Disabled peoples bus passes (in south yorkshire)

In south yorkshire disabled people could use their bus passes before 9:30am and on local trains and trams. We also have a with carer option for those on higher rate care DLA.

However, in a sneaky, we did a consultation its not our fault only 18 people responded type of way, this is all due to end in April. Well, kindly they have kept our with carer passes and we can use the trams too.

Older people will also be losing their train privileges and also could previously travel after 9am.

I hope I don't need to highlight the issues surrounding this. Disabled people will lose their ability to get to work, education, hospital and doctors appointments as well as leisure activities (we are allowed a life). For disabled workers (there are some) who regularly use the bus before 9am (or the train) it renders their passes useless as they would have to buy a weeks pass because of the relative costs. For those disabled people who cant use the bus but can only use the train (and in south yorkshire this could be because of the relative availability of each service, there are some areas where there are only regular trains not buses) it cuts them off completely.

Now the argument might be, well why can't we just pay up and shut up? Which would be all very well if you took the whole point of the bus pass away. The recognition that public transport is our only option, and it is our "car". We don't have a choice but to use it. It disables us by forcing us to pay. Obviously this increases for those of us with carer passes because we have to pay twice.

I am thinking about the people who I know who have spent months learning routes and becoming independent enough to travel by public transport to get to their day centre and will now have to re learn how to do this by paying in cash, if they can even handle money. If they can't, or they can't afford the extra cost then they will become isolated.

However, I wasn't happy with arguing it on cost grounds alone. So I did my research.
According to our local transports business plan the extra costs involved (and these include young people concessionary rates) is 2.66 millon pounds.  (p23)
http://www.sypte.co.uk/uploadedFiles/Corporate/Plans_and_Strategies/5681_Business%20Plan_2013_DC_06.pdf

So, I wonder if there is a way to find out how many people have a bus pass in south yorkshire. These were my findings. According to the .gov website https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/buses-statistical-tables-index#bus-tables-index there were 228,977 older persons passes issued in the SYpte area. There were  33,385 disabled peoples passes issued. 33,638,769 journeys were made on these passes which averages to 128 journeys per pass per year.

There is only one authority (torbay) who offer the statutory minimum concession, and 63 LAs offer travel before 9:30am (out of 89).

If this 2.66 million pounds extra is divided up amongst disabled AND older peoples passes that is £9.90 a year. Thats of course not taking into account the child fare concessions included in this figure.

I was going to be personally writing to the local authority informing them that for an extra ten pounds a year I would like the option to travel before 9:30am. In the form of a bus pass or similar. I'd even be happy to pay 15 pounds for the year for the extra admin.

However, thats just not going to be good enough. I am going to start by writing a letter to as many local organisations who this change will affect (and have people in them who will be affected by them) with these statistics. I will be urging them to write to the transport authority alongside me. I'l even include a template letter to help.

The reason I am writing this blog is twofold. Firstly, if you are reading this from south yorkshire I ask to you join in and get writing to the transport authority with me. I'l have written the letter and template reply by the end of the week and will blog it, please message me if you want it (twitter @allbigideas or leave a comment here with an email address as I have to approve all comments before being visible so I'l read and delete). Secondly I want to urge to you to do the same in your areas, to work out costs and usage and to highlight how much extra per person before 9am travel would cost. I am sure the figure might surprise you.

Certainly in south yorkshire we have nothing to lose by trying.

(in detailed research links)

Table BUS0841

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/bus08-concessionary-travel

Table BUS0105

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/bus01-local-bus-passenger-journeys

Table BUS0823

Older and disabled concessionary bus journeys by Travel Concession Authority: England, annual from 2010/11 (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 90.5KB)

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/bus08-concessionary-travel

Table BUS0822

Older and disabled concessionary travel passes by Travel Concession Authority: England, annual from 2010/11 (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 99.5KB)

Disability now comes with a weight limit.

Richard Littlejob of the mail (DONT READ IT) has written a lovely piece on how people are being given blue badges for simply being obese.

Aside from the obvious concern that this will increase attacks on disabled people who are bigger than whatever average is nowadays I didn't think there was a weight limit on disability.

Disabled people, surprise surprise come in all shapes, sizes, ages, colours and religions etc etc. It doesn't discriminate on any grounds (unfortunately).

I am wondering if Richard littlejob and presumably all the people agreeing with him think that all disabled people should be slender young blondes in their wheelchairs? Because I was under the impression that they also thought that disabled people had to be over a certain age, as well as having certain things different about them.

It's tough enough being a disabled person, do we all now need to enroll in a slimming programme (presumably this will be paid by the government?) and perhaps they could chuck in a few beauty treatments every so often? How about letting us in on the secret of how people who are physically restricted can possibly exercise every day?

I'm not saying we are all fat, ugly slobs. But I am also not saying that we should all be body perfect (thats a novel concept, disabled people being body perfect :).

Disability doesn't equal a certain body weight. full stop.

(o go on, have a read, and a laugh too.. copied here for your amusement and for the benefit of the dms stats.. NOT)
Richard Littlejohn.
Two stories stood out for me this week. Both are damning indictments of modern Britain and proof positive of the idiocy of the soft-headed, socialist imbeciles who run so much of what passes for our ‘world class public services’.
The first comes from Walsall, where obese motorists are being issued with disabled parking badges so they don’t have to waddle too far from their cars to the nearest kebab shop.
The second hails from York, where people arrested for being drunk and disorderly are being sent on courses to boost their ‘self-esteem’.
  
Let’s start in the West Midlands. What possessed Walsall Council to hand out ‘blue badges’ to gutbuckets? OK, so there is a minuscule number of people suffering from rare medical and genetic conditions which make it difficult to control their weight. Some of them belong in mental hospitals.
But most of those categorised as ‘obese’ are not genuinely disabled. Nor are they ‘victims’ by any stretch of the imagination. They are just fat and greedy and won’t stop stuffing their faces.
Already, the NHS spends a fortune treating patients suffering from a variety of ailments caused by self-inflicted gluttony. Diabetes and heart trouble brought on by pigging out on fast-food is said to have reached epidemic proportions.

Oh dear, how sad, never mind. Stop eating so much and start taking exercise every day, you hideous hippos. Obesity isn’t like a flu epidemic. You can’t catch obesity. It isn’t inflicted on people by dark forces beyond their control.
These selfish individuals are grotesquely overweight because they lack willpower and moral fibre.
They have the option to diet or die, but they do not deserve special  treatment funded by taxpayers.
No one should have an automatic right to an expensive gastric band provided by a hard-pressed public health service, already struggling to provide life-saving drugs to patients  suffering from real illnesses.
It is estimated that up to two million people could qualify for bariatric surgery and that by 2050 half of us will be officially ‘obese’.

By then, Britain’s population will be over 70 million. At this rate there won’t be enough gastric bands to go round and the whole country will be one giant disabled car park.
You can bet, however, that where Walsall leads, other councils will follow in the name of ‘compassion’ and being ‘non-judgmental’. They’ll be handing out blue badges by the tens of thousands to anyone who can prove they have ‘mobility issues’.
The reason these XXXXL monsters have ‘mobility issues’, though, is not because they were born with chronic disabilities, or have lost limbs in an accident or while serving their country on the battlefield.

No, their ‘mobility issues’ are caused by a revolting, self-inflicted excess of flab which their podgy little legs will no longer support over a distance of more than a few yards.
In Nottingham, they are already reinforcing the pavements to cope with the increasing bulk of the legions of Teletubby lookalikes squelching their way to the chippie, via the pub or off-licence.

A system based on need not labels?

I don't want to be sitting here writing this. I don't want to have to be in this position and to acknowledge that I even am. But if I don't write about it then I will just keep it bottled up inside and it wont help anyone, least of all me.

As some may know I am pregnant. Currently 23 weeks pregnant to be exact. I am also what most people in society would call "disabled". It is for this label and this label alone I have been subject to the scrutiny and judgement of both the health and social services. My husband and I have already been judged as having some "concerns" over our ability to parent, despite this being our first child and despite these concerns being based on assumptions about my disability, impairment and their impact on our day to day life.

I am not going to justify my parenting skills here, as I have none. I am a new Mum who innocently and naively went to her midwife seeking support. Unfortunately what I got in return was a social services assessment and my condition being called "bizarre".

I had an initial midwife assessment done at 18 weeks pregnant. She has little or no training in mental health or disability and was very much focused on the medicalisation of my impairment so the resulting assessment is skewed and focuses on what I can't do rather that what I can. It isolates my impairment from the impact that society has on it and doesn't actually focus on the things that I might need help with.

The assessment was done in a rush, after 3 missed appointments. It was done, despite me stating that we were just about to move. So such statements as the flat was a mess is pretty obviously a falsehood. The fact that the information on the form wasn't quite accurate and full of assumptions and generalisations isn't a surprise. Has anyone ever moved? at 18 weeks pregnant? Its not the best time in the world to be discussing difficult and detailed things.  Not only that the midwife added her "concerns" after we had signed it in a different pen, and we didn't actually consent for the information to be shared.

My impairment might be different, unique, etc. but it is not bizarre. It does not render me incapable of being a mother. My symptoms are well managed and I am well supported in doing this. What I could need help with is managing my symptoms in combination with a new baby and day to day life. What I am getting is being judged, scrutinized and unfairly penalised because I innocently went to them to ask for help.

My concern is that the current system we have is entirely voluntary (something that the midwife and social services seem to have forgotten in my case, I went to them, they didn't have a referral etc.). I had to ask for the help and I had to declare my disability to the midwife. By its very nature, me doing this means that I am not going to be putting baby "at risk". If I were, then why would I have asked for help? I am being proactive and being punished for it. If you were an expectant mum who didn't see themselves in need of help it is very easy to avoid the help, as it would be if you didnt want the help for any other reason (genuine or not). The problem is that at the moment the system is set up to think that "normal" mums to be are going to be perfect and able to cope with a new baby and only those with certain labels (disabled, age, social status etc) are somehow going to be defective. The system needs to recognise that ALL new mums are going to be in need of some support, and that we are all going to struggle, make mistakes and generally make it up as we go along. The system needs to be based on needs rather than triggers based on certain labels.

I have to look at this systemically, because if I didn't then I would take it personally and not be able to cope with it. If it is a system that I need to prove my status as a perfect mum to it somehow makes it easier.

This is the end of this blog post, but I am sure it wont be the end of this saga. I am sure there will be more blogposts to follow.

One in four claiming sickness benefit are fit to work (dailymail article)

Daily mail without the daily mail. all links back removed..

 

One in four claiming sickness benefit are fit to work: About 227,000 well enough to come off handouts after having new medical examinations

• A further 346,500 were found likely to be fit for work at some point
• Those found fit for work now will go on to Jobseekers’ Allowance
• They will have to show they are looking for employment to stay on benefits
• Britain spending more than £13billion on sickness and incapacity benefits

By Gerri Peev

More than one in four incapacity benefit claimants have been found ‘fit for work’ following new medical examinations.
Of the 841,000 who have been re-tested, about 227,000 were well enough to come off the benefit, said the Department for Work and Pensions.
A further 346,500 were found likely to be fit for work at some point and have been placed in an interim, ‘work-related activity’, group. They will be re-tested more often and get support or training to move into employment.

Drain on the state: More than one in four incapacity benefit claimants have been found 'fit for work' following new medical examinations

The figures were seen yesterday as an indictment of how previous governments let the unemployed languish on sickness benefits without regular health checks to see whether they had recovered.
Those found fit for work will now go on to Jobseekers’ Allowance, which means they will have to show they are looking for employment to stay on the benefit.

Ministers are anxious to get the burgeoning welfare bill down, but disability rights campaigners have pointed to the high number of successful appeals against DWP decisions as evidence that the system is unfair.
Mike Penning, the minister for disabled people, said: ‘We spend more than £13billion on sickness and incapacity benefits for almost 2.5million people of working age and  we need to make sure that support goes to those who need it most.
‘It’s right that we look at whether people can do some kind of work with the right support – rather than just writing them off on long-term sickness benefits, as has happened in the past.’

Separately, among those on the new Employment and Support Allowance benefit  – for people who have a limited capability for work because of a health condition or disability – 42 per cent were found to be fit for employment.
This meant they were no longer eligible to claim, leaving just 58 per cent still entitled to the benefit.
To continue claiming the ESA, most people had to be reassessed by independent health professionals, under  a programme that started in 2010. 
Those with terminal illnesses, severe disabilities or undergoing chemotherapy were spared from having  to be re-assessed, but the tests – called the Work Capability Assessment – have proved controversial.
Figures from the latest quarter show that almost 33,000 ESA applicants who went for an independent assessment with a health professional were found fit for work. Almost 70,000 who applied for the ESA withdrew their claims before they were tested.
Liz Sayce, chief executive  of Disability Rights UK,  said: ‘The Work Capability Assessment asks questions like “can you raise either  arm to the top of the head  as if to put on a hat or  mount or descend two  steps unaided?”
‘But there is no evidence this has any bearing on whether you can actually work. It depends on the job and whether you get the adjustments and support you need to do it [such as a lift to get up the steps].
‘Many disabled people can work with the right support – and want to – but the test itself is a shocking waste of taxpayers’ money.’
Kaliya Franklin, a disability rights campaigner who has written a report exposing the ‘misery’ inflicted by the current testing regime, said: ‘I think we do need to have tests but they need to be fair and independent for everyone. We don’t want a system that is easy to play.
‘The biggest problem is that the DWP wrote into the original contract with assessors ATOS that just 11 per cent of people can go into the support group [those who will continue to get disability benefit of some form].’
Officials insist that they have tried to improve the tests by working with medical experts and charities to make them more accurate.
Tests now also look at  mental health as well as physical conditions.

the original link:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2522306/One-claiming-sickness-benefit-fit-work.html#ixzz2nFodnxWl

Half-blind woman crippled with back pain killed herself after benefits bosses stopped her disability payments - following a TWO MINUTE assessment

so. the daily fail printed this. I didn't want to give them more bandwith and they aren't accepting comments...

• Jacqueline Harris, 53, was told she was fit to return to work
• Widow was partially sighted and only able to walk with the aid of sticks
• Christine Norman claims benefits ruling drove her sister to kill herself

By Lucy Crossley
PUBLISHED: 16:11, 25 November 2013 | UPDATED: 17:31, 25 November 2013

• 
  

A partially-sighted woman who suffered crippling back pain killed herself after her disability benefits were stopped following an assessment lasting just two minutes, it has been claimed.
Despite being in almost constant agony, Jacqueline Harris, 53, was told she was fit for work following a Government health assessment.
Ms Harris's sister claims that the ruling drove the former nurse, from Kingswood, Bristol, to take her own life.

Tragic: Half-blind Jacqueline Harris, who suffered crippling back pain, killed herself after her disability benefits were stopped, it has been claimed

Widow Ms Harris was only able to walk with the aid of sticks after she suffered slipped discs in her back and neck.
She was also unable to use one wrist properly after she was later attacked by a dog.
Her sister Christine Norman, 57, says arthritic Ms Harris was asked just one question in the lightning-speed assessment, carried out by private firm Atos Healthcare.
Mrs Norman said: 'They asked her one question - "Did you get here by bus?".
'Jacqueline replied with one fateful word - "yes".

'She hadn't even had the chance to take her coat off.
'Jacqueline said couldn't do it anymore and that no-one was listening to her and no-one cared. She told me she couldn't work and that nobody believed her.
'She just wanted her benefit so she could have avoided the pressure of work - it wasn't a massive amount of money.'
Ms Harris suffered from arthritis in her neck and back and her pain worsened after an unsuccessful operation on her neck last year.
She was left in agony every time one of her arms was touched, while bones from her hand had to be removed after she was attacked by a dog.

Anger: Christine Norman says her sister Ms Harris committed suicide after being put under pressure by the Government to return to work

Ms Harris had received incapacity benefit but late last year was asked to attend a fitness-to-work assessment in order to claim its replacement - Employment and Support Allowance.
After she spent two hours struggling on two different buses to get to the centre run by Atos Healthcare her appointment lasted just two minutes.
In January her benefits were stopped.
Mrs Norman, a nurse, said: 'If she was addicted to alcohol or drugs, she would have been given a sick note.
'Being a nurse and a health professional I am so disappointed - anyone could see she wasn't fit to work. She would have loved to have had a job but couldn't.
'How much grief, pain and anguish do you have to go through before they realise?'
Ms Harris had contested the ruling and her first appeal against the decision failed.
A second Department for Work and Pensions tribunal hearing in Cardiff was due to take place on November 15.
However, Ms Harris was found dead at her home on November 2, having taken a suspected overdose.
Paying tribute to her sister, who lost her husband Brian six years ago, Mrs Norman said: 'She was gregarious and loved dogs, and music and to boogie as much as her back would allow.
An inquest into Ms Harris' death has been opened and adjourned.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman said: 'Our sympathy goes out to the family of Mrs Harris during what must be a very difficult time.
'A decision on whether someone is well enough to work is taken following a thorough assessment and after consideration of all the supporting medical evidence.
'Through a series of independent reviews and by working with medical experts and charities, we have considerably improved the work capability assessment process since 2010 to make it fairer and more accurate.'
An Atos spokeswoman said: 'Our sympathies go out to Ms Harris's family.
'Atos Healthcare carries out assessments on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions and under its guidelines.
'But we do not make decisions on people's benefit entitlement, nor are we involved in the appeal process.'

For confidential support on suicide matters call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 or visit a local Samaritans branch or click here.

Disabled and pregnancy. not 2 words you often hear together.

 I am disabled. I now have a new label to waft around. I am 'pregnant'. As any new Mum, I feel like I need a bit of help and advice, so I thought I would turn to amazon and find one of those nice fluffy mummy books about my situation. However, this was not to be.

So, in my curiosity I did a search on amazon. I typed in "disability" and "pregnancy". The first book looked promising, but then when I looked at it, the book was about what midwives might encounter with a disabled mother, and not just the "simple" stuff. By book number three amazon had moved on to disabled children and not disabled mothers. (although book 2 looks interesting its more of a story book than a fact based book).

I don't think such a book exists. It doesn't seem to be the norm to be disabled and pregnant (disabled people have sex?) Certainly my midwife seemed a bit stumped, but all credit to her I am being "properly" assessed for my needs whilst pregnant and when I have baby. I don't know how someone can look into a crystal ball but I am waiting to see on this one.

I have already found this to be a fascinating journey, and I am only a few weeks into it comparatively. My first observation was at my midwife appointment. Although things were geared to what I can do, inevitably there had to be some focus on what I can't do so that it can be ascertained what help I "might" need. Although I am used to this negativity when it comes to forms such as DLA it struck me that unlike other newly expectant mothers, my status was already being called into question, albeit in a 'supportive' disguise.

I then started to look at birth options. And then I stopped. Apparently, there is a normal way to give birth, and then by definition, an abnormal one. I will not let anyone else tell me what is normal and abnormal when it comes to my birth decisions. I will not be made to feel like a freak if for reasons of impairment I can not 'achieve' a normal birth. I am really quite angry about the language surrounding this. It has made me fearful of talking to midwives and other professionals when all the NHS guidelines frame a 'natural' birth as 'normal'. I have been forced to find other, more neutral information so I can make an informed decision about what I need to do to give birth in my situation. This is going to be another interesting thing to see how it pans out.

I then have a side observation. My DLA renewal forms don't ask if I am pregnant, all the other benefit forms I have filled in do. When ringing the DWP the person had clearly never been asked this before but couldn't quite answer the question because, well obviously pregnancy and birth is going to change things, but nothing i can predict.

So, yes, I am, pregnant. And I am disabled. As you can see from above, the way I like to cope with interesting (read difficult) situations is to analyse and academicise them. It gives me some distance, and hopefully provides some more interest to whats happening.

on being horizontal...

I have spent the last few days umming and ahhing as to whether to write this blog. It puts me in a vulnerable position and reveals a lot about me and my own life. But, after consideration I felt I should write it in honour of all those who spend their days horizontal..

I first heard about people who lived their lives from a horizontal position during spartacus, out of which the term from bed activism was born. Liz Crow then took this further with her 'bedding out' activism. I have always been a very private disabled person and didn't feel able to join in with sharing me with the world. However, my recent experiences have compelled me into writing a snippet of my life.

I have spent the last three weeks in bed. horizontal and unable to function. Although this is/was a temporary position for me it has given me a great deal of respect and admiration for those who have to do this day in day out with no prospect of recovery like I have.

Having to rely on someone else to get me food, drink, entertainment, well everything and anything has taught me a lot of resilience. I am stubbornly independent and the orders that I keep giving out to people still feel like begging and forcing me to reduce myself to a lesser being somehow. To be completely dependent on someone else is, at times degrading and always difficult. I am just grateful to my husband that he has accepted the role of carer/ servant with such good grace. It makes it easier to bear somehow.

I dont pretend to know what it could be like to do this on a more permanent basis, but I have a much greater respect for those who do now. The term 'from bed activism' was just that, a term. Only now can I somewhat appreciate the sacrifice people are making to get involved and to keep fighting the government and  welfare reform whilst being unable to function themselves. Thank you.

These last few weeks have been isolating. I can't even get on to twitter for some reason that this laptop wont divulge (again my husband has swapped to my desktop so i can have his). I have been scared to reveal how bad things are to my friends for fear of sympathy, and on the rare day or 2 that I make it.. outside I want to enjoy it and not spend the time talking about not being well. lack of understanding and fear of being labelled has left me dealing with this on my own, again though I do have my husband.

I spend my days refreshing facebook, messageboards, emails, anything and everything to make me feel like I have some sort of connection to real people, the real world. I have watched every online tv show I can find to watch. I am thoroughly bored and probably a bit depressed.

But I guess thats why I am writing this. To remind myself that this is temporary, and I will get better. I hope that this doesn't come across wrong, that I am somehow 'rubbing others noses in it', but that I should be grateful that it is temporary and that I admire and deeply respect those for whom this is more permanent. I have never truely appreciated your activism and spirit until now. thank you.