Benefits And Work - July Newsletter
5 July 2010 newsletter |
| 5 July 2010 Firstly, just to say we have now quadrupled the memory on our server in the hope that this will prevent the site crashing when thousands of people click on links at the same time. But, if it does still crash, please try again later . . . we’ll be back. In this newsletter we look at the shock coalition government plans to slash the number of people receiving disability living allowance (DLA) by 20%. A new, points-based system modelled on the notorious work capability assessment process for employment and support allowance is to be introduced for DLA, along with new qualifying criteria. A treasury document has confirmed that all existing DLA claimants of working age to will be required to undergo a medical using the new system between 2013 and 2016, leading to savings of over a billion pounds a year in reduced DLA claimant numbers. This means there’s still the opportunity to fight these proposals, but there’s certainly no time to lose. Members can read more at: We’re also deeply dismayed by the hate-provoking DWP press release that accompanied the emergency budget. The statement claimed that DLA was open to abuse and cited the rise in the number of people receiving DLA as evidence of this, without offering a shred of proof that it is fraud rather than, for example, wider awareness of DLA that is the reason for this rise. In fact, the DWP’s own statistics put fraud in relation to DLA at a tiny 0.6% last year. We fear that the coalition is embarking on a campaign of whipping up hatred of DLA claimants similar to the one waged against incapacity benefit claimants in recent years. Read more and let us have your opinion at: Coalition begins smear campaign against DLA claimants Moving away from DLA we have the news that the DWP has announced the scrapping of the ‘second medical’ for employment and support allowance (ESA) from later this month. Along with the admission that Pathways to Work is a complete failure this leaves the entire ‘back to work’ aspect of ESA in tatters: The tribunal service statistics suggest that other aspects of ESA are also struggling, with ESA appeals having more than quadrupled in less than a year and now far exceeding DLA appeals in number: ESA appeals skyrocket Finally, the forums were closed for a few days last week due to the huge quantity of budget related posts having to be dealt with by a reduced number of staff. The forums are back online now, however, thanks to the continued dedication of our entirely unpaid team of moderators. And, just to show that some people are still successfully being awarded benefits, we’ve listed a few of the cheerier posts from the last few weeks below. DLA 4 page SUCCESS!!! Increased award!! ESA - Won my appeal but was the Doctor negligent? Tribunal for IB is a WINNER!!! DLA DLA Short Form Renewal Success ESA Appeal Today IB renewal Success Finally, the office has been closed for two weeks whilst we took our annual leave, so you won’t be surprised to learn that we’re still catching up on everything that’s been going on in our absence – because there’s been an awful lot. So much so that we’ll probably put out an extra one or two newsletters over the next few weeks in order to make sure we’ve given you all the major news. And, once again, if the links aren’t working at the moment we really are sorry, but please do call back later. Good luck, Steve Donnison (c) 2010 Steve Donnison. Benefits and Work Publishing Ltd. Company registration No. 5962666 You are welcome to reproduce this newsletter on your website or blog, provided you do so in full. |
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