Are you based in or around London and interested in the impacts of the Welfare Reform Bill on all our lives? If so please try to attend the first committee session today in the Houses of Parliament. It is open to the public so just turn up, go through the security checks and make your way to Committee Room 4A. The room is larger than normal, chosen to allow access and there is also an overspill room with live feed link should it be needed.
We understand that this is short notice and a big ask, but the more people who can attend, even if only for a short period of time, the better. We need to show the government that they cannot quietly slip this destructive bill through without disabled people, sick people and carers speaking out about what they are doing to us.
Non-partisan UK-based Disability campaign. Advocacy for people with invisible illness and/or physical & mental health conditions. Also Carers, their Families and Friends. Our individual voices are too quiet to be heard, but collectively we can shout loud enough to drown out this tide of abuse against us. Disability Hate Crime, lack of full legal protection, people in care homes costing too much to be let out and not one political party willing to fight for us.
Showing posts with label wrb. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wrb. Show all posts
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Thursday, 15 September 2011
What Is A Grand Committee And What Does It Mean For Welfare Reform?
Cross posted with thanks to LatentExistence
After all the fuss of the Welfare Reform Bill in the house of lords yesterday I wasn’t expecting much for a couple of weeks when it will reach committee stage. However, I woke up today to find that the government had tabled a motion in the lords to send the bill to the grand committee, held in a side room.
This is in fact the normal procedure for legislation moving through parliament. The committee stage is where the bill is examined line-by-line and objections from the debate at the second reading turn into amendments to the bill before it goes back to the house for the report stage and the third reading. Parliament’s own web page states:
Any Bill can be referred to a Committee of the whole House but the procedure is normally reserved for finance Bills and other important, controversial legislation.
So you can see, controversial bills are supposed to be debated by a “committee of the whole house” rather than a “grand committee.” As one lord stated in the debate today, no one can argue that this legislation is not controversial. The peers have stated over and over again during debate that they have been inundated with letters, emails, and phone calls from people concerned about this bill. They show surprise at the scale of concern shown to them. Unfortunately, despite a heated debate this afternoon in the end the lords voted 263 to 211 to pass the motion and move the bill to the Grand Committee. The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats voted for the motion, and Labour voted against it. Some of the reasons given were that it would block up the chamber and delay the passage of other bills, and that too many people would want to speak in the debate and it would take too long. (Yes, really! Democracy apparently takes too long.) One lady stated that several of the bills going through parliament are really three bills in one, and that of course it would take longer. (As an aside, I would urge you to look up Shock Doctrine for reasons as to why changes are being made so quickly.)
The difference between the two options for committee stage are quite important, I think. Here’s the official description of the committee stage:
Line by line examination of the Bill
Detailed line by line examination of the separate parts (clauses and schedules) of the Bill takes place during committee stage. Any Member of the Lords can take part.
Committee stage can last for one or two days to eight or more. It usually starts no fewer than two weeks after the second reading.
Before committee stage takes place
The day before committee stage starts, amendments are published in a Marshalled List – in which all the amendments are placed in order.
Amendments on related subjects are grouped together and a list (“groupings of amendments”) is published on the day.
What happens at committee stage?
Every clause of the Bill has to be agreed to and votes on the amendments can take place.
All proposed amendments (proposals for change) can be discussed and there is no time limit – or guillotine – on discussion of amendments.
What happens after committee stage?
If the Bill has been amended it is reprinted with all the agreed amendments.
At the end of committee stage, the Bill moves to report stage for further examination.
Here is the critical part though:
Grand Committee
The proceedings are identical to those in a Committee of the Whole House except that no votes may take place.
As compared to:
Committee of the whole House
In the House of Lords the committee stage of a Bill usually takes place in the Lords Chamber and any Member can take part. The Committee may choose to vote on any amendment and all Members present can vote.
So you can see, apart from being in a less-accessible room, with space for far fewer peers to discuss the bill and no public gallery, sending a bill to the Grand Committee also means that the amendments cannot be voted on individually. I think, on the whole, this can be viewed as a bad thing.
However, please keep sending your messages to peers. They have noticed our objections, and we can’t let up now. Details are in my previous blog post.
***Important Update***
As Sam points out below, in the Grand Committee there is no voting on amendments, which would enable a majority vote to fix some of the worse points. Instead, the committee must agree unanimously on an amendment which means that just one person siding with the government can block any attempt to fix this bill.
After all the fuss of the Welfare Reform Bill in the house of lords yesterday I wasn’t expecting much for a couple of weeks when it will reach committee stage. However, I woke up today to find that the government had tabled a motion in the lords to send the bill to the grand committee, held in a side room.
This is in fact the normal procedure for legislation moving through parliament. The committee stage is where the bill is examined line-by-line and objections from the debate at the second reading turn into amendments to the bill before it goes back to the house for the report stage and the third reading. Parliament’s own web page states:
Any Bill can be referred to a Committee of the whole House but the procedure is normally reserved for finance Bills and other important, controversial legislation.
So you can see, controversial bills are supposed to be debated by a “committee of the whole house” rather than a “grand committee.” As one lord stated in the debate today, no one can argue that this legislation is not controversial. The peers have stated over and over again during debate that they have been inundated with letters, emails, and phone calls from people concerned about this bill. They show surprise at the scale of concern shown to them. Unfortunately, despite a heated debate this afternoon in the end the lords voted 263 to 211 to pass the motion and move the bill to the Grand Committee. The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats voted for the motion, and Labour voted against it. Some of the reasons given were that it would block up the chamber and delay the passage of other bills, and that too many people would want to speak in the debate and it would take too long. (Yes, really! Democracy apparently takes too long.) One lady stated that several of the bills going through parliament are really three bills in one, and that of course it would take longer. (As an aside, I would urge you to look up Shock Doctrine for reasons as to why changes are being made so quickly.)
The difference between the two options for committee stage are quite important, I think. Here’s the official description of the committee stage:
Line by line examination of the Bill
Detailed line by line examination of the separate parts (clauses and schedules) of the Bill takes place during committee stage. Any Member of the Lords can take part.
Committee stage can last for one or two days to eight or more. It usually starts no fewer than two weeks after the second reading.
Before committee stage takes place
The day before committee stage starts, amendments are published in a Marshalled List – in which all the amendments are placed in order.
Amendments on related subjects are grouped together and a list (“groupings of amendments”) is published on the day.
What happens at committee stage?
Every clause of the Bill has to be agreed to and votes on the amendments can take place.
All proposed amendments (proposals for change) can be discussed and there is no time limit – or guillotine – on discussion of amendments.
What happens after committee stage?
If the Bill has been amended it is reprinted with all the agreed amendments.
At the end of committee stage, the Bill moves to report stage for further examination.
Here is the critical part though:
Grand Committee
The proceedings are identical to those in a Committee of the Whole House except that no votes may take place.
As compared to:
Committee of the whole House
In the House of Lords the committee stage of a Bill usually takes place in the Lords Chamber and any Member can take part. The Committee may choose to vote on any amendment and all Members present can vote.
So you can see, apart from being in a less-accessible room, with space for far fewer peers to discuss the bill and no public gallery, sending a bill to the Grand Committee also means that the amendments cannot be voted on individually. I think, on the whole, this can be viewed as a bad thing.
However, please keep sending your messages to peers. They have noticed our objections, and we can’t let up now. Details are in my previous blog post.
***Important Update***
As Sam points out below, in the Grand Committee there is no voting on amendments, which would enable a majority vote to fix some of the worse points. Instead, the committee must agree unanimously on an amendment which means that just one person siding with the government can block any attempt to fix this bill.
Thursday, 8 September 2011
Funds Allocated For Time Limiting ESA Before WRB Is Passed
This from the Disability Alliance http://www.disabilityalliance.org/esalimit.htm?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter shows the utter arrogance of parliament and our alleged representatives in 2011. Just as NHS reform plans are already going ahead before the vote, so welfare reforms are being pushed through before the democratic process has completed
Welfare Reform Bill (Employment and Support Allowance - Time Limiting - Contingency Fund Advance)
7 September 2011
The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Chris Grayling): As part of his Spending Review announcement, the Chancellor set out his proposal to introduce a time limit of 1 year for those claiming contributory Employment and Support Allowance who are in the Work Related Activity Group. The change will, subject to the passage of the enabling legislation, apply from April 2012. For those in the Work Related Activity Group who have already received a year or more contributory Employment and Support Allowance as at April 2012, entitlement will cease immediately.
In order to avoid delay in implementing this policy the Department for Work and Pensions has obtained approval for an advance from the Contingencies Fund of £2,705,000 to allow for the development of IT, ensure those potentially impacted by the time limit in April 2012 are notified of the change and to deliver the operational support that will be required before Royal Assent of the enabling legislation.
Parliamentary approval for resources of £2,705,000 for this new service will be sought in a Supplementary Estimate for the Department of Work and Pensions. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £2,705,000 will be met by repayable cash advances from the Contingencies Fund.
DA says: this decision will end all out of work benefits for over 400,000 disabled people – including people with cancer. The Government is denying the House of Lords a chance to scrutinise and vote on this proposal in the Welfare Reform Bill before prematurely telling disabled people their support could end in six months.
More information
Monday, 5 September 2011
Template Letter To The Lords Re Welfare Reform Bill
So, with the welfare reform bill about to have it's second reading in the Lords, I've written this template letter to send and DarkestAngel32 blog have produced this brilliant list of email addresses to send it to.
Obviously feel free to send your own letter about the things that matter most to you, but if you'd like to send mine, you're very welcome. Email addresses are at the end and whether you send the letter to one peer or everyone on the list, it all makes a difference.
Please do join in. The more letters and emails they receive, the more chance we have of making a difference. The bill is already facing difficulties because of the brilliant work we did while it was in the commons. Now we need to build on that and make sure that as many peers as possible know about the issues.
Finally, please share this article, tweet, link and send to friends. Thanks.
Dear ..........[insert name of peer]
On the 13th September, the welfare reform bill will have it'second reading in the House of Lords.
Rather unusually, many aspects of the bill are yet to be finalised or fully detailed. This in itself, will, I'm sure, make your job rather difficult as you consider the many, many details and changes proposed.
However, I'm writing to you with some very specific concerns that sick and disabled people have and I've linked to some articles and research which I hope you will find helpful.
1) Removing Disability Living Allowance mobility payments from adults in residential care.
An adult who needs to live in residential care will have extensive needs and are often amongst the most severely disabled. The mobility component of DLA afforded them their only freedom, allowing them to choose to fund a power wheelchair otherwise unavailable on the NHS, or to pay for taxis or transport to get out now and then. Taking this away would leave the most vulnerable disabled people effectively housebound. There is no support for this change anywhere - charities, independent benefit reports and even the government's own advisers have called for this to be removed from the bill.
2) Scrapping DLA entirely and replacing it with Personal Independent Payments (PIPs).
DLA is a very effective benefit with fraud rates of less than 1% (DWP own figures) It is already incredibly hard to claim and the qualification criteria are very narrow. The government have announced that DLA claimants will also soon face assessment and that the overall number of claimants will be reduced by at least 20%. The government's own advisory committee concluded that they could find no justification for this reform and have asked for clarification from the government.
If a benefit is already very efficient, yet a government announce a 20% cull before a single assessment has even taken place, we conclude it can only be a cost cutting measure that will ignore genuine need.
3) Time limiting Employment Support Allowance (ESA, previously Incapacity Benefit) to 1 Year
Many people who need to claim ESA have "long term variable" or chronic illnesses such as MS, Parkinson's, Bowel Disease, Leukaemia or severe Mental Illness. These conditions often do not go away after a year and sadly, often get worse over time. A high percentage of those with these conditions are being found "fit for work" under ESA but after 1 year, if they have a working partner, they will receive no state assistance whatsoever. All of their benefit will be stopped, a loss of just under £5000 a year.
4) ATOS assessments are "unfit for purpose" and a better way of assessing need must be implemented.
ATOS are the private company charged with assessing over 1.5 million sick and disabled people during this parliament.
-Up to 40% of rejected claims are going to appeal with up to 70% of those decisions being overturned with representation.
-Assessments are humiliating and degrading causing great anxiety to those genuinely in need.
-Just 7% of previous claimants are being found unfit to work on a long term basis.
-Testimony from Consultants and GPs is often ignored entirely.
-People are dying before lengthy appeals can be heard.
-Even the professor who designed these assessments calls them a "complete mess"
There are other problems with the bill - capping housing benefit; re-classifying "mobility" so that those who use their wheelchairs too efficiently can be classed as "fully mobile"; removing an age related payment from ESA; scrapping the Independent Living Fund; cutting community care provision; cutting the Access to Work programme and many more - all of which will hurt sick and disabled people disproportionately, but the four points above MUST be addressed before the Welfare Reform Bill is passed.
They are causing or will cause real hardship.
They will not achieve savings as pressures will only be shifted to the NHS or social care provision.
They will increase homelessness, mental illness and poverty amongst this most vulnerable group of all
They will leave many in genuine need without support
They reduce the independence, standard of life and dignity of those we have a basic duty to protect.
I urge you to give these issues your time and consideration. Please, help us to make sure that amendments to the bill are passed ensuring that these 4 issues are addressed.
Yours faithfully,
...............[add your name]
List of contact details :
Baroness Thomas of Winchester
thomascm@parliament.uk
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/baroness_morgan_of_drefelin
Baroness Sherlock
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/baroness_sherlock
Baroness Stowell of Beeston
stowellt@parliament.uk
Lord Bishop of Hereford
bishop@hereford.anglican.org
Countess of Mar
marm@parliament.uk
Lord Feldman of Elstree
chairman@conservatives.com
Lord Freud
freudd@parliament.uk
Lord German
germanm@parliament.uk
Lord Stoneham of Droxford
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/lord_stoneham_of_droxford
Lord Addington
addingtond@parliament.uk
Lord Adebowale
adebowalev@parliament.uk
Lord Beecham
beechamj@parliament.uk
Lord Boswell of Aynho
boswellte@parliament.uk
Baroness Campbell of Surbiton
campbelljs@parliament.uk
Baroness Donaghy
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/baroness_donaghy
Baroness Drake
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/baroness_drake
Baroness Flather
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/baroness_flather
Baroness Greengross
greengrosss@parliament.uk
Baroness Grey-Thompson
greeythompsont@parliament.uk
Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town
hayterd@parliament.uk
Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill
healyab@parliament.uk
Baroness Hollins
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/baroness_hollins
Baroness Hollis of Heigham
hollisp@parliament.uk
Baroness Howe of Idlicote
howee@parliament.uk
Lord Kennedy of Southwark
kennedyro@parliament.uk
Baroness King of Bow
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/baroness_king_of_bow
Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/lord_kirkwood_of_kirkhope
Lord Knight of Weymouth
knightja@parliament.uk
Bishop Leicester
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/bishop_of_leicester
Baroness Lister of Burtersett
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/baroness_lister_of_burtersett
Lord Low of Dalston
lowc@parliament.uk
Lord Mackay of Clashfern
mackayjp@parliament.uk
Lord Mckenzie of Luton
mckenziew@parliament.uk
Baroness Meacher
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/baroness_meacher
Lord Morris of Handsworth
morrisw@parliament.uk
Lord Newton of Braintree
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/lord_newton_of_braintree
Lord Patel
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/lord_patel
Lord Ramsbotham
ramsbothamd@parliament.uk
Lord Rix
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/lord_rix
Lord Touhig
touhigjd@parliament.uk
Baroness Turner of Camden
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/baroness_turner_of_camden
Lord Whitty
whittyl@parliament.uk
Lord Wigley
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/lord_wigley
Baroness Wilkins
wilkinsrc@parliament.uk
Obviously feel free to send your own letter about the things that matter most to you, but if you'd like to send mine, you're very welcome. Email addresses are at the end and whether you send the letter to one peer or everyone on the list, it all makes a difference.
Please do join in. The more letters and emails they receive, the more chance we have of making a difference. The bill is already facing difficulties because of the brilliant work we did while it was in the commons. Now we need to build on that and make sure that as many peers as possible know about the issues.
Finally, please share this article, tweet, link and send to friends. Thanks.
Dear ..........[insert name of peer]
On the 13th September, the welfare reform bill will have it'second reading in the House of Lords.
Rather unusually, many aspects of the bill are yet to be finalised or fully detailed. This in itself, will, I'm sure, make your job rather difficult as you consider the many, many details and changes proposed.
However, I'm writing to you with some very specific concerns that sick and disabled people have and I've linked to some articles and research which I hope you will find helpful.
1) Removing Disability Living Allowance mobility payments from adults in residential care.
An adult who needs to live in residential care will have extensive needs and are often amongst the most severely disabled. The mobility component of DLA afforded them their only freedom, allowing them to choose to fund a power wheelchair otherwise unavailable on the NHS, or to pay for taxis or transport to get out now and then. Taking this away would leave the most vulnerable disabled people effectively housebound. There is no support for this change anywhere - charities, independent benefit reports and even the government's own advisers have called for this to be removed from the bill.
2) Scrapping DLA entirely and replacing it with Personal Independent Payments (PIPs).
DLA is a very effective benefit with fraud rates of less than 1% (DWP own figures) It is already incredibly hard to claim and the qualification criteria are very narrow. The government have announced that DLA claimants will also soon face assessment and that the overall number of claimants will be reduced by at least 20%. The government's own advisory committee concluded that they could find no justification for this reform and have asked for clarification from the government.
If a benefit is already very efficient, yet a government announce a 20% cull before a single assessment has even taken place, we conclude it can only be a cost cutting measure that will ignore genuine need.
3) Time limiting Employment Support Allowance (ESA, previously Incapacity Benefit) to 1 Year
Many people who need to claim ESA have "long term variable" or chronic illnesses such as MS, Parkinson's, Bowel Disease, Leukaemia or severe Mental Illness. These conditions often do not go away after a year and sadly, often get worse over time. A high percentage of those with these conditions are being found "fit for work" under ESA but after 1 year, if they have a working partner, they will receive no state assistance whatsoever. All of their benefit will be stopped, a loss of just under £5000 a year.
4) ATOS assessments are "unfit for purpose" and a better way of assessing need must be implemented.
ATOS are the private company charged with assessing over 1.5 million sick and disabled people during this parliament.
-Up to 40% of rejected claims are going to appeal with up to 70% of those decisions being overturned with representation.
-Assessments are humiliating and degrading causing great anxiety to those genuinely in need.
-Just 7% of previous claimants are being found unfit to work on a long term basis.
-Testimony from Consultants and GPs is often ignored entirely.
-People are dying before lengthy appeals can be heard.
-Even the professor who designed these assessments calls them a "complete mess"
There are other problems with the bill - capping housing benefit; re-classifying "mobility" so that those who use their wheelchairs too efficiently can be classed as "fully mobile"; removing an age related payment from ESA; scrapping the Independent Living Fund; cutting community care provision; cutting the Access to Work programme and many more - all of which will hurt sick and disabled people disproportionately, but the four points above MUST be addressed before the Welfare Reform Bill is passed.
They are causing or will cause real hardship.
They will not achieve savings as pressures will only be shifted to the NHS or social care provision.
They will increase homelessness, mental illness and poverty amongst this most vulnerable group of all
They will leave many in genuine need without support
They reduce the independence, standard of life and dignity of those we have a basic duty to protect.
I urge you to give these issues your time and consideration. Please, help us to make sure that amendments to the bill are passed ensuring that these 4 issues are addressed.
Yours faithfully,
...............[add your name]
List of contact details :
Baroness Thomas of Winchester
thomascm@parliament.uk
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/baroness_morgan_of_drefelin
Baroness Sherlock
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/baroness_sherlock
Baroness Stowell of Beeston
stowellt@parliament.uk
Lord Bishop of Hereford
bishop@hereford.anglican.org
Countess of Mar
marm@parliament.uk
Lord Feldman of Elstree
chairman@conservatives.com
Lord Freud
freudd@parliament.uk
Lord German
germanm@parliament.uk
Lord Stoneham of Droxford
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/lord_stoneham_of_droxford
Lord Addington
addingtond@parliament.uk
Lord Adebowale
adebowalev@parliament.uk
Lord Beecham
beechamj@parliament.uk
Lord Boswell of Aynho
boswellte@parliament.uk
Baroness Campbell of Surbiton
campbelljs@parliament.uk
Baroness Donaghy
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/baroness_donaghy
Baroness Drake
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/baroness_drake
Baroness Flather
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/baroness_flather
Baroness Greengross
greengrosss@parliament.uk
Baroness Grey-Thompson
greeythompsont@parliament.uk
Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town
hayterd@parliament.uk
Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill
healyab@parliament.uk
Baroness Hollins
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/baroness_hollins
Baroness Hollis of Heigham
hollisp@parliament.uk
Baroness Howe of Idlicote
howee@parliament.uk
Lord Kennedy of Southwark
kennedyro@parliament.uk
Baroness King of Bow
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/baroness_king_of_bow
Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/lord_kirkwood_of_kirkhope
Lord Knight of Weymouth
knightja@parliament.uk
Bishop Leicester
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/bishop_of_leicester
Baroness Lister of Burtersett
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/baroness_lister_of_burtersett
Lord Low of Dalston
lowc@parliament.uk
Lord Mackay of Clashfern
mackayjp@parliament.uk
Lord Mckenzie of Luton
mckenziew@parliament.uk
Baroness Meacher
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/baroness_meacher
Lord Morris of Handsworth
morrisw@parliament.uk
Lord Newton of Braintree
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/lord_newton_of_braintree
Lord Patel
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/lord_patel
Lord Ramsbotham
ramsbothamd@parliament.uk
Lord Rix
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/lord_rix
Lord Touhig
touhigjd@parliament.uk
Baroness Turner of Camden
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/baroness_turner_of_camden
Lord Whitty
whittyl@parliament.uk
Lord Wigley
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/lord_wigley
Baroness Wilkins
wilkinsrc@parliament.uk
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