Post by nickd on Dec 29, 2011 17:35:31 GMT 1
Bizarrely, Government has pressed ahead with its legal aid reforms with an obstinate contention that advice on welfare benefits doesn't require specialist advice.
But it's not what Dave was saying back in 2009 when addressing his party at conference.
Here's just a little of what Dave had to say...
Thursday, July 16 2009
"When it comes to disability policy, that's got to be our starting point, how can we make a big positive difference to people's lives. We can't wave a magic wand to make everything better. If you or someone you love suffers from a disability, life is going to be hard a lot of the time. But I do believe there are moments of despair, helplessness and frustration that could be directly alleviated by the work of government"
"So once you've found the help and had some advice, what comes next? The answer is that you enter a world of bureaucratic pain, where you're asked the same questions about your child over and over again, where your desk is obscured by stacks of forms to fill in, where you spend half your life waiting on hold in the phone queue.
It's the world of the Disability Living Allowance with its Care Component and Mobility Component, the Carer's Allowance, Low Income Benefits, Child Tax Credit, Child Support, Housing Benefit, Council Tax benefit, grants from the Family Fund.
The orgy of assessment for social care means that one pound in every four that the state spends on children with disabilities goes on the form-filling and commissioning - and not the care.
In these times of tight budgets, we need to make sure the money we do spend is better spent. If we don't we are failing disabled people and their families.
And it's not just expensive for the state - it's exhausting for the parents. Instead of having to bash down every door, the door marked disability permit, the door marked special education, the door marked benefit entitlement, why can't we have one door that opens on to all the things parents need?
In Austria they've got a great assessment process for severely disabled children. A crack team of paediatric doctor, physiotherapist, child psychiatrist and nurse come into the home, make an assessment and give the family all the support they need.
For the sake of these families' sanity we are looking at the evidence and considering doing something similar in the UK, pulling professionals like doctors, paediatric nurses, physiotherapists and benefits specialists together in one team to act as a one-stop-shop for assessment and advice.
This way they could help families clear that first hurdle quickly and efficiently and effectively give them a key to open one door to everything they need. That would put paid to the days when getting the right help means answering more questions than you would for a mortgage."
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The Prime Minister was talking passionately and from his own experience. He referred to this in his speech:
"Disabilities of all types affect millions of families in this country. My family is one of them. My son Ivan's life changed the way I see a lot of things, not just as a father but as a politician too. So I couldn't come to a conference on autism without drawing on my own experience and telling you the lessons I've learned - about how we can make life better for disabled people and their families."
The Ministry of Justice has continually demoted the work of welfare benefit specialists (often funded by the legal help scheme) saying that their work could be covered by 'generalist' advisers. It's not what Mr Cameron was saying back in 2009 when he himself faced a myriad of complexity; - he clearly recognized the need for benefit specialists and the need to make a better system for the disabled.
Why doesn't he now go and speak with the Ministry of Justice and tell them just how complicated the benefits system is and what a big mistake they are making in withdrawing legal help funding for those with a complicated benefit problem ?
Read the full speech...
www.conservatives.com/News/Speeches/2009/07/David_Cameron_How_we_can_make_life_better_for_disabled_people.aspx