ATOS

[go.oot.by.dog]

Francesca Martinez,

Fantastic lady and what a great speech she gave.

 

Totally agree Mattie, it is an inspirational speech from an amazing lady.

[go.oot.by.dog]

Briefing on How Cuts Are Targeted – Dr Simon Duffy

 

How the cuts target disabled people

 

The UK government is making big cuts in public expenditure in order to try and solve a financial crisis that was primarily triggered by excessive house price inflation, private borrowing and over-lending by the banks. However, most people think that everything is being cut and that the cuts being made are probably fair. The latest report from The Centre for Welfare Reform - A Fair Society? - shows that this is not true.

 

Not everything is being cut.

 

In fact over 50% of cuts fall in just two areas which together make up only 25% of government spending:

 

Benefits (to be cut by 20%) most of which is for disabled people and people in poverty

 

Local government (to be cut by over 40%) most of which (60%) is for social care (which will be cut by 33%)

 

The cuts are not fair.

 

They target the very groups that a decent society would protect:

 

People in poverty (1 in 5 of us) bear 39% of all the cuts

 

Disabled people (1 in 13 of us) bear 29% of all the cuts

 

People with severe disabilities (1 in 50 of us) bear 15% of all the cuts

 

These facts are represented in the following info-graphic:

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q799/magnacube/47895dfc-c22d-4175-91a2-33d0bc7a1d3b_zps8a36cd53.jpg

 

The unfairness of this policy is seen even more clearly when we look at the difference between the burden of cuts that falls on most citizens and the burdens that fall on minority groups. By 2015 the annual average loss in income or services will be:

 

People who are not in poverty or have no disability will lose £467 per year

 

People who are in poverty will lose £2,195 per year

 

Disabled people will lose £4,410 per year

 

Disabled people needing social care will lose £8,832 per year

 

These facts are represented in the following info-graphic:

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q799/magnacube/e3df8ae1-19cf-4873-923d-a330bce66162_zpsab58848b.jpg

This also means that if we compare the relative targeting of the cuts on different groups then:

 

People in poverty are targeted 5 times more than most citizens

 

Disabled people are targeted 9 times more than most citizens

 

People needing social care are targeted 19 times more than most citizens

 

These facts are represented in the following info-graphic:

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q799/magnacube/f3aa5a11-a241-4a67-8c99-d922c3396892_zpsc1b8f010.jpg

If regressive tax increases were also included in this analysis the picture would be even worse.

 

This is a conservative analysis, based upon facts taken from the government’s own reports and from the reports of reputable national bodies like CIPFA and ADASS.

 

Cuts to social care are already in underway – over £4 billion has already been cut from the social care budget reducing care and support to disabled children, adults and frail older people.

 

Cuts to benefits are being disguised within ‘reforms’ that mask reductions in the value, type and scope of benefits.

 

The UK is the third most unequal developed country in the world and most disabled people live in poverty. The current policy is guaranteed to increase inequality and to make extreme poverty even worse.

 

All of this may seem surprising given the UK government’s claim that the cuts would be “fair†and that they have even provided “extra money†for social care. However it seems that many of the government’s claims are either very misleading or utterly false.

 

Many people do not know the real facts about the current welfare system:

 

Benefit fraud is very low – it is only 6% the level of tax fraud and about 1% the level of tax evasion.

 

Planned benefit cuts are 22 times the size of benefit fraud

 

£17 billion benefits go unclaimed each year because the system is unfair, stigmatising and too difficult to understand, this is 17 times more than the level of benefit fraud.

 

It is the poorest 10% of families who pay the highest percentage of their overall income in taxes - 45%

 

The real cost of benefits and pensions is very low, 86% is paid straight back to the government in taxes. The net cost of benefits after taxes is really only £25 billion.

 

Most local government spending is ring-fenced by Whitehall (e.g. education) the 41% cut to local government must fall largely on social care, for social care is 60% of the funding that local government actually controls.

 

The claim that there is extra social care funding is false and relies upon misleading information and statistical distortions.

 

The report argues that the main reason for the unfairness of the cuts is that the current democratic and welfare system has a built-in bias towards protecting some services and for cutting others. The public have been persuaded that the NHS, pensions and education are universal services that benefit everybody; but they see benefits and social care as being for ‘other people’.

 

This bias is highly dangerous, especially when politicians pander to it, and use the rhetoric of ‘shirkers’, ‘scroungers’ or ‘cheats’ to appeal to the prejudices of swing voters. A new level of honesty and self-discipline is required within our political elites.

 

Full article can be seen here -

 

http://kittysjones.wordpress.com/2013/06/16/briefing-on-how-cuts-are-targeted-dr-simon-duffy/

[Mattie]

http://eveningharold.com/2013/06/24/new-atos-test-to-involve-putting-people-on-disability-benefits-in-a-wicker-man/

Thought this was funny regarding ATOS?

[go.oot.by.dog]

http://eveningharold.com/2013/06/24/new-atos-test-to-involve-putting-people-on-disability-benefits-in-a-wicker-man/

Thought this was funny regarding ATOS?

 

And McVey and Smithy should try it out first

[go.oot.by.dog]

DWP refuses to provide information on ESA/IB deaths. What is it hiding?

 

Posted by Mike Sivier

 

Once bitten, twice shy – the DWP has refused to release an update to its figures on the deaths of people in receipt of incapacity benefits (including Employment and Support Allowance).

 

Long-term readers may recall there was quite a stir last year when these figures were released, showing that around 73 people were dying every week after having been denied ESA or put in the work-related activity group.

 

This was more than twice as many as the previously-accepted figure of 32 people every week (which was still scandalous).

 

I received word of the cover-up last night, from Samuel Miller, the long-time friend of Vox Political who has been liaising with the United Nations about the Coalition government’s record on disability and incapacity benefits and the possibility that the Coalition is committing crimes against humanity.

 

“Just received word from the DWP that they will NOT release an update to ‘Incapacity Benefits: Deaths of recipients’,†he wrote.

 

“Is this tantamount to a cover-up of thousands of deaths and/or has mortality of the sick and disabled become too politicized for the government?

 

Full article here -

 

http://mikesivier.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/dwp-refuses-to-provide-information-on-esaib-deaths-what-is-it-hiding/

[go.oot.by.dog]

DPAC Report Into The Abuse Of Statistics By DWP And Government Ministers

 

Report into abuse of statistics by the Department for Work and Pensions and UK Government Ministers

 

Executive Summary

 

This report outlines 35 cases where Ministerial claims using statistics on the subject of Work and Benefits have fallen short of the standards expected of Government Ministers.We believe that this demonstrates a consistent pattern of abuse of official statistics by Ministers of the present Government to paint a false picture of benefit claimants in the UK in support of policies which are aimed at cost cutting to the detriment of jobless, sick and disabled people.Within this document, each case is presented, and fully referenced to source material throughout.

 

Prepared by the DPAC Research Team, June 2013

 

Disabled People Against Cuts:

 

DPAC is a grass roots campaign body. It was formed by a group of disabled people after the first mass protest against the austerity cuts and their impact on disabled people held on the 3rd October in Birmingham 2010, England. It was led by disabled people under the name of The Disabled Peoples’ Protest. DPAC has over 15,000 members and supporters and works with many anti-cuts groups, Universities, Disabled Peoples’ Organizations, and Unions.

 

Full report can be seen here -

 

http://www.scribd.com/doc/149776210/DPAC-Report-on-DWP-Abuse-of-Statistics-Final-22-June-2013

 

The net is closing in all the time Smithy

[go.oot.by.dog]

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q799/magnacube/5ea74383-0295-482b-b1e5-42aff85dcd0e_zpsf2253ce2.jpg

[daveh]

Last night, I received the following emailed brilliant message from The Rt. Hon. George Osborne MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Second Lord of the Treasury.

I thought that I would share it with you wonderful people:

 

Dear David,

 

Today I have published the Spending Round, which sets out our spending priorities and choices for 2015/16.

 

Labour left us with the largest deficit since the Second World War. We borrowed £1 in every £4 that we spent. We had to take tough decisions to bring our economy back from the brink of bankruptcy.

 

While recovery from such a deep recession is never straightforward, Britain is moving out of intensive care - from rescue to recovery. The Spending Round sets out how we will secure that recovery.

 

Of course the choices are difficult, and there is no easy route out of a mess as big as the one Labour created. The departmental settlements I have announced today will reduce current spending by £11.5 billion in 2015-16. But every decision we have taken is based on three principles: delivering reform, prioritising growth and ensuring fairness.

 

Through reform, we are determined to get more from every pound we spend. We are clamping down on waste across Whitehall - £5 billion of the savings today come from efficiency savings. By reforming elsewhere, we are able to announce that we will not cut the number of soldiers, sailors or airmen. By homing in on efficiency and driving through public service reform, we are delivering better services and bringing down Government spending.

 

To deliver growth, we are investing in education, enterprise and the economic infrastructure we need so that we can win the global race. Today I have announced there will be over £300 billion in capital spending guaranteed over the next decade. We are setting out long-term funding to science and schools, boosting apprenticeship funding, and prioritising education – we will provide for 180 new Free Schools in 2015-16. I know that Government spending alone cannot create growth. Enterprise does. We need to provide the schools, science, transport links and reliable energy that enable business to grow.

 

To ensure fairness, we are making sure that those with the broadest shoulders bear the greatest burden. We are also reforming welfare so that it is fair to both those who need it and those who pay for it. That is why we have announced an overall cap on welfare spending from April 2015 and have set out a package of reforms that will put in place new conditions on people claiming out-of-work benefits: half of jobseekers will have to go to a jobcentre once a week, claimants must do an Upfront Job Search and wait 7 days before claiming benefits, and claimants will be required to learn English if they don’t already speak it.

 

The decisions we take are not easy, and I know that times are difficult.

 

But with today’s Spending Round, we make more progress towards an economy that prospers, a state we can afford, a deficit coming down and a Britain that is on the rise.

 

George Osborne

Chancellor of the Exchequer

[paulb]

Unveiling the results of his spending review 2015-16, the chancellor claimed that it would be possible to achieve £5bn of the sought-after savings through efficiencies, although this will include the loss of a further 144,000 public sector jobs. Police, student grants and charities will also be hit.

[daveh]

Unveiling the results of his spending review 2015-16, the chancellor claimed that it would be possible to achieve £5bn of the sought-after savings through efficiencies, although this will include the loss of a further 144,000 public sector jobs. Police, student grants and charities will also be hit.

There have been 1.25m private sector jobs created in the last 3 years with many more to come. The public sector employees, losing their jobs, can take their redundancy and move into the private sector.

[MuckleJoannie]

The Wonga coup: Chancellor George Osborne's 'gift to the payday lenders' in Government Spending Review

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-wonga-coup-chancellor-george-osbornes-gift-to-the-payday-lenders-in-government-spending-review-8675581.html

George Osborne was accused of driving the jobless into the arms of foodbanks and payday lenders tonight after announcing that the unemployed would have to wait seven days before claiming benefits.

[paulb]

yeah 7 days before you can claim the a couple of weeks to process it and paid in arrears monthly. wonder how much his bung was for that. no wonder folks need food banks.

[daveh]

^^

 

Cut the cynicism out !

 

What exactly is your problem with the change from 3 to 7 days?

[Distortio]

Last night, I received the following emailed brilliant message from The Rt. Hon. George Osborne MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Second Lord of the Treasury and it sent me into such waves of rapturous delight i want to give him a great big kiss on his winky.

 

don't pucker up just yet daveh...

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/27/spectrum-of-deceit-ministers-statistics?CMP=twt_gu

 

Statistics have long been argued one way or the other, but this government twists them beyond reality to suit its ruthless agenda.

David Cameron has been reprimanded by the Office for Budget Responsibility (for lying about what it had said); and by the UK Statistics Authority for lying about the direction of the national debt (he said we were "paying it down", when in fact we were beefing it up). Osborne, besides lying this week about the deficit, has been reprimanded by the OBR (for lying about the nation's risk of bankruptcy) and by the UKSA.

[daveh]

The Guardian, eh?

Why stop there?

Why not quote from the Daily Mirror and the Socialist Worker also?

 

Incidentally, it was Cameron & Osborne who set up the OBR so that the government of the day is held to account now and into the future. If the last Labour government were to have had the guts to set it up instead, they would have been hauled up constantly for manipulation of forecasts and stats every other day.