, which should be addressed.
It should be harder for someone to claim they are a ‘carer’ and claim benefit.
Bottom line is re assess benefits altogether and start making the cuts there i can feed my family of 4 (inc my husband) with 100 per wk paying gas electric and tv licence (keeping in mind my children don’t get free school meals)so why in my position(minus a partner) do u get 800- free milk of 6.00 ber baby under 1 and 3.00 per child over 1 but under 5 then free lunch at school COME ON !!
I think the first step is to stop immigration, if the person does not have £200,000 to keep self & family on entry, as no benefits would be available to them. unemployed people should have to do voluntary work in the community including single mums whose children are claiming free nursery places or are of school age. Labour have made people think they are entitled to be kept by the state even though they have never paid a penny into the system, and financially ruined the country with the help of fat cat bankers. The latter should repay the millions given (taxpayers money) to keep them afloat.
A lot of money is lost due to error on the part of benefit staff. Since I joined the Department 8 years ago, staff have been recruited who are not being properly trained. I am not surprised that there is a lot of official error and would urge the Department to invest in staff training in order to cut costs.
After being diagnosed with Cancer, I was on DLA -higher level. Then later my benefit was reduced to the lower rate of DLA. I was then informed that I was overpaid DLA and they would be reclaiming it from me at a certain amount per week. This has put me under quite a lot of financial pressure. The overpayment was not my fault yet I have to pay it back. I am still looking to return to work – but the minute the interviewer sees that I have been ill with Cancer -it seems to be a “no-go” .. So I am still on Benefit. But I would far rather be working.
Considering that the rates of JSA and ESA are now identical it should merely need to be a recieve a “non fit note” and switch the status of the claim (as a former FTA with Jobcentre Plus I know this would be reletavely simple). The easiest way for the government to reduce costs within DWP would be to withdraw the contact centres and enable the local offices to actually deal with the claims. There is way too much double-handling which is indicative of the civil service in general. Simplify, simplify, simplify! Remove the disincentive to work by removing the ridiculous tarrif on p/t earnings and raise the threshold for entitlement to housing and council tax benefit. Bearing in mind that many jobs these days are minimum wage we need to move away from the “give with one hand and take away with the other” culture which is currently within the benefits system. Also, those who have a long term non work ethos should be ring fenced and set on a seperate regime from JSA where they are made to earn their benefits rather than just turn up every fortnight and sign for “their money”. Thus leaving Jobcentre Plus staff free to actually help get people into work without having to waste their limited time with those who can’t be bothered to work. Also the actual cost of living needs to be taken into consideration. Has anyone within government actually ever tried to live on £60.45 a week??
straight to the point about the politicians, i totally agree, let them see how it is to live on JSA and go to the jobcentre to find mainly AGENCY vacancies, which i will not work for one again, as they all lie, the amount of time i have worked for them, and messed me about with money and hours, and they say you will be working for us for up to 6 months, and then 4 days later, iv had calls telling me they dont need me, and then having to go through all the stuff to claim JSA again, plenty of times it has happened to me, i would just like to see how a politician would live on JSA, and for them to understand how hard it is to find a permenent job with a company, and there opinion on it !!!
There needs to be a clear gap in income, between those in work and those on benefits. We need to encourage people into work and one way this could be achieved is by allowing people to work part time (16+ hours), when that is all that is available. We need to ensure that it is financially attractive to do this. A better system of rewards for work needs to be introduced, scrapping the current tax credit system that is complicated and expensive. Housing benefit and council tax could be one the ways to reward work for the low paid. Most people unemployed and on benefit, fear losing their council tax and housing benefit. Simply solution and no need to develop a new benefit, just make another benefit fairer (housing benefit and council tax). Also keep to your promise and increase the tax fresh hold to £10,000 per annum.
I dont think tax credits should stop, i think they just need to be simpler. My biggest concerned is, the govenment has all the national news papers behind this idea. So people will believe that this is the best thing. That is until you stop tax credit and other work related benefits nobody in work gets help. I have 4 kids my husband works so i can stay at home, we now earn hardly enough in wages to keep us afloat, i am sick of people saying people like me are irresponsible, we had money when we had our kids but my husband lost a good job when the recession started, now we have to rely on tax credits to top up his wages. my youngest start school in 2 yrs, i can then return to work.
I find it really unfair that people on benefits and working are now worried what will happen to them, and the bankers still get their bonuses. i say stop their bonuses and the national debt will soon be cleared.
I am in the same position with 2 kids and we only just manage to stay afloat by the time rent & council tax gets paid yet people I know on benefits in same situation with 2 kids seem to be out lunching etc daily as they DONT need to worry about the roof over their heads, not to mention I want to work but wheres MY help And MY EXTRA MONEY for getting back to work I would welcomr the 40 per wk BACK TO WORK BONUS
We strongly support this review. How is it that so many of the people who claim to be too ill to work are able to pursue their hobbies with no problem? We have experience of a young man who has never done a paid job of work, but who can run his own theatre company and a pop group, doing gigs and shows at all hours of the day and night.He has lived on sickness benefits for years. His sister, who is his promoter/manager, is also on benefits. Why should our own children work hard to pay taxes to support these people? Don’t lose your nerve when the Daily Mail has some bleating claimant who has failed the new medical either.If they can walk and talk, then they can do something to contribute. There are many really disabled people who would love to work. Obesity and drug dependency are not illnesses. Good luck to IDS, but I bet the Condems will lose their nerve.
I have just spent the last eighteen months working voluntarily (three and a half days per week) in a school whilst studying for a qualification which will enable me to gain a Teaching Assistant post. I’ve just been offered a post in the school and I’m really pleased. Having spend the previous seven years raising my family (and not claiming any benefits whatsoever as my partner works very hard), I found my confidence and skills had really slipped even though I’m well educated and had previously held a very responsible post. Volunteering was quite nerve wracking but has really built up my confidence and self esteem as well as giving me some valuable experience. Long term benefit claimants should be required to commit to voluntary work in order to receive their benefits. The advantages of this would be huge for society and the individual; it breaks the cycle of aimlessness and gives people a purpose, its builds confidence and self esteem whilst developing skills and encourages a sense of responsiblity. Volunteering also ensures that those on benefits don’t regard themselves as customers (this implies that they are being rewarded for doing something which is not the case”) but as partners who are making a contribution to society in other ways. Perhaps those reluctant to seek work (and it can be a bit scary!) will then see that there are wider benefits and that paid work is a more attractive option?
I can wholeheartedly see your point about studying and voluntary work, but voluntary work is just that VOLUNTARY, and you cannot compulsorily make an ADULT volunteer as the places requiring volunteers want people who want to be there as they’re not getting any remuneration for their troubles other than fares to and from their placement.
I am sure the placement provider doesn’t want anyone to be there who doesn’t want to be, and neither does anyone want to be forced.
A simple set of rules applying accross the board would reduce nearly all overpayments as much of it is really caused by claimant or department error. When one benefit allows a person to work without a means test and another doesnt, whilst yet another allows a small level of earnings disregard – is it any wonder people feel unable to work for fear of loosing everything? Or worse contact one department, get told they dont need to report the change and then get hit with overpayments or fraud allegations later on!
Another huge issue is the sixteen hour rule. As a welfare benefits adviser i am constantly correcting the misunderstanding that a person can work 16 hours without it affecting benefits. This DWP literature doesnt express clearly that there is an earnings disregard and then £ per £ is tapered away. I have prevented much overpayment by telling people what the DWP should clearly express in the first instance.
Child Benefit should be taxed since a Universal Benefit should not fund those on higher incomes. It should also be limited to no more than 3 children per family, since some irresponsible people look upon having more children as a means of boosting their benefit.
do you have children?
well, i have 4. im not irresponsible, my husband works. we never had more kids for more benefits. i just hope people like you never need the welfare system.
Well done for yuor hubbie working, families like yours should continue to receive benefits. the ones who just keep having babies to different fathers are the ones abusing the system, and immigrants.
I thinkk thats the way its going the more kids u have the better off u are I also think tax benefits as they do wages !!
on benefits when ur a single parent I mean
i am severly depressed due to the fact i work for a total of £78.08 a week i only recieve £40.00 a week housing benefit and £4.00 a week council tax benefit my rent for my 1 bedroom council flat is £63.00 a week and my council tax bill is £65.00 a month i am a 21yr old single person without any children and look what thanks i get. i would be financially better off if i had children or if i was on unemployment benefits. What a joke im up to my eyeballs in rent arrears as i just simply cant afford to pay im left with £2 a week after my living expenses and bills. this £2 is supposed to pay my travel to work which costs £12. Thank the heavens for my mum!!!
I would advise anyone who is working and therefore not recieving full housing and council tax benefit to apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment. Whilst there isnt a guarentee of recieving a payment, it can ease financial pressure and also demonstrate by sheer numbers of applications the inadaquate earnings disregards that make people feel worse of when working for a low income.
Hello Katie i’m very sorry to hear of your predicament. I am a single person without dependants myself and i have taken the attitude if the job even with Working Tax Credit(which i can claim which will give me £1300)doesn’t make me better off to live some life then i’ll stay claiming benefits.
I fully respect your choice to work regardless of whether you’re better off working or not, and would suggest you apply for Working Tax Credit which you are entitled to and may help your current financial situation. I wish you good luck.
Katie will not be entitled to claim Working Tax Credits as she is under the age of 25, does not have children, and does not pass the disability test (assuming from the info she has supplied).
However, Katie based on the info you have provided your HB should be £49.21 per week, and Danny is correct I would strongly urge you to claim a Discretionary Housing Payment. Contact your council and ask for the form.
thanks for your reply. you are right I’m not entitled to working tax credits due to the facts that you have stated its absolutely ridiculous there’s probably only a small minority of single people of my age without children and look at the thanks we get i do get housing benefit i think off the top of my head its £47 i am going to look into that discretionary housing payment because i haven’t got nothing to lose have i, thanks again
i did have that attitude when i left my last job for the same reason but the job centre bombarded me with “back to work” appointments and were bribing me with my dole to got a job etc. they were putting me on various unemployment courses so in the end i gave in. obviously as your probably aware there isn’t many jobs available so as soon as my job vacancy came up with only a guarantee of 16 hours work a week i took the job just to keep the job centre happy i have told the job centre that if something to benefit me working don’t come available very soon i will be back to sign on because not only can i not afford to keep my job its also very depressing having to go to work everyday for absolutely nothing but also getting myself deep in debt and now I’m on the verge of losing my flat due to rent arrears. It is an absolute insult towards us
This approach is better but it would encourage more people to actively seek employment if they had to work in some way for their benefits. There are many projects and schemes desperate for resources especially in inner cities that unemployed people could be getting involved with. I along with many others are fed up of people saying that they wont work for minimum wage and would rather stay at home and collect their benefits. I’m sure if they had to work in some way for their benefits it would encourage them to go out and find a ‘proper’ job.
I’ve often wondered why the local authorities cant take people on at benefit levels for X hours per week. After say six months, if a person is still in reciept of benefit, they would be expected to work for say 10 hours per week in exchange for their benefit. This could be gradually increased each month to a maximum of full time work.
This would enable councils to get the work they need done, at no extra cost beyond administration, which would be recouped by savings in labour costs (clearly existing staff would have to remain, but could be replaced by claimants as they retire/leave).
This would enable claimants to retrain in almost any field and be job ready with practical skills. It would reduce council tax bills over time, and enable claimants to feel they have “worked” for their benefits.
I totally agree with community work for benefits!
Will this ‘community work’ be carried out by those made unemployed by the council cuts and made to work at their old jobs for JSA? Are they now ’scroungers’ after been made redundant? After all they won’t need training will they so that will cut costs further! THINK!!!!!
The ideal of a work programt me seems really good idea from the point of view that it supports people back into work at level suitable for there needs. I feel that the housing benefit system, in particular the local housing allowance needs look at in more detail. The shared room rate for under 25s, has never provided any support for people in serious need of housing. The ideal of using shared room rates seems okay from the point of view of supporting families in the community. Though there should be requirement in the housing benefit law, which makes it clear that you look at the circumstances more than you currently do. The shared room rate needs a total review, I feel the self contained properties with there own bathroom and kitchen should be the starting point for all families. The bedsits ideal for under 25s who are single, does not work and makes people more vulnerable and homeless due to financial hardship. There should be restriction and limits imposed on private sector housing which is where the shared room rate, comes from, I agee with this. But there should be a requirement that the starting point should be a enough financial support into a property suitable for the size of family, and provides reasonable facilities such as basic bathroom and kitchen. The sharing of these facilities does not work, in the long run.
I welcome the proposals as a long term member of staff I have seen changes over the years that have resulted in the system becoming miore complex and cconfusing to both staff and customers, and emcourages non compliance with provision of information and fraud and misrepresenattaion either through ignorance, contradiction, or as an attempt to defraud the system.
therefore any plan to simplify the system and reduce the inequities in the system rthat encourage over/under payments and fraud are to be encouraged.
i am concerned that sometimes Departmental policy can be blown off course by short term political considerations and elements of exceptions are introduced into the basic system that increase it’s complexities, and can over a period of time result in the system becoming a complex as the current one, this should be resisted where possible.
A simplified system should also be easier to adminsister and should mean cheaper more responsive I.T. systems can be used, which will save on costs and should be more efficient in there ability to deliver.
I am concerned that provision will need to be built into the system to prevent ongooing fraud as was learnt at some cost by the online tax credit problems, but as long as safeguards are built in to prevent this, the simplified more equitable system proposed should reduce the type of petty fraud that occurs at present in the complex system in place.
T
I broadly agree with much of the thrust of this. Something has to be done about the benefits system, which to my mind has been out of control for years. However, on the question of “severe personal indebtedness,” I feel that the massive debts incurred through student loans is something that has to be addressed. Many students come from relatively poor families, will not necessarily end up in a good job, and could well find themselves on the dole.
DISABLEMENT ALLOWANCE
HIGHRATE: Awarded to persons assessed as being severely mentally physically disabled, deaf, blind, terminally ill, undergoing chemo, dialysis, etc.
LOW RATE: Awarded to persons assessed as being moderately disabled.
Customer is able to work up to 24 hours per week and earn up to standard tax limit.
CARERS ALLOWANCE
HIGH RATE: Awarded to persons caring for person receiving Disablement Allowance High Rate.
LOW RATE: Awarded to persons caring for person receiving Disablement Allowance Low Rate.
Customer is able to work up to 16 hours per week and earn up to standard tax limit.
PARENT ALLOWANCE
HIGH RATE: Awarded to parents of first two children under age 5.
LOW RATE: Awarded to parents of children under age 7.
Customer permitted to work.
EMPLOYMENT AND SUPPORT ALLOWANCE
JOBSEEKER
HIGH RATE: Awarded to persons with relevant NICs for a period of 26 weeks.
LOW RATE: Awarded to persons with no relevant NICS for up to 100 weeks.
Person permitted to join Work Activity Group and earn up to High Rate limit.
INCAPACITY
HIGH RATE: Awarded to persons with relevant NICS for a period of 26 weeks and not receiving SSP.
HIGH RATE Awarded to persons receiving Disablement Allowance at High rate or Low Rate and is not working.
LOW RATE: Awarded to persons with no relevant NICs for up to 100 weeks.
Person permitted to join Work Activity Group and earn up to High Rate limit.
HOUSING ALLOWANCE
HIGH RATE: Awarded to persons with income up to £10,500pa
REDUCED RATE: Awarded at High Rate less £676pa for each additional £1000pa of earnings.
CHILD ALLOWANCE
HIGH RATE: Awarded to persons with income up to £10,500pa
REDUCED RATE: Awarded at High Rate less £676pa for each additional £1000pa of earnings.
Existing DLA CA IS IB CHB and all premiums abolished.
These reforms would treat every citizen equally, and all benefits taxable along with earnings. Abolition of the means test would reduce bureacracy and waste. People would see the benefits of work, and benefit dependency be reduced.
FORMULA
Benefit Allowance plus Earnings plus Housing Allowance plus Child Allowance = annual income
Less 10% pension contribution, less 25% tax on income over £10,000pa
Less Community Charge = net income.
DISABLEMENT ALLOWANCE
HIGHRATE: Awarded to persons assessed as being severely mentally physically disabled, deaf, blind, terminally ill, undergoing chemo, dialysis, etc.
LOW RATE: Awarded to persons assessed as being moderately disabled.
Customer is able to work up to 24 hours per week and earn up to standard tax limit. ~ gary riding
Your suggestion (now made twice in this thread?!) may appear a good one, but it shows that you probably have limited experience of what life is like with a disability.
Even if you are profoundly disabled and lucky enough to work, you have to pay the extras e.g./ transport and carers. Meaning that, although you are contributing, you have significantly less personal disposable income than someone without a disability.
This sort of approach is long overdue. Previous administrations (both Labour and Conservative) have buried their heads in the sand for too long about the ineffectiveness and disincentivising nature of the welfare system. We must have a system where work does pay, and that it is easy to understand by the majority of people who need to access it.
Whatever the design of the new system it should reward parents for living together. Currently couples are encouraged to live apart by the fact that the income of a single man on JSA added to that of a singler mother on Income Support, Tax Credit,housing benefits and Council Tax Benefit is greated than that of a couple with children living together on JSA. This is wrong. Couples should, if anything be able to claim more than the sum of two individuals. This would reduce the number of single parent families and all the negative things which follow on from it.
Well if we’re going to start disproportionately rewarding people for conforming to someone else’s outmoded concept of morality, I want to be able to claim a celibacy premium.
I don’t think it’s really a question of morality. If you have a child together, surely it’s better for them that the parents to live together in the same house? Maybe people would be more careful about contraception and getting pregnant ‘by accident’, if they knew they wouldn’t get any additonal benefits?
thats what i think as more n more babies themselves are all having kids as they all want a nice furnished house and enough money to be able to bring up there child (all on benefits of course)whereas they would think twice if they were to WORK for it
yup !! defo agree me and my partner (of my both kids) DID NOT have a spare penny wen he lost his job and ended up on benefits u 180 fortnight plus 86 per wk tax credits per wk excl housing benefit yet a friend of a friend got 800 being a SINGLE mother with 2 kids no man ?????
maybe they give a single parent a bit more money because with 2 parents living together means 1 could look after the children whilst the other one can go out to work as a single parent you have to pay for child care im glad the family has broken down and it is okay to seperate because there are some families that stay together that shouldnt be together i think the people who are happily married and bringing up there children together are very lucky people not every one is as lucky enough to have that its not about contraception your partner could be run over buy a bus and within 24 hours u become a single parent and then u become a bad person