National deafblind charity, Sense, has welcomed the news the government have been defeated in the Lords over plans to cut the benefits of people with illness and disabilities.
Ministers want to cut Employment Support Allowance by £30 a week to spur some new claimants to return to work.
However Sense has argued it would make it harder for those affected to pay for the support that might allow them to find work. Yesterday, Labour, Lib Dem and independent peers joined forces to block the move.
The government may try to overturn it at a later date in the Commons.
Richard Kramer, Deputy Chief Executive at Sense, said:
“Yesterday, members of the House of Lords listened and responded to the concerns of disabled people. Instead of cutting financial support to people looking for work, the government should now reflect on the Lord’s vote and concentrate on dismantling the real barriers preventing them from finding a job, such as negative attitudes from employers, failure to make reasonable adjustments in the workplace and inaccessible transport.”
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Cathy
January 29, 2016
Our present day Government is an absolute disgrace!
How dare they even think that cutting the rate of ESA payable to sick and disabled people is a brilliant idea!!
What planet do they occupy, when, in the same breathe, they allow massive corporations like Google to pay barely over 1% in tax?!
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry, but this inane stupidity cannot continue. As charities point out Politicians need to work with employers to change attitudes to disabled people and make reasonable adjustments in the workplace.
Iam currently in the middle of such a case taking a company to an employment tribunal for taking a job offer away as they think being deaf is not “good enough communication!”
As long as the dimwits in Parliament ignore this side of the equation, sick and disabled people will continue to be at the mercy of such contemptable actions as reducing ESA benefit!
pennybsl
January 29, 2016
So far the current Government, consisting many University Graduates, Law professionals, Social Care professionals, Economics, Business professionals, etc.. have made decisions and unconsulted, un-impact assessed policies upon the UK’s citizens with devastating and unnecessary implications.
The most vulnerable citizens and citizens are already incapacitated by ivory-tower bureaucrats.
We need the support of CBI and business organisations to question such handling which is causing skills shortage and habitual ‘the fittest of the fit’ agenda.
The Government, in using cabinet ministers who have been judged by the courts as ignorant, discriminatory and making wrong decisions, need to be shaken, sacked and re-appointed for sanity’s sake. If the Government is a business, it would have already been grounded down by its incompetence and selfish agenda.
Every day – in 2016, a so-called modern era – we see alarming news of central governmental decisions rolled out in the same way our doomed British soldiers were enlisted and ordered to fight in the First World War: no inclusive strategy, no reasonable consultation, no consideration of asking real experts, deliberate side-lining of proved good practice and crass arrogance.
Charities are actually spending millions of pounds and hours doing tasks which would have been better utilised in the ‘Big Society’ rather than challenging Government decisions made without reasonable legal consideration.
Taxpayers who donate to charities are being robbed TWICE – they pay tax to the Government, but their donations are being spent challenging the Government.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
Tim
January 29, 2016
Good comments by Cathy and Penny, I cannot add much more, except it is worth remembering that people in the WRAG are NOT fit for work. They “may* be able to do some limited forms of work in the future. I say may, because some people put in the WRAG have degenerative conditions(!)
This Government has been losing legal actions left, right and centre because, as Penny has said, its actions are unlawful as well as immoral.
Pauline Roberts
January 29, 2016
The other thing to take into consideration is the mental health of those who are disabled, D/deaf, long-term unemployed. There is very little that can be done without spending money these days, and the long-term implications of not having mental stimulation leading to well-being; be it hobbies, work or whatever can be disastrous. To cut ESA even further will add to this. Not everyone has a concessionary bus pass so just to get around even when paying for a weekly travel pass can be very expensive. I still remember when in my twenties being unemployed for several months and how much I spent on travel. I have seen previously posts on forums etc about all the cheap ways of eating and activities; but they have missed important aspects of this. The suggestions for eating and diet resulted in poor quality food consisting in mainly starch, and sugar (as in most ‘economy’ brands. To go and do cheap activities is reliant on reasonable weather to go ‘out and about’. Not to mention going back again to being able to afford the travel costs. We have already had the figures of those committing suicide thanks to ESA/PIP decisions; the morons in Government sure know how to make things even worse!