Posted by: flashsays on: 2012-02-10
I often read ignorant comments in newspapers – or even whole articles – which clearly do not understand the disabled person’s situation nowadays. Perhaps these commenters do not count any disabled people among their friends and so have no personal experience or understanding. Don’t worry – I’m here to explain the basics and explode some [...]
Posted by: flashsays on: 2012-01-09
Today on Twitter you will see many disabled people and charities saying “I support the #SpartacusReport”. So what is this report and what does it mean? The Spartacus Report is a piece of research, released today, entitled “Responsible Reform”. It looks at responses to a government consultation about replacing Disability Living Allowance. The report was [...]
Posted by: flashsays on: 2011-11-11
This blog is crossposted to Where’s the Benefit? where I am one of the team. In the early hours of this morning, this is the appalling story with which the Daily Mail were leading. “Disabled benefit? Just fill in a form”. They report that “Almost 200,000 people were granted a disability benefit last year without [...]
Posted by: flashsays on: 2011-09-09
For some disabled people, it’s easy to answer this question. My friend Imogen is a single person who lives independently, supported around the clock by two carers – one week on, one week off. For those of us who require more support, however, it’s a grey area. I don’t call any one person my carer. [...]
Posted by: flashsays on: 2011-01-08
[Crossposted to Where's the Benefit? where I am one of the team] The government’s proposed changes to DLA have been much reported – and you can see articles about why it matters on Flash Says and across the blogosphere, including Where’s the Benefit of course. The news that 20% of people will no longer qualify, [...]
Posted by: flashsays on: 2010-09-30
[Crossposted to Where's the Benefit where I am one of the team.] It seems that Disability Living Allowance (DLA) can be quite misunderstood. Even government ministers seem to get confused, sometimes referring to it as an “out-of-work” benefit. (It isn’t.) And now DLA, along with many other essential benefits for disabled people, is under threat. Here [...]
Posted by: flashsays on: 2010-08-29
[Crossposted to Where's the Benefit where I am one of the team.] This week, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) published a report assessing the impact of June’s budget1. It was no surprise to find that the poorest and disabled people have been hardest hit by benefit cuts in a budget that is far from [...]
Posted by: flashsays on: 2010-08-17
It emerged last week that the credit reference agency Experian is in talks to do a deal with the Government to try and unearth benefit cheats. It would earn a “bounty” for each person it exposes. To my mind, this is a pointless exercise and full of flaws. Experian already have a contract with the [...]
Posted by: flashsays on: 2010-05-21
Disability Living Allowance is a mystery to many disabled people. You might not know who is entitled to it, or feel you are “not disabled enough” to qualify. However, the benefit is there to assist people who have mobility issues or regularly need someone to help them. If that could be you, or you know [...]
Posted by: flashsays on: 2010-04-21
Where can you find out about disability benefits? Where is it advertised, who tells you, and how are you pointed in the right direction when you start to find it harder to manage? I am wondering where I first heard of Disability Living Allowance, the main benefit for disabled people. DLA is not means tested [...]
