Have your Say on DLA

Dear Members,

Millions of Disabled People Worse off? Are you going to do something?

6 October 2009.  26,245 people have signed up since the campaign began on 6th August.

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/AttendanceA/

“Without DLA, I wouldn’t be able to pay for the wheelchair

I need or the care I need to socialise and lead an independent life.“

Neil Coyle, Director of Policy at the Disability Alliance, said his discussions with the Government indicated that there were no plans to abolish DLA. But he urged disabled people to write to their MP to explain how DLA gives them control and choices in meeting their own needs which might disappear if local authorities became responsible for administering how it was spent.

Here at BBS we are acutely aware of the debate that’s been on the agenda for some time now on the intended benefit changes proposed from DWP, regarding DLA and specifically to the care component.

The " Shaping the Future of Care Together" Green Paper which was published by the DWP on 14th July sets out the Government plans to get rid of attendance allowance but, you can have your say through the consultation process which ends 13th November, the real fear since July has centred around the prospect of possibly removing the care component of disability living allowance

We have received updates from a number of Charities who claim it's too late to save DLA and AA. We say it’s not too late to make your views known.

Patricia Osborne CEO Brittle Bone Society said: “We will be offering a response to the Green Paper, and will be contacting the new Minister for Disability, Jonathan Shaw – just to remind him that The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 was one of his own Government’s finest achievements. It would cause real hardship to many of our members if our worst fears are realized”. Also let us not forget the role our society’s most high profile campaigner, the recently deceased Baroness Nicky Chapman played in the formation of the DDA. Without doubt this rumour of DLA being carved up, would have mobilized Nicky and if she were with us today, she would surely back our sentiments in asking for firm reassurances from the Government.

Too often people are discriminated against in every day life and no one seems to care. At the Brittle Bone Society we will make sure our voice is heard”.

We will also point out that this proposal came as a huge disappointment and was further heightened due to the findings of a report by the Social and Economic Research Department published in November 2008 that stated – by taking DLA and AA from claimants and making it part of a 'personal budget' administered by social services; would leave millions of disabled people worse off and with less independence.

The Green Paper currently sets out proposals for a 'National Care Service' that only apply to England, the proposals for funding such arrangements may also have implications for disabled people in Scotland.

There is, a somewhat despondent mood surfacing amongst Charities who seem poised to accept without question an outright defeat on this issue.

It was only last week at the Labour Party Conference – Minister Phil Hope MP proclaimed the DLA is SAVED?

One week on and there has been no corroboration of Care Services Minister Phil Hope’s statement that DLA is not being considered for the chop.  

We urge the Government to clear up any confusion and for avoidance of doubt, we appeal to the DWP to Mr Hope or Mr Shaw at the Department of Health to make a concrete statement confirming that they have changed their position and that DLA is now safe.

In addition, we are also troubled that so far no reassuring statements have been forthcoming in relation to AA.

Many Charities and supportive bodies are urging all of us who will be affected by any prospect of change in this policy to ‘carry on campaigning’.

The petition about DLA and AA has attracted just under12,000 signatures. It is important the website hits rise dramatically, if the iron clad assurance we want to see in newspaper headlines and on TV news slots, is going to be procured from lobbying No 10.

We thought it would be good to post the petition link here so that our members can decide if they would like to join in the campaign.

The petition was started by the Disability Charities Consortium and we agree with them, that it’s important that disability charities now work together effectively to promote it. If we can’t act together on so simple a thing as getting signatures on a petition, then what exactly can they act together on and how can they claim to be representing their members’ interests?

The petition can be found at: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/AttendanceA/ 

Green Paper Website
the Big Care Debate website has answered queries about missing responses by saying that “we have received an amazing response from the public in regards to the Green Paper, on both the website and via email. We are doing our best to work our way through them, and have them online and ready to view as soon as we can.”

We know that in the past, such consultations have struggled to get responses numbering in the hundreds, let alone the thousands. So, we can certainly believe that the ‘amazing’ response by Benefits and Work campaigners has taken the Department of Health by surprise.

If you haven’t yet sent a response to the green paper, please do so by visiting this link:

http://careandsupport.direct.gov.uk/greenpaper/execsum/

Or emailing: careandsupport@dh.gsi.gov.uk

Concerns have been raised from some quarters that there doesn’t appear to be any complaints procedure for the green paper consultation and this is being looked into. At BBS we appreciate larger charities may have time to pursue the procedures in and around this statutory process and look forward to hearing the outcome. It will take time to pursue that, and we will let you know what transpires from that protest.

Appeal for news from BBS Members

You can post your news in the Benefits and Work forum, if you’re a member, at:

http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/forum?func=showcat&catid=13

And/or in the free welfare watch forums at:

http://welfarewatch.myfineforum.org/index.php

You can also keep up with news about opposition to the green paper at the Carer Watch campaign blog:

http://carerwatch.com/cuts/

Here at BBS we would like to thank Benefits and Work Publishing www.benefitsandwork.co.uk for keeping us up to date on this and allowing permission to post so much useful information for our members.

The Brittle Bone Society wants to hear from you. Get in touch with us and tell us what you think?

Email : contact@brittlebone.org