[OccupySheffield] Please help call for a pause in welfare reform

[Rick B]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Going To Work - from the TUC <contact at goingtowork.org.uk>
Date: Mon, Jan 9, 2012 at 5:08 PM
Subject: Please help call for a pause in welfare reform


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[image: going to Work logo]
 Dear Reasonable People,
I received this email from 'Going To Work', a TUC spin-off, and thought I'd
share it with the Occupy movement and its supporters.
Thanks
Rick B
 The Welfare Reform Bill is currently in the final stages of its way
through Parliament, and Peers are debating its Report Stage in the House of
Lords this week.

We’re very concerned about many of its implications, especially on disabled
people, large numbers of whom face a reduction in benefits as the universal
benefit Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is replaced by the more
conditional benefit system of Personal Independence Payments (PIP).

DLA is currently available to disabled children and adults to help them
meet the extra costs associated with having a disability. It’s not work or
contribution dependent, and it comes at different levels, to take into
account assessed needs for ongoing help with care and mobility. Under the
new system, DLA recipients will have to claim again for PIP, and given that
the government have stated they want to make savings by focussing the
benefit on those who need it most, it’s a fair bet many who were found to
need assistance under the lower levels of DLA payment will no longer be
given assistance.

Also, increasing the initial qualifying period from 3 to 6 months will see
many people face extra months of hardship before they get assistance. Many
current DLA recipients will face a further blow if they’re denied access to
PIP, as DLA is a qualifying benefit, which means that being assessed to
receive it then means you are eligible for other assistance. Losing DLA
will see people getting those other benefits withdrawn.

With such severe cuts for thousands of vulnerable people, you’d think the
government would be scrupulous about understanding the impact of the
reforms. But the consultation for the Bill has been rushed through, run for
two weeks shorter than usual, and with the legislation presented to
Parliament before the consultation was even finished.

A group of disabled activists have come together online to research the
reforms. They’ve used Freedom of Information powers to get a copy of the
consultation results, and conducted a thorough crowdsourced analysis of the
previously unreleased documents.

The “Responsible
Reform<http://action.goingtowork.org.uk/page/m/1f11b32b/3ab86ca6/5443bda4/54075870/3338166724/VEsH/>”
report that they have written and produced tells a remarkable story, with
74% of organisations and individuals responding to the consultation opposed
to the overall plans, with even higher margins against on specific
measures, such as 98% opposing the extension of the period people have to
wait to receive benefits.

This tells a rather different story to the government’s claims of support
from the consultation responses. With only days to go now, Peers need to
know what respondents, from charities working with disabled people through
to Mayor of London Boris Johnson have said about the danger of these
reforms.
 What can you do?

You can find *the report online
here<http://action.goingtowork.org.uk/page/m/1f11b32b/3ab86ca6/5443bda4/54075871/3338166724/VEsE/>
*. Please have a look at it (there's a helpful summary at the beginning, as
there's a lot of material in there) and help get this important information
used as widely as possible, by taking any or all of these actions online:
 1 Tell your friends

Please tweet about the report, or spread the message to friends. The
hashtag #SpartacusReport has been trending today, so please use that if you
can to keep it in the public eye online. If you want to share the text of
this email, you can *find it online
here*<http://action.goingtowork.org.uk/page/m/1f11b32b/3ab86ca6/5443bda4/5407587e/3338166724/VEsF/>
.
 2 Tell the House of Lords

Please help spread word of this important report to Peers. Use the *They
Work For You site*<http://action.goingtowork.org.uk/page/m/1f11b32b/3ab86ca6/5443bda4/5407587f/3338166724/VEsC/>to
find a member of the House of Lords to email – If you can only write
to
one, please focus on the Liberal Democrat or Crossbench Peers, who are more
likely to change their vote over this issue. Getting a message to them
Thursday’s report stage will help ensure they don’t go into the debate
without knowing the concerns of thousands of disabled people from all over
the country.
 3 Add your name

And please if you’ve not yet signed up, add your name to *Pat Onions’
petition to Number
10*<http://action.goingtowork.org.uk/page/m/1f11b32b/3ab86ca6/5443bda4/5407587c/3338166724/VEsD/>for
a pause in these hurried reforms – it’s reached over 10,000 signatures
now, but needs more to be recognised by government. Rushing this
legislation through at a time of spending cuts and economic difficulties
for vulnerable people is creating a perfect storm for many disabled people.
A pause to ensure reform is carried out more fairly and effectively is
desperately needed.

Going To Work is a project of the Trades Union Congress (TUC)


You can unsubscribe from our email updates at any time, just go to:
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