We will continue to fight for a fair welfare and benefits system

Posted on: Friday, February 10, 2012 by Louis Adamou

Mark Baker, Head of Social Research and Policy at Action on Hearing Loss. Mark Baker from our research team comments on the overturning of amendments to the Welfare Reform Bill as the government continues to force through damaging legislation that will affect people with hearing loss.

‘Saving money’

Following on from a series of defeats in the House of Lords, MPs yesterday voted to overturn all of the amendments that had been made to the controversial Welfare Reform Bill, including the proposals to extend the time limit on contributory Employment & Support Allowance to two years.

The only argument that the government put forward was that of ‘saving money’, claiming that when combined, the Lords’ amendments would cost the state billions of pounds. However they failed to put forward any coherent arguments as to how their policies would do anything but harm to disabled people, and derided those MPs opposing the Bill who claimed that it was unfair and would cause unnecessary hardship.

In a further blow, the Government then took the rare step of invoking “financial privilege” to prevent the Lords further challenging the MPs’ decision. This means that only the House of Commons will have the right to make decisions on the future of the Bill.

Unfair

We know that people with hearing loss find it difficult to find paid work, and indeed the government itself recognises that the vast majority of people (94%) on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) will not find work within twelve months. The imposition of an arbitrary time limit for those people on ESA who have worked throughout their lives, paying their National Insurance, is wholly unfair and if allowed to stand, will cause needless anxiety and suffering for many.

Action on Hearing Loss will continue to fight for a fair welfare and benefits system, and for major changes to the Welfare Reform Bill.

If you are concerned, or have any questions regarding the welfare reform bill, please contact our Information Line:

Tel: 0800 808 0123
Text: 0800 808 9000

Email: informationline@hearingloss.org.uk

Read the previous blog entry from Mark Baker - Causing concern – controversial welfare reform bill.

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kimbo
21/02/2012 17:13

Dear Mr BakerThis is exactly what has happened to me. Thank you for your posting and i wish i had looked here weeks ago instead of trawling the direct.gov website. I was re-assessed for ESA by a 'healthcare professional' whose hearing test consisted of standing behind me and repeating "can you hear me now", unbelievable!Needless to say i failed gaining the 15 minimum points to allow me to stay on ESA. I had been receiving ESA for 2 years. Prior to that i worked full time for 25 years before being forced from my job by 2 odious creatures who found my deafness irritating.I received a letter telling me my ESA had stopped some 9 days previous and that i may be able to claim Jobseekers allowance so off i trunddled to the Jobcentreplus. On filling my claim i was asked why i had delayed in claiming even though the letter arrived the previous day!I finally received my first payment of JSA 1 calendar month after applying and it works out to £302 for 4 weeks, considerably less than the ESA payment. I now have the humiliation of attending 2 weekly appointments with 'advisors' who know you are deaf but make no effort to look at you when speaking so that you can lip read them. They have given me a form stating i have to telephone at least 1 employer per week about a job...Hello...am deaf!!!!
Mark Baker
22/02/2012 10:55

Thanks Kimbo, very sorry to hear about your situation. You could appeal against the decision to stop ESA - we know that lots of appeals do succeed, and you also have the right to ask for a copy of the assessment report. It does look as though the assessment you had was less than satisfactory and would be worth challenging, so do contact a local Citizens Advice Bureau to see if they can help. As for Job Centre Plus, they have a legal duty to consider your needs and should not be asking you to undertake tasks that you cannot reasonably be expected to perform. You could also ask to see a disability employment advisor who would be more deaf aware than normal office staff.Best wishes, Mark
Jane Erin
19/03/2012 11:24

I don't think the biggest injustice here is the failure to not allow ESA for 2 years but only one.Yes, that affects quite a few people, but it's the principle of time limiting AT ALL contributory ESA, that's more important. Previously, people needing to claim for incapacity/ill health weren't assessed on whether their partner had income that could support them (unless they hadn't been able to pay enough national insurance contributions and needed to claim income support for incapacity instead). Now after one year, their partner's income will be taken into account making ESA quickly means tested. So paying your National Insurance will provide very little insurance cover (just a years worth) against sickness/incapacity compared to before. Anyway,as hearing problems neither go away in one year or two, or indeed a lifetime (!), it was a pretty measly concession to ask for on the part of the Lords to start with.And far more detrimental than all this to us deafies, I believe, is the attitude that things have so vastly improved for the hearing disabled over the last decades, that we are not severely disadvantaged anymore by our hearing problems! Only someone without any hearing loss or very mild loss that's more easily corrected with modern digital aids could possibly genuinely believe this. It is not deaf/HOH experience at all and this appalling failure to understand the problems we face is revealed in the crude hearing test that kimbo describes in her post above.This Government is out to blame the sick, disabled and poor for a ruinous economic system. That system serves only the very rich (like those in the cabinet and their cronies) and is destructive not only to people, families and communities, but to the environment and indeed the whole planet.Hi to all deaf/HOH people out there stuggling with the inhumane decisions of this nasty Government.
Mark Baker
26/03/2012 16:33

Hi Jane,

thanks for your comment. I agree entirely that the principle of time-limiting ESA is wrong. However, when it came to the debate in Parliament, the opposition only wanted to table an amendment limiting the restriction to two years, despite our lobbying for no time-limitations at all. However, just because the Bill has passed, doesn't mean that we won't continue to fight for a fair benefits system that meets the needs of people with hearing loss. Best wishes,

Mark