Anyone else worried about the ESA time limit changes?

Cpt.Scarlet

Assuming the changes are passed into law then it will take effect from April 2012 and be retrospective, so anybody who has been ESA(CB) for 12 months at that time, will immediately lose their elgibility.

heater

Macmillan are campaigning to ‘put the fair into welfare’ as the Welfare Reform Bill moves through parliament. Thank you to the thousands of you who have already emailed your MP to support our campaign.

Now we need two minutes of your time to ask the Liberal Democrat party to protect benefits for people living with cancer.

Political party conference season is fast approaching and we have a real opportunity to influence the Bill. The government plans to take away a person’s Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) after just one year. ESA is a vital benefit for people who cannot work due to long-term illness, and people with cancer could lose up to £94 a week if it’s taken away.

On 17 September 2011, at their party conference, the Liberal Democrat party will vote on whether to support a motion to oppose this aspect of the Bill.

You can help by emailing your local Liberal Democrat representatives now

This is a crucial moment. If the Liberal Democrat party opposes the government’s plans, we’ll have an even greater chance of changing the Bill. And, in turn, we’ll stop people with cancer losing up to £94 a week in benefits.

Please email your local Liberal Democrat representatives today
THE LETTER CAN BE ADDED TO SO AS TO INCLUDE PEOPLE WITH OTHER IMPAIRMENTS
http://eactivist.com/eaaction/action?ea.client.id=70&ea.campaign.id=11870&ea.tracking.id=25a03615&forwarded=true

Thank you so much for your support.

heater

RETHINK CAMPAIGN
In less than four days the Liberal Democrats will be voting on whether to demand a fairer benefits system. Email your local representative now asking for their support.
Rethink Mental Illness is concerned that current benefit assessments fail to understand the reality of what it is really like to live with a mental illness. Further, 80% of people with a mental illness surveyed said the test has made their mental health worse.
After being assessed for Employment and Support Allowance, Ryan* told us “As a direct result of the way I have been treated... I considered taking my own life on and off for a period of months. My GP even wrote a letter to them to spell out the severity of my illness and how the situation was putting me in danger.”
We have an opportunity to change the welfare system so that people like Ryan are treated fairly, but we must act fast.
This Saturday, Liberal Democrats will be voting at their Party Conference on whether to demand that the Government makes benefit assessments clearer, less stressful and fair for fluctuating conditions such as mental illnesses.
A yes vote at Liberal Democrat Party Conference would really put the pressure on Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to act on his party’s concerns and for the government to rethink their policies.
Time is ticking fast, and we only have until Saturday to urge Liberal Democrats to demand a welfare system that’s fair for people with mental illness. Email your Liberal Democrat representative now.
http://e-activist.com/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=32&ea.campaign.id=12040

Thank you for your support,
Rethink Campaigns Team

symikins

sweetersong wrote: »

Didn't realise my thread was still running!

I admit I have been quite lucky in that my condition has improved since having my little girl (3 days after I started this in the end, she came early)

Not majorly so, but enough so that I can start working from home on a project that I was going to do last year where you take telephone calls from home for the companies customers (catelogue stuff). My training course starts in just under a month, so when I start taking calls I will report back in case any of you are well enough to do it

It will hopefully work for me, as although there is a 20hr mimimum a week hour limit, you can do that how and when you want between 7am and 11pm

hi hun congrats on new baby xx

can you pm me on how to apply for this type of work pse, l suffer with spinal probs and depression + anxiety so could be able to do this work from home + would be great to give it a try

heater

'never fall ill, never grow old, never become disabled', for if you do, not even Labour will speak up for you.'
To all our members and supporters;
The Labour party conference starts in Liverpool on Saturday. As we all know, Labour were the architects of Employment Support Allowance and the ‘not fit for purpose’ Work Capability Assessment which is so stressful and traumatic it was linked to the suicide of claimants whilst Labour were still in power. The Labour party are the official party of opposition, but they are not opposing the Welfare Reform Bill as they should be and seem to have forgotten that the 10 million sick and or disabled people plus carers, friends and family in the UK have the power to vote. It is time for us to remind Labour that they will not get any of our votes if they do not start to oppose the parts of the Welfare Reform Bill set to return sick people, disabled people and carers to a life of desperation, dependency, despair and charity.
We are asking you to help with a mass email to the Labour party to remind them of our voting power. Please include the following details in your email and send it to Ed Miliband, Margaret Curran (shadow minister for disability) and Liam Byrne (shadow minister for DWP). If you have time please also email it to any Labour MP and particularly any members of the shadow cabinet. We have provided a list of email contacts below.
Please aim to send your email at 11am tomorrow (Thursday the 22nd September) If you can’t send the email at 11am, don’t worry, just please try to send it at any time between then and the end of Labour party conference on Wednesday 29th September.
The email subject should read “Your Silence Is Deafening”


We suggest embedding a link to this youtube video “The Sound of Silence” To embed the video into your email just copy and paste the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvsX03LOMhI
Then please copy the following text into your email;
Dear (insert name here)
'The 10 million disabled people in this country plus their carers, relatives and friends are watching what your party do in relation to disability issues and wondering why you seem disinterested in trying to get their votes by opposing the savage attacks against disabled people being made by the Coalition government. During conference season we wish to remind you, the architects of Employment and Support Allowance to 'never fall ill, never grow old, never become disabled', for if you do, as we have found, not even Labour will speak up for you.'
If you would like to add a short, personal message explaining to Labour how you feel about their lack of support for sick, disabled people and carers then please include it after the suggested text. You might also like to include a photo of yourself, or perhaps a photo of what disability, sickness or caring means to you. Don’t worry if you don’t want to personalise the email, sending the suggested text is fine.
Ed Miliband MP, Leader of the Labour Party
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 4778
[EMAIL="ed.miliband.mp@parliament.uk"]ed.miliband.mp@parliament.uk[/EMAIL]
Shadow Secretary of State for Work & Pensions
Liam Byrne
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 6953
Fax: 020 7219 1431
[EMAIL="byrnel@parliament.uk"]byrnel@parliament.uk[/EMAIL]
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 8102
Fax: 020 7219 6656
[EMAIL="margaret.curran.mp@parliament.uk"]margaret.curran.mp@parliament.uk[/EMAIL]
Shadow Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities
Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP
[EMAIL="coopery@parliament.uk"]coopery@parliament.uk[/EMAIL]
Shadow Chief Secretary
Angela Eagle
[EMAIL="eaglea@parliament.uk"]eaglea@parliament.uk[/EMAIL]
Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills
John Denham
[EMAIL="denhamj@parliament.uk"]denhamj@parliament.uk[/EMAIL]
Cabinet Office and Minister for the Olympics
Tessa Jowell
[EMAIL="jowellt@parliament.uk"]jowellt@parliament.uk[/EMAIL]
Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
Caroline Flint
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 4407
Fax: 020 7219 1277
[EMAIL="caroline.flint.mp@parliament.uk"]caroline.flint.mp@parliament.uk[/EMAIL]
Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport
Ivan Lewis
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 2609
[EMAIL="lewisi@parliament.uk"]lewisi@parliament.uk[/EMAIL]
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Hilary Benn
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 5770
[EMAIL="hilary.benn.mp@parliament.uk"]hilary.benn.mp@parliament.uk[/EMAIL]
Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Jim Murphy
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 4615
Fax: 020 7219 5657
[EMAIL="jimmurphymp@parliament.uk"]jimmurphymp@parliament.uk[/EMAIL]
Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Mary Creagh
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 6984/020 7219 8766
Fax: 020 7219 4257
[EMAIL="creaghm@parliament.uk"]creaghm@parliament.uk[/EMAIL]
Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Election Coordinator
Andy Burnham
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 8250
[EMAIL="andy.burnham.mp@parliament.uk"]andy.burnham.mp@parliament.uk[/EMAIL]
Shadow Lord Chancellor, Secretary of State for Justice
Sadiq Khan
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 6967
Fax: 020 7219 6477
[EMAIL="sadiqkhanmp@parliament.uk"]sadiqkhanmp@parliament.uk[/EMAIL]
Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
Meg Hillier
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 5325
Fax: 020 7219 8768
[EMAIL="meghilliermp@parliament.uk"]meghilliermp@parliament.uk[/EMAIL]
Shadow Secretary of State for Health
John Healey
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 6359
Fax: 020 7219 2451
[EMAIL="healeyj@parliament.uk"]healeyj@parliament.uk[/EMAIL]
Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Shaun Woodward
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 2680
[EMAIL="woodwardsh@parliament.uk"]woodwardsh@parliament.uk[/EMAIL]
Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
Ann McKechin
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 8239
Fax: 020 7219 1770
[EMAIL="ann.mckechin.mp@parliament.uk"]ann.mckechin.mp@parliament.uk[/EMAIL]
Constituency
Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
Maria Eagle
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 4019
Fax: 020 7219 1157
[EMAIL="eaglem@parliament.uk"]eaglem@parliament.uk[/EMAIL]
Shadow Secretary of State for Wales
Peter Hain
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 3925
Fax: 020 7219 3816
[EMAIL="hainp@parliament.uk"]hainp@parliament.uk[/EMAIL]
Steven Timms MP
[EMAIL="timmss@parliament.uk"]timmss@parliament.uk[/EMAIL]
[EMAIL="stephen@stephentimms.org.uk"]stephen@stephentimms.org.uk[/EMAIL]
Karen Buck MP
Buckk@parliament.uk

G51shopaholic

I thought all Cancer suffers were automatically placed in the Support Group and therefore would NOT be affected by the 12mth rule. If not then they should be.

i was and have been receiving ESA for nearly 3 years now. i have breast cancer which was only discovered when it spread to my lungs. I receive continually treatment and suffer the side-effects of the medication I have to take. I also have problems as my lungs dont function properly. I have recently come out of hospital after suffering a blood clot on one of my lungs. Thank goodness the A&E consultant who attended me knew the symptoms and saved my life!

I am in the Support Group but because I get contributions based ESA I dont get any of the additional disability premiums associated with the severity of my condition but I am able to manage as my partner has a fulltime job.

rogerblack

G51shopaholic wrote: »

I thought all Cancer suffers were automatically placed in the Support Group and therefore would NOT be affected by the 12mth rule. If not then they should be.

Sorry to blunt.
The terminally ill are placed in the support group. _however_.
The DWP define terminally ill, as "death is reasonably expected within 6 months"
There is a form your GP or other doctor fills in.

People who receive non-oral chemotherapy are placed in the work-related activity group, and may be called to participate in work-related activities.
It's not a well-designed system.
This has some more info http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Documents/GetInvolved/Campaigns/Benefits/FailedByTheSystemReport.pdf

heater

Broken of Britain Campaign : Contact a Crossbench Lord
Many thanks to DarkestAngel for writing this post
As you may be aware, the Welfare Reform Bill passed its second reading in the House of Lords and has now moved onto committee stage.
Last Wednesday, Lords tabled a “highly unusual” motion to send the bill to Grand Committee, which will take place in side rooms, rather than a fully accessible public room. The motion was voted through, 263 votes to 211, and the bill will now be sent to the Grand Committee.
The main difference between a Committee and a Grand Committee is that no votes take place during a Grand Committee. Therefore, amendments will not be voted on individually. There is also no public gallery and less room for all peers to attend at once.
The reasons given for taking this step were that a bill of this complexity would block up the chamber and delay other bills. Also, that too many people would want to take part in the debate and it would take up too much time.
Several Lords have stated their objections to this:
“There is a great deal of consternation that is being expressed by disabled people about this decision.
Noble Lords have received a number of e-mails. There is both a practical and a symbolic significance to this decision. Disabled people feel that their democratic right to observe the proceedings at the Committee stage is being severely curtailed by any decision to take the whole of the Committee stage off the Floor of the House. I think it is wrong . As well as this, we are now starting a week earlier than previously announced - when some Lord's may still be on holiday - this is because the recess dates were changed late in the day. I'm concerned also about my fellow peers who are wheelchair users. Apparently we may be meeting in a committee room upstairs, which is larger than the Moses Room, though still far from ideal. It had already been accepted on this side that some of the Committee stage should be taken in Grand
Committee, but there are clauses in the Bill that are highly controversial. It is not just about experts coming in; it is about people who feel that their lives or livelihoods are at stake. “
Baroness Lister
“I am very concerned that we are debating a bill that has many aspects which are yet to be finalised. This is a most unsatisfactory situation which many people have expressed concern about. Yesterday matters were made worse by the Coalition Government insisting that the bill is discussed in Grand Committee and not in the Chamber of the House of Lords. It will make scrutiny more difficult and cause real problems for members of the public who want to come and observe proceedings.”
Lord Kennedy
“I am seriously concerned about the ability of all noble Lords to participate in the proceedings on this Bill. The noble Baroness has rightly drawn attention to the shortcomings of the Moses Room. Those shortcomings are just as apparent on the Committee Corridor. Several colleagues have told me in clear terms that the rooms upstairs are not much better and that a lot of furniture will need to be moved to facilitate those who have difficulty with mobility and to enable lobby groups and those who are interested in the Bill to participate and observe proceedings.”
Lord Bassam, Opposition Chief Whip
Some also stated their approval:
“I would prefer that every bill were considered in Grand Committee. It avoids votes at an early stage of examining the bill, the atmosphere is more intimate and business-like and we can spend more time on the detail. It feels to me like a more normal less stilted way of discussing an issue. The Education Bill was on its 10th day in committee yesterday for example whereas in the Chamber it would be rushed through more quickly. There is room to spread out one’s papers on a table in front of the speaker, the Minister has his support team of bill experts immediately behind him to consult and because it is not televised there is usually precious little grand-standing and posturing. It is easier to interrupt to question without it seeming rude. A technical bill like the Welfare Reform Bill in particular is best examined outside the Chamber. Then it returns to the Chamber for the important Report Stage when the important votes are taken.”
Baroness Murphy
We have three main concerns regarding this development:
• Firstly, access is poor. We are concerned that wheelchair users in
particular will be affected by this, not to mention members of the
public who wish to attend.
• Secondly, we are still unsure if live streaming will be available allowing
campaigners like us and the general public to follow debates and
scrutinise them properly and democratically.
• Thirdly, amendments will not be voted upon in Grand Committee, all amendments must be agreed upon unanimously. Just one objection can prevent any attempt to fix the faults of this bill.
We would like to urge you all to contact crossbenchers in the House of Lords (details below) to express your own concerns over this development. We suggest asking for live streaming so that we can at least see events as they happen, not 3 hours later and, of course, raising your objections to the bill so that the Lords understand how it will, as it currently stands, affect so many of us.
We made a difference last time. We can make a difference this time.
Please see the following link for all contact details
http://thebrokenofbritain.blogspot.com/2011/09/campaign-contact-crossbench-lord.html

heater

melbury wrote: »

I posted a link under the Benefits & Tax Credits, which says that DWP will be sending out letters from 19th September to ESA contribution based WRAG people advising of the new one year rule to be introduced in April 2012.

So it looks definite:mad:

Not necessarily. all that shows is the arrogance of the Government.

heater

CALL TO ACTION ! KEEP THE PRESSURE UP!
　
Now is a critical time to get the changes to the Welfare Reform Bill made. It is hard to believe that the majority of MPs or peers would allow the changes to be made if they knew what they really entailed. So we need to inform them.
Here’s what we can do:
1) The LibDems have voted in favour of opposing several elements of the Welfare Reform Bill including the government’s plans to remove a person’s Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) after just one year. We need to make sure that they keep their promise. Write to a Lord(s) about your concerns and your own experiences of the system. Contact details available at http://www.parliament.uk/.
2) Write to Nick Clegg
Westminster
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 3000
[EMAIL="nick.clegg.mp@parliament.uk"]nick.clegg.mp@parliament.uk[/EMAIL]
Constituency
85 Nethergreen Road, Sheffield, S11 7EH
Tel: 0114-230 9002
Fax: 0114-230 9614
[EMAIL="nickclegg@sheffieldhallam.org.uk"]nickclegg@sheffieldhallam.org.uk[/EMAIL]
3) Write to your own MP and/or arrange an appointment to see them
4) Write to members of your local council regardless of their political affiliation and ask them to ask their fellow party members and any peers or MPs they know to support the changes to the Welfare Reform Bill
5) Write to your local newspaper to raise the profile of the issue
6) Join the Hardest Hit protest on October 22nd 2011 against cuts to benefits and services for people with disabilities, to coincide with the Welfare Reform Bill’s passage through the House of Lords. Protests will be taking place in Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Leeds, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich and Nottingham. Send a clear message to the Government to stop these cuts. Regardless of whether or not you are able to attend one of the regional Hardest Hit events, there are still lots of ways you can support this campaign. Find out how you can get involved at https://www.hardesthit.org.uk