This is the July monthly update letter about the activities of the the worksand benefit website Dear Subscriber, You may find the site is running rather slowly if you visit soon after you receive this newsletter , but it should speed up again once the initial rush of visitors is over.Firstly, thanks to all of you who contacted us about the treasury’s Spending Challenge website and our apologies that we weren’t able to reply to all of your hundreds of emails.
The good news is that all of the disablist and racist content has now been removed from their [ Treasury ] site – along with virtually everything else - and the site is now little more than an empty ‘contact us’ us box.
We don’t doubt for a moment that, if you hadn’t made the huge fuss that you did, the hateful content would still be there now.
So, congratulations – working together you really can make a difference. You can read how it all came about in the worksand benefit websiteOther news is, predictably, not so good.
Our mole at the DWP has sent us a copy of a letter which reveals that some DLA claims may be affected by the migration of incapacity benefit claimants to employment and support allowance which begins in earnest next year.
The letter also demonstrates that the pilot beginning in October of this year is little more than a sham,
which will give no indication of whether the DWP and Atos can cope with the massive increase in workload. Read more in CarerwatchAs concerns about the planned changes to DLA grow, we’re urging you to get involved in the CarerWatch campaign.
Without massive support from disability organisations, opposition to the cuts have little hope of success.
CarerWatch have begun collecting statements about their intentions from disability organisations and publishing them on their website, where you can .
If you have connections with a disability group, please ask them to publish a statement on the CarerWatch site.Carer Watch would welcome help with their DLA and ESA campaigns.
They have already succeeded in getting people with some severe mental health conditions exempted
from the work capability assessment when incapacity benefit claimants are transferred to ESA.
With your help they could achieve much more.More information about the CarerWatch campaign is also available on our blog at . ....
Some MPs and MSPs have already begun campaigning against the DLA cuts by raising and signing early day motions. Check if your MP has signed and, if not, contact them and ask them to do so before they disappear for their summer holidays on 27th July:
Still on the subject of DLA, we’ve heard back from the DWP about the DLA renewal short form, which is set to become rather less short: (This article is on carerwatch website
Finally, as is becoming traditional, we’re going to end with a few cheery posts from the forum, including the news from one member that they got an award of DLA in just three working days and, yes, we think it may be a record:
That’s all for this edition.
There probably won’t be a newsletter in August as it is traditionally a quieter month, but with parliament set to be recalled early in September, we’ll be back with plenty of news then.
Good luck,
Steve Donnison
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