Sheffield Centre For Independent Living

Carers UK has launched a ‘Caring and Family Finances Inquiry’ to provide a definitive study of the financial impact of caring. It comes amid rising anxiety from carers that the Government’s current welfare reforms and cuts to disability benefits will result in a knock-on reduction of at least 10,000 in the number of people eligible for Carer’s Allowance. Carers UK Chief Executive Heléna Herklots, said “ Carers contribute an estimated £119 billion to the UK economy with the care they provide, often at the cost to their health, careers and family finances .In return, the Government is now cutting financial support for carers by £31 million – meaning that thousands of families now face the devastating double blow of disability and carers’ benefits. This comes on top of cuts to social care services, cuts to Housing Benefit support for carers who need a separate room to sleep in, forthcoming reductions in support with Council Tax and thousands of carers who will have their benefits capped – a perfect storm of cuts to families already struggling to care for loved ones. After many warm words from Government celebrating carers’ contribution to our country, families will now feel betrayed. The Government must urgently set out what support will be available to carers who lose Carer’s Allowance but continue to provide full-time care. To kick-start the ‘Caring and Family Finances Inquiry’ Carers UK wants carers to tell them about the impact caring has on their lives by completing their State of Caring 2013 survey. Running throughout 2013, the Inquiry will have carers’ voices at its heart, collecting evidence via public polling, survey data and through evidence sessions involving carers across the UK.

State of Caring 2013 Survey

This letter to a disabled reader written by Laurie Penny , contributing editor to The New Statesman magazine, was brought to our attention by a member. Although the letter makes uncomfortable reading as it attempts to reach out to one individual in crisis it shows the despair, fear and anger felt from and at the portrayal of unemployed and disabled people as ‘scroungers’ and the impact on individuals of disability benefit cuts.

You are not a scrounger letter

A quarter of home-care services provided in England are failing to meet quality and safety standards, according to a new inspection report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).One of the most common issues identified relates to late, rushed or missed visits. In addition, the CQC also highlight assessments that miss vital information, care records that are incomplete, and concerns about the way services are monitored and complaints handled.Among the CQC’s recommendations are that home care providers, many of which are private companies, need to work closely with local authorities to remedy the problems it identifies.

CQC Review of Home Care Services

The Department for Work and Pensions has produced an online Personal Independence Payment (PIP)toolkit with the aim of providing clear information to individuals and organisations that support Disability Living Allowance (DLA) claimants. Included in the toolkit are the following sections:- All about PIP – information about conditions of entitlement, assessment criteria and examples of forms and letters; Introducing PIP – timings for the phased approach to introduce PIP and when existing DLA claimants will be affected; The claimant journey – how the claims process will work and what happens after PIP is awarded.

DWP PIP Toolkit