Post by nickd on Jan 25, 2012 19:23:19 GMT 1
When it comes to welfare reform you need to..
By keeping legal aid to help the claimant unravel all the of complexities which arise. Claimants need all the help they can get when taking on the state.
For those who want the detail, here's more of the same..
(1) 29 million people in Britain claim at least one state benefit;- around half the population.
Government's welfare reforms will affect you or someone you know
Using 2010 data, these are the claims which will need to be 'data trawled' to identify around 18 million claims due to be reviewed as part of the welfare reforms:
1.9 Million Incapacity Benefit claims over to Employment & Support Allowance
3.7 Million Disability Living Allowance claims over to Personal Independence Allowance
4.7 Million Housing Benefit claims
2.4 Million Working Tax Credit claims
5.7 Million Child Tax Credit claims
1.8 Million Income Support claims
7.7 Million Child Benefit claims
1.5 Million Jobseeker’s Allowance claims
0.5 Million Employment & Support Allowance claims
(see IFS www.ifs.org.uk/bns/bn13.pdf )
The potential scope for mistakes does not bear thinking about.
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(2) Politicians all claim to have the answers on welfare reform
Politicians do not have all the answers on welfare reform.
The truth is only a limited number of them really understand how welfare really works, it's a little surprising as national averages tell us a fair number of politicians will themselves be in receipt of a benefit of some kind. Those proposing these welfare reforms are said to be out of touch, it's why we need a proper system so that people can claim what they are legally entitled to. Benefits are best sorted out by people who know what they are doing, it's the only way of ensuring that the genuinely in need get the help they deserve.
(3) Welfare will always be a major state expense
www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/budget2010_graphics.htm
Welfare will remain the biggest state expense long after the reforms - government should not mislead the tax payer in to thinking otherwise.
Welfare is a major expense in any country. It is inevitable that in times of economic difficulty more people have to turn to welfare. We are a long way off having a thriving labour market and we have to accept how disability affects people in different ways, there can be denying how the cost of welfare is relative to large numbers of state pensions paid to people who are living far longer. As an economy we simply do not yet have viable alternatives to state welfare support, it is only fair that we have a just system of working out who is entitled to welfare in accordance with rules which are fair. Welfare reforms will cost billions and we need to see the money is well spent by making sure the results are fair.
(4) Of course, we need to think about how we pay for welfare out of taxation.
The best way of keeping welfare under control is to ensure it is fair to both claimant and taxpayer.
The welfare bill is a headache for any government, it always has been and will be for many years to come. Take a look at this chart which plots the cost of welfare from the late 1950's to 2010. Of course, the actual cost has risen over the years; - you can also see how it fluctuates greatly. It's only said to have been under control between 2001 and 2007 according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Other economic studies look at welfare spending as a proportion of GDP, it was far higher in war time than it is today. No government can claim to have welfare under control; - in times such as these it is vitally important that we have rules which are fair so as we can be sure claimants get what they are correctly entitled to according to law.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11443372History tells us welfare remains problematic whatever government is in power.
Whatever any government says, what really matters most is making sure that the claimant is treated fairly. We have a duty to adopt responsible reform which can be challenged in court in cases where the claimant feels they have not been treated justly.
(5) Government should not court public popularity by its targeting of specific groups.
shamikdas.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html
Targeting groups in this way is unlikely to deliver effective cost savings which are fair.
Today's welfare bill reflects the society we live in, people are living much longer and treatments for disability are far more widespread than ever before. Welfare supplements people working on low wages, provides for those who have lost their jobs, lessens child poverty and assists those facing soaring housing costs. The vast majority of the welfare bill is actually paid out in pensions.
(6) The media continually distort the true facts
Irresponsible media campaigns are unfair on genuine claimants because they isolate them from the state.
Unfortunately far too many people believe what the headlines say. The true facts are that the vast majority are genuinely in need and entitled to support according to law. With so much media distortion, claimants are facing an uphill battle to get anyone to understand their needs or believe what they say.
(7) Government has set about an ambitious programme of far reaching welfare reform.
Government must accept that welfare reform is based on many unknown quantities.
Welfare reform must be undertaken with responsibility, this includes ensuring people's statutory rights are maintained according to law. Politicians keep saying different things about how they will tackle welfare; - their commitment to support the welfare state alters to suit public opinion. The current welfare reforms are based on a lot of unknown quantities; the real truth is politicians are just hoping their reforms will work.
(8) The Government, DWP, HMRC, Local Authorities all make massive mistakes when it comes to reforming and administering welfare.
www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-1703942/Thousands-uwillu-pay-for-HMRC-tax-blunder.html
Official error will always exist in the welfare system.
It is fact that the DWP, HMRC and Local Authorities cost us all billions of pounds in official error. Welfare reform will not magically make all the mistakes go away; reform all too often exposes even more hidden error. Government tells us the welfare system is broken; they must accept reform has a long way to go before they can claim it is fixed. We should not forget that too much time spent on administering welfare reform will mean less is spent on collecting taxes.
(9) Stick to fact rather than welfare myth
www.guardian.co.uk/politics/reality-check-with-polly-curtis/2012/jan/17/disibility-living-allowance-overpayment?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487
Government's reforms are based on too much fiction and not enough fact.
Official statistics show the overwhelming number of claims to be genuine, official error costs us all far more than actual fraud; - yet it is always the claimant who gets the bad press. With so much error and more on the horizon, it's crucial that the claimant is protected by law which enables them to challenge the state whenever they have a justified complaint.
(10) Time and time again the claimant turns out to be in the right when it comes to taking on the state.
Of those who appeal; - 40% of claimants succeed with their cases. Huge numbers of claimants having their awards confirmed by Tribunals has to tell you something is deeply wrong with the system.
A claimant's prospect of success increases whenever they have proper help, this is because a specialist is more likely to identify flaws in the system which have resulted in an unjust decision on the claimant's benefit claim. It helps all the parties in an appeal to have someone on the claimant's side who knows what they are doing.
Benefits are immensely complicated these days. The reforms aim to simplify the system but this will not happen overnight. Even after reform, complexity will remain as the reform process flags up previously unrecognised problems.
There has never been a greater need for the claimant to have access to specialist welfare legal aid. Adverse public opinion and political pressure is increasingly loading everything against the claimant, making it an uphill struggle to seek justice. It is only fair that the claimant be protected by having someone on their side.
The best way of gauging how well welfare reform works is to keep in place a statutory process of appeal. Government cannot claim success on welfare reform by imposing rules it is not prepared to have tested properly in a proper judicial setting. A statutory appeal process is the single and most effective measuring stick when it comes to gauging how just welfare reforms are in their practical application.
It makes no moral or economic sense to deny claimants access to law when the state is taking on the claimant in such large measures; - the claimant has a right to take on the state with appropriate legal help to ensure justice is balanced and maintained.
Claimants will flounder in confusion if they take the state on without proper help. It will lead to many more appeals and ultimately slow the process of reform down, if not bring it to a grinding halt.
We must at all costs...
It will be far more cost effective and fair to all concerned if we maintain social welfare legal aid in benefit appeal cases.
To coin a well used DWP phrase....
No ifs, no buts, when it comes to social injustice you simply cannot afford to make any cuts.