News

Looming Benefit Change Causes Chaos For Locals

Tuesday October 23 2012

LOOMING changes to the welfare and benefits system could cause chaos for local people who don't understand what the changes mean to them, a councillor has warned.

Coun Karen Dyson told Barnsley Council's community well-being scrutiny commission that more people need to be made aware about what the reforms mean to them - in particular the Universal Credit which will replace all means-tested benefits.

She said: "Universal Credit will affect both those in work and out of work and could take £33m out of the pockets of Barnsley residents, and the town's economy.

"People who are working and get the tax credits will be effected. It will be hard ship for the families - this is going to effect a lot of people.

"People who are on employment support will be reassessed, there's going to be a 20 per cent reduction in disability living allowance - people are not aware of the changes."

Universal Credit will replace income-based jobseekers' allowance, income-related employment and support allowance, income support, child tax credits, working tax credits and housing benefit.

Reply Posted by Brian on Tuesday October 23 2012 at 10:13

Typical government not thinking how changes will affect the ordinary people

Reply Posted by anon on Tuesday October 23 2012 at 10:32

how many old people are gooing to suffer how many people will owe rent because they have a spare bedroom not going to be enough smaller properties to go round so most are in a catch22 cant move cant pay cant eat cant keep warm, wonder how many people will be homeless wonder how many old people will die

Reply Posted by katie on Tuesday October 23 2012 at 10:58

best thing is anon in the information i have found it says it is to minimize homelessness how far from the truth they dont think about ordinary people

Reply Posted by tony on Tuesday October 23 2012 at 11:27

my mum n dad live in a 3 bed council house n thay have been trying to get smaller house but thay carnt get 1

Reply Posted by may on Tuesday October 23 2012 at 12:52

i dont think the council are doing enough to help people like your parents tony simply because if they manage to move everyone so theres no under occupancies they will loose millions in extra income,its not in there best interest to sort the problem out. have you tried the home swappers site tony i know theres some one on there after swapping a i bed bungalow to a 3 bed house

Reply Posted by angry on Tuesday October 23 2012 at 13:18

im really struggling to understand why people are so suprised by this i warned working people weeks ago who were gloating about peoples benefits being cut that there jobs wernt safe ,look whats happening with the council, i also said that when they had bled people on benefits to within an inch of their lives that low paid workers would be next, i was right there too. this government spent so much time and energy on getting people to focus on benefit claiments that the workers didnt see what was actually happening under their noses. did you really think this government would look after you,the conservatives will only look after the rich of this country always have and always will, because the poorest people roll over and play dead instead of standing together and fighting back the rich wouldnt allow them to treat them this way why should we

Reply Posted by Aunt Hilder on Wednesday October 24 2012 at 21:07

Well said Angry. The press haven't picked up on a lot of the welfare reforms affecting people in work. Working Tax Credits and Child Tax Credits will both come under Universal Credit when it's introduced. The loss of benefit then, for new claimants initially, will be 65p for every extra pound earned rather than the current system when people only lose 41p for every pound earned. A huge jump.

Reply Posted by Aunt Hilder on Tuesday October 23 2012 at 13:21

A little unfair on the council May. I know for a fact that everyone affected by the "bedroom tax" in Berneslai Homes has been contacted and advised to contact them for help / advice.

But let us remember, welfare reform is about a lot more than just housing benefit. Universal Credit is on the way, DLA is changing to PIP with a lot of people being thrown off benefit. Council Tax benefit is changing etc, etc, etc. let's not blame the council, in this instance it's the nasty party at number 10. Their mantra to avoid all this is for people to get a job. But in the current climate it's a little bit like advising people without bread to eat cake instead.

Bring on the election.

Reply Posted by may on Tuesday October 23 2012 at 14:47

im a berneslai homes tenant hilder and yes i was contacted but it still boiled down to the same thing, it was up to me to try and find someone who was willing to do an exchange as there wernt enough 1 bed properties to go round they cant give you what they havnt got.im one of the lucky ones who as managed to get an exchange and im not saying its the councils fault,i happen to think they do a good job under the circumstances. and have always defended them, and stated that they are ruled by the government. but it doesnt alter the fact that the council have make thousends of pounds worth of cuts, and bedroom tax would certainly help to cover their shortfall

Reply Posted by Aunt Hilder on Wednesday October 24 2012 at 20:29

May,

The council makes no money from the bedroom tax. In fact it loses money. Every penny given out in housing benefit is claimed back from the government. The bedroom tax stops benefit being paid (and claimed back by the council) leaving the council to chase the rent from tenants. With people facing increasingly tough financial decision it wil mean that the council, or Berneslai Homes, will be left with a lot of bad debt.

Reply Posted by barnsley lass on Tuesday October 23 2012 at 14:53

how about the council doing an head count to see how many people need 1 bed houses and how many they actually have or wether 3 bed houses are going to end up stood unoccupied because people cant afford the bedroom tax are they actually going to lose more in lost rent from empty houses than they would have made in bedroom tax

Reply Posted by rebecca on Tuesday October 23 2012 at 20:15

What a load of crap the silly fools at number 10 are its not fair I'm on benefits with 3 children and struggle now I don't have luxurys and I certainly am not 1 of the people that go out all the time I'm going to be absolutly 100x worse than I am now and its going to be children as well as elderly that suffer!!!!

Reply Posted by greenginger on Tuesday October 23 2012 at 21:19

Unfortunately rebecca you will get no sympathy for being on benefits with 3 kids. It is because those who are working with kids are suffering and so they will instantly dislike you. Unfair but that is what is happening. People on benefits are being squeezed but so are the lower paid workers too. the Government and media have set all of the two groups at each others throats so that they can divide and conquer. Dont complain just try harder to become employed.

Reply Posted by lel on Tuesday October 23 2012 at 21:51

have you tried getting a job recently... 1 person i know applied for a job... there was 20 people chasing 1 job its called been in a reccession ... and there no jobs about..my partner works and im a carer for my disabled child and they changing tax credits on disability element and ( reducing it by half ).. which i think is discusting i had to pack in work to care so which make me worse off and having a disabled child is more expensive than having a normal child...

Reply Posted by greenginger on Wednesday October 24 2012 at 14:00

I dont know your circumstances with regards to your kids disability but you will get your meds for free and i am guessing they dont eat more or need more clothes so please feel free to elaborate as to why you need more?
There are jobs but they may not be what you or your partner wants to do. Tough, it is a recession. The whole benefit system and NHS was brought in to be a assistance in times of need not a full time for life certainty. The job situation is just like back in the early 90's recession and people managed to do it then.

Reply Posted by lel on Tuesday October 23 2012 at 21:53

Under the Universal Credit, families caring for a disabled child will instead be entitled to one of two rates of addition to their Universal Credit entitlement, either the lower or the higher addition.

The most severely disabled children will be entitled to an addition worth £74.50 per week – a very slight increase on current rates paid for severely disabled children through child tax credit. (In addition, children with severe visual impairment will be brought into this group, and as a result could gain significantly.)

However, for other children with disabilities, the addition will be £25.95 per week (£1349.40 per year) – less than half the maximum value of the disability element of Child Tax Credit.

This change could cost a family with a disabled child up to £1366 per year. The loss for a family over the course of the childhood of a child born with a disability could amount to substantially mo

Reply Posted by boohoo on Wednesday October 24 2012 at 09:57

So let me get this right... a 3 bed council house is £66 p/w (in that ball park) and a 3 bed private rental is £103 on average. The national minimum wage is the same for everyone?, the benefits are the same ?
The FACT of the matter is Council houses are too cheap, there unsustainable, unmaintainable and too big for the income they bring in. Private houses as mentioned above bring in 7% a year, this covers maintanance, renovations etc. The council are loosing money because there too cheap!
If you think you cant manage now living in a council house on benefits, then think of the poor people that cant get a council house and have to ret private. On the same money as you but paying nearly double a week in rent.

Its not only the weather thats dull you know! the future is.

Reply Posted by greenginger on Wednesday October 24 2012 at 14:04

boohoo you are right. Surely all people on benefits should get the same regardless or how is it fair? Likewise why are people who are working not moving out of social housing and why do some get housing relief on their mortgages and so on. It is all very messed up.
perhaps councils should think about splitting some of the big houses and gardens and making flats or subdividing them ?

Reply Posted by concerned mum on Wednesday October 24 2012 at 11:46

why are people wasting precious time and energy being bitter about what other people do and dont have. i work full time and can honestly say, never once have i given a second thought to what benefit claiments get,my priority is my family i dont care what anyone else gets, my energy is concentrated on what matters .bitterness and hatred can only over spill into your everyday life and i for one am not prepared to let this happen,im just gratefull i have a job to go to and a purpose in life.i dont believe everything should come down to money. a feeling of self respect and self worth are more important i dont think cutting peoples benefits is the answer because innocent people will suffer mainly children. i think they should raise the minimum wage so that working people can have a better standard of living

Reply Posted by Aunt Hilder on Thursday October 25 2012 at 18:05

Well said concerned mum. Best bit of common seance I've seen on this board for a while.

Reply Posted by Aunt Hilder on Wednesday October 24 2012 at 20:30

Reply Posted by Aunt Hilder on Wednesday October 24 2012 at 20:34

Looking at all the posts on this subject must have the Government laughing their socks off. They have achieved the aim do divide and rule. For those in work and feeling smug, just remember you are only one or two pay packets away from being in need should you lose your job. For those out of work, I know it's tough but under the welfare reform proposals, work is the only escape. It's hard, but keep trying. Good luck.

Reply Posted by may on Thursday October 25 2012 at 13:32

all i can say is god help us working or not cos were gunna need it

Reply Posted by nan on Thursday October 25 2012 at 13:43

can i just point out to greenginger why some kids with disabilities need extra funding. my grandson suffers with autism one of the things he does is chew his clothes he can only wear a tshirt once because he has chewed it to pieces which means he has to have new ones every week also when he is being fed if his food doesnt look exactly the same and taste exactly the same he wont eat it so although he dosnt actually eat any more than any other child his mum sometimes has to cook the same meal 3/4 times till she gets it right meaning she uses a lot more food than you or i would, and bare in mind this is every meal time this is just a couple of examples of why some kids need extra funding

Reply Posted by Chyna on Saturday October 27 2012 at 13:07

My mother in law is at min sat in a ice cold house she can't warm while she has a chest infection. She's in a three bed can't find a smaller house so her 60 a week that she can't afford to eat or keep warm will be cut by £25 how do they expect her to live ????? Never mind recover from cancer

Reply Posted by Chyna on Saturday October 27 2012 at 13:07

Reply Posted by anon on Saturday October 27 2012 at 13:22

whether youre lucky enough to have a job or unfortunate to be unemployed the outlook is the same we will be poorer our children will suffer crime will rise with the changes the government are bringing in while the rich get richer nothing really we can do as its been decided however arguing and pointing the finger isnt going to achieve anything only bad feeling

Reply Posted by may on Saturday October 27 2012 at 15:11

unfortunately chyna some people dont give a damn as long as they are ok im afraid the caring society as long gone and some people have the every man for himself attitude which unfortunately doesnt help people like your mum in law luckily there are some of us left who do give a damn and truely hope that she gets the help she needs

Reply Posted by Tom on Saturday October 27 2012 at 18:27

I am in the current position of losing 96p per £1 earned, and that is before you take into account transport costs, prescription medicine, dental and optical care etc.

That means for an hour at minimum wage I would be 25p better off. Assuming I never fell ill, didn't have sight problems, had perfect teeth and zero transport costs.

I fully support Universal credit, it guarantees that I will be £2 better off per hour worked. (Before transport costs etc.) With £2 an hour I could just afford a cheapo pint of lager. I will only have to work 1 hour for a pint of lager instead of 8 hours under the current system.

(I brew my own beer for 25p a pint and wine for 50p per bottle)

When I have been unfortunate enough to be unemployed I have been picked on by people working 16 hours and claiming hundreds of pounds in tax credits per week!, they are going to be losing out soon. Hard luck for them, but at the end of the day, they will still have it quite good. The system will be fairer.

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