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Cheryl
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# Posted: 11 Mar 2008 09:40
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A Select Committee has been set up to inquire into the effectiveness of the Government's Carers Strategy.
The Work and Pensions Committee is a committee of MP's who oversee and examine the efficiency of the DWP. The Select committee has announced it is to hold an inquiry to examine the effectiveness of the Department for Work and Pensions' existing approach to carers. They are asking for individuals and Carer organisations to make a submission of information and evidence about 4 Key areas.
The 4 areas/sections to be covered by the inquiry are
Information, guidance and advice
Income and Carer's Allowance.
Employment strategy and training opportunities.
Equality, recognition and discrimination.
This is a good opportunity for Carers to tell the select committee about their difficulties and the inadequacy of Carer Benefits. Submitting information to a Select committee is important because they are made up of MPs from all parties and they keep a critical eye on the work of the Ministries/Departments.
Select committees are outside the government machine and people use them to express views that the government don't want in the public arena. If they come up with strong criticism of government policy it is taken very seriously.
Carerwatch is a website and forum run by Carers, we are going to submit info and evidence on behalf of our members. We would like to give as many Carers as possible the chance to express their views.
Here is a link to the Select Committeees anouncement to hold an inquiry.
http://www.parliament.uk/parliame...nsions_committee/wappn290208a.cfm
The Sections and Questions are in the post below.
Please take a little time to answer the questions posed by the Select committee.
Each section has between 3 and 5 questions, the questions are not as difficult to
answer as they first look, and you don't have to answer all of them.
Just answer the ones that apply to you, or that you have an opinion about
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Cheryl
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# Posted: 11 Mar 2008 09:43
Reply
Select Committees Sections and Questions.
Information, Guidance and Advice.
1) Are carers sufficiently aware of their benefit entitlements and the support available to them?
2) Is the Department providing high quality guidance and advice to carers?
3) How is the Department working across Government to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy for carers when seeking guidance, advice and financial support?
Income and Carer's Allowance.
1) What is the impact of caring on carers earning potentials?
2) Do carers receive sufficient support with additional costs as a result of caring?
3) Are benefits and allowances adequate in minimising the financial impact of caring?
4) Do benefits and allowances impact on barriers and incentives to work or carers' ability to engage in education and training, if so how?
5)Do benefits and allowances impact on carers' pension entitlements, if so how?
Employment Strategy and Training Opportunities.
1)Is the Department doing enough to address barriers to employment and training for carers?
2) Is the Department's welfare reform and employment strategy addressing the needs of carers?
3) How is the Department working collaboratively with employers and other Departments to improve carers' job retention or return to work?
4) How is the Department working together with employers and other Departments to improve support in education, training and skills for carers?
Equality, Recognition and Discrimination.
1) Are there barriers to equality for carers?
2) What are the possible implications for equality legislation in the UK following the current EU legal case on disability discrimination by proxy?
3) Does a carers' profile impact upon their opportunities (e.g. carer of a disabled child, or elderly carer of a partner)?
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PS: I found the best way to do this is C & P the questions to a word or works document, or you can C & P the questions to an email addressed to yourself
then you can take your time answering and save a perminent copy of your answers.
You can post your completed questionaire here or at Carerwatch website on the Select Committee section in Testimonials.
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Greebo
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# Posted: 12 Mar 2008 18:28
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Section on Information, Guidance and Advice.
1) If they are, it is no thanks to the DWP. Even with English as my 1st language, and a good education, I struggle with the forms and the bureaucracy - heaven help the rest!
2) No, unless their aim is to discourage and delay claims.
3) It isn't
Section on Income and Carer's Allowance.
1) Huge, in a bad way.
2) Simple maths - Carers allowance is equal to less than the cost of 8 hours paid to a professional careworker or sitter - CA isn't even enough to buy me one day off per week!
3) See the previous answer.
4) Between the limit on hours as well as earnings, plus the interraction with income-related benefits - there is a huge disincentive - exacerbated by the stress of the forms, the delay in processing, and bureaucracy of starting & stopping claims.
5) I refer you to the Disability Rights Handbook section on this subject - I lack the time and energy to type it out verbatim. It boils down to the clash between income related benefits, contribution related benefits, and "earning replacement" benefits.
Section on Employment strategy and Training Opportunities.
1) No. Frankly, given the lack of support I have had so far, I don't see why I should seek employment, and I'd already had a good education before becoming a carer. I'm a 24/7 carer, which minute am I supposed to shoehorn employment into? However, I believe that former carers should be given less pressure to get back into employment and more funding & help with training etc because they have contributed to the state more than enough to deserve it.
2) No.
3) As well as a chocolate fireguard works as a home safety device.
4) Badly.
Section on Equality, Recognition and Discrimination.
1) Is the Pope Catholic? (You can take that as a "yes")
2) Huge. eg. carers would have to be provided with sitters or suitable (and fully funded) respite on demand so that they could fulfil civic duties such as jury service. Ditto in order to allow carers to attend their own hospital appointments etc.
3) Do bears tend to relieve themselves in forests? (You can take that as a "yes")
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Belle
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# Posted: 17 Mar 2008 23:46
Reply
Only a bit shorter than War and Peace and for what its worth:
Select Committees Sections and Questions.
Information, guidance and advice.
1) Are carers sufficiently aware of their benefit entitlements and the support available to them?
Some are and some are not. Those who are have usually been caring for some time and have at some point sought expert advice from agencies like the CAB. The system is so complex that many carers may claim some of the financial support they are entitled to support but not all. For example a carer may realise that they are entitled to income support and Carers Allowance (CA) but not realise that they are entitled to help with Council Tax.
There is no system in place to ensure that all carers are given the information that they need. The obvious point of contact for all carers would be their GP, but most GPs are reluctant to extend their role beyond immediate health care.
How are we defining support in this context? Financial? Physical?
Many carers do not have access to a social worker. It is not always easy to get a carers assessment (I was repeatedly fobbed off by my local social services office) And if you are lucky enough to get a social worker the dual role of advisor/purse string holder is conflicting.
Let's also talk charges for caring (respite) at this point. The Local Authority system for charging is so complicated where I live that I was told one amount, appealed and told another amount , then told by the Council employed Carers Coordinator that only six people in the LA knew how to work it out. (And in my experience two of them were calculating it in a different way). Caring charges have a big influence on whether a carer is able to ask for support. (assuming there is some available). In short support may be theoretically available but in practice is unaffordable.
2) Is the Department providing high quality guidance and advice to carers?
Put it this way. If a carer came to me to ask advice on benefits I would point them in the direction of the CAB or local benefits office not the DWP. Independent advice agencies will look at the whole financial situation of the carer and caree (in practice in many cases the two are interchangeable as most carers and carees (those over 35 hours) come as a package deal financially. DWP phonelines advisors (when you can get through to them) tend to answer questions they are asked rather than giving general advice and often carers won't know all the questions they need to ask.
3) How is the Department working across Government to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy for carers when seeking guidance, advice and financial support?
Excuse me while I roll on the floor laughing about this one. Have you seen the DLA form?
Most carers in practice have to deal with the claims not only for their own benefits but also those of their carees. This means that they are often having to deal with a number of different departments/offices for different claims. For example: at various points during the last 18 years I have been a carer I have had to deal with claims for: income support, carers allowance, DLA, incapacity benefit, council tax benefit. It is quite possible that these agencies will request not only the same information but the same information at the same time. Rarely if ever do they exchange information. For example as a carer when I started a part time job, 3 different offices wanted to see my first two pay slips at the same time. There was no communication between them. (Income support, carers allowance and council tax). In fact even in the same department there seems to be poor communication. I sent my first two pay slips to CA dept to prove that I was earning under the limit for claiming CA. Two weeks later I received a letter from the CA saying they were checking on claimants. I rang them and told them I had already sent them and was told I would have to send them again as it was a different department.
I often joke that I have three jobs, one full time as a carer, one part time paid and one filling in benefit forms and supplying proof of my income and savings!!!
Income and Carers Allowance.
1) What is the impact of caring on carers earning potentials?
It will vary depending on whether the carer is able to work i.e. the number of hours spent caring and the access to respite and upon the skills/qualifications of the carer. If the carer has to give up work or reduce their hours of work the impact on earnings can be huge.
In my case the diffference of being able to work full time and being able to work part time is probably between £20,000 to £25,000. (That is when I can find an employer prepared to be sufficiently flexible, including working from home, to be able to work at all).
2) Do carers receive sufficient support with additional costs as a result of caring?
I wasn't aware that there was any additional support. I am wearing myself out trying to combine 24/7 care with part time work simply to be able to afford to heat the house to an adequate temparature for my caree who has damage to the part of his brain that controls body temperature.
3) Are benefits and allowances adequate in minimizing the financial impact of caring?
What do you think? Carers Allowance is £2600 per annum. Could you live on that amount? It speaks for itself. Even with income support carers' income is well below the poverty line. Carers who have savings above £16000 when they become a carer are forced to live on their savings until they have gone. Many carers are in debt!!!
As a carer you are financially excluded from doing and having many of the things you would have if you were able to undertake paid employment.
4) Do benefits and allowances impact on barriers and incentives to work or carers' ability to engage in education and training, if so how?
The low earnings threshold entitlement to income support, carers allowance and council tax relief combined with charging for respite services trap many carers in poverty as they are unable to improve their income by taking up paid employment.
For example: I earn £10 an hour. I work 8 hours a week. (When I started work the earnings limit on CA was £84. My employer wanted me to work 15 hours but I was worse off working between 9 -13 hours than 8 because I would lose CA. As it was I lost income support and had to start paying some council tax. In short I am only about £35 a week better off than I was before taking up paid employment.
The impacts of earned income on the various benefits was so complicated it took quite a bit of research to find out whether I was actually better off taking up part time paid employment.
For example: I could earn up to £20 before my income was affected.
Between £20 and £50. I was only £20 better off because I lost a pound of income support for every pound I earned.
Between £50 and £84 (at the time –now £95) The calculations became very complicated, I automatically had to deduct £30 because I lost income support but I also lost automatic entitlement to Council Tax benefit and I wasn't sure how this was calculated. In addition I had to take into account that I would need to pay charges for respite in order to able work. There were also dental charges to take into account not just for myself but for my caree whose medication means that he needs regular checks. I understood that I might be able to get help with these (by filling out yet another form ) if I was on a low income but the information of how much help was not immediately to hand when I had to make my decision.
5) Do benefits and allowances impact on carers' pension entitlements, if so how?
Depends at what age you start caring, whether you are able to combine work with caring, how long you care for. Basically if you have to spend a significant part of your life when you are of working age on benefits you don't get the opportunity to build up an occupational pension, You cannot even save for your old age as the level CA is so low (£2600) carers are forced to spend any savings they may have had when they started caring just to be able to live
1) Is the Department doing enough to address barriers to employment and training for carers?
No. Firstly because of the limits on earnings before loss of benefits (see above) and also because of the limit on hours spent in training and education before loss of benefits
Secondly because there is not enough good quality respite available.
Thirdly 24/7 carers and 35 plus carers are employed full time already without any barriers, holidays rights etc. They just aren't paid for it!!!
CARING IS EMPLOYMENT. IT JUST ISN'T PAID EMPLOYMENT. CARERS ARE ALREADY EMPLOYED!!!!!!
AND SKILLED!!!
2) Is the Department's welfare reform and employment strategy addressing the needs of carers?
Current government strategy with its refusal to recognize that carers are already working and its persistence in seeing paid employment as the only a route out of the poverty level of benefit income paid to carers is failing carers.
Many carers already work longer, and harder than those in paid employment. The benefits system, charges for respite and lack of good quality respite acts as a disincentive to those able to work part time.
3) How is the Department working collaboratively with employers and other Departments to improve carers' job retention or return to work?
I wasn't aware that it was. Most carers won't be aware that it is. Is it?
Be realistic about this. You are an employer. You interview someone with caring responsibilities and someone without. Who do you employ? Who do you think you can afford to employ?
How is the Department working together with employers and other Departments to improve support in education, training and skills for carers?
I wasn't aware that it was. Most carers won't be aware that it is. Is it?
Equality, recognition and discrimination.
1) Are there barriers to equality for carers?
Yes. Both physical and financial.
Many carers are 'disabled' by association and face the same physical barriers to fully participating in society that their carees do, both in terms of employment and leisure.
The
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Belle
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# Posted: 17 Mar 2008 23:50
Reply
oops chopped the end off.
Equality, recognition and discrimination.
1) Are there barriers to equality for carers?
Yes. Both physical and financial.
Many carers are 'disabled' by association and face the same physical barriers to fully participating in society that their carees do, both in terms of employment and leisure.
The financial impact of caring (see above) excludes many carers from fully participating in society.
2) What are the possible implications for equality legislation in the UK following the current EU legal case on disability discrimination by proxy?
Employers will be reluctant to take on carers or will find other excuses to get rid of them??
3) Does a carers' profile impact upon their opportunities (e.g. carer of a disabled child, or elderly carer of a partner)?
Caring is a very blanket term. Although carers have a number of needs in common our individual situations, opportunities and need for support differ greatly. I would like to as much if not a great deal more attention being paid to the needs of those whose caring responsibilities are so great that their own physical and emotional health is suffering as is being given to getting carers back into paid employment.
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Cheryl
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# Posted: 19 Mar 2008 18:56
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Select Committees Sections and Questions.
Information, guidance and advice.
1) Are carers sufficiently aware of their benefit entitlements and the support available to them?
Carers are not aware of all their benefit entitlements mainly because benefit offices are not obliged to tell them about other benefits which they maybe entitled to.
2) Is the Department providing high quality guidance and advice to carers?
No, leaflets and booklets about benefits are confusing, and often not available. The benefit helpline is often engaged for days at a time.
3) How is the Department working across Government to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy for carers when seeking guidance, advice and financial support?
Not in a way that Carers are aware of.
Income and Carer's Allowance.
1) What is the impact of caring on carers earning potentials?
The commitment, responsabilty and the amount of time taken up by caring inevitable leads to Carers working less hours than non carers.
The lack of support services in the way of respite care creates difficulty for a carer to hold down a job.
2) Do carers receive sufficient support with additional costs as a result of caring?
No they don't. Often Carers use their own money and resources to support the person they care for, including their CA.
3) Are benefits and allowances adequate in minimising the financial impact of caring?
No Carer Benefits and Allowances are inadequate and not fit for purpose.
Carers end up in debt. Loosing their homes because they can't pay
the mortgage or rent on their homes.
They have to live of their savings, and the proceeds from the sale of their homes before becoming eligible to claim Income Support.
4) Do benefits and allowances impact on barriers and incentives to work or carers' ability to engage in education and training, if so how?
Yes they do.
If a Carer earns even £2 above the present limit of £95 they loose the whole of their CA.
If a training or educational course entails more than 21 hours per week Carers loose their CA.
5) Do benefits and allowances impact on carers' pension entitlements, if so how?
If a Carer is on benefit their NI contribution is paid at the lowest rate which affects the amount of state pension that they will recieve on retirement.
Employment strategy and training opportunities.
1) Is the Department doing enough to address barriers to employment and training for carers?
No they seem to be intent on imposing idiotic rules which create barriers to employment and training.
ie If a training or educational course entails more than 21 hours per week Carers loose their CA.
2) Is the Department's welfare reform and employment strategy addressing the needs of carers?
I don't see any help for myself or other carers in a similar position.
Full time Carers already have a job. Carers who "work" at caring for someone for 35+ hours per week have little time or energy left for a second job.
3) How is the Department working collaboratively with employers and other Departments to improve carers' job retention or return to work?
Mainly by trying to pass the responsability for Social and Welfare Care to anyone but themselves.
Central Government have withheld funding to Local Authorities budget for Social and Welfare Care.
Consquently Local Authorities have been forced to either close Day Care facilities or raise the price of attending the facilities.
This has further impacted on carers ability to work or have a break from the person they care for.
4) How is the Department working together with employers and other Departments to improve support in education, training and skills for carers?
Same as above.
Equality, recognition and discrimination.
1) Are there barriers to equality for carers?
There are certainly financial barriers.
Carer benefits seem to be have been particular designed with the intention of inflicting poverty on carers.
There is no recognition that carers are unique within the benefit system.
There are certainly barriers to a carer enjoying the same freedom as everyone else. It is very difficult for a carer to have a life of their own. Carers to a great extent are just as much disabled as the person they care for by being associated with and caring for them.
In spite of the new EU equality legislation carers will still encounter a great deal of hardship in holding down a job. And they are likely to be overlooked regarding promotion that entails more responsability, more hours and more commitment from them.
2) What are the possible implications for equality legislation in the UK following the current EU legal case on disability discrimination by proxy?
As more employers become aware of using disabilty to discriminate against an employee some will be more open to understanding and supporting an employee who is a carer; and some will find another excuse or reason to put pressure on a carer to leave their employment.
Rock bottom employers are running a business, they need reliable employees, unless the government back up this legislation with plenty of social and welfare support for carers the legislation will be useless.
3) Does a carers' profile impact upon their opportunities (e.g. carer of a disabled child, or elderly carer of a partner)?
Yes it does, because employers know that a carer is likely to be a less reliable employee than a non carer employee.
Carers are likely to need more time off to care for, and to attend appointments with the person they care for. Employers are aware that a carer would need more support and greater flexability on the part of the employer.
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Hayley Baker
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# Posted: 6 Jan 2010 06:48
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Iam 21 and have since leaing school been caring day and night for a relative getting £75 a week. Originally it was £50 a week so no more than jobseekers. I had to ask for carers premium(inc supp/) as extra so it was not too bad. Now that that person is deceased I have found just how much I have missed out on. It seems like getting £5.80 an hour and being able to work as many hours as I want and being able to please myself is like WOW! Being able to earn some 'normal' wage would be fantastic!
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Laura
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# Posted: 7 Sep 2010 12:06
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Information, Guidance and Advice.
1) Are carers sufficiently aware of their benefit entitlements and the support available to them?
No, mainly due to the fact that you have to go to several different departments to claim entitlements and these do not advise you of other entitlements you may qualify for. I have only just found out I am entitled to a pension credit and I have been caring for over a decade.
2) Is the Department providing high quality guidance and advice to carers?
No. It should advise carers of all of the entitilements that are available to them. It should also offer help and advice about claiming such entitlements and their rights.
3) How is the Department working across Government to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy for carers when seeking guidance, advice and financial support?
To my knowledge it is not. What would work is to have one section which deals soley with carers, we number in the millions. It would also provide scope for reduction if carers recieved one benefit which was made up of different components - Carer's Allowance, Income Support, Pension Credit, etc.
Income and Carer's Allowance.
1) What is the impact of caring on carers earning potentials?
Tremendous. Those entitiled to Carer's Allowance have already lost at least 35 hours in the week through caring. Often this figure is much higher. Then factoring in the physical and emotional toll caring has on the carer and in turn the effect this has on the carer's ability to function effectively in a working environment.
2) Do carers receive sufficient support with additional costs as a result of caring?
No. Carer's Allowance is a slap in the face. You have to care for more than 35 hours to claim it but the weekly amount accounts to just over £1 per hour for those who care for 35 hours and reduces as the number of care hours increases. Then factor in the fact that those carers who work the highest number of hours and therefore are forced to claim income support have is amount reduced even further as their award for income support is reduced to take into account the additional income carer's allowance provides.
3) Are benefits and allowances adequate in minimising the financial impact of caring?
No. They do not take into account the real world costs of living and caring at the same time. They do not provide a good quality of life to full time carers. I spend over 120 hours per week looking after my son, saving the government thousands and yet I can't afford to buy simple things that people who work the same hours can afford to take for granted.
4) Do benefits and allowances impact on barriers and incentives to work or carers' ability to engage in education and training, if so how?
Yes, aside from the rates at which benefits are withdrawn, they do not take into account that often carers are still providing the same amount of care as when they were "unemployed".
5)Do benefits and allowances impact on carers' pension entitlements, if so how?
Still not sure on this one. I have only just learnt that pension credits exist. But I am lead to believe that the samount awarded does not take into account the number of hours in care provided. So unlike paid work, the efforts of the carer is not reflected in their pension.
Employment Strategy and Training Opportunities.
1)Is the Department doing enough to address barriers to employment and training for carers?
Why can't the Dept realise that we WORK. We provide all of the care services provided by Care Agencies and more. The difference is we don't get paid, the hours we work are not regulated by European Law, our basic human rights are often trampled on to ensure that our loved ones do not suffer and we have to suffer the humilation of being classed as "unemployed" and all the negative propaganda and opinions that brings.
2) Is the Department's welfare reform and employment strategy addressing the needs of carers?
No. By treating us an unemployed the Dept fails to recognise the work we do on the most basic level. The constant form filling, interviews and cross department shuffling we have to do only serves to add to the stress and discomfort we suffer. I recieve income support and should have been classed as a carer meaning I would be called by the job center for an interview every year. I pointed this out several times, but was still made to attend every few weeks, with very little notice given to the difficulties some of the interview times provided in conjunction with my son's care needs - instead a threat of attend or we will cut your benefits was issued. The mental affect of being asked the same questions only served to point out all the things I would love to participate in: a carer, self esteem and sense of self worth. "What have you done to search for work" is an insult when I have been providing over 120 hours care a week, seriously sleep deprived, mentally and physically exhausted.And yet they, like the Dept fail to realise that I have "worked" more hours every day between this and the last interview, than the person conducting it.
Also being asked the same questions over and over again is very depressing. A diagnosis of autism for my son is unlikely to change for the rest of his life, so why is the Dept paying someone to ask me every few weeks if the diagnosis has changed? Where is the value for money in that?
By failing to acknowledge the number of unpaid hours caring hours performed by the carer, the dept can't begin to accurately access the carer's ability to perform further work.
3) How is the Department working collaboratively with employers and other Departments to improve carers' job retention or return to work?
Unsure.
4) How is the Department working together with employers and other Departments to improve support in education, training and skills for carers?
Unsure, but I have not seen any positive responses from their efforts. Wasn't aware of any additional help for carers in this area.
Equality, Recognition and Discrimination.
1) Are there barriers to equality for carers?
Yes, our contribution to society is repeatedly ignored and as such we are negatively discriminated against on a daily basis.
2) What are the possible implications for equality legislation in the UK following the current EU legal case on disability discrimination by proxy?
Unaware of this case.
3) Does a carers' profile impact upon their opportunities (e.g. carer of a disabled child, or elderly carer of a partner)?
YES. I have had to sacrifice my hopes of marriage, a carer, owning my own home, my quailty of life, my social life (which is non-existent except for 3 days each year). I don't live like my friends, they have normal lives, everything seems that much harder and is. The financial implications of living on state benefits are painful and I often find myself struggling to get by. Yet for the hours I work and the money I save the government this seems so unfair. Especially when you consider the scale of restrictions on my opportunities which are caused due to finacial hardship. It feels like we aren't entitled to the basic human rights afforded to everone else.
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David Johnson
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# Posted: 7 Sep 2010 18:06
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I had to give up my work at the age of 63 to care for my terminally ill wife. The only alternative was to place her in a home. We have been married for 40 years and lived in the same house for 38 years. I have worked since the age of 15 but never earned more than what is now known as the National Minimum Wage. However, by working lots of overtime, normally between 55 and 60 hours per week we managed to buy our council house, take our children and elderly parents on holiday every other year to Cornwall and by saving hard managed to pay for our only son to go to university and leave with a degree in chemistry. I don't know how long my wife will take to die but she could live two or possibly three years and I am now her full time and only carer. I asked my county council for help and they conducted a telephone assessment and generously allowed me one hour a week support and help with household duties. I cant leave my wife alone so I can only do the shopping if a kind neighbour sits with her, Often when she is restless and in pain I don't sleep for more than 4 days when my son comes over to help and sits with her overnight but he is to start a new job in the USA as there is no longer work here for him. I try my best but I know that is not good enough. The worst situation since May of this year is that the government has deceided to call people like us Benefit Scroungers and newspapers like the Daily Mail encouraged to print the most outrageous stories about fraud and deception, In addition we are now told that the carers allowance will be stopped this autumn. Currently, we live on her pension of £98.00 per week and my work pension of £25 per week. I was going to claim Carers Allowance as advised by my wife's doctor but as it will be stopped and now carries the stigma of claimants being scroungers we have deceided not to claim although I dont know how we shall manage this winter as our son paid the gas bill last year while still a student and we can't expect him to help if he is not living in this country any more. Two months ago I had a major heart attack through overwork and hypertension and was taken to hospital after collapsing in my doctors surgery. My wife was left alone for 4 days until a neighbour realised she was on her own and broke in to help and feed her and clean her up. The promised one hour a week's help from Essex County Council promised in May has not started because of lack of funds in their budget. I am not a scrounger and I object to MP's some of whom are multi-millionaires telling me that I am. I do my best but I have told my doctors that should I have another heart attack I do not wish to be brought round as then my wife would have a free place in a care home or sheltered acccomodation. We have spent all our savings in the past 5 years and I cant pay the council tax next year anyway but if I claim housing benefit once again the stigma of Scrounger. I am not asking for much but it is a real worry to me who will take care of my dear wife when I am not here to do so.
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Vinny
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# Posted: 12 Sep 2010 16:14
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Be Carefull Mr. Cameron and Mr Clegg. A lot of the people you will KILL with your proposed cuts will be Tory voters. What will you do come next election????
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