Well, for Scotland at least. The Scottish government announced yesterday that they would not be employing private companies to carry out assessments for devolved benefits. They stated that they were disgusted by the uncaring way both Atos and Capita go about their business, using assessor not necessarily qualified to carry out medicals on people with conditions which they know nothing about. It is the intention of the Scottish government to set up their own, not for profit unit, to carry out all assessments, probably allied to the NHS. This will cover devolved benefits such as PIP, Attendance Allowance etc. They are also looking at exempting progressive conditions such as MS so that we don’t have to go through the stress of continuous assessments and, as they said, are “treated with the dignity we deserve”. It’s welcome news for us. Could have been even better coz the SNP asked that they suspend the migration from DLA to PIP for Scottish recipients so that the Scottish version of the benefits could be applied. Of course the U.K. government refused to do this.
Oh couldn’t Scotland invade England (plus Wales and NI of course) and then we’d have sensible rules and a parliament that actually gives a stuff about the people who voted for them?
Can’t come soon enough, Gary. I have a review next year and am nervous already. Saying that the lady I saw in Aberdeen 2 years ago was fair with me. Thing is you are never sure if the criteria changes.
Excellent news and a victory for common sense. Most of the knowledge is with the NHS anyway, so why on earth not use them.
Yet another example of Tory financial incompetence.
"We’re told repeatedly that spending on “welfare” for disabled people is out of control, yet the Department for Work and Pensions has gone nearly £200m over budget, paying two private firms to run the personal independence payments (PIP) assessment system.
The Conservatives have now spent £700m in taxpayers’ money on these contracts alone, despite the fact the process is so flawed that four out of five rejections are overturned at appeal."
Hello Gary, don’t get too carried away by this Scottish government, they are Scotland tory party, they say, and have said all along, the stuff that voters want to hear, ie, council tax freeze, ten years now, the householders save money-don’t worry that it costs workers jobs, pay restrictions, or various cutbacks, or the Forth bridge built by Chinese money and from Chinese steel-stuff British steel, but good PR in fighting to save it from going under, or the money spent on the NHS-shortage of nurses, doctors, GPs is all lies by trouble makers, or the free nursery places-trained nursery teachers are employed less and less, or the “lies” that claims that food bank users are up 18% this year with 45,000 children amongst the casualties, what else does the snp says and does is only to fool the ejits to vote for independence, which, according to them, is a once in a lifetime vote = every two years, Brian
I take it you are not an SNP supporter and don’t agree with their mitigation of the bedroom tax, free personal care, no tuition fees, anti trident stance and plans for the roll out of PIP. Fair enough, everyone is entitled to their opinion. I would presume you would have them drop those policies and just implement every dictat that comes from Westminster. Or maybe you wouldnt. Who knows? If Ruth the tank commander gets her feet under the table we should all be worried, her stance on the rape clause made that perfectly clear. Just as an aside, I do a lot of work with food banks and their use is up by a hell of a lot more than 18%, so much so that they are fast running out of food. By the way, I didn’t vote for the SNP last time but I will this time, the alternative is a Tory government in Scotland and I couldn’t stomach that. Sorry if this offends but there you go. We all have to live with these things.
Hello again, the bedroom tax was wrong, but the idea of one person living in a 3/4/5 bedroom house alone whilst bigger families struggle in small house is equally wrong, the free personal care is only for those in their own homes, those in care or nursing homes pay for some, tuition fees are for any in Scotland, or a member state in the EU, anyone from England, Wales or Northern Ireland have to pay,things regards trident have went quiet this last wee while, and the roll out of PIP, is what, we won’t have Atos or Capita, but some new assessor, who may, or not, be a Scottish Atos or Capita, and as for Ruth, who, the party that gets my vote, every time, is led by a good true socialist, Brian
Actually Free personal care is also paid for everyone in care homes, the local authority pays the care home £171 per week for this. I know coz we have just had to sort it out for a relative of mine. He has money in the bank so still has to pay the care home fees but the LA still pay the care company for his personal care. This means he pays less per week than he would have to should this not be in place. Agree with you re house sizes but what do you do, throw an elderly couple out of what has been their family home for decades? The fault lies with the selling off of council properties and the failure to build replacements, and that applies to all parties in government. Just for the record, when the SNP banned the sale of council properties in Scotland Labour voted against it. Not very socialist. One of the reasons I want in Independent Scotland now is so we can vote in a compassionate Labour government in Scotland. I know Corbyns heart is in the right place but he is not up to the job and is driven by McDonald and Mcluskey, none of whom I trust. So, unfortunately, in 6 weeks we are going to see the death of UK Labour and I can’t see them coming back. That leaves us with a dilemma, Tory or SNP and I would rather have open heart surgery with a spoon and no anaesthetic than vote for Ruth the twat.
Perhaps better design of streets and homes might help. To have family houses near to flats, so a mixture in the street. If one person is living in a three bed house and is required to move home they might then have the chance of moving to a flat in the same street or a street very near by.
Agreed but that will take decades. The idea of moving the elderly out of their homes to make up for government failure is just wrong. But, governments of all colours only seem to be able to think in 5 year cycles. It’s always jam tomorrow and the only people who suffer are the very people who voted them in. God knows how we can change things. I’m particularly worried about the next GE coz I think the Tories might reach new heights of nastiness. Scary stuff.