Latest details for the upcoming week of action beginning August 29th – please help spread the word!*Reclaiming Our Futures*
From 29th August – 4th September DPAC and other campaigns will offer a range of activities you can get involved in. These events will bring together our anger at what is happening now, and celebrate our victories won, both in the past and to come.
The plan below is only half the story. We want YOU, your Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisation, your campaign group, your community, your friends to put on events and get involved too. Can’t get to our exhibition? – then put on your own. Can’t get to our direct action? – then do your own or organise barbecues, debates, quiz nights, family days, picnics – whatever! ACT – in celebration or in anger! (PS don’t forget to let us know what you’re doing).
Thursday 29th August – YOU launch our 7 days of action
A range of resources will be available for your use as we ask all supporters to start our week of action with an online blitz. You will be the ones creating the buzz and the hype sending letters and twitter messages to targets of your choice ranging from MPs to disability charities to the media. We will be producing twibbons and memes but make and circulate your own. If you haven’t got a Social Media account (such as Facebook & Twitter) set one up now, link to DPAC ( twitter: @Dis_PPL_Protest) and let’s create a cyber wave. #dpacrof
The launch will coincide with Transport for All’s Day of Action to make CrossRail accessible: http://dpac.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4d6df6fd8405aff8805b464e6&id=7411f431ef&e=c62d97673f
Friday 30th August – Local Protests
Last year during the ATOS Games over 30 local actions took place around the UK Local actions mean you get to choose the target of your choice. You could take the Reclaiming Our Futures manifesto to present at your local MP’s constituency office, spread it through social media, protest on the streets against segregated education, the proposed ILF closure or show solidarity at your local Remploy site (for those few factories in their last weeks of operation). Alternatively, you might want to lobby your local Council on the Bedroom Tax and cuts to local services/support. Oh, and as we know ATOS offices are still around too….we’re sure you have other great ideas to add… Remember to let us know what you are doing so we can promote your actions. We will be producing local action resource packs but any materials you develop please send us copies to share with other protests and online.
Saturday 31st – Disability, Art & Protest Exhibition and Fundraising Gig
An exhibition and sharing of work exploring disability, art and protest followed by a ticketed fundraising gig run in partnership with Madpride and Tottenham Chances. Come during the day and join in our banner making workshop to prepare for the big Freedom Drive on the 4th September. If you would like to nominate an artist, collective and/or piece of work please let us know (including any links) and we will try to get them involved. If you want to do a local, street or online art protest too-this could be the day to do it.
Venue: Tottenham Chances, 399 High Road, London, N17 6QN
Times:
12 – 7pm Exhibition: disability, art and protest
1 – 3.30pm Banner and placard making workshop
4 – 6pm Sharing of Work
7.30pm til late Gig
Sunday 1st September – Reclaiming the Social Model: the social model in the 21st Century
Key speakers : Anne Rae: former UPIAS and current chair of the Greater
Manchester Coalition of Disabled People (GMCDP), Colin Barnes: Professor of Disability Studies at Leeds Centre for Disability Studies
As government and the private sector increasingly use a so-called ‘modern understanding of disability’ to redefine who is and who isn’t disabled it is more important than ever that we understand, defend and promote the social model of disability. This isn’t helped when the social model is not fully supported within our movement. This event will be a chance to hear from a range of speakers and to discuss why the social model is still relevant today to our lives and our futures and to map out what we need to do to fight for it. The event will be live-streamed with the opportunity for people to participate in the discussion virtually. We will also be promoting a range of resources around the social model.
Venue (tbc): University of London Union, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HY
Time: 12.30 – 4.30pm
Monday 2nd September – Direct Action
Despite the huge efforts of thousands of disabled people throughout the country, it is increasingly difficult to find spaces where lies, inaccuracies and mis-use of statistics can be challenged. DPAC recently released a study into how the DWP uses all of these to vilify and demonise disabled people. But why is this down to us? People should be presented with both sides of the story and this isn’t happening. Disabled people are having to find ways to make sure our truths will be heard. Watch this space…
Tuesday 3rd September – ‘I Dare’ day
A day of online action to reinforce that we want Rights not Charity and a society where we are able to operate on our own terms as disabled people. Dare to ask for Rights not Charity. Dare to be an activist. Dare to ask more of ‘our’ organisations. We aren’t asking for Care, we want Power: Power to write the script for our own lives, and not to be written out or written off by others. A range of actions and captions will be available for you to capture in an image and circulate online.
Wednesday 4th September – FREEDOM DRIVE
A final-day march and events in and around Parliament. Four themed ‘blocks’ will meet at 4 Government departments, central to the lives of disabled people. After handing over our demands, blocks will then move towards Parliament for a lobby where we will formally launch the UK Disabled People’s Manifesto and present our demands to our elected representatives.
Choose your ‘block’ and meet at 12.45pm at one of:
• Department for Education to oppose government attacks on inclusive education and a return to segregation (Sanctuary Buildings, 20 Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3BT)
• Department of Energy and Climate Change if you’re angry about the numbers of disabled people living in fuel poverty while the energy companies rake in ever growing profits (3 Whitehall Pl, City of Westminster, SW1A 2AW)
• Department for Transport to challenge inaccessible transport, the opening of new inaccessible stations for Crossrail and proposed cuts to rail staff further reducing customer assistance (Great Minster House, 33 Horseferry Rd, London SW1P 4DR)
• Department of Health to defend our NHS and demand our right to levels of social care support enabling choice, control, dignity and independence (Richmond House, 79 Whitehall, London SW1A 2NS)
Lobby of Parliament: 5 – 6pm – launch of the UK Disabled People’s Manifesto
WE WANT EVERYBODY TO JOIN US ON THIS MARCH ideally in person, but also online-this is for everyone everywhere. There will be accessible transport from a variety of towns and cities throughout the country (details to follow) and there is some funding available for transport but we will need your co-operation and patience to make this work for everybody, so please bear with us and note that while DPAC members will be given priority we want to support as many people as we can. If you can’t get there send a photo or your name and you can march with us.
For more details of the week of action, info on how to get involved and the latest news visit: http://dpac.uk.net/
Lets Reclaim Our Futures, together!
Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid
the void 
Reblogged this on kickingthecat.
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“Re: Universal Jobmatch Mandatory?
Postby assassin » Sun Jul 21, 2013 5:45 am
Had a case just this week where I represented someone none too bright, but a nice individual; it started:
Hello, I’m John ****** are you Mr ******, no answer was given and we went and sat down, he asked who I was and I told him his lay adviser in such matters and he told me I couldn’t be there, I told him I could and would be, they asked me to leave so I refused and quoted a FOI request I submitted which stated clearly you can have representation and I was that representation.
Round 1 to us.
He went on to explain that a tough new regime was in place and he would be expected to do more to find work, I asked when his agreement changed and where was his signature was on such an agreement, he said he would have to sign a new jobseekers agreement and it was included in this, I asked under what law he HAD to sign any new agreement and to produce it. He said he didn’t have it to hand, so I said produce it, he couldn’t so I stated very clearly that I had a copy of a FOI request which clearly stated that nobody is required to sign any new agreement and their old one can remain in force indefinitely, and showed him.
Round 2 to us.
He said he would have to get advice and summoned a manager, the usual bullshit ensued and stated clearly they were saying something totally different to the hierarchy of the DWP who had sent the response to my FOI request, so I asked them both to put this in writing and sign it with their true signature to make them liable, they refused. I merely asked why they were making oral claims and were not prepared to back up their claims in writing bearing their signatures.
Round 3 to us.
They then went on to tell us he would have to sign up to UJM as it was compulsory, I asked them to prove jurisdiction to enforce this and show us the legislation, they couldn’t, but provided a document from management which proved it was not actually legislation, merely policy, so I asked how they could even enforce policy without jurisdiction, they claimed they had it. I asked them to prove it as jurisdiction could only be gained if he signed the new agreement and he hadn’t and wouldn’t as he wasn’t obliged to and this was confirmed by a FOI request from their upper echelons and not the muppets they were.
I also told them to open a UJM account they had to open a Government gateway account and they cannot force anyone to open such an account and backed this up with another FOI request confirming this, so they could do nothing.
Round 4 to us.
They then went on to say they could use a jobseekers direction or mandate him to do this, I asked if they were aware they were operating under contract law and they cannot mandate anyone as this mandate under contract law is actually a judicial command or order, and they are neither a court, judge or magistrate, and no actual law exists, only their policy which is unenforceable as he hasn’t signed their new agreement, so no jurisdiction. I also informed them that impersonating a court, court official, judge, or magistrate carries up to 10 years in clink, were they aware of this, it went very quiet.
Round 5 to us.
At this point I went into full legal mode and said they were guilty of several civil and criminal offences and these included:
Fraud by misrepresentation (Fraud Act)
Fraud by false representation (Fraud Act)
Fraud by failing to disclose information (Fraud Act)
and by all the above they would make a gain for themselves and expose another to the risk of loss (benefits)
Fraud by failing to disclose information (Fraud Act and Contract Legislation under full disclosure rules)
Possession of articles for use in fraud, namely paperwork which purported to be legislation when it was only policy and they weren’t having it back as it was now evidence.
Permanently depriving him of his property, tangible or intangible, i.e. personal information (Theft Act)
Belonging to another – his personal information (Theft Act)
Robbery by intentionally depriving him of his personal information (Theft Act)
Blackmail by using menaces (threats to sanction him) to obtain his personal property (Theft Act)
Failing to provide full disclosure
Failing to ensure both parties are fully aware of all contractual conditions including all benefits, liabilities, and penalties.
Making misleading statements in a contract.
Using threats, intimidation, and coercing him into signing a contract.
All covered by contract law.
I went on to say I could go as far as intellectual property legislation, or even the Bill of Rights, or European Human Rights legislation article 6 or even Habeas Corpus.
They relented.
We won the war.”
http://www.getoutofdebtfree.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=108&t=48749&p=177515&hilit=Universal+Jobmatch+Mandatory#p177515
hmmm, a lot of this seems incorrect and may pull the wool over the eyes of an advisor, but wouldn’t pass a decision maker and would be likely to leave the claimant at risk of sanction – that site is not a legitimate source for legal information.
Most of this is utter nonsense and is dangerous for the jobseeker. There is no FOI response which states that you never have to change your original JSAg. Oh and ask the author to produce it and he’ll tell you he lost it in a computer crash…hahaha!
I’m being too kind, this is utter bollocks from a nutter who thinks he’s some kind of common law Arnold Schwarzenegger. Far from quaking in their boots, most Jobcentre staff would bust a ball laughing this crap out of their office.
Rubbish, Lucozade, there is a FOI that clearly states that you never have to change your original JSAG…. I had it on my hard drive but my computer crashed!
I challenge you to find it and produce it then. If you’ve found it once you can find it again. It’s like everything you come up with – no one ever challenges you and you NEVER provide proof to back up your wank-headed freeman of the land crap.
Apart from that there are many FOI responses from the DWP which make it quite clear that this is nonsense. If an adviser chooses to vary your original or any subsequent JSAg they have that right written into the legislation. If you refuse it goes to a DM and you’ll have 21 days to agree to the variation or make a case for why it shouldn’t be varied.
So if the change is, say, a reasonable upping of your job search from one thing a week to four things a week you’d have no hope of challenging it and your JSAg would be renewed or you’d lose you JSA.
lucozade spot on..
Click to access FoI%205088%2014.01.13.pdf
His latest wheeze is slapping a “commercial lien” onto Jobcentre advisers for a million pounds a time! This is one deluded fuckwit!
“focus on what you can do, rather than what you can’t do”, even though what you can’t do, stops one from doing anything else unless the lack of energy and supply of this, is somehow mitigated, with better facilities of on sort or another.
a “modern understanding of disability”,disability is front loaded it comes before anything else can be done, one cannot owe oneself the affects of disability,one cannot choose to be or not to be disabled, it can never be an after thought, sure some disabled people can do more than other disabled people..ie a “mild” heart attack is serious.. where is this “modern view of disability”, written and consented upon by all concerned with disability the loudest voice of all must be the voice of the disabled person themselves…
i am furious, at the govt that weren’t elected attempts to redefine disability, which is basically to pretend disability no longer exists, to save the investment of energy required to mitigate disabilities, their answer being that ones mind and body should develop magical powers to overcome disabilities. all disabilities come down to one factor, lack of energy and/or access to it, as compared to a fit person.
one cannot bridge this energy gap without extra energy input, however it is infrastructurally provided..this loss or lack of energy must somehow be made up and this is costly, to do.
which is why this mean spirited bunch of despots, dump the affects of disabilities back onto the victim to be burdened with…under these circumstances disabled people cannot have the same fullness of life, a non-disabled person can, we can only make the most of what we have at our disposal..i agree that more energy should be poured into facilitating disabled people into having a fullness life in every sense. we must not only reverse the current attitudes towards disability and cuts in our benefit entitlement, but also reverse it, we can only do the best we can…
Some of the meanings they’ve attempted to re-define lately –
Disability (physical & mental ill health); Unemployment/being unemployed; Caring for/Caring commitments; National Insurance contributions; Being in work; Help; Support; Agreement/Commitment; Advice/Adviser; Flexibility; Customer; Volunteering; Respect; Reasonableness; Social Security; Benefit; Match/matching (in traditionally accepted/understood form); Job Site; Safety; Right to a Private Life; Incentive; Motivate; Moving closer to.
Is this the same DPAC that recently co-sponsored an ATOS or Workfare providers jolly?
lucozade…no!
you’re thinking of DRUK. DPAC are a grass roots direct action group.
Yeah I did think it weird but for some reason I had DPAC in my head! Too many bloody acronyms. In this case it’s nice to know I’m wrong.
The tories view of the disabled seems to been formed by the paralympics “these disabled can play sports so they all can”. Not everyone,ablebodied or not, is sporty so it’s a very weak conculsion to draw, but it seems to have become the criteria that’s used.
Soon be winter, my joints are starting to hurt bad as the temperatures subside.
Looking forward to gazing at the beautiful patterns in the ice on the insides of my windows. The gas fire has not been lit for four years now but the glow from the cuppa soup and several layers of clothing should ease the pains………….
Some will be celebrating, but i doubt the poor, homeless and disabled, will not be taking part this year.
The DWP party, with its banter about achieving sanction tables and “how i made them suffer”, will be in full swing.
Staff bonuses from the £44 million they stole from us will help pave the way for a great night out, alcohol running freely as their victims idly stare at the clocks, shivering and wishing they could end it all………
Ofgem and its ilk will also be on a jolly up, talk of how they misled the public once again and sided with their paymasters to push the energy prices beyond the realms of the most vulnerable.
As the clock strikes midnight on christmas eve, many will have perished. Hopefully they will transfer to a better life where people treat people like human beings. Their are no shirkers with closed curtains or disabled being spat at.
They might have considered the alternative, the infernos of hades, at least it would be warm!
What would we do if we had a bonus for failure? Could you ever consider a real branded item from a top shelf or would it be the usual, economy line plain wrapper item that you have grown so used to buying?
Yes, Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat, and so is, Duncan Smith, the evil fucking prat!
……..as the last chimes of Christmas eve, herald in Christmas day, those of you who can still manage, raise an empty glass to those who could not see the error of their ways………….
Doth your cap as the hearse of welfare reform sneaks past your window, crunching tyres on the newly fallen snow as the crackers are pulled in Downing Street………..
geoff…
all i hope is that it is not like the last few winters, i prey for a “mild” winter..
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/03/dying-of-the-cold-a-very-british-disease/
GEOFF REYNOLDS says:
August 20, 2013 at 10:25 am
On last nights BBC news there was a snippet of a story relating to physiotherapists being given the right to prescribe medicines. This morning the story had mysteriously vanished….
Forgive me for my tenacity in following up things, but i have a feeling that something else is unfolding without our knowledge.
I found this article in the Independent;
Physiotherapists in the UK will be the first in the world to be able to independently prescribe medication to their patients, the Department of Health has announced.
Confirming plans that were first outlined last year, the care and support minister Norman Lamb said that the new legislation, which will also empower podiatrists to prescribe medicines, would speed up treatments and free up GP’s time.
Currently, physios and podiatrists must refer a patient to a GP in order to get a prescription. Practitioners who want to issue prescriptions will have to complete a training course and will only be able to prescribe medications in their specific area. The changes will come into force when the first wave of training courses has been completed in summer 2014.
“This change will not only benefit patients by making it more convenient to get treatment but it will also free up valuable GP time,” Mr Lamb said. “We are showing the world that the NHS is at the forefront of healthcare, paving the way for other countries. Physiotherapists and podiatrists are highly skilled professionals and these changes will allow them to give better care to the millions of people with acute and long term conditions.”
Phil Gray, chief executive of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, said: “This is a landmark moment that will lead to patients receiving faster, more effective treatment for their condition.”
END
Nothing may seem sinister, but on the BBC news it also reported that at present, nurses can also prescribe medicines as well……..
When you put Physios and Nurses into one sentence the word ATOS and HCP’s, springs to mind.
Our government, the crooks who purport to pull the strings on behalf of their paymasters, have just come up with a plan to try and introduce the disabled back into mainstream work. It is mandatory to attend a briefing by a HCP, ALTHOUGH TAKING PART IS SAID TO BE VOLUNTARY.
Upon seeking clarification about the, so called course, a freedom of information request was submitted to the DWP, requesting many points to be made clearer.
These actual questions were asked…..
Can a doctor, nurse or physio employed in conjunction with the DWP, enforce a course
of action or taking of medicines, against the wishes of the claimant, the claimants own GP, or the
claimants specialist advisors?
By virtue of the fact that you have chosen to include, “they will not replace a persons GP”
casts much doubt on the inabilities of the health team who will carry out the procedures. Will the
claimants own GP have the authority to deny any procedures that are prescribed?
This is the answer they gave in response;
If the HCP was unsure of any aspect of the claimant’s treatment the claimant would be
referred back to their own GP. Claimants’ GPs will not have the authority to deny any
procedures recommended in the 18-24 months prognosis pilots.
What they are saying is, they have the authority to overrule your own GP!
Meaning a physio or nurse wields more power than a qualified doctor, in this case, your doctor, the person who knows you best and has treated you……..
I see this as being absolutely preposterous and wonder what other “SHABBY”,short cuts they will try to implement.
If your GP is in a position where, he or she, has a damning workload, will you be hived off to a “SECOND BEST”, who will have the ability to prescribe medicines and treatment?.
Watch this space carefully, the dirty tricks department is in full swing to cut costs and endanger even more lives, hiding beneath the banner of welfare reform!!!
geoff..
here’s the story..people need to do their own research on painkillers..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23752418
So what will be next, brain surgery by Eddie Stobart (trucks)?
“DIRTY LITTLE CIRCLES WITHIN CIRCLES”
How the British Public are getting conned, lied and cheated by the very people who purport to represent our interests…….
Taken from the independent;
George Osborne was facing fresh questions yesterday over his controversial push to make Britain a worldwide hub for fossil fuels, after it emerged that his father-in-law is the head of a lobbying organisation for big oil and gas companies.
Lord Howell of Guildford, who is an energy minister at the Foreign Office, is also the president of the British Institute of Energy Economics (BIEE), which is sponsored by Shell and BP – prompting suggestions of a conflict of interest.
Green campaigners demanded to know whether Lord Howell, a former energy secretary under Margaret Thatcher and who was a political influence on the young Mr Osborne, had pressed his son-in-law to promote oil and gas from inside the Treasury while weakening the renewable energy sector.
Last week, the Chancellor and the Energy Secretary, Ed Davey, reached a compromise deal over the coalition’s energy policy after a cabinet showdown, with Mr Davey fending off an attempt by Mr Osborne to slash wind energy subsidies by 25 per cent, instead agreeing to 10 per cent cuts. However, the deal alarmed environmental campaigners as it contained a £500m tax break for offshore drilling for North Sea gas as part of Mr Osborne’s mission to make the UK a “gas hub”. There was also no commitment for all electricity generation to be green by 2030, a demand of the Department for Energy and Climate Change (Decc).
While Lord Howell, whose daughter Frances married Mr Osborne in 1998, has declared his role at the BIEE on the Register of Lords’ Interests, there was criticism that this clashes with his ministerial brief. The Conservative peer is a Foreign Office minister with responsibility for international energy policy, which involves him travelling around the world setting out British energy policy to foreign governments. Whitehall insiders alleged that Lord Howell, who has been sceptical about climate change and is an enthusiastic supporter of shale gas as well as traditional power generation, has told ministerial counterparts that the British Government is not serious about renewable energy.
Mr Osborne has not hidden his scepticism for green policies, declaring in his Autumn Statement last year: “We are not going to save the planet by shutting down our steel mills.” He has also pushed for the Government to keep a third runway at Heathrow on the table. Yet the revelation about his father-in-law’s interests will only heighten concerns about the Chancellor’s “dash for gas”.
Louise Hutchins, senior energy campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said yesterday: “We’d hate to think that the UK’s direction of travel on energy policy was being decided over claret and duck chez Osborne. But Lord Howell’s links with big oil and gas special interests are well established. Questions must surely be asked about whether he has been bending the ear of his son-in-law to help his friends in the fossil fuel lobby.”
Lord Howell and his son-in-law share their enthusiasm for shale gas extraction, through the controversial method of fracking. Two years ago, the 76-year-old minister told the House of Lords: “There is the fascinating development of shale gas, which has changed the energy landscape in the US. If it is replicated elsewhere, it could be fundamental in altering the energy vista in every continent.”
Mr Davey has become increasingly frustrated by the belief held by some in the Conservative Party that global expansion in shale gas will lead to lower bills in Britain. A senior Lib Dem source said: “There is a Tory obsession that somehow there is going to be this revolution in gas and the price is going to plummet. We shouldn’t be banking on it being a big game-changer.”
As the Treasury and Decc fought it out over energy policy last week, Tim Yeo, the chairman of the Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee, accused Mr Osborne of undermining green energy policy, ahead of the Government’s Energy Bill this autumn, to please backbench Tory MPs.
It also emerged that Mr Osborne has not met a single renewable energy representative since becoming Chancellor, but has held eight meetings with oil and gas companies.
In an interview in 2006, Mr Osborne praised his father-in-law, who was a key member of Mrs Thatcher’s cabinet. He said: “I grew up during the 1980s and the achievements of the governments of the 1980s are phenomenal. Whether it was the battle against trade unions, reform of the economy or defeating the Soviet Union.”
A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: “There is no reason for the minister in the Foreign Office responsible for international energy policy not to continue to hold the honorary position as president of the British Institute of Energy Economics, which is sponsored by Decc. The UK Government is clear that it supports the UK energy industry.”
The most heinous shower of shit that ever took office, corrupt from top to bottom.
Not one of them could hide behind a corkscrew!……….
You have to hand it to these dpac activists they are all hero’s in my eyes.
fawkes
i agree, for me the activism of human rights should put before all other types of activism, then imho, everything else will fall into place.
Conflicts of interest: what could have been all about green energy, was turned into DECC: The emphasis on climate change (as if that was the only issue ever, and all previous issues suddenly went away), so that they can basically be a pro-nuclear lobby.
DEFRA links farming with the environment though there are loads of conflicts of interest and opposite aims of the two things. One aspect is animals, the environmental lobby is left out of the debate since it’s now about food production and ‘the economy’ above the environment. Interdepartmental business with DECC can get it linked to nuclear and to other polluting/dangerous industries.
The Home Office COULD be a place promoting human rights, in fact it is interested in removing rights; and linked to the Borders Agency (a lot of fascists/racists there) and terrible treatment of immigrants (legal entrants and asylum seekers/refugees and economic migrants.).
And the ‘minister for murdering disabled people’ is a bitch. A staffing decision matched only by the one the other year, when a woman who hates gays was given the post of diversity/rights/equalities minister (I forget which one; every time I try to think of them lately, their faces all kind of morph into Margaret Thatcher). As I recall she is something to do with Opus Dei and/or some of those nutty ‘family values’ groups.
Somethig Survived – you’re thinking of Maria Miller, the current incumbent.
Have you ever asked yourself how some of the most twisted, heinous and shocking reforms in UK welfare are ever able to proceed?.
You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to work out that someone, somewhere, has given the green light for these things to be introduced………
What you must first consider is, who has given the go ahead, what they represent and what do they gain?
The government use a particular criteria for choosing who actually does an “IMPACT ASSESSMENT”.
The usual criteria that comes first, is who can we choose who will give us the very answers that we require?
In laymans language, to push a policy through, we need someone on the same wavelength, who has something to gain other than the service that they are supposed to be carrying out and getting paid for.
All the impact assessments contain a section that asks the author of the report if the measures will have any Social impacts on health and wellbeing.
Guess what the report says, NO!
Will it infringe human rights, NO!
Impact on justice system, NO!
Of course it won’t. They have taken away every means of challenge for the working classes by stealing the rights of legal aid………..
One must ask, “How the fuck do these comedians get away with it?”
……………….and more importantly, “Which government minister, signed off the impact assessment as being ok?”
At present there is a call for a “Cumulative Impact Assessment” because of the fallout, in human terms, of the WELFARE REFORM ACT 2012.
The impact on the poor and disabled is being played down by the ” in pocket” media, yet the tragedy of the impacts are yet to be fully known. We are just experiencing the first phase of casualties of which a huge deluge will certainly follow……
For many, the cruelty and stress will never be reversed, they have already been uprooted as their benefits have been systematically raped by the DWP, the government hit squad.
Our country is so deep in red tape and legislation that it is fast becoming a dictatorship.
Freedoms are long gone, the talk of a free country are a thing of history……………….
Wake up and start challenging the system………
geoff..
yeah, we all wrapped up in tests, checks, and endless admin.
first, we have to prove we deserve our human rights, to those in charge, which as they control our entitlement to our benefits, is no longer us.
*Off Topic
Liam Byrne has finally revealed that Labour want to help the Tories to SAVE the Work Programme and Universal Credit:
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/aug/21/labour-to-cut-benefits-bill-2015
DON’T VOTE LABOUR !!!!
landless peasant..
they are beyond contempt..like turkeys would vote for christmas…they must think that the electorate are stupid..
Trouble is, many of them are!
l p they run a hell of any election strategy, “vote for us, lets make the rich and powerful, even richer and more powerful.”
It just occurred to me as I was setting up another ‘Government Gateway’ profile on the Universal Jobshat site (because the other one seems to have been hacked), that we could all do this, i.e. set up more than one profile, using different email addresses. That would certainly confuse maters, and possibly overload the system? You could even upload different CVs to them. But if you do set up any profile on there then DON’T check the box to allow the DWP to monitor your jobsearch, of course!
Not a good idea. The only measure the Government use to measure the “success” of UJM is the number of people signed up to it! You’d be helping them.
But it would be the same number of people, except many more accounts.
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Did you hear the one about the Atos examiner who passed a lie detector test?
No, and i bet no fucker else did either……………
“DISABLED LANARKSHIRE WOMAN THROWN ONTO THE STREETS DUE TO BEDROOM TAX”
” HEARTLESS, EVIL, FUCKING SCUMBAGS, THE LOWEST OF THE LOWEST………………..
Words fail me. i don’t think there is a category that exists that would best describe this vile act…….
From the government front benches, down to the North Lanarkshire Housing Officials, every one should hide their faces in shame.
People should take to the streets and drive these “faceless yellow bastards”, away from where decent people live.
While Cameron is enjoying his fourth holiday, a disabled lady is getting kicked out of her home and pushed onto the streets…………….
People often refer to a NAZI regime, this is much worse and much more sinister in its concept.
We are supposed to have learned from our past about the atrocities that man has done to man?
Propaganda by the septic tank DWP, with its gestapo style rules have seen this country turn on its most vulnerable.
We are witnessing ethnic cleansing made possible by ill thought out welfare reforms.
William Hague is dying to intervene in the Syrian conflict, describing the cause as defeating a crackpot dictator who is taking human lives to sustain his aims…….
Whats the bloody difference? Our government are doing the same.
Ask the electorate who wants to enter into a war that is nothing to do with us. The majority will say stay well away!
One thing is certain, the public schoolboys are way out of touch with the general public.
If i could pay into a fund to raise money to assassinate the very people who victimise us, i would.
They do not belong on this earth……………….
Now they want to turf her out for failing to pay just £248 in bedroom tax arrears.
Lorraine, 46, said: “Where will I go? I need a specially adapted home just to survive.
“What kind of people would throw a disabled woman and her kids out on the street?
“They have no compassion or conscience.”
North Lanarkshire Council have sent Lorraine a series of hard-hitting letters, warning her that eviction proceedings are under way.
The latest letter, dated August 8, states: “I can advise you that North Lanarkshire Council has commenced court action to evict you from your home.”
She has also been told she faces paying for the authority’s “considerable” legal costs.
Lorraine receives disability living allowance. And even before the bedroom tax, she struggled to pay her bills and feed her family.
geoff…
here’s the news story,everyone should read..
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/bedroom-tax-disabled-mum-of-two-lorraine-2204216
This is off topic but important none-the-less. Its the ‘Zero hour contract’ abuse. Its shocking and disgraceful. If you want real news you will find it on this site as well:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/08/23/320044/zerohour-contracts-at-1-in-4-uk-firms/
Yesterday i received a plea from the 38 DEGREES website………..
Apparently, government officials are trying to get rid of on-line websites that utilise the voice of the people to try and change government policy.
38 DEGREES actively promote people power by the use of of direct petitioning.
The organisation has had lots of successful campaigns which have forced government to do changes to ill thought out policies.
Their remit has been far and wide and includes issues amounting from the NHS reforms.
It is crucial that these organisations exist because they are the backbone of true democracy.
Under the guise of anti-lobbying legislation, the powers that be, are hellbent on trying to silence the voice of the people.
They control the media and now they want to control the internet……..
This is the email they sent to me;
38 Degrees is facing its biggest ever threat.
The government’s rushing through a new law which, if it passes, will stop us running the type of campaigns which have made us who we are. [1] The campaigns which have saved our forests, fought privatisation in the NHS, and defeated the snoopers’ charter. [2] The campaigns which have seen 1.7 million of us act together, locally and nationally, for over four years. In fact, if the new law passes, and we continue campaigning as we do now, the office team could even risk being sent to jail. [3]
The law’s called the ‘Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill’. And if it goes through without any changes, it’ll wipe out our campaigning by slashing what we can spend during the year before elections. Not just general elections, either. Local elections, European elections and referendums, too. [4]
But if we act now and we act together, we could make the government reverse their plan. Chloe Smith, the minister responsible for pushing this law through parliament, is coming under more and more pressure to re-think. If hundreds of thousands of us speak up now, we could swing her decision.
Can you email Chloe Smith now to tell her why it’s important that we’re able to campaign during elections, and what you think of her plans to stifle us? There’s no template email, because it’s really important that Chloe Smith hears your personal reasons for being a member of 38 Degrees. Anything you write to her now is better than her not hearing from us at all.
Click here to get started:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/lobbying-bill
……………………………………………………….
This is the thin end of the wedge, imagine what power the government would wield if they could close sites like ” BLACK TRIANGLE”, JOHNNY VOID, etc etc down.
No dissent from the people is the first step towards a fascist state.
Strangely we choose to highlight China’s freedom of information controls and the way it controls the internet and media.
We are following this trend very closely. Already we are seeing hidden courts, hidden inquiries, classified material and evesdropping by GCHQ Cheltenham on private phone information and computer logging……………
Where will it all stop?
Your rights to challenge the laws have been taken away piece by piece. The overall picture is becoming alarming. What happened to appeal rights and legal aid?………….
Your voice is the mainstay of what happens in our nation.
Politicians are no longer representative of the views of the electorate, this disappeared many moons ago as the multinationals and banks poisoned the chalice of right and wrong.
We have to act fast and form a resistance to the onslaught of corporate greed as it engulfs its victims like no other time in history…………………………
It’s seems funny that Chloe smith who is asking for names addresses etc and has put forward the petition to keep 38 degrees is a conservative mp.
Not many of the party faithful go against their own party unless there is a reason behind it. Yes I am suspicious.
Annemarie on 07913300383
Contract type
Permanent
WE ARE A LONG RUNNING ESTABLISHED ADULT CHAT SERVICE WHO REQUIRE HARD WORKING LADIES TO AND TALK ON THERE MOBILE PHONE , WE REQUIRE YOU TO BE HONEST HARD WORKING POLITE AND ABOVE ALL WILLING TO DO AT LEAST 10 hours a week , we also have different types of chat ranging right down to just socialising weekly pay and extra cash is what you get all we ask is that you work hard , we will start the right applicants straight away so you can start earning today .
MY PARTNER WAS ASKED TO APPLY FOR THIS JOB FROM HER ADVISER AT SLOUGH JOB CENTRE. MY PARTNER REFUSED TO DO SO HER ADVISER COULD NOT UNDERSTAND WHY NOT AS SHE USED TO WORK FOR A CALL CENTRE AND HER REPLY WAS ITS THE SAME SORT OF WORK MY PARNTER GOT UP AND LEFT BUT HER ADVISER SAID SHE WOULD STOP HER INCOME SUPPORT AND OUR CHILD’S DLA CAN SEE DO THIS OR NOT????
Contact your MP right away.
Rick go to the press. No way can they do this and always record when you go to see these nazis.
Here’s their ad. Take ’em to the cleaners.
http://www.gumtree.com/p/jobs/an-adult-chat-job-from-home-ladies-make-money-from-home-on-your-mobile-phone/1029644543
JCP+ “adviser” [in German accent] [stomps, “draws” Hilter moustache and gives Nazi salute]: “I vas vonly vollowing vorders” *chuckle, chuckle*, *titter, titter* go fellow “advisers”.
PAUL MALPAS made several freedom of information requests to the DWP.
On one of his requests, he asked if a GP could issue a “STATEMENT OF FITNESS FOR WORK”.
This is the DWP’s response;
In the decision dated 2 July 2013 (ref VTR2728/13), it was confirmed that General
Practitioners are not trained to make an assessment on a person’s capability for work
according to legislation.
Furthermore the DWP state;
In the decision dated 2 July 2013 (ref VTR2728/13) it was confirmed that GPs are able to
provide “simple fitness for work advice to aid their patient’s recovery and help them return to
work”.
I am making reference to this because when the DWP stopped my Incapacity benefit due to a biased ATOS examination, i was informed that to carry on getting payments i had to tender a statement of fitness for work from my GP.
Twice i have cited the freedom of information reply and they are choosing to ignore it………..
I think the DWP are deliberately trying to keep the issue under wraps. Ask yourself why they choose to ignore their own documentation?
Something sinister is being played out………
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/162095/response/417463/attach/html/3/IR587%20P%20Malpas%20Final.pdf.html
Reply
geoff..
well spotted, they have abandoned all logical in the conversation, and painted themselves into a corner..so what now is the gp’s role? the gp can no longer act in the best interests of the patient, but must now take advice from a 3rd party contractor?
A FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST WAS SENT IN TO THE DWP, ASKING WHY THEY PERSIST IN TELLING CLAIMANTS THAT THEY CANNOT APPEAL AGAINST A DECISION.
they replied by sending this………
Why do you therefore persist in telling people that they cannot appeal, knowing full well, it is
not in your remit to do so?
The Department for Work and Pensions in its Guidance states that: The customer has the
right to dispute, or appeal against, any decision of the Decision Maker (DM) that carries appeal
rights. These are decisions which in law clearly carry the right of appeal. Neither the
department nor the tribunal can interfere with these rights – nor give approval for them to
apply.
However, there are decisions which do not carry the right of appeal, and this is set out in law
(see Schedule 2 of the Social Security Act 1998). But it is not unknown for claimants to appeal
against one of these decisions. When this happens the Secretary of State will ask a tribunal
Judge to strike out the appeal because it is out of jurisdiction, that is, it should not be put
before an appeal tribunal because there is no right of appeal. So here the final decision lies
with a tribunal Judge. Indeed, the Tribunal’s own procedure rules provide for this process.
Again, this is not the Secretary of State interfering with the appeals process.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
TO PUT THIS IN LAYMANS LANGUAGE, YOU CAN APPEAL ANY AND EVERY DECISION THAT THEY THROW AT YOU……………
THE REMIT TO DISALLOW ANY APPEAL LAYS WITH THE APPEAL PANEL JUDGE, NOT THE DWP.
http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/home/finance-and-practice-life-news/lmc-leaders-plan-campaign-to-encourage-gps-to-just-say-no-to-benefit-requests/20004039.article#.UhjPvRVwacw
More GP’s trying to stop helping claimants with benefit appeals
Gov. is to name and shame workfare exploiters.
“The government will start actively naming and shaming employers who flout national minimum wage laws this autumn.”
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/aug/23/minimum-wage-offenders-named-shamed
“Theresa May said it was ‘scarcely believable that there is slavery in Britain’ but that ‘in 2013 there are people in this country forced to exist in appalling conditions and often against their will’.”
http://www.theguardian.com/law/2013/aug/25/modern-slavery-bill-human-trafficking
We know, go and see DC, IDS, MH, and the DWP for details.
The BMA represents the GP’s, and they are probably distancing their members from the chances of being sued by their own patients for making wrongful fitness for work declarations…………………..
If the freedom of information reply from DWP is correct, which it must be, the doctors are outside their remit anyway, what they are being asked to do is illegal………
Read this carefully; its the response from the FOI request submitted by Paul Malpas;
In the decision dated 2 July 2013 (ref VTR2728/13), it was confirmed that General
Practitioners are not trained to make an assessment on a person’s capability for work
according to legislation.
Legislation is being broken as we speak.
The DWP are instructing GP’s to break the law!!!!!!
No ifs or buts………………………..
August 26, 2013 at 8:58 am
All this talk about submitting substantial evidence to the DWP in regard to a claim is “ONE BIG PISSTAKE”…….
The DWP already hold all information about your health history in their archives……….
I requested that the DWP send me all the information they held on me. Anyone can request this, it costs you nothing but it costs them a lot of time and effort to collate it all…………
Drop them a line, recorded delivery of course, and ask for your files. They must provide them by law!!!
My files came in three huge envelopes. The paperwork was seven inches high…………
They contained every sick note and visit to my doctor, every questionnaire i had ever filled in as a result of my benefits and all relevant scoring of my rights to have the benefits….
In other words, they are sending you on a “WILD GOOSE CHASE” to furnish them with information that is already at their disposal.
“ANOTHER BIG CON TRICK”………………..
August 26, 2013 at 9:18 am
I asked, via the freedom of information act, if any of the staff, at whatever level of the DWP, received PRIVATE HEALTH CARE.
Strangely, they first said the information was not held!
They then retracted this statement and said that no one at the DWP received PRIVATE HEALTH CARE.
Upon inspecting the pages on the request, it seems they have removed their answers completely.
,,,,,,,,,,,another cracker from this totally honest department!
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/private_health#incoming-419451
Brain injury victim’s family disgusted at ‘work’ letter
A Londonderry man left in a permanent vegetative state following a sectarian attack has been asked by the Social Security Agency if he is fit for work.
Paul McCauley, 36, was attacked by a gang at a barbecue in the Waterside area of the city on 16 July 2006.
He suffered severe brain injuries and requires round-the-clock care. One man is serving 12 years for his part in the assault.
Mr McCauley’s family told the BBC they are “disgusted” by the letter.
His father, Jim, said a 12-page document with 30 questions had been posted around the Christmas period in 2012.
“In the majority of the questions we had to record that our son is in a permanent vegetative state,” he said.
“I tried to phone the department but I didn’t get through to anyone.
“I was later sent a second form and I assumed it was an error.
“I filled in the first form myself and attached the specialist neurosurgeon report along with a report from Paul’s GP.”
Mr McCauley told the BBC that he felt he had responded adequately to the Social Security Agency the first time and said Christmas time was an “extremely insensitive period” to send such document.
“Something the Social Security Agency should look at is how they collect information,” he said.
“This was quite distressing for the entire family at the time and talking about it now brings back memories.
“All the agencies are entitled to collect their information but some greater sensitivity should be shown for those involved in an industrial accident, a road accident, a sectarian or drunken attack.
“There is a lot of trauma for the family and it’s not eased when forms like this really rub salt in the wounds.”
Man in Permanent Vegetative State asked if he is “fit to work” by callous DWP
Anonymous – internet service providers plan censorship strategies cannot copy link for some reason so see it on http://www.youtube.com/watcg?v=uj
This page isn’t available. Sorry about that.
Try searching for something else ¦(
The Guardian, Wednesday 12 September 2012 21.00 BST
This week the sixth International Forum on Disability Management, IFDM 2012, takes place at Imperial College London. It is sponsored by some of the world’s largest medical insurance companies, Unum among them, and speakers include DWP chief medical adviser Dr Bill Gunyeon and Professor Sir Mansel Aylward, formerly DWP chief medical adviser and director of the Centre for Psychosocial and Disability Research at Cardiff University, which was sponsored by Unum from its inception in 2003 until 2009.
Unum’s website states that during this sponsorship period “a series of papers was published, identifying the range of factors that determine why some people become long-term absentees”. The Cardiff papers advocated a “biopsychosocial model” of disability which Unum says “informed its approach to medical underwriting”. It is the same approach upon which the current Atos work capability assessment (WCA) is based. Concomitantly, the company were advising the UK government on welfare reform.
Dear Ms Ong,
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request received 30 July 2013. You asked;
The number of disability assessment centres provided by the controversial IT company Atos
will only be one seventh of the number it promised when it won a £184 million government
contract, Disability News Service (DNS) can reveal.
What action, if any, will be taken against ATOS, for its flagrant deception to win a major
contract [Personal Independence Payment assessments] that has seen its bosses salary
boosted to an unprecedented level, while the disabled have been stripped of benefits by poor
medical reports…….
The providers for the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment service were
appointed following a robust, open and fair competition and were assessed against established
and published selection criteria.
In their bid, published on the Contracts Finder service on the GOV.UK website, Atos described
their delivery model, based on working with supply chain partners already established in the
healthcare sector. On 18 February 2013 Atos published its full list of those partners. The
Disability News Service story refers to Atos tender for Lot 3 (London and Southern England)
and changes to their supply chain since the original tender.
It is usual for there to be changes between contract award and delivery and the Department
would not expect any bidder to have entered into binding contractual arrangements with
potential subcontractors at the tender stage. What is important is that Atos has kept the
Department informed about these changes. The mention, or not, of any particular organisation
in the bids to deliver PIP was not material in the evaluation of the competition and had no
impact on the decision. It was the subcontract delivery model and Atos’ ability to develop and
manage a diverse and local supply chain which was evaluated.
Any of Atos’ partners’ sites could be used for PIP consultations providing they meet DWP’s
requirements and as such represent a large, flexible network of sites including back up
locations and additional capacity in the event that volumes are higher than forecast. Atos have
demonstrated they have sufficient coverage to meet the current forecast demand for assessing
new claims for PIP and will make additional sites from their network available as the volume of
PIP assessments increases during the lifetime of the contract.
DWP is working closely with Atos to ensure that we deliver PIP in a way that meets the needs
of disabled people and is confident the providers in each lot have been properly selected.
If you have any queries about this letter please contact me quoting the reference number
above.
Yours sincerely,
DWP Central FoI Team
——————————————————————————————————
From: MEREDITH ONG (Account suspended)
29 July 2013
Dear Department for Work and Pensions,
You recently wrote the following in response to the removal of
Lifetime and Indefinite Awards…
Finality
01150 A decision made by a DM, the FtT or the UT is final1 unless
it is
1. revised (decisions of DMs only)
2. superseded
3. terminated after an award has been suspended
4. changed or replaced on appeal
5. corrected or
6. set aside (decisions of the FtT or the UT only).
Note: See DMG 01180 – 01191 for guidance on finality of
determinations.
1 SS Act 98, s 17(1)
01151 Where a decision is changed or replaced as in DMG 01150, the
new or revised decision becomes
the final decision on the claim or application, even where it does
not change the outcome1. But see DMG
01152 – 01153 where an outcome decision is not replaced on appeal.
With reference to the above;
Can an award that was made at a tribunal hearing that was attended
by one or maybe two professional GP’s, be taken away by a DWP
decision maker who has no medical background?
The aforementioned text seems to imply this.
Why would an award be retracted if the claimants condition had not
altered or got worse?
How many claimants have had their “lifetime or Indefinite awards”
taken from them, having attended the controversial ESA examination?
Yours faithfully,
MEREDITH ONG
Almost sinister……..
Ask yourselves, why have they not responded to such a simple question?
Can an award that was made at a tribunal hearing that was attended
by one or maybe two professional GP’s, be taken away by a DWP
decision maker who has no medical background?