The Budget

You never are, Ana. What's new?

What a silly statement/question, durhamjen. Had you and your late husband never owned a car before his accident and subsequent disability?

jen if you had been able to go shopping without your husband I'm sure he would have benefited from what you bought, so there would have been no problem. I thought my posts made it clear that the disabled person doesn't have to be in the car. The driver only has to be using the car for the benefit of the disabled person. Buying them a packet of biscuits they liked would satisfy the rules as far as I'm concerned.

An example of how the Motability scheme is abused would be something like a daughter who lives more than 5 miles away from the disabled person, and using the car as if it belonged to her, using it to get to work, take her children to the cinema, going shopping, meeting friends, etc. Some families will see this as acceptable and their good fortune, but it's breaking the law and an abuse of the scheme.

Motability cars are a real source of resentment to many people in this country. My neighbour is in her 70s with a disabled son in his 40s. He's partially sighted with cerebral palsy and has a mental age of a 12 year old. He can be a handful, especially if he gets angry or frustrated. They have a Motability car and their small life would be miserable without it. But I'll bet some of my neighbours wonder how they can afford a new car every three years and think they must get too much in benefits to be buying new cars.

Galen and Wilma, Attendance Allowance is being abolished in October, so the local authority will be expected to provide her care needs. Local authorities are under financial pressure, so I doubt if she'll be eligible for much. I have contacted her social services in the past, but they weren't interested.

I've tried to get her to appeal, but she won't. She was very upset when she was refused (I know, by the way, that she won't get any mobility component) and won't try again.

She just sits in her smelly and dirty flat, waiting to die. She lives 90 miles from me and I can't really afford the petrol to see her very often, but I go once a week. I cook her a meal, do some shopping, clean, do her washing and I used to make her some meals to put in the freezer, but she doesn't eat them, because she can't open the fridge/freezer or microwave. She lives mainly on biscuits, chocolate and crisps.

Yes, Wilma, that's the problem, the resentment others feel when they see Motability cars.
My husband would have swapped any day. But he wouldn't have wished what he had on anyone else.
Perhaps Motability should get out more and tell people what it's all about.
I actually still have my husband's last blue badge in the car. Well out of date, but it has a photo of him on it, and I do not like to throw it away.
Never used it, though.
I remember once when we lived in York a neighbour of ours arrived at the same cash and carry, parked in the disabled spaces and got out of the car.
Whe he saw us he started limping. My husband and I fell about laughing and pointing at him. Lots of people looked at him, and he had the grace to blush, get back in his car and move it.
I hope he never did that again - just in case.

daphne the abolition of AA is a consultation document only. No devious have been made

daphne the consultation Galen posted about is now over, but the decision has not been announced and it's not clear if there will be further consultation. That's what makes it important that you appeal against the decision quickly, especially as so far there's been no mention of ring fencing any money transferred to local authorities. The consultation document said

The Government will also consider giving more responsibility to councils in England, and to Wales, to support older people with care needs - including people who, under the current system, would be supported through Attendance Allowance. This will protect existing claimants, so there will be no cash losers, and new responsibilities will be matched by the transfer of equivalent spending power. The Government is planning to consult in the New Year on this proposal, including on the right model of devolution and the level of flexibility that councils would need in order to effectively deliver this additional responsibility.

If the decision was made less than a month ago, you (usually) need to ask for mandatory reconsideration of the decision before you can appeal. If it's longer then you'll need to reapply, but either way it might be a good idea to enlist the support of an organisation that specialises in helping older people like AgeUK.

I think the rules have changed Wilma with regard to Blue Badges and now they cannot be used to run errands for the badge holder if the badge holder is not present and although not illegal they suggest if the Badge Holder is merely sitting in the car whilst someone else gets out that they do not take up a disabled space for that.

The car can be driven by the designated driver (s) but cannot be parked in a disabled bay if the disabled person is not there and getting out.

At least that's how I understood it when mine was renewed recently.

Yes, Wilma, that's the problem, the resentment others feel when they see Motability cars.
Wilma djen I don't feel resentment at all and I am sure no right-minded person does; it's when they see an abuse of the system that causes resentment. It causes resentment because it takes away money from people such as those described in Wilma's last paragraph and because a very few people do abuse the system it means that those who really need this and other benefits have to jump through hoops to get what they deserve.

N&G that's interesting because we have a few disabled drivers who park on the double yellow lines near us and sit in the car while their adult DC fetch the DGC from school. In these case the disabled person is the driver.
It wouldn't bother anyone but because they are on double yellows they are obstructing other traffic.

NanaandGrampy I honestly don't know much about the Blue Badge scheme, but it seems reasonable to me that you should have the disabled person in the car to get preferential parking (although you could be picking them up or something like that). I only found out the other day you have to pay for a Blue Badge - I thought it was free! I was talking about the Motability car scheme where a person gives up the mobility component of their DLA or PIP benefit in exchange for a car. I think the word 'Motability' is more widely used these days though.

Jamila I hope you're right. I really do.

You are allowed to park on double yellows providing you do not obstruct other traffic. We regularly have PCSOs at the local schools to check on traffic.

I mean with a blue badge, of course. Making sure you put it the right way up.

I know. Sometimes the PCSO comes and makes them move up the road away from the corner. The next day they are back. It's not as if the disabled drivers are getting out of the car themselves!

Thanks Galen and Wilma, I'll have another go at persuading her.

Fingers crossed for you daphne, I know it can be hard going.

Jamila ha! I just realised you're right - the disabled person is still in the car! See now that's the kind of thing that can make some people feel less kindly towards the disabled. My Mum had a blue badge for a while after she had complications after a hip replacement. She hated using it which drove the family mad (our family are all in denial when we're ill). That year she came down from Scotland to stay with us for a couple of weeks and we planned to go to the Town and Country Fair. It was a big event where you always had a long walk from the car to the show ground, so we thought we were in luck because we could use my Mum's blue badge to get into the disabled parking area. Nope. Just before we left the house my Mum admitted she'd left it at home in Scotland (deliberately), so could we drop her off before parking the car? Arrrgh!

The rules are vague for blue badge parking in some areas for instance

Badge holders must also not park where it would cause an obstruction or danger to others. The following are likely examples:

at school entrances, bus stops, on a bend, near the brow of a hill or hump bridge

BUT how close to a school makes it an entrance is down to an individual's perception.

The 'five mile rule' which is relatively new is so that you can have a second driver on your vehicle but they MUST live within 5 miles of the disabled person or have got special permission to be a named driver. My SiL is a named driver on my vehicle for the sole purpose that he can drive my car if I am out and taken ill so he can get it ( and me ) home.

I think people forget if you break ANY of the extensive rules - the vehicle insurance is null and void and in the case of an accident they would be liable for all and any damages.

A £1.1 billion cut in NHS capital budget which is the money that goes towards repairs, etc.
Not mentioned in the budget speech.

Also £650m to pay for ectra pension contributions, means nearly £2 billion less for frontline services.

dj did you see my post about David Law and the lies Ant and Dec told the voting public before the election?

Sorry, whitewave, must have missed it. Is it on this thread?

Somebody on Sunday Politics has just suggested that Osborne would lose fewer brownie points by missing his target in 2020 than by trying to attain it.
That's an interesting concept.
Not quite sure if it's on the same scale as whether we should vote out just to get rid of Cameron and Osborne, but it's a dilemma, just the same.

David Law on Marr show. Apparently Simon Stevens CEO NHS, carried out an exercise for GO to work out what the NHS needed for the next 5 years. He came up with 30bn, 15 bn of which he reckoned could be found from that old standby - efficiency savings. The Government would need to provide 15bn in order for the NHS to stand still. Ant and Dec then quite arbitrarily came up with 8bn based on nothing whatsoever, and leant on Stevens to support that figure.

This was then used for pre-election and post election budget. So the NHS is being funded based on a complete lie.

This will mean year on year contraction and quality getting poorer and poorer

Just been watching the programme ab out Obama. I was struck as to how he dealt with the crises in US. He set up a massive stimulus budget by investing in various industries and infrastructure - result they quickly came out of austerity.
Not us though here we are 6 years later still tottering along making sure the poor and disabled are screwed down even further in the name of reducing the debt. Wish we had a chancellor who knew what he was doing.

Somebody on Sunday Politics has just suggested that Osborne would lose fewer brownie points by missing his target in 2020 than by trying to attain it.
That's an interesting concept.

My thoughts Jen, for what they are worth, are that if he had hit the target, the votes he would have "lost" would not have gone to him anyway but the Conservatives have pushed and pushed the idea that their "long term economic plan" was sound. I don't believe it was but those who voted Conservative did. The votes he will loose if the "soundness" disappears and they seem incompetent may be fewer but will loses from previous voters.