Debt with Disability News Articles

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[CENTER][B][SIZE=3]NOT helping the aged: MPs accuse councils of 'penalising' elderly with ruthless increase in care charges [/SIZE][/B][/CENTER]

[SIZE=2]Almost half of councils have put up charges 'either moderately or substantially' for home help and other services, a devastating report by MPs warns. They claim that town halls are 'penalising' the elderly by ruthlessly increasing charges for vital care. The study, by the all-party Commons health select committee, also revealed that councils are slashing budgets for elderly care by restricting free help, while a third have put up fees for residential care homes. The changes mean that local authorities raised £84million more from care recipients this financial year than in 2010/11. The report also revealed 82 per cent of councils now restrict free care, such as meals on wheels, to those whose needs are described as ‘substantial’ or ‘critical’ – a rise of 13 per cent. The cuts have left thousands, many of whom need help with washing and going to the toilet, forced to fund their own care...Read more [B][URL="http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2090964/Council-care-rip-Elderly-penalised-ruthless-drive-charge-vital-services-say-MPs.html"]HERE[/URL][/B][/SIZE]

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Re: Debt with Disability News Articles

[CENTER][B]Disabled Protesters Block Regent Street[/B]
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[B]Disability rights campaigners blocked Regent Street in central London on Saturday in a protest over welfare reform.[/B]

Protesters chained their wheelchairs together across the road, bringing traffic to a standstill on one of the capital’s busiest shopping streets. They told Sky News they felt they were being ignored by the Government over changes to disability allowance, which they claim will directly disadvantage vulnerable people. One wheelchair user, Andy, 37, from Islington, said: "The whole raft of cuts that are being carried through will affect all of the services that support disabled people - public services, social care, the voluntary sector. "To reform one would have a big impact, but reforming them all is going to be devastating for those who depend on them."

He added: "The Welfare Reform Bill does nothing to address the real issues facing disabled people. There is high unemployment already, problems with lack of access, workplace discrimination and a lack of pre and in-work support. Disabled people are already at the end of their tether." Disabled activists had travelled from across the UK to take part in the protest and.....[B]Read more here--: [URL="http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16158621"]Regent Street Blocked By Protesters In Wheelchairs Angry At Welfare Reforms
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[CENTER][B]GMB Union joins row over Four Seasons account 'confusion'[/B]
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Unions have written to the auditor for Four Seasons Health Care to ask for clarification of the care home provider’s financial situation after being refused a request to see its offshore accounts. The letter from the GMB union asks KPMG to reconcile ‘confusion’ surrounding Four Seasons’ accounts and the proposed value of the business. The union said it had contacted KPMG regarding offshore accounts in the Channel Islands and for access to accounts of FINO Seniorco Limited in the Cayman Islands. It said its request had been refused. The union has also asked for the company, which has debts of £780 million and is 40 per cent owned by Royal Bank of Scotland, to explain why some workers have had bank holiday pay cut despite management assurances to the contrary. Four Seasons wrote to workers this month warning that 2012 was expected to be....[B]Read more here---: [URL="http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-2093183/GMB-Union-joins-row-Four-Seasons-account-confusion.html"]GMB Union joins row over Four Seasons account 'confusion'
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Re: Debt with Disability News Articles

[CENTER][B]Town hall 'age discrimination' leads to elderly 'losing out by £500m a year' in care cost funds[/B][/CENTER]

[SIZE=2][FONT=Arial]Town halls are guilty of ‘age discrimination’ because they are under-funding vital services for the elderly by at least £500million a year, a report says today. Vulnerable pensioners are being ‘unfairly disadvantaged’ because local authorities are making swingeing cuts to council-funded care and hitting them with soaring charges for services, according to Age UK. [/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=5][FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]Last night Dr Ros Altmann, director general of over-50s group Saga, said: ‘This report shows us that current policy does not seem to value older people. Altmann added: ‘Public spending and policy efforts too often prioritise the young, and discriminate against older people. This is not the mark of a decent society......Read more [B][URL="http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-2093707/Town-hall-age-discrimination-leads-elderly-losing-500m-year.html"]HERE[/URL][/B][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=5]

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Re: Debt with Disability News Articles

[CENTER][B]Elderly 'suffer as social care spending cut'[/B][/CENTER]

Spending on social care for the elderly in England is falling this year - despite the assurances of ministers, an analysis by campaigners suggests. The Age UK report said £7.3bn was being budgeted this year - the same as in 2011 - but it represented a drop of 4.5% once inflation was taken into account. The charity said the squeeze meant thousands were missing out on care. But ministers said there should be enough money available to avoid cuts. The report, based on official data plus Age UK's own research, comes amid mounting concern about the state of social care, which includes help in the home with activities such as washing and dressing as well as residential care places....Read more [B][URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16743231"]HERE[/URL][/B]

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Re: Debt with Disability News Articles

[CENTER][B]OFT takes action in mobility aids sector[/B]
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The OFT has taken action against several mobility aids traders, following a market study last year which found some firms were engaged in unfair business practices. The OFT has revoked the consumer credit licences of Amarjit Gill and his business associate Ranjit Dhami over concerns about how they sold mobility aids. Amarjit Gill, who traded as ABM Mobility, breached consumer protection legislation, including using aggressive sales techniques, despite warnings from Derbyshire Trading Standards, and repeatedly breached interim enforcement orders. Ranjit Dhami held a separate licence and had traded as A.B.M., Phoenix 1000, Eurostar, Star Enterprises and Phoenix Enterprises. She was judged unfit to hold a credit licence by the OFT because of her association with Amarjit Gill's business. Separately, the OFT carried out an investigation into Yorkshire-based Acorn Mobility Services Limited (Acorn) for potential breaches of consumer protection laws. As a result of constructive discussions, Acorn has voluntarily amended the terms and conditions it uses in its customer contracts and supporting documents to address potentially unfair terms.....[B]Read more here from the OFT Website: [URL="http://www.oft.gov.uk/news-and-updates/press/2012/05-12"]OFT takes action in mobility aids sector - The Office of Fair Trading[/URL][/B]

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Re: Debt with Disability News Articles

[CENTER][B]Care for elderly 'let down by fragmented system'[/B][/CENTER]

Older people are being let down by a social care system in which they are "passed like a parcel" between services, a committee of MPs has said. The Commons health select committee wants local areas in England to deliver "joined-up" care, health and housing. Funding pressures were reducing older people's quality of life, MPs added. The government said "urgent reform of the care and support system is needed", and that it was creating the conditions for more integration. The committee's report said that the Health and Social Care Bill - currently making its way through Parliament - would not simplify a fragmented system in England....Read more [B][URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16910795"]HERE[/URL][/B]

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Re: Debt with Disability News Articles

[B]Four Seasons: Care home provider in new debt talks[/B]

The UK's largest care home provider, which bought many of the Southern Cross properties, has said it is in talks to raise money to pay its debts. Four Seasons must pay back £780m of debt this September but has said it is unlikely to be able to raise that much again from lenders. Instead it has entered talks with investors to try to attract new investment of up to £250m. The GMB union has warned the company may face ongoing financial difficulty. The group looks after 20,000 people and employs 30,000 staff across around 500 properties. "We warned back in the autumn [when Southern Cross was sold] that there was a great risk that residents and staff were jumping from the frying pan into the fire," the GMB's Justin Bowden told the BBC.....Read more here--: [url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16947973"]BBC News - Four Seasons: Care home provider in new debt talks[/url]

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Re: Debt with Disability News Articles

[CENTER][B]Cold weather payments being missed by pensioners[/B]
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Up to 1.6 million pensioners are failing to claim benefits they are entitled to - including financial help during the cold snap. Nearly £3bn of Pension Credit - an income-related benefit for pensioners - is unclaimed each year, according to the Department for Work and Pensions. Those who receive it are automatically entitled to a Cold Weather Payment of £25 in freezing weather. These payments have been triggered in two-thirds of the country. The benefit, to help pay heating bills during a cold snap, is paid when the weather is - or is forecast to be - at or below freezing for seven consecutive days....[B]Read more here--: [URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16967605"]BBC News - Cold weather payments being missed by pensioners[/URL][/B]

[BBoo]

Re: Debt with Disability News Articles

Excellent News - I see the Government has just suffered another defeat in the House of Lords over its Welfare Reform Bill.

[pompeyfaith]

Re: Debt with Disability News Articles

Yes, but again according to a twitter feed the commons plan to overturn it, with parliamentary privilege I guess.

[BBoo]

Re: Debt with Disability News Articles

Considering the government are 'elected' to represent the people, it is unbelievably arrogant of them to even attempt, on one of their main pieces of legislation, to simply force this through after such clear opposition to it.

What credibility will they have for being the peoples' voice, or indeed any claim to listen to public voice if they continue to bulldoze through legislation which has been proven clearly to be based on, at best, a terrible interpretation of the statistics gathered when drafting it. In all probability it was just plain lies.

[5corpio]

Re: Debt with Disability News Articles

BBC Radio4: Live: [URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01by7c2"]BBC - BBC Radio 4 Programmes - You and Yours, 15/02/2012[/URL]

We hear from the family of a man who died just 3 weeks after being told he was fit for work and ineligible for disability benefits. Campaigners say thousands of people are trapped in a revolving door of assessments and appeals. The Department for Work and Pensions say this is a tragic case but emphasise that anyone who disagrees with a benefits decision has the right to appeal.

[B]EDIT: May have missed it.....[/B]

[pompeyfaith]

Re: Debt with Disability News Articles

A roundup of yesterday's events in the HoL on the Welfare Reform Bill

[url="http://blacktrianglecampaign.org/2012/02/15/33159/"]Black Triangle Campaign[/url]

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Re: Debt with Disability News Articles

[CENTER][B]Hospital patients to pay ten times more than prisoners to watch television as prices soar to £10 a day [/B]
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[LEFT][COLOR=#000000]Huge fees to watch television from hospital beds will see patients spending ten times the amount as prisoners a day to catch their favourite shows. Hospedia, a private firm which provides TV and phones to more than half of the country's NHS hospitals, are rolling out the new charges which will cost patients up to £10 a day. This compares to the £1 a day charged to prisoners to watch television from their cells.....[B]Read more here--: [URL="http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2103317/Hospital-patients-pay-times-prisoners-watch-television-prices-soar-10-day.html"]Hospital patients to pay ten times more than prisoners to watch television as prices soar to £10 a day [/URL][/B]
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