Brilliant article - glad this has been picked up on but real shame this didnt have more publicity before the bill had got to the house of lords - write to the house of lords and let them know your concerns.
I did a blog recently on this - the adult population of the country is 36million
12million are oaps
24 million are working age adults
12 million are going to be on the new universal credit with all the conditionality and sanctions which the unemployed are currently subject to.
This also means that half of the working age population do not earn enough money that the government says is the minimum amount recquired to be able to live on.
With the govt bringing in workfare - it is highly probable that in the future the govt will force people to make up the extra hrs by working for tescos, sainsburys etc. which is currently happening to those in receipt of jsa. this in essence means that the govt will be paying the below minimum wage and the companies will not be paying anything. As the private companies employ more and more free labour - they will get rid of the paid labour - so it will end up with everyone working for their benefits - it costing the govt more and more (as they take on private companies wages) and the economy going worse and worse as more and more of the population have less and less to spend!! Its insane!
Thursday 10 November 2011
Saturday 5 November 2011
No-one thinks the WCA is working except the DWP
this is my e-mail re the WCA
Dear Baroness Grey-Thompson
As you are probably aware there is much wrong with the Work Capability Assessment - for access to ESA and it looks like the tests for the new PIP rather than DLA are going to follow similar guidelines.
DPO's such as black triangle DPAC and the broken of britain are all saying how bad the tests are and how much they are getting it wrong as are all the disabled charities and the welfare and support charities such as CAB etc.
Well theres another group of people who are unhappy with it also - they are the work providers whose report to professor harrington I have attached.
paragraph 5.1 states
'ERSA is not concerned with the rights or wrongs of the WCA from an ethical perspective, but is concerned about the impact of the WCA on the ability of Work Programme prime providers and sub-contractors to deliver success for those referred to the programme.'
but the whole thing needs to be read - thats just a taster I believe the term is?
So from what i can gather - the only people who say the WCA is working are the govt, the dwp, the mainstream press and media and the general public who have no direct experience but base their views on the the media.
Therefore all involved directly with the sick and disabled and those found 'fit for work' think the WCA is not working!
Thank you for any help you can give us in regards to getting this unfair and unfit tests sorted out.
Yours sincerely
(the document I attached can be found via this link http://www.ersa.org.uk/hub/details/555/ersa-calls-for-a-joined-up-approach-between-the-work-capability-assessment-and-employment-services scroll down to the bottom of the article the link takes you to and the document is available via a download where it says click 'here')
Dear Baroness Grey-Thompson
As you are probably aware there is much wrong with the Work Capability Assessment - for access to ESA and it looks like the tests for the new PIP rather than DLA are going to follow similar guidelines.
DPO's such as black triangle DPAC and the broken of britain are all saying how bad the tests are and how much they are getting it wrong as are all the disabled charities and the welfare and support charities such as CAB etc.
Well theres another group of people who are unhappy with it also - they are the work providers whose report to professor harrington I have attached.
paragraph 5.1 states
'ERSA is not concerned with the rights or wrongs of the WCA from an ethical perspective, but is concerned about the impact of the WCA on the ability of Work Programme prime providers and sub-contractors to deliver success for those referred to the programme.'
but the whole thing needs to be read - thats just a taster I believe the term is?
So from what i can gather - the only people who say the WCA is working are the govt, the dwp, the mainstream press and media and the general public who have no direct experience but base their views on the the media.
Therefore all involved directly with the sick and disabled and those found 'fit for work' think the WCA is not working!
Thank you for any help you can give us in regards to getting this unfair and unfit tests sorted out.
Yours sincerely
(the document I attached can be found via this link http://www.ersa.org.uk/hub/details/555/ersa-calls-for-a-joined-up-approach-between-the-work-capability-assessment-and-employment-services scroll down to the bottom of the article the link takes you to and the document is available via a download where it says click 'here')
Wednesday 2 November 2011
The adult population is 36 million http://uk.ask.com/question/what-is-the-adult-population-of-the-uk
The number of people being put on universal credit is 12 million http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15535949
The number of OAP's is approx 12 million https://www.pensionspolicyinstitute.org.uk/default.asp?p=68
This means that the number of working age people is 24 million - therefore half of all working age people are either out of work or in low paid or part time work. From what I can gather the half who are working are over working to make ends meet. To me seems obvious we need to up the wages and share the work out fairly between all who are capable and ensure we look after the old, sick and disabled.
The number of people being put on universal credit is 12 million http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15535949
The number of OAP's is approx 12 million https://www.pensionspolicyinstitute.org.uk/default.asp?p=68
This means that the number of working age people is 24 million - therefore half of all working age people are either out of work or in low paid or part time work. From what I can gather the half who are working are over working to make ends meet. To me seems obvious we need to up the wages and share the work out fairly between all who are capable and ensure we look after the old, sick and disabled.
How Many People are Unemployed or Underemployed
Apparently when universal credit is brought in 12 million people of working age are to be migrated from various benefits - I am having problems making the figures add up?
http://www.wired-gov.net/wg/wg-news-1.nsf/0/1E0A741AE9EC42AD8025793B005520F8?OpenDocument
There are 2.5 million unemployed
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10604117
There are 2.6 million on ESA
http://benefitscroungingscum.blogspot.com/2011/03/esa-quiz-guest-post-by-sue-marsh.html
That adds up to 5 million approx.
450,000 working families on child tax credits etc.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jun/21/single-parents-pay-price-universal-credit
On the TV programme it was stated that people doing the work programme or doing work placements are not counted in the unemployment figures. I currently have not found the number of single parents who are in receipt of income support, but doubt that its 6 and a half million.
So the conclusion has to be that unemployment is much higher than stated and that there are a large number of people in jobs for which the pay is so low or not large enough in hours to enable the person to survive.
The fact that the work programme and work providers are protected by the govt from having to be open about what they get up to is very strange and the fact that many people are put on work programmes for 2 years in which they learn how to design cup cakes is both hiding the true figures for unemployment and a waste of time and money.
If I can find more figures will add later. am also trying to find out what is the situation surrounding sanctions and if people who are sanctioned ie have benefits removed for various periods of time, are given at least some money per week on which to survive (hardship payment) and if they have to pay this back when they get JSA reinstated.
http://www.wired-gov.net/wg/wg-news-1.nsf/0/1E0A741AE9EC42AD8025793B005520F8?OpenDocument
There are 2.5 million unemployed
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10604117
There are 2.6 million on ESA
http://benefitscroungingscum.blogspot.com/2011/03/esa-quiz-guest-post-by-sue-marsh.html
That adds up to 5 million approx.
450,000 working families on child tax credits etc.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jun/21/single-parents-pay-price-universal-credit
On the TV programme it was stated that people doing the work programme or doing work placements are not counted in the unemployment figures. I currently have not found the number of single parents who are in receipt of income support, but doubt that its 6 and a half million.
So the conclusion has to be that unemployment is much higher than stated and that there are a large number of people in jobs for which the pay is so low or not large enough in hours to enable the person to survive.
The fact that the work programme and work providers are protected by the govt from having to be open about what they get up to is very strange and the fact that many people are put on work programmes for 2 years in which they learn how to design cup cakes is both hiding the true figures for unemployment and a waste of time and money.
If I can find more figures will add later. am also trying to find out what is the situation surrounding sanctions and if people who are sanctioned ie have benefits removed for various periods of time, are given at least some money per week on which to survive (hardship payment) and if they have to pay this back when they get JSA reinstated.
Tuesday 1 November 2011
Who is in charge of Drs and Consultants - the DWP?
I have read an article in the Guardian recently which is saying how the GMC the general medical council, is telling Drs to make people go back to work and the implication is that they are to do so even when it is detrimental to the patients health.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/oct/31/doctors-guidance-long-term-illess
This is following an article from the Pulse magazine I think from the 4th october - this article is my previous post and as you can see - what is in the Pulse article but not mentioned in the Guardian article - is the fact that the DWP were involved in the drafting of the new GMC guidelines. The DWP said its submission had been drafted by Dame Carol Black, its work and health tsar, but was unable to provide a copy as Pulse went to press.
To me it appears that the DWP is having far too much input into areas of health - and from another blog I read http://thejobbingdoctor.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-section-of-department-of-health.html it looks like the GMC are supposed to be an independent body? which makes this even worse!
Need to find out more about Dame Carol M Black who is also part of the Wellbeing through work group - which takes the infamous unum funded research from Cardiff university seriously!!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/oct/31/doctors-guidance-long-term-illess
This is following an article from the Pulse magazine I think from the 4th october - this article is my previous post and as you can see - what is in the Pulse article but not mentioned in the Guardian article - is the fact that the DWP were involved in the drafting of the new GMC guidelines. The DWP said its submission had been drafted by Dame Carol Black, its work and health tsar, but was unable to provide a copy as Pulse went to press.
To me it appears that the DWP is having far too much input into areas of health - and from another blog I read http://thejobbingdoctor.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-section-of-department-of-health.html it looks like the GMC are supposed to be an independent body? which makes this even worse!
Need to find out more about Dame Carol M Black who is also part of the Wellbeing through work group - which takes the infamous unum funded research from Cardiff university seriously!!
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