Worrying news for lead swingers in Burnley

[Dedworth]

5000 people in this Northern Town claim incapacity benefit - nearly 10% of the population. The bad news for any idle shirkers amongst them is that from today they are being reassessed as to their ability to work

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11510726

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...can-Smith.html

The cold shiver from Liverpool can be measured on the richter scale

[jimeve]

Burnley. Capital of Pakistan, that should hook a few off benefits.

Hope they do Bolton next, second city of Muslims.

then Blackburn, Do the lot the lazy F

[Dedworth]

Half of the top 50 benefit blackspots are in the North West / Merseyside according to the Sun

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...-revealed.html

[stevewool]

well who has let it get this bad in the first place thats what i would like to know

[Dedworth]

well who has let it get this bad in the first place thats what i would like to know

The grubs who were buying votes in those areas Mid East Peace Envoy Blair and Missing Man Brown

[Terpe]

well who has let it get this bad in the first place thats what i would like to know

Exactly!

[stevewool]

it makes me so angry no wonder i want out off here , i bet if i tried to claim for something i would not get it , but then again i dont want anything, crap england the dumping ground for every **** that knows how to get everything on benifits

[Terpe]

I am the full time carer for my dad. He is 90yrs old and in very poor health.
I have tried to get some additional help (financially) to have some support.
But the forms and other paperwork I was sent was unbelievable!!
I'm not uneducated, but the volume of paperwork and the way it was written was completely incomprehesible.
My wife is now a qualified carer, and between us we will manage.
I am convinced if you learn how to 'work' the system it can be done.

[laurel]

I am convinced if you learn how to 'work' the system it can be done.

And im sure you are right.........shame on those that ABUSE the system that is there for those who genuinely need help

[Dedworth]

And im sure you are right.........shame on those that ABUSE the system that is there for those who genuinely need help

Benefit fraud could be slashed at a stroke if there were severe deterrent sentences dished out to the abusers - I'd suggest mandatory 3 years jail minimum. A muslim woman locally who nicked £28000 over 3 years got community service, she's still living in her 6 year old Housing Association gaff (affordable housing on a nice private development) and rolling about in her half decent car. Makes me want to throw up

[stevewool]

am i right in thinking that most off these scrongers out there are from other countries and is it right that most get help in filling the forms in, if they dont understand they have a helper who can talk there langauge and get them help straight away, and yes there is geniune cases that do need help too, before the do gooders attack me

[Dedworth]

am i right in thinking that most off these scrongers out there are from other countries and is it right that most get help in filling the forms in, if they dont understand they have a helper who can talk there langauge and get them help straight away, and yes there is geniune cases that do need help too, before the do gooders attack me

Yes to all of your points Steve and a lot of the "helpers" are paid for by us the working taxpayers aka mugs

[Rosie1958]

I am the full time carer for my dad. He is 90yrs old and in very poor health.
I have tried to get some additional help (financially) to have some support.
But the forms and other paperwork I was sent was unbelievable!!
I'm not uneducated, but the volume of paperwork and the way it was written was completely incomprehesible.
My wife is now a qualified carer, and between us we will manage.
I am convinced if you learn how to 'work' the system it can be done.

Hi Terpe .......... Sounds like your dad might be able to claim Attendance Allowance. I've seen the form and it is long but if you need help you could call the Benefit Enquiry Line which is a confidential freephone service for disabled people and carers and they can arrange for someone to help you fill out the form if required:-

Telephone: 0800 88 22 00

The allowance is definately worth claiming as my own Dad did so for my mum. He also contacted social services for some respite care which was a god send too and gave him a much needed break every couple of months.

Best of luck
Rosie

[Terpe]

Thanks Rosie for that reminder.
Your post and this thread have motivated me to look back at all the paperwork I have and make another review.

I have organised a number of assessments by Adult Social Care. Have even tried to dispute their estimates of the number of hours of essential direct care tasks..
They break down tasks that are essential into minutes.
I am now keeping a daily log of how many minutes I take for each task.

The last assessment was done in July. During that meeting I asked if I could be a paid carer. (since my wife is a carer and I know her clients get some money from the council to help towards the cost of home care)
It seems that on average the Council pays about £16 per hour to the care company. The client (called a Service User) gets billed about £8 per hour.

Anyway, for me to get into this system:-
1.The council must approve
2. My dad needs to become my employer
3. The council decides the hours of work and pay rate.

Respite care is something that we do when we go on holiday. We need to book this very far in advance as placements are very limited. This is made more difficult as we need to use only those places supported by the council.
(Unless we use a private care home that will actually accept respite and pay astronomical amounts)
The last holiday we had in Philippines was in May and we were away for 5 weeks. Yes we did get support from the council for 50% of the total cost. We were billed for £1034
Means we can get respite care if we can afford.
Additionally, the council has set a limit on respite care for my dad at 6 weeks max per year.

Sorry to all for this long and off-topic post.
I'm not really complaining.
just releasing some frustrations. So thanks for the opportunity.

The alternative would of course be to have my dad taken into care. Something I am not comfortable with at the moment.