Family of autistic man plan legal challenge over care conditions | Social care | The Guardian

Campaigners are calling for greater efforts to provide care in the community for people with severe learning disabilities. Photograph: AA Pix/Alamy

I have for years been saying that funding for social care is extremely important, but until recently I feel no one has been listening. That is certainly true about this Government for even now they are not listening and when it comes down to the facts, it is because, in reality, they do not even care.

I therefore support this legal challenge in every aspect.

To remedy the funding situation this Government needs to immediately refund to all Local Authorities (LAs) all the money withheld by Austerity Cuts and fully refund all the COVID costs LAs have had to encounter.

Only then will there be any chance that social care could be improved and in doing so relieve some of the burden the lack of social care has been causing to the NHS and the resulting effects on health care.

But there are also other measures this Government could do, one of which to immediately allow more non-UK citizens the enter the UK so they can be employed in social care for this would go a long way to ensure more persons would be available to work in social care. But also to ensure funding is sufficient to LAs so that care providers can be able to pay their care workers a more reasonable salary, to the extent of at least £14 per hour rather that the current National Living wage of £8.91or even the Real Living wage of £ 9.90 out of London (£11.05 within London).

But others need to be improves which includes

realistic sick pay rates

travel rates

unsocial hours rates

working conditions

and more

Social care is just as important as the NHS as both are inter-reliable on each other.

Source: Family of autistic man plan legal challenge over care conditions | Social care | The Guardian

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Merry Christmas one and all.

A good Christmas to you and yes, the benefits system is not good for anyone, which is a deliberate act by this Government and many before them. Is it that these Governments want the benefit system to fail, so that more problems have to be taken on by persons who need benefits to exist.

Perhaps these Government do not want people to exist, but to go past existing and be deceased, for then they would not need benefits.

But you may say no Government would do this, put it is occurring before our eyes.

This is further compounded by the state of Social Care, which is in a very serious crisis, due to many years of serious underfunding. In the last decade due to austerity cuts imposed on Local Authorities, by many previous Tory Governments and now by the considerable costs due to COVID-19.

This and many other Governments have promised to solve the crisis in Social Care, but while this and the other Governments dither, the social care crisis goes deeper and deeper into crisis, causing people in need of social care to receive no care or insufficient.

This coupled with the insufficient welfare benefits causes persons in need to decline even further, but still no reactions from this Government.

Yes, they are dealing, or are they dealing with COVID-19, as some of the actions, or more inactions relate to the latter, so many will say they have no time to solve the crisis in Social Care.

Well people will be right on one thing that the Government do not have the time, but not because of COVID-19, for if it was not COVID-19 there would be another excuse for this Government does not care.

The UK population has to do all they can to bring a caring attitude in to this Government and to help, I created the petition, Solve the crisis in Social Care, https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/solve-the-crisis-in-social-care.

More supportive information can be seen at, https://1drv.ms/w/s!Aq2MsYduiazgoEy6ROxeV0abd2mT?e=7xypqe.

If you believe in miracles, then by supporting this petition it could ‘kickstart’ the Government into action, perhaps, not only to solve the crisis in social care, but also to improve the welfare benefits.

The poor side of life

Dear readers I write this blog on Christmas Day, a day when people are expected to celebrate and be happy.

Sadly because of the government’s cruel Universal Credit system and the torturous PIP and ESA DWP ‘medical’ assessments thousands of people won’t be able to celebrate, cook a Christmas dinner and exchange gifts.

This year is tougher than normal because we are still in the middle of a pandemic that the government is trying it’s best to ignore.

Today the UK’s official Covid death toll has surpassed 70,000 on as 570 more people died today.

Let that sink in 570 people have died from Covid 19 on Christmas day. Also a total of 70,000 people have died as a result of Covid 19.

Meanwhile the government continues to ignore this, they just don’t want to know and they certainly don’t want to help.

70,000 families will be grieving as will…

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Does the government really want to support disabled young people to go to university? – Special Needs Jungle

It’s never easy to fund yourself through university u less you parents have very deep pockets. Students usually have to have a part-time job to get by. But for disabled students that’s often not feasible.

However, if they’ve been very persistent, and have Personal Independence Payment, disabled students have been able to claim universal credit and, sometimes, housing benefit from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)

But last month, in the wake of a legal case, DWP has issued new regulations it claims are to “restore the policy intent” that means a disabled student “must already have been determined to have Limited Capability for Work on or before the day they claim Universal Credit (UC)”. What? How?

The rules have always said you can’t claim UC while you’re in full-time education, unless you are disabled. But that’s not enough for the DWP. These regulations mean they’ve land-mined the jungle of benefits-claiming.

 

Source: Does the government really want to support disabled young people to go to university? – Special Needs Jungle

Universal Credit staff to strike next week – 61chrissterry

Universal Credit call handlers will stage a two-day strike next week after “running out of patience” with what they say are cuts and overwork.

More than 200 workers are set to stage a walkout at a contact centre in Stockport, Greater Manchester, next Tuesday and Wednesday after approving the action in a strike ballot.

Some 227 Public Commercial Services union (PCS) members at the centre were balloted. 162 voted, of which 148 backed a strike.

It comes after two walkouts at centres in Wolverhampton and Walsall earlier this year over similar issues.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “The decision to take strike action has not been taken lightly by our members in Universal Credit. They do their best to help claimants get the support they need.

 

Source: Universal Credit staff to strike next week – 61chrissterry

Social Care in Crisis

Due to years of austerity cuts to Local Authorities, these authorities are having to spread more thinly, each year the amount of money they have all over the many areas of their responsibilities and Social Care is one of those areas.

But each year with an aging population and more persons with disabilities living longer, the people needing Social Care is increasing while the money available to help care for these needs is reducing.

In addition there is an increasing need for employed carers to provide the care the people with these needs require. But there is a shortage of people wishing to come into care and why is this?

The rate of pay within the care industry is abysmal for most employed carers receive a wage based on the *National Living Wage, currently £7.83, which will increase to £8.21 on the first of April 2019.

While the Living Wage is £9.00.

Being an employed carer is more than, cleansing, washing, dressing and meal preparation, as they are, in many instances, one of the few people that the people with care needs see.

Also there could be instances where the employed carer needs to deal with financial responsibilities, provide emotional support, manage prescriptions and administer medication, monitor Safeguarding and many more areas of responsibility and paying just the National Living Wage is not sufficient to cover all these responsibilities.

It is therefore, that the Living Wage would be more near a level to pay, but Local Authorities do not have the finance to pay this, currently and therefore this current Government needs to take this on board and increase the funding to Local Authorities.

With this in mind, FLASh (Families Lobbying and Advising Sheffield) have created an EPetition, Pay All Employed Carers the Living Wage.

Please see the following

 

FLASh (Families Lobbying & Advising Sheffield) are concerned about the continuance of Social Care within the UK.

The Care Industry is in a state of crisis as there is insufficient funding from Local Authorities to Care Service Providers to pay the carers they employ a wage of sufficient amount for the work these carers are required to provide which matches the responsibilities they have to undertake to the persons to whom they are providing care to.

These Local Authorities have, for many years, under this current Tory Government, been subjected to austerity cuts to the funding they receive from this Government, which impacts on the money these authorities have available to provide this funding.

Therefore, FLASh have created an EPetition ‘Pay all employed Carers the Living Wage.

Please view this EPetition and seriously consider signing the EPetition and then verify your signature though the link provided in the email you will receive. Until your signature is verified your signature will not be activated.

The EPetition ‘Pay all employed Carers the Living Wage’ can be accessed here.

Should you be unable to view the EPetition, please copy and paste the following; https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/236151 into your browser.

Once you have verified your signature please could you share this EPetition with your colleagues, friends and any other connections.

Please also forward to your MP and your Local Councillors.

Thank you for your support.

 

If you wish to know more about FLASh a link to their website is here. If you are a family carer in Sheffield for someone with a Learning Disability or Autism and you wish to become a member of FLASh and/or attend the monthly meetings please advise your email address to flashld575@gmail.com

Chris Sterry, Vice-chair of FLASh issues his own Newsletter, on at least a monthly basis. To receive this Newsletter on a regular basis please email Chris on ldcarersbuttygroup@gmail.com and a copy of the Newsletter can be accessed here.

 

 

 

* Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.