Yes, readers, you read that right. So, those capable of work should starve until they find some, should they, Sir?

So, the JobCentre staff know how serious things are, but like all staff, live in fear of their jobs.

A poster that made me smile…

Readers, please read the three case studies at the end of this post. Two of them are of sick/disabled people and all three reasons for sanctioning are equally silly.

Spotted on Facebook. Shared so it can be watched by more of us, hopefully.

At 2.30pm on Monday 18 November, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Ian Duncan Smith will be asked a question by the Welsh MP Hywel Williams about what the government’s plans are for the future of the Independent Living Fund. It will be screened live on BBC’s Parliament channel. It is impossible to predict what decisions have been made by the government, and what their response to Hywel Williams question will be. Campaigners will respond to any significant developments through Disabled People Against Cuts web site.

A woman from Glasgow has become the first in Scotland to be evicted due to the Bedroom Tax after falling behind with her rent.

The woman who lives in Pollok was already struggling with rent arrears of several hundred pounds when she was deemed to have an extra bedroom and had her housing benefits cut.

The reduction to her benefit led to her rent arrears increasing by just over three hundred pounds and her landlord, Glasgow Housing Association, instigated eviction proceedings.

Newsnet Scotland understands that lawyers acting on behalf of the woman had lodged papers aimed at preventing the eviction and that it was overturned, but papers did not arrive at GHA offices until after the lady had been evicted.  However, according to a local SNP councillor who tried to persuade the GHA to let the woman back into her house, the organisation claimed not to have received the papers.

Councillor Jim Torrance, who learned of the eviction, went straight to her home, arriving at 2pm he described the woman as “frozen”.  She had been “kicked out” at ten o’clock that morning.

“She was frozen, absolutely stiff outside the house, she was bewildered” he told Newsnet Scotland.

“I went straight to GHA office to try to get her keys back, they had changed the locks on her doors”.

He added: “The last thing we should be doing to these people is throwing them out in the street, six weeks before Christmas.”

The councillor claimed he was initially told the eviction was nothing to do with the Bedroom Tax but on pressing GHA it emerged that a significant amount of her arrears, 32%, was indeed down to housing benefit cuts.

Despite Councillor Torrance pleading on the woman’s behalf, the Housing Association refused to allow her back into her home.  It also emerged that the woman’s medication and clothing had been locked in the house at the time of the eviction and she was forced to wait hours in the cold until the police had returned before she was able to retrieve it.

Newsnet Scotland was also told that three police officers had attended the eviction.  The woman spent the night in a hotel which has no food facilities after GHA refused to let her back into her home pending another court hearing in December.

The woman, Charlene Shearer is a young widow with a teenage son whose husband died seven years ago.

According to Councillor Torrance, she was managing rent arrears prior to the new legislation coming in, but a new system coupled with cuts to her housing benefit led to her arrears climbing back up.  Ms Shearer had been on job seekers allowance but was transferred to employment support, during the change-over her payments didn’t go to GHA properly.

Ms Shearer will now have to wait until December 4th until a new hearing can be held into her case, before she can return to her home.  However Newsnet Scotland understands that GHA has agreed to meet with the woman today where she will be accompanied by someone from Govan Law Centre.

The eviction follows rising tensions over the non-appearance of ten Scottish Labour MPs at a crucial vote aimed at scrapping the Bedroom Tax.  In total forty seven Labour MPs failed to turn up for the vote in the House of Commons which was won by the coalition by only 26 votes.

An anti-Bedroom tax campaign group has announced plans for a peaceful protest outside the offices of one of the Scottish Labour MPs, Anas Sarwar.  The gathering is scheduled to take place Friday at 3pm at 9 Scotland Street, Glasgow.

By the brilliant Chris Lawton. Watch, share and send viral.

Readers, for whatever it’s worth, please get your MP to sign this EDM, on the Bedroom Tax. Thanks.

UNDER-OCCUPANCY PENALTY (No. 2)

That this House believes that the under-occupancy penalty was a mistake and should not have been introduced in the Welfare Reform Act 2012; further believes that it will not achieve the savings projected for it and that as constructed it is likely to have unforeseen consequences that will be unfair to certain groups and individuals; recognises that there is an urgent need to free up social housing to deal with the chronic shortage of social housing in many areas of the country, a legacy of the housing policies of previous Conservative and Labour administrations, including allowing people to buy council houses without replacing the stock, but nevertheless believes that the under-occupancy penalty is flawed and unacceptable in its current form; notes the perverse consequence that in some areas there are more larger properties now lying empty and with inadequate smaller housing; further believes that there should be more automatic exemptions, including for disabled and ill adults who require separate rooms for medical reasons or reasons associated with their disability; further believes that no-one should be subject to the penalty until they have refused a suitable home; further believes that councils should be given more exemptions, including where they can and wish to let houses above the recommended size without penalty to the individual or council; calls on the Department for Work and Pensions to conduct an urgent review of the policy and make changes; and further believes that if the Department refuses to do this, the policy should be scrapped altogether.

From Fightback:

HIGH IMPORTANCE this come via Jenny Clarke if you are in the situation where you can claim neither ESA or JSA you can claim Income Support this has been found out via an FOI below:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/174911/response/428973/attach/3/FOI%204180%20Response.pdf

They certainly kept this quiet in Government as many where under the impression Income Support (IS) had ended.

I found this on Fightback, who found it on ATOS Miracles on Monday.

ATOS Miracles Suzi ATOS Miracles
52 minutes ago
Ive posted this before but another person has fell for the same trick: the ESA form does ask about side effects on meds, but its done very subtly, there is a question that asks if you suffer from alcohol or drug related problem and in small writing just above the answer box it states this also includes meds prescribed by a doctor. It is in this box all side effects of any meds should be written – its a bad way of writing it but it is there xxxxx

Spotted on Facebook.

With many thanks to the Mirror.

More than 30 Lib Dem MPs voted to uphold the government’s hated Bedroom Tax – despite their own party members having condemned the policy.

Just two MPs, Andrew George and Tim Farron, defied the coalition to vote in support of Labour’s motion to scrap the deductions for social tenants with spare bedrooms with “immediate effect”.

Lib Dems who voted against the Labour motion (31)

• Norman Baker (Lewes)
• Sir Alan Beith (Berwick-upon-Tweed)
• Tom Brake (Carshalton & Wallington)
• Jeremy Browne (Taunton Deane)
• Malcolm Bruce (Gordon)
• Paul Burstow (Sutton & Cheam)
• Lorely Burt (Solihull)
• Sir Menzies Campbell (Fife North East)
• Alistair Carmichael (Orkney & Shetland)
• Edward Davey (Kingston & Surbiton)
• Don Foster (Bath)
• Stephen Gilbert (St Austell & Newquay)
• Duncan Hames (Chippenham)
• Sir Nick Harvey (Devon North)
• David Heath (Somerton & Frome)
• John Hemming (Birmingham Yardley)
• Martin Horwood (Cheltenham)
• Simon Hughes (Bermondsey & Old Southwark)
• Mark Hunter (Cheadle)
• Norman Lamb (Norfolk North)
• Michael Moore (Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk)
• Tessa Munt (Wells)
• John Pugh (Southport)
• Dan Rogerson (Cornwall North)
• Bob Russell (Colchester)
• Sir Robert Smith (Aberdeenshire West & Kincardine)
• Andrew Stunell (Hazel Grove)
• Jo Swinson (Dunbartonshire East)
• John Thurso (Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross)
• Steve Webb (Thornbury & Yate)
• Stephen Williams (Bristol West)

Lib Dems who did not vote (21)

• Danny Alexander (Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey)
• Gordon Birtwistle (Burnley)
• Annette Brooke (Dorset Mid & Poole North)
• Vincent Cable (Twickenham)
• Nick Clegg (Sheffield Hallam)
• Michael Crockart (Edinburgh West)
• Lynne Featherstone (Hornsey & Wood Green)
• Julian Huppert (Cambridge)
• Charles Kennedy (Ross, Skye & Lochaber)
• David Laws (Yeovil)
• John Leech (Manchester Withington)
• Stephen Lloyd (Eastbourne)
• Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West)
• Alan Reid (Argyll & Bute)
• Adrian Sanders (Torbay)
• Ian Swales (Redcar)
• Sarah Teather (Brent Central)
• Mike Thornton (Eastleigh)
• Mark Williams (Ceredigion)
• Roger Williams (Brecon & Radnorshire)
• Simon Wright (Norwich South).

Lib Dem MP Jenny Willott (Cardiff Central) was a teller for the Noes.

The only difference in voting pattern between the first and the second vote, which was on the Prime Minister’s amendment, was that Education Minister David Laws did not vote against the Labour motion but did vote in support of the Prime Minister’s amendment.

Tories who voted against Labour’s motion (220)

• Adams, Nigel, Mr
• Afriyie, Adam, Mr
• Aldous, Peter, Mr
• Arbuthnot, James, Rt Hon
• Bacon, Richard, Mr
• Baker, Steve, Mr
• Barclay, Stephen, Mr
• Baron, John, Mr
• Bellingham, Henry, Mr
• Benyon, Richard, Mr
• Beresford, Paul, Sir
• Bingham, Andrew, Mr
• Binley, Brian, Mr
• Blackman, Bob, Mr
• Bone, Peter, Mr
• Bottomley, Peter, Mr
• Bradley, Karen, Ms
• Brady, Graham, Mr
• Bray, Angie, Ms
• Three line Aye
• Bridgen, Andrew, Mr
• Brine, Steve, Mr
• Burns, Conor, Mr
• Burns, Simon, Mr
• Burt, Alistair, Mr
• Byles, Dan
• Cameron, David, Rt Hon
• Carswell, Douglas, Mr
• Cash, William
• Chishti, Rehman, Mr
• Chope, Christopher, Mr
• Clappison, James, Mr
• Clark, Greg, Mr
• Clarke, Kenneth, Rt Hon
• Clifton-Brown, Geoffrey, Mr
• Coffey, Thérèse, Ms
• Collins, Damian, Mr
• Colville, Oliver
• Cox, Geoffrey, Mr
• Crabb, Stephen, Mr
• Crouch, Tracey, Ms
• Davies, David T C, Mr
• Davies, Glyn, Mr
• Davies, Philip, Mr
• Dinenage Caroline, Ms
• Djangoly, Jonathan, Mr
• Dorrell, Stephen, Rt Hon
• Doyle-Price, Jackie, Ms
• Drax, Richard, Mr
• Dunne, Philip, Mr
• Ellis, Michael, Mr
• Ellison, Jane, Ms
• Ellwood, Tobias, Mr
• Elphicke, Charlie, Mr
• Eustice, George, Mr
• Evans, Graham, Mr
• Evans, Jonathan, Mr
• Evennett, David
• Fallon, Michael, Mr
• Field, Mark, Mr
• Freer, Mike, Mr
• Fuller, Richard, Mr
• Garnier, Edward, Mr
• Garnier, Mark, Mr
• Gibb, Nick, Mr
• Gillian, Cheryl, Rt Hon
• Glen, John, Mr
• Goodwill, Robert, Mr
• Gove, Michael, Rt Hon
• Grant, Helen, Ms
• Gray, James, Mr
• Grayling, Chris, Mr
• Green, Damian, Mr
• Griffiths, Andrew, Mr
• Gummer, Ben
• Gyimah, Sam, Mr
• Hammond, Stephen, Mr
• Hancock, Matthew, Mr
• Hands, Greg, Mr
• Harper, Mark, Mr
• Harrington, Richard, Mr
• Harris, Rebecca, Ms
• Hart, Simon, Mr
• Hayes, John, Mr
• Heald, Oliver, Mr
• Heaton-Harris, Chris, Mr
• Hendry, Charles, Mr
• Herbert, Nick, Mr
• Hinds, Damian, Mr
• Hollingbery, George, Mr
• Hollobone, Philip, Mr
• Holloway, Adam, Mr
• Hopkins, Kris, Mr
• Howarth, Gerald, Mr
• Howell, John, Mr
• Hunt, Jeremy, Rt Hon
• Jackson, Stewart, Mr
• James, Margot, Ms
• Javid, Sajid, Mr
• Jenkin, Bernard, Mr
• Johnson, Gareth, Mr
• Jones, Andrew, Mr
• Jones, David, Mr
• Jones, Marcus, Mr
• Kelly, Chris, Mr
• Knight, Greg, Mr
• Kwarteng, Kwasi, Mr
• Lancaster, Mark, Mr
• Lansley, Andrew, Rt Hon
• Latham, Pauline, Ms
• Leadsom, Andrea, Ms
• Lee, Jessica, Ms
• Lee, Phillip
• Lewis, Brandon, Mr
• Lewis, Julian, Mr
• Liddell-Grainger, Ian, Mr
• Lidington, David, Mr
• Lopresti, Jack, Mr
• Lord, Jonathan, Mr
• Luff, Peter, Mr
• Main, Anne, Ms
• Maude, Francis, Rt Hon
• May, Theresa, Rt Hon
• Maynard, Paul, Mr
• Mccartney, Jason, Mr
• Mccartney, Karl, Mr
• Mcintosh, Anne, Ms
• Mcpartland, Stephen, Mr
• Mcvey, Esther, Ms
• Menzies, Mark, Mr
• Miller, Maria, Ms
• Mills, Nigel, Mr
• Mordaunt, Penny, Ms
• Morgan, Nicky, Mr
• Morris, David, Mr
• Mosley, Stephen, Mr
• Mowat, David, Mr
• Mundell, David, Mr
• Murray, Sheryll, Ms
• Murrison, Andrew, Mr
• Neill, Robert, Mr
• Newmark, Brooks, Mr
• Newton, Sarah, Ms
• Nokes, Caroline, Ms
• Nuttall, David, Mr
• O’Brien Stephen, Mr
• Ollernshaw, Eric
• Opperman, Guy, Mr
• Ottaway, Richard, Mr
• Paice, James, Mr
• Parish, Neil, Mr
• Patel, Priti, Ms
• Penning, Mike, Mr
• Penrose, John, Mr
• Perry, Claire, Ms
• Phillips, Stephen, Mr
• Pickles, Eric, Rt Hon
• Pincher, Christopher
• Poulter, Daniel, Mr
• Prisk, Mark, Mr
• Pritchard, Mark, Mr
• Raab, Dominic, Mr
• Randall, John, Mr
• Redwood, John, Rt Hon
• Rees-Mogg, Jacob, Mr
• Reevell, Simon, Mr
• Robertson, Hugh, Mr
• Roberston, Laurence, Mr
• Rosindell, Andrew, Mr
• Rudd, Amber, Ms
• Ruffley, David, Mr
• Rutley, David, Mr
• Sandys, Laura, Ms
• Scott, Lee, Mr
• Selous, Andrew, Mr
• Shapps, Grant, Mr
• Shelbrooke, Alec, Mr
• Shepherd, Richard, Mr
• Simpson, Keith, Mr
• Skidmore, Chris, Mr
• Smith, Henry, Mr
• Smith, Julian, Mr
• Soames, Nicholas, Hon
• Soubry, Anna, Ms
• Spelman, Caroline, Rt Hon
• Stanley, John, Rt Hon Sir
• Stephenson, Andrew, Mr
• Stevenson, John, Mr
• Stewart, Bob, Mr
• Stewart, Iain, Mr
• Streeter, Gary, Mr
• Stride, Mel, Mr
• Stuart, Graham, Mr
• Sturdy, Julian, Mr
• Swayne, Desmond, Mr
• Syms, Robert, Mr
• Tapsell, Peter, Mr
• Timpson, Edward, Mr
• Tomlinson, Justin, Mr
• Tredinnick, David, Mr
• Truss, Elizabeth, Ms
• Turner, Andrew, Mr
• Tyrie, Andrew, Mr
• Uppal, Paul, Mr
• Vaizey, Edward
• Vara, Shailesh, Mr
• Vickers, Martin, Mr
• Walker, Charles, Mr
• Wallace, Ben, Mr
• Wharton, James, Mr
• Wheeler, Heather, Ms
• White, Chris, Mr
• Whittingdale, John, Mr
• Wiggin, Bill, Mr
• Williamson, Gavin, Mr
• Wilson, Rob
• Wollaston, Sarah, Ms
• Wright, Jeremy, Mr
• Yeo, Tim, Mr
• Young, George, Sir Rt Hon

Tories who did not vote ( 82)

• AMESS, David, Mr
• ANDREW, Stuart, Mr
• BALDRY, Tony, Mr
• BALDWIN, Harriett, Ms
• BARKER, Gregory, Mr
• BEBB, Guto, Mr
• BERRY, Jake, Mr
• BLACKWOOD, Nicola, Ms
• BLUNT, Crispin, Mr
• BOLES, Nick, Mr
• BRAZIER, Julian, Mr
• BROKENSHIRE, James, Mr
• BRUCE, Fiona, Ms
• BUCKLAND, Robert, Mr
• BURLEY, Aidan, Mr
• BURROWES, David, Mr
• CAIRNS, Alun, Mr
• CARMICHAEL, Neil, Mr
• DAVIS, David, Rt Hon
• DE BOIS, Nick, Mr
• DORRIES, Nadine, Mrs
• DUDDRIDGE, James, Mr
• DUNCAN SMITH, Iain
• DUNCAN, Alan, Mr
• FABRICANT, Michael, Mr
• FOX, Liam, Rt Hon
• FRANCOIS, Mark, Mr
• FREEMAN, George, Mr
• FULLBROOK, Lorraine, Ms
• GALE, Roger, Mr
• GAUKE, David, Mr
• GOLDSMITH, Zac, Mr
• GRAHAM, Richard, Mr
• GREENING, Justine, Ms
• GRIEVE, Dominic, Rt Hon
• HAGUE, William, Rt Hon
• HALFON, Robert, Mr
• HAMMOND, Philip, Rt Hon
• HASELHURST, Alan, Rt Hon Sir
• HENDERSON, Gordon, Mr
• HOBAN, Mark, Mr
• HURD, Nick, Mr
• JOHNSON, Joseph
• KAWCZYNSKI, Daniel, Mr
• KIRBY, Simon, Mr
• LAING, Eleanor, Mrs
• LEFROY, Jeremy, Mr
• LEIGH, Edward, Mr
• LESLIE, Charlotte, Ms
• LETWIN, Oliver, Rt Hon
• LILLEY, Peter, Rt Hon
• LOUGHTON, Tim, Mr
• LUMLEY, Karen, Ms
• MACLEOD, Mary, Ms
• MCLOUGHLIN, Patrick, Rt Hon
• METCALFE, Stephen, Mr
• MILTON, Anne, Mrs
• MITCHELL, Andrew, Rt Hon
• MORRIS, Anne Marie, Ms
• MORRIS, James, Mr
• NORMAN, Jesse, Mr
• OFFORD, Matthew, Mr
• OSBORNE, George, Rt Hon
• PATERSON, Owen, Rt Hon
• PAWSEY, Mark, Mr
• RECKLESS, Mark, Mr
• RIFKIND, Malcolm, Sir
• ROBATHAN, Andrew, Mr
• SHARMA, Alok, Mr
• SIMMONDS, Mark, Mr
• SMITH, Chloe, Ms
• SPENCER, Mark, Mr
• STEWART, Rory, Mr
• SWIRE, Hugo, Mr
• VILLIERS, Theresa, Ms
• WALKER, Robin, Mr
• WALTER, Robert, Mr
• WATKINSON, Angela, Ms
• WEATHERLEY, Mike
• WHITTAKER, Craig, Mr
• WILLETTS, David, Mr
• ZAHAWI, Nadhim, Mr

Tories who abstained

• PERCY, Andrew, Mr

A KEMSING man has died battling red tape while struggling to recover from a series of heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure.

Julian Little, 47, was reeling after he faced the Government’s new bedroom tax even though his spare room had been converted into a dialysis facility by health chiefs.

He feared he would have to slash his household bills by 30 per cent to make up the shortfall in his income because the authorities still viewed his bungalow in Norman Close as having two bedrooms.

He told the Chronicle that moving to a smaller property would not be an option because the needed room for the medical equipment. He said: “Put simply, if I downsize, I die.”

Just days later he passed away.

His wife Melissa, 42, said: “He wasn’t well and his death was complicated.” She said she did not know if the stress of the situation had anything to do with it.

Mr Little moved into the Kemsing bungalow more than a decade ago after suffering a stroke which put him in a wheelchair. In the following years he had ‘several’ other strokes, three heart attacks, kidney failure and he lost some toes to diabetes.

He and Mrs Little had originally lived at the address with their daughter Tabitha but when she got married and moved away, the space was utilised by Guys Hospital for his lifesaving kit.

In his last conversation with the Chronicle he said he faced being taxed “for being ill and suffering from a condition I have no control over”.

• Bedroom Tax:Labour motion calling for the end of housing benefit deductions fails.

  Yes 226 No 252

  I think we just lost… Bedroom Tax won’t be scrapped unless Labour wins next election.

Just spotted on Facebook.

This is from early September. I’ve just found it. I don’t know how useful it is or will be to anyone but I thought I’d put it out there, just in case it might help someone, somewhere, somehow.

This process is not yet complete, but I believe something interesting has just happened for me that may have implications for others here.
So, around 2 months ago, I received a letter from the social, telling me they would be phoning me shortly to talk to me about upcoming changes.
I wrote back to say, I did not have a contact telephone number for them and I was quite happy with my current contract, I did not accept their changes to the terms of our contract, unless they were to give me improved medical care.
3 days after I sent the letter, I received a fat envelope with the ATOS return adress, so I returned it to them.
No contract – Return to sender

several weeks go by, then my Incapacity benefit is not paid to me.
I call last Friday.
Me. “WFT, wheres my dosh”
Them”We received information you have gone away”
Me “Really, where is your evidence of that”
Them “Silence”
Now, I should say here that during 4 phone calls with 6 or 7 different people (sorry no vid/audio), they were DESPERATE to get me to apply for the new benefit.
eg. me. “What am I meant to live on”
them “Well, you will need to fill in this form, so you can apply for an emergency payment” and all kinds of other things to fool me into completing the form.

I wrote to them instead.
With this.
This is NOT a complaint, a query, a request for a statement/agreement and is NOT to be treated as one. By doing so, you will agree to pay £5,000.00 in damages.
Do not refer to me as Mr/Mrs/Ms or any title, which is a legal fiction and is not me. By doing so, you will also agree to pay £5,000.00 in damages.

Thank you for your recent communication.
As stated in my previous letters;
1. I do not accept your new terms & conditions and therefore new offer to contract.
2. I do not wish to change my current contract with you since I am still severely ill and I do not wish to receive you increased payments but a reduction in term.
3. The illness I have is lifelong and incurable.
4. The physical effects of this illness and resultant surgery has left me with quite serious problems, which are being managed by healthcare professionals.
5. Should you wish to offer to me improved medical care I would be interested in considering any offers, however, unless anyone I correspond with has medical qualifications suitable to discuss my case, I do not consent to contracting with anyone else. I certainly do not agree to my details, especially medical details, being passed to ANY 3rd party organisation, if based in the private sector (such as ATOS).
6. It is an offense to attempt to FORCE an individual to contract with a 3rd party, yet I am aware you can try to deceive me (under the commercial maxim let he who will be deceived, be deceived).
7. From your unresponsive correspondence, “Incapacity benefit IS paid for as long as the entitlement conditions are satisfied.” As far as I am aware, I am fulfilling those conditions and have since before I was granted Incapacity Benefit. You should note that word Benefit. This denotes I am the beneficiary of a TRUST. Therefore, you MUST be a trustee, working as a public servant, carrying out your duties FOR MY BENEFIT, not yours or the “governments”.
8. When you discuss the 1998 Social Security act, then claim this is “Lawful”, with all due respect, I suggest you take a look at your terms & conditions of employment. You will find that you are NOT QUALIFIED or EMPLOYED to give LEGAL advice. Once you act outwith the terms of YOUR employment, you make yourself liable for your actions. Go and check this with a true legal professional. The reason I know you are not legally qualified if that you made the mistake of claiming something was “lawful” without actually knowing what lawful means, it is connected with the common law, not statute law. When something is said to be in line with statutes, something is said to be LEGAL, not lawful, the two are NOT the same thing, which demonstrates your non-competence in this matter.
9. If you are claiming I am subject to this particular “act” (1998, social security act), please provide evidence to support your claim. I do not want your opinion this act applies to me, that is not evidence. Just because you have done something a certain way does not make that right in Law.

10. Should you wish me to contract with a 3rd party company, my fee for doing so is £1,000,000 Stirling, to be paid before commencement of contract. A fee of £1,000,000 Stirling is payable should you attempt to force me to complete a questionnaire. That questionnaire, as far as I understand it, is an application (begging) form for a new benefit. Since I do not wish to change the benefit I am in receipt of. This “questionaire” does not form part of the benefit I am currently in receipt of and I have stated, quite clearly, I do not wish to change this benefit, I can only assume you are either trying to deceive me into thinking I have to complete the questionnaire to receive my CURRENT benefit.
11. So my questions to you are quite simple.
a. Is completing the aforementioned “questionaire” a requirement to receive Incapacity Benefit?
b. Is completing the aforementioned “questionaire” a requirement to receive the new “Employment & support allowance”?

Please answer BOTH questions. Failure to do so will result in my assumption that you have attempted to deceive me and I will look to seek retribution to the fullness of the law. (Malfeasance in public office (Scotland) carries a maximum sentence of 14 years Prison I believe. Should you obfuscate, prevaricate or attempt anything other than straight forward yes or no answers, I will have to assume you have something to hide, in which case, I WILL find it.
12. Finally, since you did not address much of what I stated in my previous notices, I do not hold much hope you will be any more responsive this time. Which is why my fee schedule will not have to come into play. Local charities will be delighted.(Yes, even with the benefits agency, I enclosed a schedule of fee’s, for charity of course)

SO, I think I made it clear I wont fall for their bullshit.
SO today, I get a letter from them.

The interesting parts for me are.
1They failed to answer my quite specific questions, I wonder WHY? They were easy enough.
2. Benefit has been reinstated and yes, a payment was made yesterday!
3. Noting of my not wanting phone calls, but ignoring other legitimate requests.

The concern is the warning “the process will continue”, not with my consent it wont and I will fight you all the way PERSONALLY, so be very careful and remember, I have your name now!

I think the point is, I am fucking buzzing just now. I had hoped for this, but never really expected it.
Now I intend to go on the attack with them personally for failing to answer stuff I have raised.

The other bit I think people may like is that I did something similar with Bedroom tax (I have 2 so called spare rooms according to the system) .

So the thank you is this.
Thanks to the community here for giving me the help and confidence for giving me something to fight back with.
With the bedroom tax, I had tried to use the 1992 social security (analienable benefits) and they must have bottled it because all of a sudden, I get an extention on my “discretionary housing payment”

This is the situation, 6 months ago, I was looking at the prospect of loosing my home as well as being dumped on the dole, unable to work due to illness. It may not be forever, but I should be at least OK until April (the world will probably be over by then and we will all be back in caves)
So thanks guys and to those in doubt, BELIEVE in yourself, get good advice and send letters.
My worse case scenario was loosing house & placed on dole. Now I am back as I was before, except I now can PROVE they are full of shit and the whole thing about ATOS is that it is a con job.
DO NOT FILL IN THAT FORM
ASK THOSE 2 QUESTIONS ABOVE and I would like to wager they wont answer.

  A defiant dad took an emotional stand yesterday over the Government’s “bullying” calls for his severely disabled son to prove he cannot work.

Bus driver Fred Hazle, 49, reached the end of his tether so took his blind lad James, 19, to Downing Street to tell David Cameron: “If my son can work, YOU give him a job.”

The father and son made the journey after receiving a barrage of demanding letters from the Jobcentre – including three in four days – as part of the Government’s “fit to work” scheme.

The letters threaten that James’s £71.95 a week in benefits will be stopped unless there is evidence that he cannot hold down a job.

James needs round-the-clock care and has the mental age of a five-year-old. He has severe learning difficulties, epilepsy and autism.

The demands about losing his benefits have been sent despite James’s doctor already telling officials the teenager can’t work and his condition will never improve.

Fred pleaded yesterday to see the Prime Minister or Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith.

But the battling dad was turned away.

He said: “If they say James can work, they can give him a job. Let’s see them take him on in one of their departments.

“I wanted them to see him and tell me he can work but they wouldn’t. He wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth but it’s not about the money, we can take care of him.

“It’s the fact they are treating him like a second-class citizen because he is disabled.

“He got allowances and benefits when he was a kid but now he’s an adult they come on all threatening even though they’ve got the paperwork.

“It’s disgusting bullying and intimidation on someone who can’t defend himself. I’ve fought the system for my boy for 19 years and I’m not putting up with it any more

At the gates to Downing Street, Fred and James were informed they had to make an appointment and wait three months just to hand a letter in.

They were told they could be arrested if they caused a nuisance.

They headed for Parliament. In its lobby, which is open to every citizen, Fred asked to speak to Mr Duncan Smith, but was told the minister would not see them as they are not his constituents.

The dad and son were then asked to leave.

Fred feels his lad is being victimised despite the family doing their best to ensure they jumped through the Government’s hoops.

As James neared the end of his education at a blind school in September, Fred and wife Jacqueline put all the paperwork in place for him to receive Employment Support Allowance when he finished.

To prove the teenager’s eligibility, his GP signed him off indefinitely from the fit to work programme.

In early July, the payments began but within a fortnight, letters began arriving on the family’s doormat in Dagenham, East London, saying the funding would be stopped if they did not provide further proof of James’s disability.

A flood of warnings then arrived on August 5, 8 and 9 from the Jobcentre Plus head office in Glasgow.

Despite numerous calls to the Jobcentre hotline explaining the situation, the letters kept coming.

Fred says that after yet another demand, he eventually took James – who was born without optic nerves – to their local Jobcentre to prove his point.

The woman behind the counter burst into tears when she saw James, said Fred.

The dad added: “The GP told the DWP that James’ condition will never get better. It will only get worse.

“The Jobcentre said they want more proof than that so I took him down there.

“The assistant was so shocked she cried. She rang head office to say there was no job he could do – only to be told she wasn’t medically qualified to make an assessment.

“The DWP haven’t sent anyone to see us or told James to go for an assessment anywhere. They’ve had no contact with the boy but they are constantly on at me and his mum. It keeps us up at night with worry.

“All they need to do is sit down with us and meet him. But they hide behind threatening letters instead.

“Then I go to see them and no one will come out. I’m willing to do what needs to be done. I’d get myself arrested just to be noticed but what good will that do my son?

“We don’t have a voice. No one in the Government cares about us little people.”

A DWP spokesman said nothing more could be done without more “evidence”.

The spokesman added: “We’re committed to helping people who are capable of work get off benefits and into paid employment, while giving unconditional support to those who need it.

“A decision on whether someone is well enough to work is taken after a thorough assessment and after consideration of all available supporting medical evidence.

“We’re still waiting for that in Mr Hazle’s case, but have extended the deadline for him to send us his form because of his condition.”

The DWP said the percentage of people with mental health conditions who go into the support group for ESA has more than tripled since 2010.

The numbers receiving ESA is at its highest level ever with 2.4 million claimants.

If so, please read this from Fightback.

Word of warning if you are thinking of appealing from WRAG group to Support:
Many JCP advisors are now telling customers that they shouldnt be there and should be in support group. The problem with this is that the courts are very reluctant to put someone into support group without much proof of their illness. There is nothing wrong with asking the decision maker to look again at your claim, but it could firstly trigger another ESA50 and medical, with different results than last time, if you managed to get into the wrag group.
If you decide to take this further to the tribunal, please be aware that the way the court WILL substitute the original DWP decision with their own decision which could see you with less points, and found fit for work if you dont have enough medical evidence to substantiate your claim.

Just remember that, you NEED to show you are not fit for work related activity, so if you only have to attend an interview once a month or less I would seriously think about the implications if you are found fit for work, remember there is now no appeal rate at first, if you dont fit neatly into one of the descriptors for the support group criteria then do your research and use our template letters for the consultants and GP on the forum.

Qualifying for the support group of employment and support allowance (ESA)is not about scoring points. Instead, if the decision maker accepts that any of the following descriptors apply to you, then you will be placed in the support group.

1. Mobilising unaided by another person with or without a walking stick, manual wheelchair or other aid if such aid can reasonably be used.
Cannot either
(i) mobilise more than 50 metres on level ground without stopping in order to avoid significant discomfort or exhaustion
or
(ii) repeatedly mobilise 50 metres within a reasonable timescale because of significant discomfort or exhaustion.

2. Transferring from one seated position to another.
Cannot move between one seated position and another seated position located next to one another without receiving physical assistance from another person.

3. Reaching.
Cannot raise either arm as if to put something in the top pocket of a coat or jacket.

4. Picking up and moving or transferring by the use of the upper body and arms (excluding standing, sitting, bending or kneeling and all other activities specified in this Schedule).
Cannot pick up and move a 0.5 litre carton full of liquid.

5. Manual dexterity.
Cannot either:
(a) press a button, such as a telephone keypad or;
(b) turn the pages of a book
with either hand.

6. Making self understood through speaking, writing, typing, or other means normally used.
Cannot convey a simple message, such as the presence of a hazard.

7. Understanding communication by—
(a) verbal means (such as hearing or lip reading) alone,
(b) non-verbal means (such as reading 16 point print or Braille) alone, or
(c) a combination of (a) and (b),
using any aid that is normally, or could reasonably be, used, unaided by another person.
Cannot understand a simple message due to sensory impairment, such as the location of a fire escape.

8. Absence or loss of control whilst conscious leading to extensive evacuation of the bowel and/or bladder, other than enuresis (bed-wetting), despite the wearing or use of any aids or adaptations which are normally, or could reasonably be, worn or used.
At least once a week experiences
(i) loss of control leading to extensive evacuation of the bowel and/or voiding of the bladder; or
(ii) substantial leakage of the contents of a collecting device;
sufficient to require cleaning and a change in clothing.

9. Learning tasks.
(a) Cannot learn how to complete a simple task, such as setting an alarm clock, due to cognitive impairment or mental disorder.

10. Awareness of everyday hazards (such as boiling water or sharp objects).
(a) Reduced awareness of everyday hazards leads to a significant risk of:
(i) injury to self or others; or
(ii) damage to property or possessions,
such that they require supervision for the majority of the time to maintain safety.

11. Initiating and completing personal action (which means planning, organisation, problem solving, prioritising or switching tasks).
Cannot, due to impaired mental function, reliably initiate or complete at least 2 sequential personal actions.

12. Coping with change.
(a) Cannot cope with any change, due to cognitive impairment or mental disorder, to the extent that day to day life cannot be managed.

13. Coping with social engagement due to cognitive impairment or mental disorder.
Engagement in social contact is always precluded due to difficulty relating to others or significant distress experienced by the individual.

14. Appropriateness of behaviour with other people, due to cognitive impairment or mental disorder.
Has, on a daily basis, uncontrollable episodes of aggressive or disinhibited behaviour that would be unreasonable in any workplace.

15. Conveying food or drink to the mouth.
(a) Cannot convey food or drink to the claimant’s own mouth without receiving physical assistance from someone else;
(b) Cannot convey food or drink to the claimant’s own mouth without repeatedly stopping, experiencing breathlessness or severe discomfort;
(c) Cannot convey food or drink to the claimant’s own mouth without receiving regular prompting given by someone else in the claimant’s physical presence; or
(d) Owing to a severe disorder of mood or behaviour, fails to
convey food or drink to the claimant’s own mouth without receiving —
(i) physical assistance from someone else; or
(ii) regular prompting given by someone else in the claimant’s presence.

16. Chewing or swallowing food or drink.
(a) Cannot chew or swallow food or drink;
(b) Cannot chew or swallow food or drink without repeatedly stopping, experiencing breathlessness or severe discomfort;
(c) Cannot chew or swallow food or drink without repeatedly receiving regular prompting given by someone else in the claimant’s presence; or
(d) Owing to a severe disorder of mood or behaviour, fails to—
(i) chew or swallow food or drink; or
(ii) chew or swallow food or drink without regular prompting given by another person in the physical presence of the claimant

You can be automatically treated as having a limited capability for work-related activity if you are:

suffering from a progressive disease and consequently your death can reasonably be expected within six months.
receiving treatment by way of chemotherapy or radiotherapy (or are likely to receive such treatment within 6 months), or you are recovering from that treatment and Jobcentre Plus is satisfied that you have a limited capability for work-related activity.
suffering from some specific disease or bodily or mental disablement and consequently there would be a substantial risk to the mental or physical health of any person if you were found not to have a limited capability for work-related activity. (regulation 35)
pregnant and there would be a serious risk to the health of you or your child if you did not refrain from work-related activity.
How the work capability assessment is applied
In order to apply the tests for limited capability for work and limited capability for work-related activity a decision maker will first look at the information that you have provided in your initial claim for ESA to see if you pass these tests without the need for further enquiries.

If the decision maker considers that there is not enough information to make a decision you will normally be sent Limited capability for work questionnaire (ESA50) to complete. This form has a number of questions about the activities listed above. Each activity has a section with tick-boxes and space to provide more detailed information about each activity. Michelle

From Where’s The Benefit. I do hope I’m not too late to make a difference.

An urgent update from Liz Carr:

Help save the ILF! Yesterday we won a major victory against the Government when the Court of Appeal ruled that the closure of the Independent Living Fund was unlawful. But the fight is not over – Minster for disabled people, Mike Penning has until tmrw to decide whether or not to appeal this decision. Please, anyone and everyone, email him at mike@penning4hemel.com and tell him why giving disabled people the means to be partners, friends, daughters, sons, employers, employees, friends, cat lovers, sarcastic bastards and all that malarkey is a really rather good idea for everyone?

A song for the DWP.