Connect With Us:

Wednesday 20 April 2011

Birmingham City Council social care cuts ruled unlawful by High Court - West Midlands News - News - Birmingham Post

Birmingham City Council social care cuts ruled unlawful by High Court - West Midlands News - News - Birmingham Post: "Unison welcomed the ruling, with the union's regional head of local government Tony Rabaiotti describing it as a 'landmark ruling and a tremendous victory for thousands of vulnerable people across Birmingham who rely upon social care provision'."

Another council faces court action over cuts to support

Another council faces court action over cuts to support: "In the latest cases, a disabled Lancashire woman and the parents of two disabled boys – Boy A and Boy D – are seeking judicial reviews of decisions made by Lancashire County Council.

The disabled woman is challenging cuts to adult social care and possible cuts to her own care package.

The council wants to raise the eligibility threshold for support from “moderate” to “substantial”, saving £2.5 million a year for the next two years; cut spending on personal budgets and home care by £12 million over three years; and increase revenue from charging by more than £5.5 million over four years."

BBC News - Birmingham City Council disabled care limits 'unlawful'

BBC News - Birmingham City Council disabled care limits 'unlawful'

"It explained that only those whose needs had been assessed as "critical" would qualify for council-funded care...but the judges ruled that the council business plan was unlawful because it failed to comply with Section 49a of the Disability Discrimination Act."

Know your rights | Right to protest

Know your rights | Right to protest

BINDMANS LLP - Information for Protesters

Tuesday 19 April 2011

Mandatory Work Activity contracts announced | Indus Delta

Mandatory Work Activity contracts announced | Indus Delta: "Mandatory Work Activity contracts announced
Submitted by amielouisewilliams on Fri, 15/04/2011 - 11:56am
The Department for Work and Pensions has announced the results of the recent Mandatory Work Activity (MWA) programme bidding round."

CPACPA NamePreferred Bidder
CPA1South EastJHP Group
CPA2South WestRehab Group
CPA3LondonSeetec
CPA4East of EnglandSeetec
CPA5East MidlandsIngeus
CPA6West MidlandsESG
CPA7North WestJHP Group
CPA8Yorks & Humber BEST
CPA9North EastIngeus
CPA10ScotlandJHP Group
CPA11 WalesRehab Group

Disability Rights Watch UK

Disability Rights Watch UK: "The project aims to ensure that disabled people, Disabled People's Organisations (DPOs) and our allies, are fully involved in monitoring the UK's performance in implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities."

Sunday 17 April 2011

The Crutch Collective: Daily Mail Glasgow offices invaded by Anti-Benefit Cuts Protesters

The Crutch Collective: Daily Mail Glasgow offices invaded by Anti-Benefit Cuts Protesters: "Disabled people, people with illnesses, parents, people on low wages, unemployed people, carers and others demand an end to the defamation by the Daily Mail of people who need benefits to survive."

14/04/11

Tuesday 12 April 2011

http://www.socialworkfuture.org/images/documents/swan_statement_on_cuts_and_resistance.pdf

SOCIAL WORK ACTION NETWORK

The scale of the present assault on the poorest in our society is unlike anything any of us have witnessed for several generations. The time has come for those involved in social work to make a stand against the social violence being unleashed by the ConDem coalition: to speak out, campaign and join the movements of resistance.

Another world is possible!

SWAN Steering Committee

http://www.rcn.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/339347/Work_Capability_Assessment_call_for_evidence_Aug_2010_final.pdf

Royal College of Nursing & the Work Capability Assessment Régime Call for Evidence - Communiqué Paper from August 2010

Sunday 10 April 2011

Art of War by SunTzu [SunZi] -English Hypertext

Art of War by SunTzu [SunZi] -English Hypertext:

3. The art of war, then, is governed by five constant
factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations,
when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.

4. These are: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth;
(4) The Commander; (5) Method and discipline."

Well enough to work? -- McCartney 342 -- bmj.com

Well enough to work? -- McCartney 342 -- bmj.com:

BMJ 2011; 342:d599 doi: 10.1136/bmj.d599
(Published 2 February 2011)

Cite this as: BMJ 2011; 342:d599

Feature

Medical Work Assessments:

'Well enough to work?'

Margaret McCartney, general practitioner, Glasgow.

The Corporate Tax Gap

Report published by the TUC

International Socialism: The return of fear

International Socialism: The return of fear: "They have revitalised the disability movement and have led to the creation of militant new organisations such as Disabled People against Cuts and the Black Triangle Campaign, both of which have shown a willingness to engage in direct action."

Government admits Jobcentres set targets to take away benefits | Politics | guardian.co.uk

Government admits Jobcentres set targets to take away benefits | Politics | guardian.co.uk: "'The secretary of state should issue a full and public apology. When MPs return from their Easter break he should also be asked to explain to parliament why he tried to mislead the public."

Benefits: Department of Woeful Practices | Comment is free | The Guardian

Benefits: Department of Woeful Practices | Comment is free | The Guardian: "In this new world of rough justice, most claimants will receive no real justice at all. The government has proposed abolishing legal aid in social security cases, even though these naturally involve people in no position to foot their own legal bill. The coalition's creed is looking less like the liberalism that it proclaims, and more like a desiccated libertarianism – which talks up the freedoms of people with means, and hurls those with none to the dogs."

Atos Origin: Cracking Down on Workshy Scroungers

Atos Origin: Cracking Down on Workshy Scroungers

FROM DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT DOTCOM

National Day of Protest Against Welfare & Housing Benefit Cuts

National Day of Protest Against Welfare & Housing Benefit Cuts

Benefit Claimants Fight Back Website

Friday 8 April 2011

Government admits Jobcentres set targets to take away benefits | Politics | guardian.co.uk

Government admits Jobcentres set targets to take away benefits | Politics | guardian.co.uk: "Department of Work and Pensions backtracks on denial of Guardian investigation that some jobcentres have been taking people off benefits amid pressure to meet targets"

Thursday 7 April 2011

The libertarian cheerleaders of the government's class war

The libertarian cheerleaders of the government's class war

The march of the reactionaries in support of the cuts

Truth, Reason & Liberty: Jody McIntyre - a personification of the state's contempt for the disabled

Truth, Reason & Liberty: Jody McIntyre - a personification of the state's contempt for the disabled

14th December 2010

Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1% | Society | Vanity Fair

Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1% | Society | Vanity Fair:

INEQUALITY

Americans have been watching protests against oppressive regimes that concentrate massive wealth in the hands of an elite few. Yet in our own democracy, 1 percent of the people take nearly a quarter of the nation’s income—an inequality even the wealthy will come to regret.

By Joseph E. Stiglitz

OP-ED COLUMNIST - The Austerity Delusion - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com

OP-ED COLUMNIST - The Austerity Delusion - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com: "Portugal's government has just fallen in a dispute over austerity proposals. Irish bond yields have topped 10 percent for the first time. And the British government has just marked its economic forecast down and its deficit forecast up.

What do these events have in common? They're all evidence that slashing spending in the face of high unemployment is a mistake. Austerity advocates predicted that spending cuts would bring quick dividends in the form of rising confidence, and that there would be few, if any, adverse effects on growth and jobs; but they were wrong."

The biggest lie in British politics : Johann Hari

The biggest lie in British politics : Johann Hari

"Here’s the lie. We are in a debt crisis. Our national debt is dangerously and historically high. We are being threatened by the international bond markets. The way out is to eradicate our deficit rapidly. Only that will restore “confidence”, and therefore economic growth. Every step of this program is false, and endangers you."

Wednesday 6 April 2011

Comment: 'Capacity' to work is not an abstract concept - politics.co.uk

Comment: 'Capacity' to work is not an abstract concept - politics.co.uk: "Incapacity benefit reform is not addressing the underlying question: Are disabled people avoiding work or are companies unwilling to employ them?
By Prof Alan Roulstone

Alan Roulstone is professor of applied social sciences (disability policy) at Northumbria University.

Decision to axe £1.4m funding for Birmingham voluntary groups ruled unlawful - West Midlands News - News - Birmingham Post

Decision to axe £1.4m funding for Birmingham voluntary groups ruled unlawful - West Midlands News - News - Birmingham Post: "Mr Justice Blake said a Birmingham City Council decision to stop giving money to groups such as the Citizens Advice Bureau was “clearly defective” and that councillors appeared not to understand their obligations under the Race Relations Act, Sex Discrimination Act and Disability Discrimination Act.

Council leaders failed to take proper account of the impact that withdrawing grants would have on disabled and vulnerable people, the judge added.

No consultation was carried out with people who would suffer because of the funding cuts, neither did the cabinet consider other ways of helping the organisations to identify alternative funding."


Mr Justice Blake dismissed the claim, adding that the local authority’s financial difficulties did not mean that it could ignore equalities legislation.
He said: “There is much to be said for the proposition that, even in straightened times, the need for clear and informed decision making that assesses the impact on disadvantaged members of society is great, if not greater.”


The Employment and Support Allowance (Limited Capability for Work and Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity) (Amendment) Regulations 2011

The Employment and Support Allowance (Limited Capability for Work and Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity) (Amendment) Regulations 2011:

Made

8th February 2011

Laid before Parliament

16th February 2011

Coming into force

28th March 2011

Legislation.gov.uk

Legislation.gov.uk

UK Legislation Online

YouTube - Inclusion Scotland Conference in Edinburgh Mar 2011.wmv

YouTube - Inclusion Scotland Conference in Edinburgh

Edinburgh Conference on Welfare Reform to raise awareness of the scale and scope of the proposed cuts in benefits and to let disabled people know exactly what is going on amid the political 'spin' with guest speakers: Bill Scott (Inclusion Scotland) John Dickie (SCPAG) Sue Kelly (Independent Research Worker) John McArdle (Black Triangle) Sasha Callahan (Activist Direct Action Network) Hugh O'Donnell (MSP) and chaired by Matthew Wheatley. There were three aspects to the discussions, campaigns, information and direct action with all reaching the same outcome - the need to mobilise and Act NOW! A massive thank you to Bill Scott and Matthew Wheatley for starting the ball rolling.

Revised ESA work capability assessment test - Disability Alliance UK (United Kingdom)

Revised ESA work capability assessment test - Disability Alliance UK (United Kingdom)

Published 29th March 2011

Woman forced to prove she is 'incontinent enough' for free prescription

Woman forced to prove she is 'incontinent enough' for free prescription: "Blind Edith Braddow, 77, had been receiving the sanitary pads free of charge but new rules mean health staff are having to assess whether people still need them.

She was asked to take three soiled pads to her doctors to be weighed, to see if she was losing enough urine."

Tuesday 5 April 2011

Agenda for a New Economy - By David Korten

An alternative to Neoliberal economics

‎"Most calls for action, however, seek only to limit the excesses and deceptions of greedy bankers and financiers. We have yet to engage a much-needed national conversation that addresses essential, yet unasked, questions....."

 ‎"For example:
1. Do Wall Street institutions do anything so vital for the
national interest as to justify opening the national purse
strings and showering them with trillions of dollars in
order to save them from the consequences of their own
excess?
2. Is it possible that the whole Wall Street edifi ce is built
on an illusion that has no substance yet carries deadly
economic, social, and environmental consequences for
the larger society?
3. Might there be other ways to provide necessary and
benefi cial fi nancial services with greater effectiveness
and at lower cost?
This edition of Agenda for a New Economy, as did the fi rst
edition, argues that the correct answers are (1) no, (2) yes,
(3) yes.
Ultimately, it comes down to a question of the values we
believe the economy should serve. Should it give priority to
money, or to life? To the fortunes of the few, or the well-being
of all?"

When Facts Are Not Enough: Treating Mass Psychosis « SpeakEasy

When Facts Are Not Enough: Treating Mass Psychosis « SpeakEasy:

"One of the biggest, long-lasting delusions of progressives is that people are moved mainly by rational arguments. Consequently, to get people to accept a particular policy such as universal health care, all one needs to do is to present strong and persuasive arguments in favor of it.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

As George Lakoff and many others have pointed out, conservatives are highly effective in getting their views across and their policies adopted not just because they control major media outlooks and think tanks, but because they have powerful narratives that appeal directly to gut emotions. Until progressives not only have a better understanding of how emotions fundamentally shape political issues, but also incorporate them into their appeals, they will continue to lose the hearts and minds of the wider populace."

True Transparency! YOUR.MP@parliament.co.uk - Every UK MPs e-mail address in one place.

True Transparency! YOUR.MP@parliament.co.uk - Every UK MPs e-mail address in one place.: "True Transparency has done the hard work for you. Just click the links above and you're just two clicks from your MP's e-mail address."

Who Knows Who: the coalition cabinet • Stories • Who Knows Who

Who Knows Who: the coalition cabinet • Stories • Who Knows Who

They are not all Oxford chums, millionaires and the Notting Hill set, but quite a large slice are. Who Knows Who examines the old rivals and new faces in the Con-Lib cabinet.

The oldest is 69 (Ken Clarke), the youngest is about to turn 38 (Danny Alexander), 43 is the magic number. Two are former presidents of the Oxford Union (William Hague, Michael Gove) and two edited the Oxford student magazine (George Osborne and Chris Huhne). Only four are female, a fair few are millionaires and of course five cabinet members are Liberal Democrats.

Who Knows Who takes a look at the connections in the new coalition Cabinet.

Welfare reform: is benefits culture a myth? - Channel 4 News

Welfare reform: is benefits culture a myth? - Channel 4 News: (From Thursday 17 February 2011)

"Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith says 'a life on benefits will no longer be an option for somebody'. But Channel 4 News has found figures suggesting that this is already the case."

The science of empathy | Science | The Observer

The science of empathy | Science | The Observer

"Does it upset you when you see people arguing? Do you cry at the cinema? Empathy is one of our most powerful emotions yet society has all but ignored it. Autism expert Professor Simon Baron-Cohen reveals the science behind "the world's most valuable resource" – and how its lack is the root of human cruelty"

National Week of Action Against Atos Origin

National Week of Action Against Atos Origin 9-15th May 2011

NATIONWIDE

Disability activists, claimant groups and anti-cuts campaigners have called a week of action against poverty pimps Atos Origin beginning on Monday 9th May with a picnic and party in Triton Square*, home of their head office, at 2pm.

Atos Origin have just begun a £300 million contract by the Con-dem Government to carry out ‘work capability assessments’ on all of those claiming Incapacity Benefit.

It is claimed assessments are to test what people can do rather than what they can’t. The real purpose is to strip benefits from as many people as possible.

This testing system has already led to people with terminal illnesses and severe medical conditions being declared fit for work and having benefits cut. GP’s are ignored in favour of decisions made by Atos Origin’s computer.

Plans announced for the scrapping of Disability Living Allowance have also revealed that this intrusive testing is likely to be extended to everyone on some form of disability or health related benefit.

To date around 40% of appeals against Atos Origin’s decisions have been successful.

On the 24th January claimants from around the country demonstrated outside Atos Origins premises, with many choosing to close for the day rather than face their 'clients'. We call on all groups around the UK to take action against these parasites who have been dubbed 'the racial purity and euthanasia arm of the DWP'

A list of Atos Origin's corporate offices can be found at: http://www.uk.atosorigin.com/en-uk/about_us/locations/

Atos testing centres are listed at: http://www.atoshealthcarejobs.co.uk/locations.html

If you are holding an event, protest or action in your home town please add details on the wall below to have your event added to this page and the website. Alternatively contact us at: notowelfarecuts@yahoo.co.uk

In the meantime the Third National Day of Action Against Benefit Cuts is taking place on Thursday April 14th. Visit the facebook page for more info and help spread the word: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=164277070288955

*Triton Square is on the North side of Euston Road, just over the road from Warren Street tube and less than five minutes from Euston/Euston Square or Great Portland Street tube stations.

http://benefitclaimantsfightback.wordpress.com/

In defence of Black Bloc | openDemocracy

In defence of Black Bloc | openDemocracy: "Our relationship with the state is underwritten by violence. Max Weber defined it in exactly those terms: as that which has a “monopoly on the legitimate use of violence”. So it is little wonder that the British government could afford to be idiotic in its analysis of black bloc, the “mindless thugs” who, on March 26th, broke the windows of banks, the Ritz, a Porsche dealership and Ann Summers. To Wes Streeting’s horror, they even threw paint at Topshop."

Time limits on ESA and what they mean in practice « This is my truth

Time limits on ESA and what they mean in practice « This is my truth: "Sometimes the devil is in the detail.

One of the initial reactions to yesterday’s comprehensive spending review concerned the change to make employment and support allowance (ESA) time limited for one year. Tom Clark in the guardian explained the implications of this;

“Singles will be able to fall back on a means-tested safety net, but everyone else will be forced to rely on the generosity of their partner. Expect wheelchairs in Downing Street as the coalition does away with the long-established principle that people who have contributed their own national insurance in the past, and then become sick and disabled, should expect a modest stipend from the state in recognition of this”"

DWP Smoke and Mirrors « This is my truth

DWP Smoke and Mirrors « This is my truth: "Unemployment is BIG business. Forget the numbers out of work, the Department for Work and Pensions has announced the two companies which are ‘preferred bidders’ to deliver the new Work Programme in Wales: Working Links and a joint venture between Interserve and Rehab JobFit. The contract for the latter is said to be worth £130 million.

Whilst you may have seen Working Links’ bilious orange signs dotted around many town centres in Wales, you’re less likely to have heard of the other preferred contractors. So here’s the info."

Exclusive: ‘Sick firm told us to catch out disabled people'|9Apr11|Socialist Worker

Exclusive: ‘Sick firm told us to catch out disabled people'|9Apr11|Socialist Worker

After more than 20 years in the NHS caring for patients, Jean says she could not carry on working for Atos and left shortly after she started.

“The job was making me sick,” she said. “It’s against my principles to treat people with long term illnesses in such a disgusting way, so I had to give it up.

“People go into those interviews and talk openly to you because you are a nurse and they trust you.

“Then your skills are used against them, to take away their benefits and destroy their lives.

“I can’t be a part of that.”

UK Uncut: Business as Usual « beyondclicktivism

UK Uncut: Business as Usual « beyondclicktivism: "Everything that is great about Britain, including the NHS and the welfare state which helped this country recover after the Second World War, is being destroyed by a small group of rich individuals who are using the consequences of the recklessness of their backers to launch an ideological assault on the most vulnerable in society. We will not be intimidated, neither by press smears nor by press silence, neither by political arrests nor by the condemnation of David Cameron in Parliament."
http://www.learningdisabilitywales.org.uk/pdfs/awpf-manifesto.pdf

What is All Wales People First?
All Wales People First is the United Voice
of Self – Advocacy Groups and all
People with Learning Disabilities in Wales.
It Shares Knowledge and Information to
Achieve Equal Rights and a Positive Image.....

World Autism Awareness Day: time to reflect - Channel 4 News

World Autism Awareness Day: time to reflect - Channel 4 News

Saturday 02 April 2011

On World Autism Day, Nicky Clark looks back on her experience of bringing up two daughters with the condition and pleads for public understanding.

DAA - Disability Awareness in Action - DAA News Network

DAA - Disability Awareness in Action - DAA News Network

USA: BETTER IN PRISON THAN FREE AND DISABLED IN CALIFORNIA?

Posted 03/4-11 at 00.31

Laura Repke, says that her son, as well as many other people with learning difficulties, might be better off in prison, even on Death Row.

The Limited Capability for Work test

How to Pass the Limited Capability for Work Test
(Mental Illness and Incapacity)

Advice Courtesy of Newcastle City Council

Limited capability for work mental health descriptors from 28 March 2011

Limited capability for work mental health descriptors from 28 March 2011

From www.newcastle.gov.uk

Here are the mental, cognitive and intellectual function descriptors for the limited capability for work test from 28 March 2011.

See who this applies to
How to pass the limited capability for work test (points system)

DWP

"Government’s response to the consultation on Disability Living
Allowance reform."

4th April 2011

Three ways to challenge the cuts in court | Blog | False Economy

Three ways to challenge the cuts in court | Blog | False Economy

Here are three key grounds for challenging cuts in court – though there may be others:

Discrimination
Lack of Consultation
Irrationality

Work for Your Benefit - DWP

Work for Your Benefit - DWP: "Work for Your Benefit (WfYB)

Work for Your Benefit (WfYB) is a mandatory programme that will provide full-time work-experience and employment support for up to 6 months predominantly for those Jobseekers who reach the end of the Flexible New Deal (FND).

The WfYB provision and support aims to test initiatives to follow FND by:

ensuring that customers with longer duration unemployment get additional help
improving the flexibility of provision and increased personalisation to meet customer needs
helping customers get the skills training they need to help them get better jobs
making greater use of the flexibility and innovation that partnership working with the Public, Private and Voluntary Sectors can provide"

New Statesman - Cut, cut, cut: Alistair Darling versus Greg Barker

New Statesman - Cut, cut, cut: Alistair Darling versus Greg Barker

Shadow cabinet ministers and Labour-supporting bloggers alike have become excited by this quote [below] from Tory minister Greg Barker, speaking in front of an American audience:

We are making cuts that Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s could only have dreamt of.

He's right. But the Labour response is, ahem, odd. Angela Eagle, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, says:

Greg Barker has let the cat out the bag about the ideological agenda behind this Tory-led government's deep cuts to public services.

Hmm. People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. The inconvenient truth is that Labour, thanks to the so-called Darling plan for deficit reduction, had also planned to go beyond Thatcher too - and were equally keen to "let the cat out of the bag".

New Statesman - Tory minister: Thatcher only "dreamt of" our cuts

New Statesman - Tory minister: Thatcher only "dreamt of" our cuts

This benefits bonanza is more big Serco than big society | Polly Toynbee | Comment is free | The Guardian

This benefits bonanza is more big Serco than big society | Polly Toynbee | Comment is free | The Guardian

Scope comment on work capability assessment pilots: ePolitix.com

Scope comment on work capability assessment pilots: ePolitix.com

Incapacity Benefit Claimants and the Work Capability Assessment

Incapacity Benefit Claimants and the Work Capability Assessment

‎"Here is a copy of the information on the new ESA50 form we have to complete for the assessment along with the new scoring. You need 15 points to retain your ESA at the same rate of IB and not be forced to look for work. The form has been revised from the pilot form used in Burnley earlier this year."

http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/core.nsf/a/wr_esadescriptorslcwphysicalnew

The FactCheck Blog - Is the Government’s new benefits policy fit to work or shirking its duties?

The FactCheck Blog - Is the Government’s new benefits policy fit to work or shirking its duties?

BBC News - Q&A: Incapacity benefits crackdown explained

BBC News - Q&A: Incapacity benefits CRACKDOWN explained

4th April 2011

Factcheck: Incapacity Benefit reporting: The good, the bad, and the ugly | Full Fact

Factcheck: Incapacity Benefit reporting: The good, the bad, and the ugly | Full Fact 4th April 2011