Pension Credit CUTBACK Announced ! Kiss Goodbye To Anything Upto £ 7,000 After 15 May!

I think I can empathise with you to some extent, Chris. While you were fighting for the disabled and their carers, I was a part of the movement against the banks’ unlawful behaviour toward those who trusted them with their money. I don’t know fer sure, but it seems as if t’interweb spawned a self-help forum ‘industry’ around 2005, and such giants as the DWP and the banks were taken by surprise and some victories were won - with the most basic of tools/weapons/resources as you say.

Then they eventually realised that the revolting peasants had evolved from using torches, pitchforks & turnips - and they then got themselves properly ‘lawyered-up.’ It seems to me that us ‘Che Guevera’s’ and ‘Number 6’s’ (I used to smoke those) were then beaten by the sheer difference in available resources - and all we have left is our ‘memoirs.’ But as you say:- " To understand today , one must know what went on yesterday." My own preferred version of that platitude/aphorism/whatever is George Santayana’s (loosely translated) “Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it” - so I think we share the same hymn book in that respect, sir.

'Tis good that you and your cohorts are keeping that flame burning - and maybe, just…maybe - a change of government is imminent which might (I pray) give that flickering flame some oxygen again. Perhaps in that new economic climate you might be able to ‘Get the band back together again.’

When morale is high, we replace Hope with Confidence - but when morale is low, we know where our true strength is to be found. Here’s hoping…

One can only post so much.

( Caree / carer … no caree / no carer … a partnership … hardest task for me was to argue that position and NOT just rely
on one partner , the carer … and work towards trying to solve that problem in isolation. )

If the audience isn’t listening … as they were over a decade ago … little else one can do.

This time round , we are dealing with a very reactionary Government whose sole aim is to preserve power and wealth
for the few at the expense of the many … that major word … AUSTERITY.

Still , as I have always maintained , the fate of carers lies with carers themselves.
( Never a Che, more a Kropotkin. Presenting alternative ways and policies to be considered as opposed to merely dismiss
most through anger and frustration. That , in itself , was the very essence of CarerWatch , a mutual co-operative. The
females to the fore with us mere males providing them with the finished products. after being through our counter
argument type process … rather ahead of it’s time ? )

A decade and so ago … both supporting organisations on high alert … this time around , conspicous by their absence in the
front line … if any meetings have taken place , no minutes have been reported … we are all in the dark … our fate being
decided behind closed doors … that’s democracy in action in CarerLand , 2019 , for you.

Even Professor Luke Clements … The Man when it comes to social care :

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Luke Clements is the Cerebra Professor of Law and Social Justice at the School of Law, Leeds University.
Luke is also a solicitor with Scott-Moncrieff & Associates Ltd. He has had conduct of many cases before the European Commission and Court of Human Rights. In 1996 he was the solicitor who took the first Roma case to reach the Strasbourg Court Buckley v. UK (1996)

He has helped draft and promote a number of Parliamentary Bills aimed at improving the rights of people experiencing social exclusion – including Bills that became the Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995 and the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004. In 2013 he was the Special Adviser to the Parliamentary Committee that scrutinised the draft Bill that resulted in the Care Act 2014.

Luke’s academic research and litigation experience is primarily concerned with the rights of people who experience social exclusion, including disabled people and their carers.

Luke is a Patron of the Disability Law Service and a Special Adviser to the Spinal Injuries Association. He has written widely – details of his books and articles can be found on the Publications pag




**_Army of carers must get ‘militant wing’ to win rights, expert says.

Carers must ‘get angry and militant’ to demand better rights, one legal expert has said._**

Professor Luke Clements, from Cardiff University, said carers must demand political change, with legions of unpaid family members feeling the strain of looking after their loved ones.

Speaking at Hay Festival, he argued it was time for carers to become militant in their fight for fairness and funding, ensuring politicians have post bags full of letters pressuring them to help.

Saying they may need the modern-day equivalent of the suffragettes, Prof Clements, who has advised the government on care policy, said Britain must change its attitude towards denigrating dependent people and condemning their cost to society.

“What we need to do is to be angry,” said Prof Clements, director of Cardiff University’s Centre for Health and Social Care Law. "We need to demand political change.

"We need to have resources. What we need to do is enormous policy change.

"I try to encourage all the groups I go to to develop a militant wing and encourage them to nominate somebody to throw themselves under the Queen’s horse, basically.

"Because I think carers have got to become militant.

“The law does give people very good advice but collectively you cant really change the situation without politicians postbags being full of this stuff.”

He added concerns about an ageing population were too often framed as “those dreadful old people”, with people being told to fear the rising costs of care.

The new Care Act, he added, was an “honourable end” and “generally a good piece of legislation”, but is severely hampered by a lack of funding.



Remains my number one for a guest session on the forum … could go down rather well give CUK’s own policies ???

No news on that score from CUK since July 2018 !!!

Be a very brave person indeed to question his judgement !!!

" Interesting " times ahead for the carers of 2019.

Back to the purpose of this thread :

**Thousands of poorest pensioners will lose out, government reveals.

Pensioners with partners of working age will no longer be able to claim pension credit.**

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The government has revealed that 60,000 of the least well-off pensioners with partners of working age are set to lose thousands of pounds a year as a result of benefit changes designed to save £1bn over the next five years.

A rule change coming into force on 15 May means that pensioners who have partners under the state retirement age of 65 will no longer be able to claim for pension credit, a means-tested top-up for older people on very low incomes.

The change means pensioners claiming after that date must sign up to the much less generous universal credit, a move which will leave the couple potentially £7,000 a year worse off.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, called the move an “ill thought-out decision” that would potentially devastate the incomes of poorer older people.

Analysts say the scale of the losses faced by couples could put pressure on relationships, and may persuade them that they cannot afford to marry or move in together. Some may consider splitting up to try to avoid the loss.

The change, which was slipped out in January on the evening of a Brexit vote, was condemned by charities as a stealth cut which would drive up pensioner poverty, although at the time there were no details of how many people would be affected.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) revealed in an analysis published on Thursday that the rule change will affect 15,000 couples this year, rising to 60,000 in 2023-24. Estimated savings will be £45m this year, rising to £385m by 2023-24, amounting to cumulative savings of £1.1bn.

As well as moving pensioners on to universal credit, a working-age benefit designed to incentivise work, the move means that affected mixed-age couples in social homes are likely to be be subject to the bedroom tax – a £14 a week average loss in rent support from which pensioners were previously exempt.

Tom Selby, senior analyst at financial services firm AJ Bell, said: “Tens of thousands of mixed-age couples are facing a £1bn hit as a result of the government’s pension credit raid. With pension credit worth up to £13,273 a year, versus £5,986 a year for universal credit, at the extreme those affected could be over £7,000 a year worse off.”

A DWP spokesperson said: “This change was voted on by parliament in 2012 and means, for new claims from 15 May, only pensioners can claim pension credit. If a person in the household is of working age we believe it’s fair that they should be in the same circumstances as other people of the same age, regardless of the age of their partner.”

Eligibility
Housing Benefit can help you pay your rent if you’re unemployed, on a low income or claiming benefits. It’s being replaced by Universal Credit.

You can only make a new claim for Housing Benefit if one of the following is true:

you are getting the severe disability premium
you got the severe disability premium within the last month and you’re still eligible for it
you have reached State Pension age
you live in temporary accommodation
you live in sheltered or supported housing with special facilities such as alarms or wardens
If not, you’ll need to claim Universal Credit instead.
Use a benefits calculator to check if you can get Housing Benefit before you apply.

Usually you will not get Housing Benefit if:

your savings are over £16,000 - unless you get Guarantee Credit of Pension Credit
you’re paying a mortgage on your own home - you may be able to get Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI)
you live in the home of a close relative
you’re already claiming Universal Credit (unless you’re in temporary or supported housing)
your partner is already claiming Housing Benefit
you’re a full-time student - unless you’re disabled
you’re residing in the UK as a European Economic Area jobseeker
you’re an asylum seeker or sponsored to be in the UK
you’re subject to immigration control and your granted leave states that you cannot claim public funds
You may be able to get other help with housing costs.

Changes to Housing Benefit eligibility from 15 May 2019
From 15 May 2019, if you’re in a couple you’ll only be eligible to start getting Housing Benefit if either:

you and your partner have both reached State Pension age
one of you has reached State Pension age and started claiming Housing Benefit or Pension Credit (for you as a couple) before 15 May 2019
If you’re not already getting Housing Benefit on 14 May 2019, you can backdate your claim. You could still be eligible to get Housing Benefit.

You can ask for your claim to be backdated to 14 May or before. You’ll need to apply by 13 August 2019 to do this.

You can apply for Universal Credit instead if you’re still not eligible.

If you already get Housing Benefit and you’re in a couple
You’ll continue to get Housing Benefit after 15 May 2019. If your entitlement stops for any reason, for example your circumstances change, you cannot start getting it again until you (or your partner) are eligible under the new rules.

If you already get Housing Benefit and you’re single
From 15 May 2019, you’ll stop getting Housing Benefit if you start living with a partner who is under State Pension age. You can start getting it again when your partner reaches State Pension age.


" Mixed-age " couples could lose £7,000 a year as pension credit cut kicks in this week.
Mixed age couples are where one partner has retired and the other is still of working age.

From Wednesday, these couples will no longer be able to apply for pension credit and pension-age housing benefit.

But couples who are eligible will be able to make a backdated claim.



You have been warned … for the past 5 months !!!

( Carers UK site … not a dickie bird ! )