Fair or unfair?

Oldernotwiser

Errata wrote: »

I can only answer your question with another, I'm afraid. Is it fair that people can claim HB and if the LHA for their property is £10 pw more than their actual rent they can keep the tenner for pocket money?

That's stopping - if it hasn't already done so.

lilac_lady

Errata wrote: »

Have you had a special for your eyes only email from Dave about this ?

The key word was "probably", Errata. Dave hasn't contacted me yet.

margaretclare

Giving free bus travel (for example) is a totally inefficient way of helping those that need it.
There was a "sob-story" on my local TV the other night about this poor old dear who would be stranded when her subsidised, council paid-for bus service was done away with. During the story the man from the Council said that every bus trip was costing (the tax payer!!) £33 !!
Give this old lady £66 a week, then she can use a taxi a couple of times a week. All those who can afford to pay (like me !) will either pay or find another way round the problem. If you are hard up you can get the £66 too.

Until she became too infirm to go out at all, a neighbour of ours used to take a taxi into town on market day where she got her hair done and presumably did all the other things she had to do. A bus pass was totally useless to her, as she could not have walked to the end of the road then stood and waited for the bus. This is just one example. There are also people - not only in rural areas but in the suburbs and small towns as well - who have no bus service or a very inconvenient and infrequent one. Giving a bus pass to everybody, without thought as to whether it was of any use to them or not, was a stupid idea from the beginning.

Of course, once people get used to having these 'perks', taking them away is another can of worms entirely.

dzug1

margaretclare wrote: »

Giving a bus pass to everybody, without thought as to whether it was of any use to them or not, was a stupid idea from the beginning.

.

They didn't 'give' them to everyone - you had to apply. Round here anyway

And in some areas transport tokens are still given as an alternative towards taxi fares. Not many it's true....

andyrules

moonrakerz wrote: »

Most of these perks should be done away with completely.

Giving free bus travel (for example) is a totally inefficient way of helping those that need it.
There was a "sob-story" on my local TV the other night about this poor old dear who would be stranded when her [STRIKE]subsidised[/STRIKE], council paid-for bus service was done away with. During the story the man from the Council said that every bus trip was costing (the tax payer!!) £33 !!

Did he explain how?

aloise

lilac_lady wrote: »

Pensioners' perks such as free bus travel, heating allowance and leisure activities will probably be given to those on Pension Credit rather than to every pensioner.

Fair or unfair?

Very unfair. Not all pensioners who are not claiming benifits are well of, quite the oppisite.:mad: We have both worked and brought up 5 children and never claimed from the state apart from famiy allowence. Now people who have never worked or paid a penny to the state can get all the freebies, pension credit council tax rebate glasses ,dentistry etc. I haven't been able to afford to go to the dentist for 6 years.Can't afford holidays, don't drink or smoke. Don't for gods sake begruge us a free bus pass.

margaretclare

lilac_lady wrote: »

Pensioners' perks such as free bus travel, heating allowance and leisure activities will probably be given to those on Pension Credit rather than to every pensioner.

I listened to the Budget Speech in full, and there was no mention of this. The Chancellor did say that he'd listened to arguments about child benefit, for instance, being means-tested. He seemed to be against the idea of more means-testing because he said it would mean setting up more government departments to deal with this, and he was concerned not to, because the Budget was all about cutting government costs and not increasing them.

It seemed from what I heard that such 'perks' will either be left alone or left to the whole review on welfare spending which is also being put in train. Those from local authorities - swimming and bus passes for instance - may be affected because local authorities are going to be 'encouraged' to save money.

The good news is - the link between pensions and earnings is to be restored. This is what I've advocated for a long time - give us more income so we can choose how we spend it, rather than having little perks dished out.

I've tried the free pool in the neighbouring local authority, but for various reasons it wasn't my cup of tea. Children shared the free time and as someone else said, a lot of them mess about, splash etc which is scary for an uncertain 'swimmer' like me. I went to the free swimming lessons a couple of times, quite late in the evening and again, crowded! The little pool I go to has 4 or 5 of us senior ladies on a Tuesday morning, and for that I paid £99 for a full term of 12 weeks. I also go Friday afternoons just for practice, because I'm a member I pay £3 a time for that, and 2-3 pm Fridays there is hardly anybody there, which is what I need.