Welfare Reform and its impact on disabled people and carers

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Sheila Gilmore

On Tuesday I took part in a debate on Welfare Reform and its impact on disabled people and carers. There were 25 Labour MPs in attendance and only 3 from the Coalition parties, showing the strength of feeling on these issues among my colleagues. I have reproduced my short speech in full below, but you can read the full debate here.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Chope. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Gateshead (Ian Mearns) on securing the debate.

I am going to pre-empt the Minister, because I expect her to say in reply to the debate, as she keeps saying, “You”—not meaning any of us personally, but the Opposition—“did not have a cumulative impact assessment when you were in power.” However, I cannot think of a time when so many things have been happening simultaneously. The roll-out of incapacity benefit to ESA is still going on. We will have the change from disability living allowance to personal independence payment. We have housing benefit changes and universal credit. The reason we want a cumulative impact assessment is that what is happening is unprecedented. We need to know what will happen to people like my constituent who is 59 and has lived in her home for 30 years; she has severe back and hip problems and has just received a letter telling her she will lose housing benefit in April unless she can find somewhere to move to. Currently her grandchildren stay over for part of the week, which helps her family out. If she cannot do that any more, it will have an impact on their living and working arrangements. A ripple effect happens.

I have not yet dared tell my constituent that almost certainly she will in due course lose severe disability premium, which she currently gets because she is in receipt of income support and has no carer in the household. That, doubtless, is still to come, but I do not want to make her too fearful. The things that she does know about are happening already. They are not a myth being created by us or the disability movement.

When people become ill they experience a fantastic loss of income anyway, and an increase in costs. The Government appear to be oblivious to that. If a couple have been working—one full-time and one part-time—and the one who worked full-time suffers a stroke and must give up work, they go down to half an income and ESA. At the end of a year, if the person in question ends up in the ESA work-related activity group, their income falls again: the ESA will be lost because it is contributory; they will not qualify for the non-contributory version—even though they have worked and paid in all their lives they will not get that—so their income will go down to that of a part-time employee. Again, there are ripple effects and cumulative effects on people at a time when they are incurring greater costs. Someone who is at home more than they were when they went to work will have increased fuel and transport costs to meet. The person who is ill and has a disability may always have been the driver for the household, so there will be taxi and increased public transport costs. People in that position already have a substantial reduction in income.

I am glad that the Minister realised that the initial plans for rolling out DLA into PIP were totally unrealistic, and that the time scale has been extended, but there will still be clear losers. Our accounts are not scare stories. The information comes from the Government’s figures: 170,000 people, on reassessment, will lose DLA altogether before October 2015. That is a lot of people. That, apparently, is reality in the Government’s terms. I ask the Minister please to agree to a cumulative impact assessment.

Press Release: Sheila Gilmore MP joins forces with Edinburgh carers charity to slam uncertainty over benefit cuts

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Sheila Gilmore

Edinburgh East MP Sheila Gilmore this week joined forces with Edinburgh based carers charity VOCAL to slam the Government over benefit cuts and the uncertainty this is causing for hard working carers.

Speaking during Carers Week, which runs from 18 to 24 June, Sheila Gilmore and VOCAL Chief Executive Sebastian Fischer criticised the Government’s plans to scrap Disability Living Allowance and replace it with Personal Independence Payment from 2013 and the uncertainty this is causing for carers.

Work and Pensions Select Committee member Sheila Gilmore said:

Carers do fantastic work in homes across the country.

However over the last year the position of carers has remained very difficult due to the uncertainty over the Government’s decision to scrap Disability Living Allowance and replace it with Personal Independence Payment from 2013.

Currently those caring full time for anyone in receipt of the middle or higher rate care component of DLA may be able to claim Carers Allowance (although this is a complex benefit and people should always seek proper advice). It is positive that these arrangements will continue under PIP. However George Osborne has made clear that the replacement of DLA with PIP will also involve a cut in the overall budget of 20 per cent, leaving many worried that if those they care for are simply refused PIP, they will lose Carers Allowance as a result.

The Government should always ensure that carers are given sufficient support. This isn’t just the right thing to do in and of itself, but if carers were to choose not to do the work they do, the financial cost to the state would be enormous.

Sebastian Fischer, Chief Executive of VOCAL (Voice of Carers Across Lothian) said:

Money matters when you are a carer, and when times are hard, carers are often hit hardest – forced to reduce or give up work, struggling to pay bills, and often cutting back on food and heating in order to make ends meet. Uncertainty over benefits adds to the increasing pressures and stress carers are under, with many sacrificing their own health and finances to continue caring. That is simply not acceptable for people who are Scotland’s largest unpaid workforce

Notes:

Sheila Gilmore wrote an extended piece for a recent VOCAL Newsletter on this same issue.
Sheila Gilmore has posted a message of support on the Carers Week website.

September enewsletter: Silly season?

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Sheila Gilmore

Westminster Report
What should have been a ‘quiet’ political period was shattered by the riots in several English cities. Comments and theories abound, from those like Peter Hitchin blaming ‘liberal’ thinking since the 1960s, Michael Gove on Newsnight telling Harriet Harman that it was all due to the 13 years of Labour Government, a leftish commentator saying it was due to the State intervening too much in working class areas and no less a person than George Osborne saying the solution was to ‘do something’ for areas and people who had been ignored for too long. Confused? I certainly am.

What annoys the historian in me is the total lack of historical understanding shown by the media and far too many politicians. I heard commentators comparing these riots with those of the early 1980s and suggesting that the latter had reasons rooted in social conditions and the current ones had not. That’s not what was being said at the time!

In that context I saw a fascinating TV programme last week about riots in Llanelli in the ‘long hot summer’ of 1911 (pre-planned for the centenary but maybe screening accelerated timeously?). Railway strikers were supported by many others in trying to stop trains getting through Llanelli. The military were called in and two local young men shot dead by the army. This was followed by burning of sheds and trucks. What was fascinating however were the newspaper headlines ‘Looters not strikers!’. Shortly after school children ‘struck’ and marched around the town. This apparently was the first of several such ‘school strikes’ across the country – as far north as Glasgow. No facebook or twitter then – but the word still spread, albeit in days rather than hours!

There are no ‘simple’ explanations. That isn’t to condone criminal acts, many of which will harm the rioters’ own communities more than anyone else. But events like this don’t arrive in a vacuum.

Economic Crisis
The other back-drop to this is the ongoing financial crisis in the Eurozone and elsewhere. Here unemployment is rising in the period to June which is before this year’s school, college and university leavers hit the market. What struck me during the exchanges between Osborne and Balls when the Chancellor made his statement to the recalled House of Commons this month was just how far apart they were. Osborne is not for budging and fast deficit reduction remains his only plan. He clearly takes great pleasure in saying that the US has now agreed with him – even if it is only because of the grip the Republicans now have in Congress. Does that make them all right? The US under Hoover and the UK under McDonald & Baldwin sang from the same hymn sheet but history (at least until very recently?) judged them to have been wrong.

Constituency visits… part two
During the Recess I have been continuing to visit organisations working in our community. Following my Westminster Hall debate in June I was particularly keen to meet Carers’ organisations to hear direct from them what they thought the main issues are and to hear about their work locally. In July I met with Vocal & with Mecopp (the latter being the only BME specialist carers group in Scotland). While progress has been made in recent years in recognising the important role played by informal carers, the main message I took away from this was the need to move from ‘recognition’ to the creation of real rights for carers, both to be accepted as partners in the care of their relative or friend, and for such practical help as regular respite care.

Together with Kezia Dugdale MSP I visited One Parent Families Scotland to talk about the implications of the substantial changes the Coalition Government is making to the Child Maintenance system. The Government hopes that many more people will make voluntary arrangements in the future (and using the statutory system is going to be made more difficult and costly to the parents) but this depends on there being a great deal of support and assistance being available. Although the change is coming from Westminster, the responsibility for funding such services as mediation and relationship counselling lies with the Scottish Government. This is a good example of the need for MPs and MSPs to work together. Kezia is putting down parliamentary questions to find out what exactly is being funded at present by the Scottish Government and One Parent Scotland is gathering information about the reality on the ground. From Parliamentary Questions at Westminster I have discovered that there are no plans at present for money to come from Westminster to Scotland to help boost provision.

Another visit was to the Craigmillar Business Incubator, based at the Castlebrae Business Centre to hear about the help they can give to people trying to set up their own business. For more details call 0131 661 8888 or click here http://goo.gl/2ESXE.

Craigmillar’s New Library and East Neighbourhood Office
I was delighted to be present at the ‘turf cutting’ ceremony for the new Council Office and Library being built in Craigmillar – despite the appalling rain on the day! Public investment like this provides a huge boost to the local economy. It gives work to the private construction industry which has been struggling in the last few years. It provides jobs for construction workers and the Cyrenians project is working with the building company to secure work placements and job opportunities for local people who have been unemployed.

But the economic stimulus doesn’t stop when the building work does. The council office will house around 300 staff (over 3 times the number in the current neighbourhood office) who will bring business to local shops. Just opposite Scottish Government funding has refurbished a classic 1930s roadhouse – ‘The White House’ – and one of the local hopes for its future use is to provide a café. What better place for a lunchtime coffee?

This is a small scale example of what Government should be doing to help the country grow out of recession. The Tory/LibDem Coalitions at Westminster wants us to believe that ‘public’ spending is bad and ‘private’ good, that public spending ‘squeezes out’ private business and that we don’t need to worry about public spending cuts because the private sector will spring into life to replace the jobs and services lost.

But the truth is that the public and private sectors are inextricably linked; that many private businesses – like construction – flourish when there is ‘public’ investment. Businesses need customers. That’s true whether you are a small shop or a large multinational company. More people out of work mean less customers. See more: http://goo.gl/Vi8hz.

New Enterprise Allowance
From 01 August 2011, the Government may give extra help to unemployed people who want to start their own business, through the New Enterprise Allowance. The allowance is available to Jobseekers Allowance claimants that have been on JSA for over 26 weeks. Mentoring and support is provided to develop a business plan and get through the first few months of trading. All applicants need to submit a proposal which has future growth prosepts. A total package of support can be worth up to £2274 for anyone that wants to start their own business. Further information can be found here http://goo.gl/W3XJT.

Greenhouse events: FREE Allotment Visits and Workshops
Run by Craigmillar’s Community Alliance Trust, the Greenhouse is giving you the chance to see what other people are growing, learn some new skills and make some new friends! Each workshop will include a tour of the allotment site and a chance to see polytunnels, willow growing and a plastic bottle greenhouse in action. There are several events over the next four weekends being held at Greendykes, Hays and Hunters Hall. If you want to attend, visit http://goo.gl/mFvGk for more information.

Macmillan Coffee Morning – 30th September 1000-1300
I was unable to take part in the world’s biggest coffee morning in 2010 as my constituency office was still in the process of being setup – this year I wanted to make sure we played our part. So many people are helped by the work of Macmillan and we are looking forward to meeting local residents, and raising funds for the charity. It’s not the most comfortable of offices but there will be plenty of fairtrade coffee and homebaked cakes on sale to raise funds. We will be giving away free homegrown fruit as one member of staff is expecting a bumper crop of apples and pears this year. If you have never been to the office before, or would like some free apples or pears, please pop in on 30 September.

Dates for you diary

Edinburgh Mela Festival – 2nd – 4th September – Leith Links. For more details see http://goo.gl/VfpuE.
No Women No Peace Workshop – 10th September – Quaker Meeting House, Victoria Terrace Edinburgh – register by the 5th September by emailing scottishwilpf@peaceandjustice.org.uk.
Moving Planet march/cycle and rally in Edinburgh to mark the Global Day of Climate Action – 24th September 2011 – Assemble outside City Chambers, High Street/Royal Mile. See http://goo.gl/DBV2m.
Edinburgh Annual Volunteer Recruitment Fair – 28th September 1100-1900 – St Paul’s and St George’s Church on York Place. See http://goo.gl/QThXW.