Here we go! | Page 1584 | Vital Football

Here we go!

Pope John XXIII said:
George Osborne famously said that there was no degree to which you could cut working age benefits that the public would not support.

The regime was appalling.

The difficulty with it is that disability is simply so broad.

One autistic person is capable of building a multi-billion pound business. Another, who is perfectly capable of doing certain activities they enjoy, is completely incapable of coping in workplace or demanding environment. How do you quantify that, or begin to judge that?

How do you quantify between someone who just doesn't want to work, and one whose mental health is failing to the degree that they are a serious danger to themselves?

How do you differentiate the impact of work on a disabled person Vs the impact of travelling to work? Yes, this person may be physically able to walk a few steps and therefore there are jobs in existence they could do; that doesn't mean they can realistically commute on bus - train- short walk to a work place
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And this was, and still is, precisely the problem.

One of my first jobs was on a ‘second tier review’ team that had to look at ‘appeal requests’ and decide whether they had merit and change the decision if so. We then had to give a written explanation.

A new manager took charge, looked at the figures and set a new target - reject 80% of all applications. We refused to accept the target and got it overthrown.

The situation with disability benefits was like that but on steroids. It was ridiculous.

Now the situation is being compounded by another issue. The civil service has been gutted in a number of key areas which includes the benefit system. The money isn’t there and many of the people with the required expertise have moved on or retired.

If you want effective decisions to be made, you need to give people the tools that they need. One of those tools is manpower and another is time.

Again this morning there is a comment that civil servants have it too easy which contributes to mistakes. That obviously comes from someone with no understanding.

In the last reporting year just over 46000 people left the civil service. Of those over 2300 are recorded as straight dismissal which is more than 5%. And that’s not taking into account those who are encouraged to move on or retire.
 
Pope John XXIII said:
George Osborne famously said that there was no degree to which you could cut working age benefits that the public would not support.

The regime was appalling.

The difficulty with it is that disability is simply so broad.

One autistic person is capable of building a multi-billion pound business. Another, who is perfectly capable of doing certain activities they enjoy, is completely incapable of coping in workplace or demanding environment. How do you quantify that, or begin to judge that?

How do you quantify between someone who just doesn't want to work, and one whose mental health is failing to the degree that they are a serious danger to themselves?

How do you differentiate the impact of work on a disabled person Vs the impact of travelling to work? Yes, this person may be physically able to walk a few steps and therefore there are jobs in existence they could do; that doesn't mean they can realistically commute on bus - train- short walk to a work place
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even if you could, you could.never do it fast enough or at the scale needed.

tbh tho aside from housing benefit, benefits are nowhere near the biggest spend. even housing benefit I think was only 6bn. NHS, pensions and Social care are the real money pits.
 
Basha73 said:
And this was, and still is, precisely the problem.

One of my first jobs was on a ‘second tier review’ team that had to look at ‘appeal requests’ and decide whether they had merit and change the decision if so. We then had to give a written explanation.

A new manager took charge, looked at the figures and set a new target - reject 80% of all applications. We refused to accept the target and got it overthrown.

The situation with disability benefits was like that but on steroids. It was ridiculous.

Now the situation is being compounded by another issue. The civil service has been gutted in a number of key areas which includes the benefit system. The money isn’t there and many of the people with the required expertise have moved on or retired.

If you want effective decisions to be made, you need to give people the tools that they need. One of those tools is manpower and another is time.

Again this morning there is a comment that civil servants have it too easy which contributes to mistakes. That obviously comes from someone with no understanding.

In the last reporting year just over 46000 people left the civil service. Of those over 2300 are recorded as straight dismissal which is more than 5%. And that’s not taking into account those who are encouraged to move on or retire.
Click to expand...

I could tell some stories about adult social care but not without incriminating people. its the legacy of austerity and covid. austerity created a backlog and covid wiped out any chance of making up ground. a lot of time etc on brexit while urgent attention was needed elsewhere.

have to say, not so sure what labour can do. nothing quickly tho.
 
radfordinlondon said:
I could tell some stories about adult social care but not without incriminating people. its the legacy of austerity and covid. austerity created a backlog and covid wiped out any chance of making up ground. a lot of time etc on brexit while urgent attention was needed elsewhere.

have to say, not so sure what labour can do. nothing quickly tho.
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I can imagine. There is plenty more I could say but as a lot of it isn’t necessarily in the public domain I won’t.

As for Labour, well they started the process of ripping up our pensions sandwiched between two periods where the Tories bollocksed our wages.

As for fixing the services provided, that would cost more money than we could afford, not to mention about three terms of Government…
 
Basha73 said:
I can imagine. There is plenty more I could say but as a lot of it isn’t necessarily in the public domain I won’t.

As for Labour, well they started the process of ripping up our pensions sandwiched between two periods where the Tories bollocksed our wages.

As for fixing the services provided, that would cost more money than we could afford, not to mention about three terms of Government…
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It's no longer just about the money. no one in govt or even the civil service for that matter really understands the welfare state as a system anymore. plenty understand bits but the whole system is out of kilter on too many levels. the world it was made for has changed and we don't understand or manage it as an actual system anymore- just bits of policy bolted on.

services and people no longer command the respect the jobs deserve but at the same time too many people in jobs who shouldn't be with too much differential in wages.

anyhow I should probably stop before I blow a gasket again. pisses me off bash, we used to be great...
 
radfordinlondon said:
even if you could, you could.never do it fast enough or at the scale needed.

tbh tho aside from housing benefit, benefits are nowhere near the biggest spend. even housing benefit I think was only 6bn. NHS, pensions and Social care are the real money pits.
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This tax year the estimated spend on benefits is £265 billion (about half on pensions) as opposed to about £245 billion being spent on health.

www.bbc.co.uk

Benefits: Who gets them and how much do they cost?

The chancellor will confirm how much benefits will go up in the Autumn Statement.
www.bbc.co.uk
 
Lienking said:
This tax year the estimated spend on benefits is £265 billion (about half on pensions) as opposed to about £245 billion being spent on health.

www.bbc.co.uk

Benefits: Who gets them and how much do they cost?

The chancellor will confirm how much benefits will go up in the Autumn Statement.
www.bbc.co.uk
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Of which the majority of the working age benefits are, I believe, going to people in work to supplement appalling wages for families
 
Lienking said:
This tax year the estimated spend on benefits is £265 billion (about half on pensions) as opposed to about £245 billion being spent on health.

www.bbc.co.uk

Benefits: Who gets them and how much do they cost?

The chancellor will confirm how much benefits will go up in the Autumn Statement.
www.bbc.co.uk
Click to expand...

there you go then health and pensions massively more than benefits. don't forget the figure you are left with includes the total benefits figure and includes child benefit etc (I.e. those benefits that are not controversial).
 
Strett said:
Terrible week for the public sector, first being told to go back to work 2 days a week and then that Long Covid is as real as public sector productivity growth…

www.theguardian.com

Time to stop using term ‘long Covid’ as symptoms no worse than those after flu, Queensland’s chief health officer says

Researchers compared the symptoms and impairment of Covid and influenza patients a year after they tested positive
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
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You seem to have developed a severe reading comprehension issue.

Article:

Long Covid may be no different from other post-viral syndromes such as those experienced after flu, according to new research from Queensland Health.
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Strett:
Long Covid is as real as public sector productivity growth
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The article in fact defines a particular characteristic of long covid - that it may be no different to other post viral illnesses - and for some reason you're taking that to mean it doesn't exist.
 
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Strett said:
Terrible week for the public sector, first being told to go back to work 2 days a week and then that Long Covid is as real as public sector productivity growth…

www.theguardian.com

Time to stop using term ‘long Covid’ as symptoms no worse than those after flu, Queensland’s chief health officer says

Researchers compared the symptoms and impairment of Covid and influenza patients a year after they tested positive
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
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You really should read articles before commenting on them, chap.
 
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