It is that time of year again when the annual invasion of our eight legged friends .
Personal Independance Payment
We are perhaps fortunate here in that many don't require the support of PIP. However, it is not necessarily indicated by the presence of a wheelchair or a guide dog! There could be many you know who rely on this benefit for their day to day survival and find themselves in the cross hairs of government plans to overhaul the way disability benefits operate,
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride announced the government's plans on Thursday, prefacing his statement by claiming that those in reciept of PIP can claim thousands! THEY CANNOT!. PIP claiments can claim up to a maximum of £184.30 a week – if they receive both the daily living and mobility parts of PIP at the higher rate.
You would think that the Work and Pensions Secretary, in charge of PIP would be far better briefed before releasing statements to the press!
Campaigner, Martin Lewis, issued a blunt message over the proposed DWP PIP reforms and says 'forget it'! One of the key proposals suggested taking cash benefits away from certain people claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) benefits and replacing it with alternatives.
The proposals saw criticism from organisations and certain charities. However, it also brought on a wave of concerns from those who could be directly affected by the proposals.
Despite this, Martin Lewis tried to quell people's fears. In his latest podcast, he explained: "I got a lot of messages from people, especially with depression and anxiety, who were catastrophising about the announcement the government has put out.
This type of debate is giving attention to create political news, often illinformed. But we shouldn't forget that that has a very real human impact and what it did in some ways is it has terrified people who are clearly prone to being terrified! They have depression and anxiety, in many cases clinical depression and anxiety, which means you are more prone to worry about things.
The message is pretty simple, to those people who are worried or panicked about this government discussion on possible benefit changes is that nothing has happened! Nothing has happened, this is an early stage consultation Green Paper, these things do not happen quickly, this is a general election year with local elections just gone in a way the government had feared, so there's a question whether this revue will happen at all.
So for those who are worried about this, I know it's easy for me to say and I know it's hard to do, but for the moment, my advice if you're worried about it - forget it.
The three key changes included in the Green Paper are:
- changing PIP eligibility criteria to better reflect how conditions affect a claimant’s daily life;
- making the PIP assessment more closely linked to someone’s condition, including removing assessments entirely for some conditions supported by medical evidence;
- moving away from a fixed cash benefit for some conditions, providing either one-off grants for specific costs such as home adaptation, or ensuring access to “alternative means of support”.
The Government hopes the overall impact will be to move to a system where PIP is more geared towards covering the actual extra costs faced by people with disabilities. The consultation period will run for 12 weeks, closing on July 23.
Compton Bassett Parish Council have got the 40mph speed limit extended in their recent efforts to control traffic using the roads through the village as a cut through between Lyneham/Swindon and Devizes.
Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson is urging residents to have their say on the policing budget as he considers an average increase of 5.2% - an extra £1.09 a month for a Band D property.
Thinking about refreshing your home in 2024?
Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson is urging residents to have their say on the policing budget as he considers an average increase of 5.2% - an extra £1.09 a month for a Band D property.
LINK, the UK’s cash access and ATM network, revealed Calne will be the latest town to be allocated a new banking hub.
Contractors working on behalf are carrying out road resurfacing and associated works in a number of towns across Wiltshire.
Wiltshire Council has updated on the emergency closure of the B4069 Lyneham Banks, caused by a major land slip that has damaged the highway.
This years village meeting was held yesterday (17th May) and was attended by 21 village residents
The market town of Calne is about to find itself at the centre of an historic alignment that has never happened before in recorded history!
