Another wheeze to cut benefits

The Social Security Advisory Committee is consulting  on the government’s latest wheeze to cut working-age benefits.  This time it’s a proposal to extend the number of waiting days that a benefit is payable, from three days to seven.  This will ‘save’ (that is, cut benefit by)  £40-50 per claim.  Benefits are already paid fortnightly in arrears, so in practice this will mean that people will typically have to wait three weeks for a payment.  (The references to ‘days’ and ‘weeks’ are all anomalous, because the government is supposed to be moving to monthly benefits.)     Those who are desperate will have to apply for a ‘short term benefit advance’.

The policy is due to start in October.  The equalities  assessment notes that 82% of those affected by the change to Employment and Support Allowance have protected status in terms of the Disability Discrimination Act.   Much good may it do them.

 

 

7 thoughts on “Another wheeze to cut benefits”

  1. I remember the over 16’s child benefit fiasco when my kids were at 6th form college; I remember the Child Credit fiascos as well. When the expected money just wasn’t there and no word of explanation and none of it our fault. Hung out to dry, no help, no apologies, you would be lucky if someone answered the phone and, if they did, they’d always be bloody rude to you. I’m talking about the early 1990s and things seem to have continued to slither down the wall…

    My children, in their thirties now, make jokes about ‘rice risotto’ and ‘the long dark corridor to payday’, but, for me, it wasn’t even remotely funny. I spent months at a time not being able to sleep properly for worry; and I was one of the lucky ones!

    When I read about the struggle that people have now, it all comes back to me. I hate the current system but I’m angry that my fellow citizens have been so apathetic that they have let this slide over the last thirty five years, because there wasn’t much to grumble about for a while. You have to vote, you have to pick holes in everything, especially in the years of plenty!

    Rant over…

  2. **CORRECTION**: Child Credit should read Family Credit. This preceded all the Tax Credit things which I know nothing about, mercifully.

  3. I totally agree with Phil Workman – I too have been in the same position as him and his family have.
    As for the citizens and apathy – I’ll be honest and say it’s more laziness than apathy now – people are far too lazy to get off their erses, move out of their home with the tv and computer on and have to *walk* to a polling booth and put a cross in the box.
    I’d much rather they went to the local polling booth, and even if they spoil their ballot paper, at least that then gets through to the parties standing.

  4. Why don’t they just round up everyone on benefits and transport them to a camp somewhere, they may as well as they demonising this group much like the nazi’s did with the disabled and incapacitated.

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