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White paper brings months more uncertainty for disabled claimants

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The Get Britain Working White Paper published today fails to give any information about a proposed overhaul of the health and disability benefits system, instead revealing that a consultation will begin in the Spring

According to the DWP, the government:

 â€œwill bring forward measures to overhaul the health and disability benefits system so it better supports people to enter and remain in work and to tackle the spiralling benefits bill. A consultation will be published in Spring as part of a commitment to put the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of any policy changes that directly affect them

A DWP press release makes it clear that ill health and disability are seen as major problems in relation to increasing productivity in the UK, claiming that. 

“The UK is also the only major economy that has seen its employment rate fall over the last five years, which has been largely driven by a significant rise in the number of people out of work due to long-term ill health with an outdated employment support system which is ill equipped to respond to this growing challenge.”

Plans in the white paper include:

  • extra NHS staff to cut waiting lists in areas of high inactivity;
  • an additional 8,500 new mental health staff;
  • increased access to Individual Placement and Support (IPS) for severe mental illness, reaching 140,000 more people by 2028/29;
  • funding in three trailblazer areas for NHS accelerators to stop people falling out of work completely due to ill health;
  • jobcentres to become a new national jobs and careers service, focused on people’s skills and careers instead of just monitoring and managing benefit claims;
  • staff at Jobcentres will have more flexibility to offer a more personalised service to jobseekers;
  • new coaching academies to upskill jobcentre staff to better support people into work;
  • a disability panel set up to ensure the voices of disabled people are at the core of reforms;
  • a new supported employment programme called Connect to Work scheme which provides voluntary employment offers to people with disabilities, health conditions or complex barriers to work and will support up to 100,000 people a year at full roll out;
  • an independent review into how employers can be better supported to employ people with disabilities health conditions, and to keep them in the workplace.

DWP Secretary of State, Liz Kendall said:

“The Get Britain Working White Paper shows that this Government stands unashamedly for work. We will make sure everyone, regardless of their background, age, ethnicity, health, disability or postcode can benefit from the dignity and purpose work can bring.”

Meanwhile, millions of claimants will spend the Christmas period not knowing what plans the DWP has for them in the coming year or how they will be affected by any proposals to “tackle the spiralling benefits bill”.

You can read the full DWP press release here.

You can download the Get Britain Working White Paper here.

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  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    DaleMR
    · 2 hours ago
    Having worked with government disability data, it was clear to me  two years ago that while disabled people want to work, the long standing attitude of too many work coaches, is push people into a job, any job, adjustments, etc are the person and the employers issue. My partner(work coach, neurodiverse partner and son), perhaps having come out of the prison service, or listening to me harp on about reasonable adjustments (I'm an RA advocate) is trying very hard to help their clients find the right work. While there was some indication of this being one of the changes of the whitepaper, I worry that too much dithering will water down or delay implementation.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Leigh
    · 5 hours ago
    I dont agree with the statement you made at the end that people will spend all Xmas in stress wondering what is to happen, its negative thinking. If anything its a relief not to have to worry about stuff before Christmas and I for one will be putting any worries about the dwp out of my head for Christmas and will resume worrying about it in February or maybe even later. So have a good Xmas all you out there and save your stress for 2025. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Marion F
      · 3 hours ago
      @Leigh I agree Leigh and I’m afraid I do find Benefits &Work have a tendency to do this. I appreciate they do very good work, but I think I used to get these e-mails a few years back, but unsubscribed as it was making me more anxious about DWP than I already was.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Clare
    · 5 hours ago
    Yes some people with disabilities could work and It would improve their life and well being But no system to help them into work and most importantly stay in work Will not be cost neutral It will also have a possible on going cost Which will need to be paid for a good safe outcome
    The main thing I see from governments and MPs is this constant narrative as anyone on disability benefits is working the system for easy money Which then feeds into the general public minds While most people claiming disability benefits know the reality is not easy street But means struggling to get by While living with the constant threat of change Which will not make life easier As any change feels like it is not for the benefit of the disabled But to save or at least look like it is saving tax payers money
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Me
      · 3 hours ago
      @Clare Well the first mistake they ever did was label these benefits DISABILITY benefits then alongside of that have disability badgers for mobility, to be displayed in car windows, then disability markings in car parks etc I could go on, advertising that we are a specific type of species for everyone to hate and turn on, the government using our personal health debilities against us, exploiting us, how about changing all the above, and giving us our dignity back, how about overhauling the stigma they have caused for us out here in the lions den? And how about renaming the benefit, humanise the system, this is reality for many humans, many who have become debilitated through environmental, negligence, poverty etc so called hereditary or genetic disorders/disease, how about we turn our heads and ask real, valid, intelligent questions, I bet we wouldn’t receive one intelligent answer.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Arthur
    · 7 hours ago
    As always there is the true motivation behind the endless promises to get the system working so it gives people a chance to live full and of course tax paying future.
    The only truth in the statement is reduce the Benefits bill. Same vile policies different name. They do not care where the disabled go as long as it is off benefits. It always costs a fortune in policy planning,special advisors,new systems and government contracts to companies that seek profit from being the governments policies axe men. People get rich off tax payers money. Remember Covid PPE contracts.
    They give promises of fairness and real change in the end they just change the rules get some so called expert on the disabled who isn't disabled to agree with them then push it as a society   healing policy.
    After all the talk the war of attrition begins. People pushed off benefits supposedly to jobs that are supportive of their needs. Then it's appeal waiting for the best part of a year for unsympathetic tribunals staffed by people on inflated wages. Along this nightmarish road chronically disabled people lose their low income and then everything else like their home is at risk. They get ground down give up become sicker (people with physical disabilities end up with psychological problems like depression anxiety. Those with psychological disablements get worse sometimes with terrible consequences. In no way is extra stress,fear,anxiety or being unable to pay bills or even buy food therapy for those already psychologically vulnerable).
    In the end nothing works because it's not the disabled who are the problem.
    It's a society issue the puts profit and certain people's ever increasing wealth before everything else. 
    Of course it won't happen simply because politicians prefer to look tough on people they depict as fraudsters,scroungers and parasites living the life of riley laughing the tax payers. They always come back to benefits when they cannot sort out anything else keep their promises on anything.
    Bottom sickening line they know looking hard on the poorest most vulnerable most unfortunate will grab them more votes next election time when they want to ensure they keep their position their very well paid jobs as Mps basically politics is a nice lucrative number for them
    The last election got rid of loads of elected mainly tory mps off they went blaming each other then the opposition parties and of course then the voters. The point here is society did not collapse things kept going. In the end the politicians who thought they were so right so clever so vital turned out to be not that essential at all. They are exposed as what they are opportunists they are the frauds not the disabled.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Gaynor Waldram
    · 8 hours ago
    Surely all these changes and employing all the people needed to implement it will cost more than the. money they are saying they will save
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Harry
    · 4 days ago
    Hang Your Head in Shame Channel 4



    https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2024/11/26/fraser-nelson-dispatches/


    Channel 4 just gave Fraser Nelson a show about disability and benefits. For shame


    A new Channel 4 Dispatches documentary claiming one of the biggest challenges to the Labour Party government is people on long term DWP sickness benefits will air on Monday 2 December. However, the man heading it up is none other than

     ToryBoy psuedo-academic Fraser Nelson 



    Let us spell this out. Channel 4 got the former editor of the rightwing benefit claimant-bashing Spectator to host its documentary on so-called economic inactivity. Did we mention, that would be Fraser Nelson who has also penned hit pieces for the Torygraph? Yep, yet another right-wing shitrag punching down on chronically ill and disabled people for a past-time:




    Sadly, as most disabled benefit recipients are fully aware, expect more of this type of nasty right wing journalism over the next year 


  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Gub
    · 5 days ago
    I wish I could manage like before when I didn’t have to claim benefits, but costs were much lower back then and that’s why I didn’t have to claim anything as a result. Now the cost of living is so high, I have to claim benefits.

    I don’t want to end up with handlers, basically.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Kim
    · 7 days ago
    Good article today in The Canary - some may want to read it as it gives hope, if the Left stand up for the elderly, sick and disabled we are not alone. Uneasiness about the treatment of pensioners, sick and disabled may lead to protests organized by the Left, with unions sticking up for rights of ordinary people it may bring hope.  Tabloid journalism and the resultant comments are best avoided as it's soul destroying to read hate from those who are lucky not to be over 80yo, or unwell or disabled themselves. https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2024/11/27/get-britain-working-dwp-white-paper/
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      welshval
      · 6 days ago
      @Kim It was a very good article and we need to be part of a movement that exposes the lies and myths behind the mainstream political narratives that we don't have to accept their endless wars and greed it doesn't have to be like this anymore
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      AJ
      · 6 days ago
      @Kim A lot of these ideas were taken from sponsored research funded by the Bradley and Lynde Foundation based in Milwaukee Wisconsin, the very same foundation that sponsored and funded Sir Iain Duncan Smith and Esther McVey to set up the institute of social (in)justice  in the UK. The Bradley Foundation a right wing right wing organisation funds many research and studies by sponsoring research and chairs at a variety of universities throughout the world to champion their right wing ideas. Some of their ideas were then "borrowed" by the Institute of social justice and then angelized. Many of these ideas were tried out in New York State, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and even Germany and many government polices were created which eventually failed. In fact even the DWP studied these ideas and their implementations in the various English speaking countries and concluded that they did not work but they were still none the less used here in the UK specially during the time of IDS' tenure in office from 2010 - 2015 until he resigned after rising costs and other issues cropped up during the implementation of Universal Credit. 
      The Bradly Foundations also sponsors institutions like the American Heritage Foundation, and other right wing think tanks and have huge funds that the give out to sponsor and finance their "American" views to the rest of the world. They are on every right wing watch organisations watch list so their influence on Iain Duncan Smith and University chairs, and other organisations in the UK is insidious.  
      Our politicians are invited to seminars and talks organised by the institute of social justice and they belong to a wide spectrum of conservations MPs, labour MPs, and even LibDem MPs and certain academicians and their ideas and studies have been made respectable by the lofty name and even loftier ideals of "goodness"! but they all have one single agenda and they are all very right wing. MPs get wined and dined and then bombarded with their one sided ideas and they gain currency in the wider political circles. In this way the influence ends up becoming total. Even words like "Work sets you free", creation of unpaid jobs in the guise of training and slave working rates have been tried and tested and failed in many countries even when they offered minimum wages which of course the UK did not! So it is no surprise the past 14 years became a failure as it did in all the other countries and states where such ideas were adopted. Stereotypes like the "Welfare Queen" were imported from American and then applied here towards single mothers (in the US it was black women) and so on to sway public opinion. 
      Given all my research I know persons like Liz Kendall and Co not only attended such seminars but have been won over to thinking the way they do through this slow subversion and it is time people really woke up to how devious and clever these methods have been and are being used to mislead people and how the ideas take root in gaining respectability because of the official sounding names, sponsored research fellowships and chairs at academics, and by companies employed to spread the ideas even further using propaganda methods. It is time we all woke up to take a hard look at who is behind these organisations and their ideas and where the money is coming from to set such things up to look respectable. 
       
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    Annie
    · 7 days ago
    I am really concerned mental health covers a wide range of conditions. 
    Schizophrenia for example has anyone actually thought about health and safety issues. 
    You place or force people into work that are suffering and say an employer can support them. 
    Absolute nonsense what about the health and safety risks? 
    My son has a learning disability and ADHD has unable to read or write. 
    He lacks understanding of understanding of situations . 
    Seriously I have never heard such ridiculous suggestions. 
    Talking therapies I have suffered my own problems for many years and these people expect you to a group session . 
    The job centre is full of staff that are clueless about understanding health issues. 
    I work my son works on a low wage doing a job that is suitable for him . 
    However that doesn’t come without problems. 
    They have absolutely no idea of the work that goes into supporting him. 
    However the bigger problem will be health and safety at work and colleagues. 

    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Ali
      · 5 hours ago
      @Kim I'm so sorry you were put in this position 😔... I was hounded by benefits when I was ill health retired from my royal mail job... i hated going the JC ... but needs must ...  if I had known the awful stress I was put through after I left my last job I would have fought tooth and nail to stay but after  I got a stage 3 warning after being ill for so long I didn't really have a choice !  my union should have fought for me !  I know more now than I did then...I wasn't aware of the disability  act that meant they should have found me a job in my workplace !  like I said the union advice was non existent !!... anyway... after several health assessments  by atos they finally agreed with royal mail and put me on long term sickness... it was a relief AT THE TIME!...  I was suicidal from all the stress !  but eventually the  fact you aren't meeting people... getting out of the house and feeling  you are useful catches up with you and depression sets in... I would have done anything if I could to have stayed at my employment... it seems I was a burden to them !!    I was greatful of getting a pretty decent work advisor at the jobcentre... she gave me monthly phone calls as she knew my  prospects were limited and was even annoyed herself that I had been sent to her in the first place !!  she was just as angry as myself !..  I guess what I'm trying to say is that jc advisors aren't the monsters lots of people say they are and there were decent ones out there !  thank you ... sorry you were put in that position about the boy 😢
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      lesley
      · 6 days ago
      @Kim Thank you Kim for your compassion and well done for trying to help this young unfortunate man.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Kim
      · 7 days ago
      @Annie Working at the JC I had a client/lad who was unpredictable leading to violence, so I reasoned he could not be placed in customer service, like shops ( having done years of it and knowing a diverse public) so I was researching long distance lorry drivers work - the boy (18yo) wanted to work in that area and I knew a wiser older man could tame him a tad. My line manager chastised me and told me we just stick folks into existing vacancies, but I pushed on saying he was a potential danger in some jobs, we needed his GPs assessment of his volatility. As ever the boys was pushed from job to job and is now in prison. Need not be that way, the only thing I could do as a JC officer tasked with "customer service" was try to find someone's ideal job - then I could go home at night thinking I'd done mine! Course this lad was also a capable soldier in the right hands but he saw the army as a repressive force he'd have to fight for his life in before any war. 

      My point being the client/young man didn't trust anyone so was on the social margins and not given any agency in what he wanted to do, some cannot be forced against their nature, he was brave and fearless so I liked him but I wasn't supposed to care about him. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    pusscatsmum
    · 7 days ago
    my worry is with all of these never ending fears and angst the govt and DWP throw at us, that are  unwell and disabled,  are to get  us to throw  in the towel, and say ok we will do without the  peanuts they toss at  us. This maybe what many who should be receiving  it are doing already. Also its the thin  end  of the wedge with the bill trying to be  put thru in regards to ones ability to end  it all ourselves. This in turn will affect/effect those with severe mental impairment who are  of working age  or not , to throw the towel in completely.   Also I am worried that those who are  in receipt  of their state pension, who are elderly, infirm, disabled,who have been  on the various modes  of disability benefit , who are now  on PIP, who really rely  on this cash benefit of PIP, that the current white paper  maybe removing this cash benefit.  Many have  used the money  over the  years to put in accessible  kitchens, stair  lifts, mobility vehicles, mobility aids etc etc as what the  money is suggested for the  use  of. Many  retired  on SP, are terrified that  if PIP becomes a cashless benefit they will  loose  out greatly as this  money is a basic  need, moreover they may not be eligible for Pension Credit etc. I can vaguely  understand the  good  intention behind the voucher, other system, for new recipients , but not for those who have been on these benefits for some time  or in the SP group.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Ala
      · 7 days ago
      @pusscatsmum
      " I can vaguely understand the good intention behind the voucher, other system, for new recipients , but not for those who have been on these benefits for some time or in the SP group. "
      Is to keep people quiet!
      Only for "NEW", now, after few years they will equalise, like now, people will lose the Severe D Premium after the Managed Migration=Managed Robbery.  
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    WorkshyLayabout
    · 7 days ago
    Having failed a WCA reassessment back in 2017, one of the many myths on the report was that work is good for all and sundry with mental health problems. This confused me because a quick cross referencing of data on the ONS website clearly showed that people in work were statistically more likely to commit suicide than people not in work. It doesn't mean being in work is the cause of suicide, but it does show that working is not a preventative factor. And we are all aware that working conditions have worsen. 

    Many jobs are low paid and public facing. Only a nitwit would willingly volunteer to spend hours a day being physically and verbally assaulted by members of the public while at the same time having shit from management rolling downhill on top of them. Developing low esteem, depression and anxiety is a justifiable result. Anyone with a modicum of intelligence can see the link between the growth of appalling working environments and increases in claims for disability/sickness benefits.

    I find it mildly amusing that the most of the sources at the end of the white papers are links to other pages on the government's website. Talk about being impartial...

    In other news, I shall be applying for the job of Chancellor. Should be a vacancy soon. I know how to use an abacus.

    Labor Ipse Merces (Work is its own reward). Allegedly.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      WorkshyLayabout
      · 4 days ago
      @A Thanks for the advice. I'm considering getting a credit card and racking up some debts. One must do what one must in order to succeed. I also helped run the tuck shop at primary school many moons ago. Perhaps that makes me overqualified...
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      MJ
      · 5 days ago
      @WorkshyLayabout Work will set you free. Remember? 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      lesley
      · 6 days ago
      @A
      Hey, that's my job.  Gizza job, I can do that!
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Matt
      · 7 days ago
      @WorkshyLayabout A few weeks ago I read some interesting (and depressing) facts that 60% of all employment roles are customer facing, which generates 80% of the UK's GDP. Having worked in a call centre for over fifteen years I can attest to the points above about low paid jobs, abuse and management incompetence.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Alex
      · 7 days ago
      @WorkshyLayabout Yes, it's one of my biggest fears - to get forced into doing a job I hate.  I've been there before and it was one of the contributing factors to my mental health problems. 

      I'd love to do something I enjoy, but those opportunities are limited and generally need qualifications.  There's no way for me to get those qualifications without sacrificing my income and home. 

      And even if I entered the workforce, I'd need to know that there is an easy route back if I can't handle it.  Again, it's extremely frightening to lose all benefits then suffer, then have to start the whole fight again with a new claim. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    LabourOut
    · 7 days ago
    Hi, I am very concerned about the lack of understanding Labour have on health problems and disabilities, I have perminant nerve damage in both my arms from surgery thanks to the NHS, I can't drive a car or walk even tho before the surgery I could, are they stupid? people don't ask for this to happen to them, I want my old life back but when something is damaged beyond repair the health payment supports me to have some quality of life, so many people are going to suffer under Labour, we must stick together and tell them how bad lives are due to health problems/complications and disabilities. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      lesley
      · 7 days ago
      @LabourOut Dear LabourOut, I am 76 approaching 77. Last year I had surgery on my left ankle. It was a TTC. In other words an ankle fusion. I now have a metal plate in my foot and ankle. The ankle is now completely fixed at a 90 degree angle. Approaching one year since surgery on 7th December 2023. I can still only walk using two crutches. Indoors I use a walking frame.
      Many people are very kind to me, however it 
      It seems to be every man\woman out there in the world of civilians are out there for themselves.
      Also many forget that they are only one step away from having a disability themselves.
      Not that I would wish any suffering on anyone of course.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    coolday
    · 7 days ago
    consultation will begin in the Spring-this is may be proposals .
    read more below and full links.

    https://z2k.org/future-work-capability-assessment-policy/

    Key proposals for reform

    The most significant proposals considered in the paper involve a more radical rethinking of how the benefits system assesses work capability, by removing the question of work capability from universal credit (UC) entirely.

    One proposal is to create a new, non-means tested benefit for people who have health problems that prevent them from working. The rate of this benefit would be set below the total amount of money currently received by someone who is deemed to have limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA), but above the basic rate of UC. The payments would continue for a time-limited period if someone were to enter the workforce before being phased out. A claimant would only be put forward for a full WCA – the route to access the additional £416/month LCWRA element – if they had not entered employment after 2 years. The paper does suggest, however, that there could be a route for ‘people with severe health conditions or disability’ to be ‘fast tracked to the WCA regime’.

    A second, more radical option set out in the paper is to eliminate the WCA entirely – including the additional financial support that can currently be accessed via the LCWRA element – and instead increase the generosity of personal independence payment (PIP) to compensate for this.  
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Leigh
      · 5 hours ago
      @coolday The second radical option will be a disaster for those unable to get PIP. I have been on LCWRA for years but did not realise I could get PIP as well, however when I applied for PIP not so long ago I got a nil award. It would be of no relevence to increase PIP payments if the assessment is still harder to pass than LCWRA because PIP wont take into account things like mental health or various types of Autism without mounds of medical reports. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Yup
      · 7 days ago
      @coolday It sounds to me like, theres going to be a big cut in money. That's the be all, and end all of it.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    CarolK
    · 7 days ago
    Surely the proposed disability panel will just object to all these kinds of reforms? Seems like a gimmick they've come up with to look decent and this panel will just be a talking shop.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Annie
      · 7 days ago
      @CarolK Health and safety I believe will be a big factor in the work place. 
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    AJ
    · 7 days ago
    The road to hell is paved with full of good intentions!
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    John
    · 7 days ago
    I’m confused at what they are expecting, I am employed and get pip, I’ve worked for the past 15 years in constant agony every second of the day but I enjoy being employed so what would that mean for me? I am disabled and can’t work full days as I can’t stand for long but I try my best, pip actually helps me to stay in work it helps me be able to stay in employment and helps me pay towards bills and extra needs for my chronic disease as I can’t work as many hours as a full time employee but I wouldn’t want to be out of work claiming all other benefits along with pip. Would this target somebody like me who is in work and gets pip? 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      rtbcpart2
      · 7 days ago
      @John I'd say no need for you to worry, John - you're a model claimant for the new regime. Carry on! 😂
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    Steve
    · 7 days ago
    They have no clue,  8,500 new mental health staff, new coaching academies, Connect to Work scheme, trailblazer areas,  coaching academies to upskill jobcentre staff, to get this all up and running, will take years, and hundreds of millions of pounds, that's even if they achieve it.

    The big problem is, we have a Chancellor who's just about to trash the economy, and company's 
    are already, saying they will, be making job cuts and cutting back on recruitment, the simple truth,
    is, employers  don't want people with long term health conditions and disabilities, if they did, we wouldn't be having this conversation, now. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Marion F
      · 3 hours ago
      @Steve Saw a recent article somewhere that said the NHS has many empty places for staff, they can’t get or retain staff. It’s likely down to the fact their working conditions are poor, endless changes to policy, too much work & much more. The Government & DWP are stupidly ignoring this, so where will that leave their great plans? 

      Also when I worked at DWP during the Blair Labour government, they had the 2 ticks disability symbol on their building/offices. When I needed time off for Doctors appointments, they complained & asked why I couldn’t get a GP after 6 pm!!

      When I had a hip replacement, the recovery time etc., was specific, yet I was still expected to travel from my home  town to the town I worked in & I didn’t have a car. This was for the standard, “back to work interviews”, so there’s evidence they’re like psychopaths, they never learn & have zero empathy.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Just passing through
      · 7 hours ago
      @Jon I worked in the care sector. I've cared for some people who's health was better than mine is now. I do wonder if in part it helped ruin my health.
      I don't know what job the powers that be think I could do now. I'd like them to wear my shoes for a week and then decide
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Timmy
      · 6 days ago
      @Steve Perfect Storm,economy getting trashed and more coercive policies to either force people into work programmes or face destitution,or capitulate to constant surveillance of one's activities and life ,and claim our financial needs to keep us alive.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Jon
      · 7 days ago
      @Steve There are plenty of jobs in the care sector working in the community or in care homes though.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    diceman24
    · 7 days ago
    One good story out of today is least this government is not rushing these reforms through. They have a disability panel plus working with charities in the background that must surely be a good thing plus for severely disabled people there will be a safety net by the way these severely disabled people never self diagnosed their condition its was too trained specialist doctors and consultants thank you for reading my post 
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      S
      · 7 days ago
      @diceman24 Diceman24 :- well said , very eloquently, written , much much compassion , and sense too . Never ever stated in the right wing media !! 
      * again we'll done for your considered opinion ... which is factually correct , 
      Best wishes from S !!!
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    AB
    · 7 days ago
    can anyone let me know when the new reforms are due to start,this yr,next yr? Will there be discussions taking place within the govt to approve them and then will the king have to sign them off,if so when is the next kings speech.are they changing the criteria for pip and Esa? If so when. Hope to hear from someone.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Jon
      · 7 days ago
      @AB I think it would be next spring before they try and push there reforms but I know someone who has taken the DWP to the high court in London and won the case when the DWP didn't show up and I have been told that there are plenty of people who are willing to fight the government in court so I wouldn't worry as this could all drag on for years
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      DJMH15
      · 7 days ago
      @AB I put this question to copilot a few weeks back and it basically said about two years…try asking yourself if you download the app.

    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Michael
      · 7 days ago
      @AB The king sign them.off? Eh. Government creates, MP's vote on, and governmemt implement policies, not the king.

      The document clearly states there aren't really any new policies of note which will affect the majority.

      It's just all hot air & kicking the can down the road until the inevitable cuts, that will surely come.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    axab43
    · 7 days ago
    Can people not scare mongering? There is a lot mentioned here that is voluntary and the scaremongering both in the media and on here can be serious, for people with severe mental health issues.  So far, it looks like no-one is going to be forced into work who is too severely ill to work. ANd those who think they could work are going to have more opportunities for help.  If we could leave it at that and no scare monger.  It is doing no good and a lot of harm for people who are mentally ill anyway
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Daz
      · 7 days ago
      @axab43 Absolutely. Let’s wait and see. It’s a huge project and nothing will change quickly. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      MrFibro
      · 7 days ago
      @axab43 If the government wants to cut parts of the welfare bill, ie lets say the SG  group of ESA, then the easiest way for them to kick of seriously ill disabled people would be to force a WCA on all SG claimants in the hope the assessors will score them down, and the ill disabled claimants, well a good part of them wouldn't be able to fight them @ an appeal.

      Basically there's no boundaries to any government,  and or the DWP.  These people must go to bed at night dreaming up ideas how to save a few bob.

      Then come morning they jog off to their ministerial, and or civil service jobs, and conjure and implement their plans without any thorough thought.  Typical Whitehall, white collared muppets.

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