LAW AND BENEFIT REVIEW

[part of the 'Disability Matters' & 'Law and Benefit Review' Group]
'for all disability issues’
disability.matters@yahoo.co.uk
www.lawandbenefitreview.co.uk
[01285-861752]
REVIEWS, ARTICLES, COMMENT, UPDATES, LEGISLATION, BENEFITS, PENSIONS, CARING, NHS, BILLS WATCH, ETC.
February 2007
[edition 11]

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[1] PROLOGUE
[2] EDITOR’S BLOG
[3] FEWER TO PAY COST OF HOME CARE
[4] NHS DATABASE HACKERS
[5] RISK OF DRUG ERRORS
[6] RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES - UN STYLE
[7] SCOTLAND AND WALES TAKEN OVER THE LEAD
[8] WHAT DOES DISABILITY MEAN TO YOU?
[9] STAIR LIFT PRICES INCREASES
[10] WALES AT IT AGAIN
[11] CALLS FOR IMPROVED DEMENTIA CARE
[12] SUPPORT CALL FOR DISABLED PEOPLE
[13] LEGAL AID CHANGES
[14] WINTER FUEL PAYMENTS
[15] COLD WEATHER PAYMENTS - UPDATE
[16] BENEFITS UPDATES
[17] SCOTTISH COUNCIL ORDER TO PAY FOR CARE
[18] CREDIT CARDS AND FREE ‘PHONE CALLS TO ABROAD
[19] AGE DISCRIMINATION
[20] POWER OF ATTORNEY [2]
[21] CARE HOME PLEA AT NUMBER 10
[22] PENSIONERS GO HUNGRY TO PAY COUNCIL TAX.
[23] BAILIFFS - UPDATE
[24] HOSPITALS FLEECE PATIENTS AND VISITORS
[25] COLD WEATHER PAYMENTS -UPDATE
[26] SAFETY RULES MEAN YOU WALK TO THE AMBULANCE
[27] DPTAC - CONGESTION CHARGES/ROAD USE

EURO-NEWS

[a] EUROPEAN PATIENT RIGHTS CHARTER
[b] UN DISABILITY CONVENTION ADOPTED

WESTMINSTER

[a] LEGISLATION PASSING THROUGH PARLIAMENT

MOTORING

[a] ILLEGAL PARKERS SHOULD BE FINED
[b] FINGERPRINTS ON THE MOVE
[c] GOVERNMENT/LOCAL AUTHORITY RAMPAGE
[d] INCREASE IN TRAFFIC FLOWS
[e] SPEEDS REDUCED
[f] DVLC
[g] TWO YEARS MOT
[h] SATELLITE NAVIGATION/RADAR DETECTOR THEFTS
[I] NATIONAL ROAD TOLLS
[j] TEN YEAR DRIVING TESTS

TRAVEL NEWS

[a] YOUR FINGERPRINTS ON FILE WITH THE FBI
[b] ADVANCED ‘GREEN’ TAX DEMANDED

PROLOGUE

Hi everybody and welcome to February’s 2007 Law and Benefit Review. We have received a lot of calls expressing concern about the implications of future refuse collection from homes since last months LBR - its no wonder.

We at ‘Law and Benefit Review’ are like everybody else, concerned about our environment. Infact, our Chairman is passionate about it ,and is a member of various national conservation trusts and environmental groups and Chairman of South Cerney Environmental Society which was formed to protect the Cotswold Water Park in Gloucestershire from the excesses of building second homes. The number of contacts we have received from particularly disabled people has been two or three a day for two weeks all asking similar questions. There are two main concerns. One, where are people going to keep the extra boxes needed to separate the items. One for tins, one for glass, one for any garden waste, one for paper and one for the rest of the rubbish in order not to fall foul of any regulation. If you live in an apartment then the garden waste is more than likely academic, but aren't the other boxes going to cause a health hazard unless there will be an outside place provided to keep all the boxes. It will mean either keeping all the rubbish in the same receptacle until full, then separating it into the appropriate box, hopefully somewhere else other than the apartment or journeying to an area used to store rubbish receptacles at least once a day to remove rubbish from the home and two, the complexity of the legislation. Suffers from arthritic conditions such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and arthritic fingers have made it clear that they are unable to separate small individual pieces of paper for obvious. How are they expected to finitely sort house-hold rubbish?

Many callers said that they seldom have a full bag of rubbish anyway and now they will have up to four rubbish receptacles to deal with, if these dragooning laws are here to stay. Our advice is to wait and see, as so far only a few local authorities have jumped on this money making band-wagon of CO2 emissions, and those that have, have been forceful from day one by the issuing of heavy fines including issuing two £1000 fines to disabled people. Almost a day does not pass when a new additional restriction appears aimed at domestic rubbish, including the disposal of Christmas wrappings, which also attracts a fine of £1000, is not separated and placed in the correct receptacles. Council workers are being paid by tax payers to search through your rubbish bins to check what is in the bins and if the wrong rubbish is in the wrong bin, a fixed penalty notice [FPN] could be affixed to the bin and the rubbish left uncollected until the FPN is paid. As ever, regulations such as these are formulated and introduced with little thought about the elderly and disabled members of our society but they are still expected to conform. One wonders if the ‘dust-bin’ police enter private property to carry out these inspections where the house-hold rubbish has been left and not actually ’abandoned’ are they committing criminal trespass or tort? If the rubbish has actually been completely ‘abandoned’ in a public place with all the ‘abandonment’ required in law to permit a local authority to remove it, then a FPN could be issued for any violations of the regulations shown below.

We at ‘Disability Matters‘ fear that not sufficient thought by those introducing such legislation has been made as to the ability of the elderly and disabled to deal with such intense regulation as for years they have simply deposited the rubbish in a single bag and put it out in the regular place for the dustbin men to collect which has occurred weekly since the end of the second world war.

Now there is a fear of a Fixed Penalty Notice being found on the rubbish container simply because a single piece of paper was in the wrong bin. One of the ‘offences‘ is ‘placing rubbish out to early‘. What is to early? It is yet to be defined, it could mean putting the rubbish out the previous evening if the bin men collect it at early hour which may mean breach the regulations. Do the ‘dustbin police‘ really expect the elderly and disabled or anybody come to that, to get up at an early hour to comply with the regulations or are they making a rod for their own backs?

In December 2006, a 78 year old male disabled person suffering from multiple scierosis was threatened with a £1000 fine for placing a juice bottle in the wrong recycling box by the Burnley local authority. This is ludicrous - one piece of rubbish placed in the wrong recycling box - even thugs on the streets do not received such punishment. How about some help and advice before heavy handed tactics are resorted to? This horrifying approach by one particular local authority with others also straining at the bit to fine people for such matters as wrongly placing household waste into the wrong receptacle lead us at ’Disability Matters’ to look into the law relating to this whole issue.

The legislation controlling household waste is included in the Clean Neighbourhoods & Environmental Act 2005 [7th April 2005], The Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Household Waste Recycling Act 2003. The laws are long and complicated and far to complex to produce here so those who wish to, may log onto the following websites where all the information on household waste and its disposal and detailed information on separate items of waste in graph form may be observed to assist in the correct disposal of your household waste. Whilst we agree that something has to be done to deal with the billions of tons of waste, the legislation is too complex to understand clearly and we suggest that all local authorities produce helpful documentation for tax payers indicating preciously what waste goes in what recycling box. Clearly disabled and elderly people need help and assistance in managing up to four recycling boxes and we have already written to David Milliband, Secretary of State for Defra to see what he has to say about the matter.

Wheel chair, zimmer frame and walking stick users will have a difficult time in handling four separate boxes to and from a collection point not to mention the separation of the individual pieces of rubbish.

Log onto www.defra.gov.uk/environment, www.wasteonline.org.uk,
www.alphagalileo.org and www.environment-agency.gov.uk for information. It will be noticed that all the Acts of Parliament are dated 1990, 2003 and 2005 so wait so long to implement that contents of the Acts?

Frankly, we all feel that the manner in which this issue is being tackled is forceful and far beyond normal reasoning for elderly and disabled members of the public to be subjected to without what appears to be no initial consultation period and the apparent failure in many cases of local authorities to provide written information on the disposal of house-hold waste products to ensure that the correct waste goes into the right recycling box. Instead, at least one local authority has carried out a £1000 fine for a first time ‘offence’ for or a single piece of waste rubbish being placed in the wrong receptacle. Such a fine for a ’first offence’ is out of all proportion to the ‘crime’ when vandals and thugs are let off with cautions, community service, which costs the ’offender’ nothing except his or her time or ASBO’S for wonton vandalism costing thousands of pounds to repair. The Burnley local authority should be ashamed of the manner in which they handled this particular matter. How about advising the disabled person concerned about the disposal of his house-hold rubbish first?

The bottom line of this new legislation means each and every single piece of house-hold rubbish has to be examined carefully to ascertain what it consists off and then separated and placed in the appropriate receptacle. For instance, a tin of soup or food will be made up of three parts, paper from the label, the lid and the tin itself. Three different pieces of rubbish to be placed into three different rubbish receptacles. A large number of ‘window’ envelopes are produced with a cellophane style ‘window’ so that the address may be seen and the paper envelope itself. The paper envelope will have to be separated from the cellophane and placed into two separate receptacles. Extreme legislation, yes, but this is what consecutive government have discussed and obtained Royal Accent upon so who are we to disobey?

EDITOR’S BLOG

[1] Water companies are campaigning for new powers to force compulsory water meters - and perhaps higher bills- on millions of householders. Currently, water meters are voluntary and a debate continues as to their usefulness - some say it cheaper and some say its more expensive - its down to how much water you use really. [Gen.07] [2] More ‘dustbin police’ news, some councils will not take away ‘shredding’ from home security shredders because of a possible litter problems and bins that are ‘contaminated’ by the wrong rubbish will not be emptied and fines of £110 issued and if not paid, the council will prosecute. Waste which is to be ‘classed’ as being cold such as frozen leaves, compost or cuttings will be left in the bin if the mechanical device that empties the bins fails to remove it as Health and Safety Regulations prevent hand removal. How much longer is the stealth taxation to continue as it is now becoming obscene and we suggest unworkable. [3] The new advanced encrypted, highly secure, chipped and expensive [£66] passport isn't. By the use of a gadget that may be purchased of the internet, the basic information contained within the ‘chip’ can be extracted for other use but it cannot, according to a Home Office Minister, be modified or manipulated without detection and used in a forged passport -really? [4] Taxpayers are now paying out £2.6 million per annum to keep Prescott in a non-job. [5] The First Direct bank is to introduce charges for some current account holders - who next? [6] Following the introduction by Royal Mail of their new postal rates, post office staff are getting 1 in 8 postal charges wrong. Post Watch fears are that the Christmas post was riddled with over-charging in the rush to post Xmas cards [6] Britain is facing the largest immigration explosion for 1000 years with Eastern Europeans entering the UK at a rate of between 500 and 600 every day at sea and air ports around the country normally using low cost airlines which is a gross under-estimation by the Home Office. This figure will double when future immigrants from Bulgaria and Romania have the right of access during January 2007 - by the time you read this they will be on their way. The most chilling figure to be released is that 30 million people will be free to enter the UK legally from Eastern Europe and the Third World but conservative estimates have put the immigration figure of at least tens of thousands plus Turkeys contribution when and if they are admitted to the EU. No information about ‘illegal’ immigration and some sources say that a third of Eastern Europeans return to their home country within a year of landing in the UK .[Info from the Chairman of Migration Watch]. [7] Whilst the police constantly inform the public of the need to secure databases in secure surrounding‘s, thieves have stolen three laptops containing financial details of 15,000 police officers at Scotland Yard from the Commissioner, anti-terrorist detectives and other high ranking officers. The databases contained enough information to create false identities from driving licences, passports, bank accounts, etc. [8] Doctors are warning that more elderly will die as flu vaccine runs short. Millions of pensioners and vulnerable people were still waiting for flu jabs at the beginning of December 2006 and far fewer people were vaccinated than last year. Out of 15.2 million jabs ordered only 9 million had been delivered by the start of the flu and cold season. Some doctors have only received 50 jabs for 1800 patients. What is going on? [10] RADAR keys [The National Key Scheme Guide and NKS keys] for opening toilets for the disabled may be ordered on line at www.radar-shop.org.uk or by telephoning 08707 707930 [11] Killers and violent prisoners are being paid £2.300 a year in tax credits to top on their wages they earn on day release. Just enough to keep five or six elderly or disabled people free from winter fuel bills! [12] The NHS has 264.012 administrators and only 175.646 beds = 2 per bed approx. [13] An immigrant taxi driver has built himself a seven bedroom mansion in Pakistan after making millions on UK benefits, credit card scams and passports fraud. [14] The latest figures are that 1 in 10 elderly people cannot heat their homes. [15] 1 in 10 of men are working past 65 and 1 in 9 of women are working past 60 years of age. [16] A new TV ad is targeting benefit cheats. Incapacity Benefit is said to be the main benefit creating cheats who ‘sign and work’ and carry out small jobs such as walking dogs, running errands, shopping for cash. [17] MP’s are asking for a 66% salary rise at a time when Alzheimer's patients are being refused £2.50 a day for NHS medication prescriptions. [18] Immigrants wanting to settle in Britain are to be quizzed on their knowledge on how to claim state benefits. [19] The infamous NHS computer - the one our GP’s were going to keep all our medical records on has thrown a wobbly. Another £20 billion out the window as data is scaled back. [20] Estate Agents are alleged to be revealing details of homes to Council Tax Inspectors who are said “have a deal” with www.rightmove.co.uk - more info available from our office. [21] The NHS faces a £1 billion leap in compensation payouts for medical neglect. [22] MRSA victims are to receive £600 million between them from the NHS. [23] Calls are again being made for the return of the £200 help for the elderly to assist in council tax payments. [22] One migrant is arriving in the UK every minutes whilst one Briton quits the UK every five minutes or 300 people a day. [23] A £1000 fine was promised if Christmas wrapping paper was found in the recycling box with one council employing three rubbish bobbies to look through peoples dustbins.

DISABILITY MATTERS AIMS FOR 2007

During 2007, we have chosen seven matters that we would like to support and assist others with to achieve ratification :

[1] Continue to fight against remote and rural post office closures so that elderly and disabled people can obtain their state benefits and pensions locally where they live.

[2] To eliminate all congestion charges and road charging costs for genuine disabled people holding a certificate of exception to vehicle excise duty

[3] To request increases in both state pensions and benefits for elderly and disabled claimants to a level whereby they are not reduced to poverty, debt, hardship or low lifestyles.

[4] To request a totally new blue badge scheme following recent disclosures of a complete breakdown of the existing scheme. Blue Badges are now worth anything up to £6000 a year with the recent increases in congestion charges and expansions of the scheme in England and Wales as the ‘badge’ exempts anybody holding one from these charges as well as some tunnel and bridge payments.

[5] To tighten up the rules concerning Cold Weather Payments as many entitled claiments are not receiving the benefit due to them as the Metrological weather stations are so far away from local areas that they are reducing the ability of the weather station to measure local temperatures accurately.

[6] To reduce the bureaucratic nonsense concerning the disposal of household rubbish. Both elderly and disabled people simply cannot cope with what is being thrown at them after seventy odd years of just placing their rubbish in a sack or bin and leaving it out for the dustbin men.

[7] To support the activities of organisations such as Help the Aged and Age Concern to increase funding for the elderly in care be it at home or in care centres. The fact that care homes, hospices and vulnerable people living at home are being starved of funding is causing untold stress to residents and financial difficulties to operators of homes and is degrading and the government should be ashamed that for a period of time almost every daily UK newspapers has articles concerning the lack of funding for various forms of care within its pages. The Principality of Wales on the other-hand has announced that 4000 people will now longer have to pay for their care and 10,000 will see a change in funding. [see article 3 below]

EUROPEAN MOBILITY DEBATE 2007
22-23 FEBRUARY 2003 AT EXCEL LONDON
Organised by Motability in association with the Forum of Mobility Centres and the Department of Transport to consider the challenge for all parts of the automotive industry for the increasing demands for personal mobility

MOBILITY ROAD SHOW 2007
19-21 JULY 2007 AT KEMBLE AIRFIELD BETWEEN
CIRENCESTER AND MALMESBURY,
GLOUCESTERSHIRE OFF THE A.429
[Further information may be obtained from]

WINTER FUEL PAYMENTS

ALL CLAIMS FOR WINTER FUEL PAYMENTS NOT YET RECEIVED FOR THE CURRENT WINTER PERIOD MUST BE MADE BY MARCH 30 2007 BY CONTACTING EITHER WWW.THE PENSIONSERVICE.GOV.UK/WINTERFUEL OR 08459 151515. IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE A STATE BENEFIT OR A STATE PENSION AND THINK YOU SHOULD RECEIVE THE PAYMENT THEN CONTACT YOUR LOCAL WORKS AND PENSIONS OFFICE

NEW SERVICE

So that you can keep updated daily with all the news and comments on disability matters that you will eventually read more fully of in the Law and Benefit Review, our second website, provided by the Gloucestershire County Council, contains five web pages that are updated daily with news only hours after it has been reported. Don’t miss out, log onto
www.beehivethisisgloucestershire.co.uk today.

[3] FEWER TO PAY COST OF HOME CARE: Around 10,000 older and disabled people in Wales will benefit from changes to home care charges. 4000 people will no longer pay for their care at home and another 6000 will pay less for the care. These plans revealed by the First Minister in Swansea, Wales also include £600.000 for motorised wheelchairs.

This changes will mean that the amount of money people will be allowed to keep will increase from 25% to 35% above income support levels. Subject to consultation, these changes should begin in April 2007 and local authorities will be reimbursed by the Welsh Assembly for the costs incurred.

The changes will apply to all people who receives any home care and other non-residential social services for which they have been financially assessed by local authorities.

Both Wales and Scotland have or are tackling the problems of paying for home care by elderly ad disabled people and yet in England many such people still have the whole of their Severe Disablement Allowance taken away plus the care part of the Disability Living Allowance. Both Wales and Scotland use different criteria to those used in England which they call Independent Living at Home with the receiplements being looked after by employed cares. Presumably the schemes are a much of a much ness but excellent news no matter what the scheme is called so come on England, what about it! [care file]

[4] NHS DATABASE HACKERS: Half of all family doctors may refuse to put patient records on a Health Service database without their patients permission. The reason - the fear that the computer that is part of the of the NHS £20 billion IT upgrade will be vulnerable to hackers and unauthorised access from public officials and those from central government who wish to use the information to help to set up a database on all UK residents which we covered last month. Hospital doctors are also showing concerns about accessibility to the database which the NHS say is secure. [Gen. Feb. 07]

[5] RISK OF DRUG ERRORS: Are the elderly at risk of accidentally harming themselves by taking potentially lethal mixtures of medication? Research by Aberdeen University found that only 16% of elderly patients were receiving any help with taking their drugs. The survey of 695 elderly people aged between 78 and 85, all residing in sheltered accommodation, revealed that more than half took more than 5 different medications per day and one in 5 took at least 12 tablets a day. 14% were taking highly toxin medicines such as Warfarin, anti-inflammatory tablets, and blood pressure tablets were taken by more than half of the people surveyed which have a high risk of side effects.

It has been suggested that the risk of mistakes was increased by frequent changes in medication and routines. 1 in 10 said that their drugs - or instructions on how to take them had changed at least four times in twelve months. Many elderly people had no idea that they might be in danger, and the researchers claim that this is proof enough that elderly people are at risk of being harmed by a potentially lethal mixtures of medicines.

The survey says that between 1% and 2% of hospital admissions are related to adverse drug reactions many of which involve elderly people. GP’s and Pharmacists are being urged to review medication more often and provide more information which we at ‘Disability Matters’ feel is somewhat unfair as each medicine is required by law to be accompanied by the Patient Information Leaflet [PIL] and Gloucestershire NHS Trust doctors review medication with patients at these levels every three months.

What is confusing and what has not be mentioned in the review is the use of colouring of medication and packaging. The writer has in his medicine box as he writes, three different white tablets, two different blue/grey tablets and two different brown and white tables all doing different things. He has two different green boxes with white writing for Prednisolone or steroids and Atenolol and three different pink boxes for Ramipril, Nicorandi and Warfarin. Confusing? [Gen. Feb 07]

[6] SCOTLAND AND WALES NOW LEAD THE WAY: We at ‘Disability Matters’ have always thought that the Labour party commenced a hard hitting and decisive attack on improving conditions for the both the elderly and disabled - with some exceptions - as soon as they first came back into power, but recently new legislation is beginning to slow down but the Pensions White Paper and the dissolution of Incapacity Benefit Reform Act are still preceding.

Scotland are currently reviewing their Blue Badge Scheme regulations and Wales is proposing to give pensioners free rail travel and as our last two Law and Benefit Reviews have shown, the Scottish and Welsh Assembles are really getting up steam particularly with care, pensioners, free travel and housing. In this issue, the Welsh Assembly is hoping to introduce free rural travel for the elderly. [See articles 7 and 10 below]

[7] FREE RAIL TRAVEL FOR WALES?: The Welsh Assembly are proposing to introduce free rural rail travel for Welsh pensioners in 2007. A pilot project will run on rural stretches and on mostly little used lines followed by other openings if the scheme is successful.

It is hoped that the 530.000 bus passes now distributed to the over 60’s of Wales now will in the future cover bus and rail free travel in rural areas. Among the lines included in the initial trail is the world famous Blaenau Ffestiniog railway line. It will be interesting to see if non-Welsh over 60’s will benefit in the future from this scheme as there was a new Bill introduced in the last Queens Speech.

[8] WHAT DOES DISABILITY MEAN TO YOU?: PART ONE There are several definitions and meanings to the word ‘disability’ in UK Acts of Parliament, Regulations and Statutes who describe the word ‘disability’ as indicated here and in Part two due to be published in the April 2007 LBR whilst the Oxford English Dictionary describes ‘disability’ as “physical incapacity either congenital or caused by accident, injury, illness or disease or limiting a persons ability to work or lack of some asset, quality or attribute that prevents a person from doing something.

When describing what ’disability’ means in the medical profession, doctors and consultants look at the individuals impairment and what is causing it. Local Authority Adult Services too have their own interpretation of the word when applied to assessments and appear to use the assessment to see what an individual ‘can do’ and ‘cannot do’ in order to assess the individuals needs and hopeful provide help. Then there is the ‘social model of disability’ which has been determined by disabled people them selves to help them describe and take action against discrimination.

So what is ‘disability’? Disability may be described as a ‘restriction’ such as the movement of an arm or leg or even an ‘impairment’ which stops individuals from carrying out various tasks such as walking, bending, stretching, lifting, etc. Disability has also been described in some quarters as a ‘disadvantage’ which leads ‘society’ to treat it much like racism or sexism.

For us who are ‘disabled’ or ‘impaired’ the word ‘disability’ reflects a condition which we were born with, a condition which we have acquired in some way through an illness, decease, injury or as a result of an accident which effects the brain, organs, limbs or the body itself. It may cause pain which in itself is ‘disabling’, tiredness, the way we act, walk, talk, remember or move, all contribute towards the state of being ‘disabled’ in the eyes of the world.

[9] STAIR LIFT PRICES INCREASES: There are fears that the cost of installing a stair lift in your home may be heading upwards. Many if not all, suppliers are reluctant to quote a price for a stair lift over the telephone because of the many factors involved, the staircase shape, curves, disability of person using the lift, width of the staircase, power accessibility, etc. Prices now tend to range from between £2000 up to £7000 but some internet sites show £1375 for a straight no frills stair lift.

Unfortunately, there are people out there who ‘over-charge’ so the Lift and Escalator Industry Association are currently finalising a code of practise which should by now have been approved by the Office of Fair Trading and the British Healthcare Trades Association are also developing a similar code of practise which they say will keep prices down.

It is important that when a representative attends the premises where the stair lift is to be fitted that the ’rep’ talks to the user about his or her disabilities, measures the distance from the knee cap to the back of the seat and asks the weight of the user. It is always wise to have a 33 inch wide staircase for safety otherwise knees may knock against staircase posts causing injury but a minimum stair width is 29”. Operating buttons can be both ‘fixed’ and ‘wireless’ but the latter costs more and their are an assortment of seats, covers and style. The actual ’workings’ of the stair-lift vary very little but perhaps visually they are different. Do not accept the first price offered, shop around and if you find a price lower then ask the original people if they can match it. Colour matching is available so that the colour of the stair lift and seat may match the decor of your home. Always have somebody with you during the representatives interview to help you and please do not sign any documents or pass over money until you have spoken to a relative, social worker, carer or friend.

[10] WALES AT IT AGAIN: [a] Voices From Care Cymru are asking for a urgent review of the system that looks after children in care in Wales. Progress is being called for on six year old recommendations to improve the lives of the children and the first meeting is to take place shortly after the Welsh Assembly said that
the care issue was a ‘key priority’. £1m has been given to local authorities for support so far but clearly more is needed.

These concerns were sparked off after the 1990 child abuse case in a children's home in North Wales and former care children have spoken of their lives in care from being constantly moving about to, requiring more care needed from the local authorities and more advice after leaving care. Many children fall foul of the law and other suffer Mental Health problems. Surely it is has not taken from 1990 to 2007 for anything to be done?

As ever there’s a fly in the ointment, this time a legal one. Both the legal definitions of the words ‘free’ and disabled’ have to be established. For goodness sake there are at least three accepted definitions of the word ‘disability’ one only a few months old and reported in the Law and Benefit Review at the time. The regulations concerning the Blue Badge Parking Scheme also contain an accepted definition of the word and this has been around for some twenty years and finally the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 also has a definition for the word and we suggest this is the one to be adopted so please Welsh Assembly pay up if you are going to as you have £76 million package sitting in your bank account.

[11] CALLS FOR IMPROVED DEMENTIA CARE: Care for people with dementia in England and Wales must be more co-ordinated, with better access to specialist services so says the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. This advice is being over-shadowed by the decision to restrict the use of four drugs. More access is required to scans and memory assessment services and specialised clinics with Consultants to help treatment and diagnoses.

Carers are also recognised in the guidance as there are some one million carers helping to look after 750.000 people with dementia over half of whom also suffer from Alzheimers disease. NICE the charity says that carers should get their needs assessed by health and social care professionals and be given access to a variety of support including psycho-therapies.

The drugs which treats Alzheimers such as Aeicept and Reminyl have been refused by the government due to a cost £2.50 per tablet which has created uproar. NICE are awaiting a government response before they decide to push ahead with court proceedings to force the government into paying for the drug. The only reason why the drugs are being refused is because of the cost and yet at the same time that the government made this decision not to pay for these drugs, the Prime Minister was on the other side of the world giving away £1.5 million of aid. Doesn't charity begin at home Mr Blair?

[12] SUPPORT CALL FOR DISABLED PEOPLE: Scottish MSP’s are to call for a better deal for Scotland’s disabled, after an enquiry into their financial, educational and employment opportunities. A result of recent research at Holyrood revealed that 42% of households who have a disabled person in it had an income of less than £10,000 per annum. Less than half of all disabled people were in work and 58% had no qualifications.

Calls are now being made for both the government and local authorities to provide more support as the research highlighted the need for work to be found for disabled people and better access to education and leisure and for them to play a bigger part in life generally. The Scottish Executive has already accepted these recommendations, but part of the research as angered many people because it was not agreed that crimes against disabled people are a serious offence.

[13] LEGAL AID REVIEW: The Legal Aid Scheme which these days is called the ‘ Legal Aid Commission’ has undergone a review by the government in an attempt to save money. The new scheme is likely to dramatically reshape the legal aid scheme in England and Wales. For the ordinary person, it is often difficult to obtain legal aid unless you are a villain with hidden ascents all over the place or an immigrant, as ‘cuts’ in the budget were announced some three years ago.

The workings of the legal aid scheme are complex but basically legal representation was paid for by the hour now it is proposed that solicitors would bid for the work generated by a group of police stations where obviously most criminal defence work is to be found.

The legal profession is already opposing the changes as they say jobs would be lost and smaller firms of solicitors would go out of business as money is to be redirected from criminal legal aid to the under-funded civil law area and this is where the problem of obtaining legal aid has been hampered. This is long over-due and many disabled people fighting access issues have been denied funding to help them due to the financial restrictions placed upon on the fund.

We at ‘Disability Matters’ know of many disabled and elderly people who have been refused legal aid assistance even though they are only in receipt of state benefit or pension so that their endeavours to pursue a claim has been refused and consequently dropped despite the fact that any assessment will reveal that they are only in receipt of basic finance.

Applicants for funding under the scheme must meet a financial eligibility test which includes the likely hood of succeeding. How the first part of this equation prevents people on state benefits or pensions, which are hour on hour lower than the minimum wage, from being provided with funding to pursue a case in the courts is beyond us.

A private individual pursuing a claim against the 2002 killer of two small children in Soham, has been refused legal aid but at the same time, the convicted killer Huntley has received legal aid paid for by the tax payer to fight the case from his prison cell. The civil claims is a result of “being let down by every single level of criminal justice system” according to the claimant. Initially, Huntley has received £1000 which could be increase if the case proceeds. We were under the impression that anybody may qualify for funding from the system if their financial criteria is such that they cannot afford to fund their own actions and that they have a reasonable chance of success, but in reality this is not the case.

In 2006 alone, convicted criminals and ‘defendants’ charged with offences from murder and terrorism to human rights and health and safety issues have been granted legal aid which disabled people wishing to pursue access issues which have not undertaken by the Disability Rights Commission for one reason or another have received outright refusal from the Legal Aid Commission. Why? [Gen. Feb. 07]

[14] PLEA FOR FUNDING: Many vulnerable elderly people will be condemned to ‘isolation and dependency’ if the government fails to provide extra funding for care. Eights groups including Help the Aged, Carers UK, Age Concerns and the Kings Fund have sent a plea to the Chancellor for future funding.

There is a need to increase current funding to £24 billion by 2026 to keep up with the continuous increasing numbers of elderly people requiring care and this has been known for many years.The number of elderly and disabled people in need of care will reach unsupportable numbers unless funding is increased so why didn't the government plan for this? Currently, just over £10 billion a year is set aside for this care but unlike the NHS, it has not been given ‘bumper’ increases and has just about survived on 2% and 3% increases.

The ‘knock-on’ effect of this in-sufficient funding is that hospital wards are becoming blocked with patients awaiting a care home place to which to be transferred and the cost of the continued hospital care is being born by the NHS.

[15] COLD WEATHER PAYMENTS: Regular readers of our website will remember that we at ‘Disability Matters’ are campaigning to ensure that disabled and elderly people particularly in the South Cotswold receive cold weather payments when they are due. Last year, two weeks passed when the temperatures fell below 0C degrees for seven consecutive days but no payments were paid.

We have now heard from Mr Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP for the South Cotswolds that the Minister for the Department of Works and Pensions has agreed to re-valuate the measurements of temperatures in the South Cotswolds area which are currently under the control of the Metrological Office at Lynham [Wilts] some 15 miles away to the west which it has been proved, without doubt in our minds, is not recording the temperatures accurately enough in the South Cotswolds to generate cold weather payments so many hundreds of people have not received the payment which they are entitled to.

So far, the 2006/2007 winter has proved to be relatively mild with only four consecutive days when the temperature fell below 0C. ‘Disability Matters’ will be keeping a close eye on the temperatures, recording them at set times in the evening and morning when appropriate and submitting the evidence to the Minister and pressurising him to make the payment to those qualifying people who are entitled to it. In the meantime we are writing to the European Parliamentary representatives for their views on the matter as it is total unacceptable for cold weather payments not to be paid when the temperatures justify it. From what we can gather, any payments due this winter, 2006/2007, are unlikely to be paid, which is totally unacceptable. UPDATE: In early January 2007, daily temperatures in the South Cotswolds were recorded for four consecutive days and the temperature fell between -7C and -OC for 24 hours per day but then the temperatures raised again. On looking at the official metrological charts for the same period published by the government service, it was found that the temperatures shown on the weather maps failed to equal those found locally. Another example of the failings of the system. Look out for further updates.

[16] BENEFIT UPDATES: [a] Early Retirement: If you have taken early retirement and are paying voluntary national insurance contributions towards your state pensions to make up a shortfall in your contribution record, please be aware that if the proposals in the Governments White Paper comes into law, then you may be paying unnecessary.

HM Customs and Revenue should be writing to all people making these payments and if you have not received a letter then contact your local office for further information. The qualifying date is April 6 2010 when thirty years contributions should have been made.

[b] Incapacity Benefit: As from October 9 2006, the Incapacity
Benefit ‘linking’ rules have been extended from 52 to 104 weeks. These rules allow someone who starts work after being on Incapacity Benefit - as many may well be if the Welfare Reform Bill passes through parliament - to return to the benefit at the same rate as previously if they become incapable of work again with the period. of time.

In addition, people who move back onto benefit via. the ’linking’ rules will be able to re-qualify immediately for the ’linking’ rules to fall back into place rather than first having to spend some twenty-eight weeks on benefit.

[c] Earnings Limit: From October 1 2006, the weekly earnings limit for permitted work have increased from £81 to £86 per week.

[d] Claiming Pensions: In the future, claiming a state pension over the telephone will be quicker and simpler as there will be no need to sign a form. When ever possible, claimants will be informed of their provisional rate of entitlement by the end of the call. You should be asked if you wish to claim Pension Credit at the same time without having to repeat the information and again be informed on how much you may receive.

[e] Working Hours: Employees will be banned from working more than six hours without a break. The European Court has recently ruled that employees must ensure that staff take off at least 11 hours between working days, have a minimum of a day off per week as well as a twenty minutes rest break after every six hours of work. This ruling from the Court in Luxemburg brings the UK into line with the rest of Europe. The bad news is that employers will not apparently be obliged to ensure that workers actually take the minimum rest period. A recent case involving these changes allegedly resulted in a death of a person when two ambulances crews were on their rest breaks at the same time.

[f] Leave and Bank Holidays: It is being proposed that by October 2009, workers will get 28 days paid leave which will include eight bank holidays. Four of these will come into force in October 2007 with the other four being introduced from October 2008 to 2009.

[g] Care Homes Transparency: New regulations have been issued aimed at price transparency of Care Homes which came into force on September 1 2006. From then on Care Homes must:

[1] specify the fees payable for standard services offered by the home and the arrangements for paying such fees

[2] specify the arrangements for charging and paying for any additional services and provide a statement of whether services, terms and conditions and fees vary according to the source of funding for a persons care

[3] services, terms and conditions and fees vary according to the source of funding for the persons care

Care Homes have five working days to provide this information after it has been requested.

Care Homes are also to be subjected [at long last] to new ‘unannounced’ themed visits by inspectors to help improve the quality of food and prevent the overuse of sedatives. Hotel style ratings are also to be awarded so that residents and future residents or even relatives know what standard of care to be expected.

[h] Rights to Annual Leave: The UK government is to introduce legislation preventing employers counting Bank Holidays as part of employees annual leave. The UK government has legislated to give everyone the legal right to twenty-eight days annual leave in 1998, but many workers had to take Bank Holidays as part of their full entitlement. It is proposed that by October 2009, workers will get 28 days paid leave excluding the eight bank holidays.

[i] Tax Credits: From November 2006, the range of changes in circumstances that you need to report if you are receiving Tax Credits will increase to include changes in working hours to above or below 16 or 30 hours and any change in the number of children for whom the family can claim support.

[j] HM Revenue & Customs: For all of you who employ caring staff and pay taxation as NIC and Inland Revenue contributions, you should be aware that the rate of interest for late payments has been increased from September 3 2006 from 6.5% to 7.5% even though the base rate is only 4.75%. It is advisable to pay seven days before the money is due to avoid ’late payment’ charges. [Benefits. file]

[17] COUNCIL ORDER TO PAY FOR CARE: A local authority in Scotland has been ordered by a public service watchdog to reimburse the cost of a 90 years old free personal care. Argyll and Bute council said that a lack of funding meant it was unable to fund the man’s care between February and June 2006.

A complaint was laid by the mans son to the Public Services Executive after the Scottish Executive confirmed that the council had been given the money and that it had been spent on other matters. These revelations has raised serious concerns over policy implementation and a review is to take place concerning personal care.

It has been proved in the courts in England many times that it is no excuse for a local authority to say that they do not have sufficient funding to pay for somebody's care and it would appear to be the same North of the Boarder. It is the authorities responsibility to ensure that they have adequate resources to meet the needs of all elderly residents living independently at home.

[18] CREDIT CARDS/FREE PHONE CALLS ABROAD: We know that many of you that log on to this website are ex-police officers having read the review of ‘Disability Matters’ in the London Police Pensioner Review of December 2006 and we would like to pass on some interesting tit-bits. Many retired police officers have moved abroad, as indeed many other professional people do after retirement, but they have found difficulties in obtaining credit cards even though have opened bank accounts without any problem whatsoever. A website, www.opercentcreditcards.com has agreements with 110 credit card/banks to enable anyone resident outside the UK to apply for a 0% credit card on line.

[19] SKYPE: Who has heard of SKYPE? This free telephone system may be downloaded off the internet via www.skype.com and anybody may speak to anybody anywhere in the word and your neighbour via the internet for free. True - not a penny will it cost you so long as both the caller and receiver are connected up to SKYPE. We have several people from France, Jersey, Belgium and Spain in particularly who log onto LBR using Skype to speak to us. All you need is a computer and be connected to the internet and both you and the person you wish to speak to must have Skype to be able to speak to each other - not much to ask for to be able to speak to someone twenty two thousand miles away in Australia for free.

You will also need a simple USB telephone which is similar to a mobile which plugs into a USB port on the computer. These may be purchased from Tesco and other outlets for about £12.00. It is thought that this connection will be the future for ’phones.

[19] AGE DISCRIMINATION: Much provido has been paid of the Employment Equality [Age] Regulations 2006 which came into force on October 1 2006. The new legislation is much less than as anticipated although it gives some rights previously denied workers over 65.

The Regulations deal exclusively with equality in employment and yet the UK still does not have the concept of equality in goods and services as other EU countries have.

[20] POWER OF ATTORNEY: We have referred to this subject recently in our ‘Wills’ article in the December 2006 issue of the LBR. It has been drawn to our attention that a solicitor is not necessary when a Power of Attorney is drawn up but we think highly advisable. A form may be obtained from HM Stationary shops which fully explains what is necessary and does not include the cost of a solicitor. Yellow Pages has the telephone numbers of HM Stationary shops and be advised to order two copies of the form in case of error when completing it.

[21] CARE HOME PLEA AT NUMBER 10: A letter has been delivered to 10 Downing Street calling for laws to protect the rights of elderly people in council run care homes. During 2006, several incidents were reported of residents refusing to move out council care homes, going on hunger strike and locking themselves inside because ‘their home’ was being closed and ‘friends’, husbands and wives in same cases were being threatened with separation although this did not actually occur.

Claims have been made that thousands of care home residents are being forced into the private sector homes due to closures and indeed thousands of frail, disabled and vulnerable elderly people have been evicted from care homes and there are also sad reports of people dying within days of being moved due to the stress, trauma and upheaval from their former homes. 26.000 thousand people signed a petition calling for a Bill of Rights for all frail and elderly people who it is said have no redress or defence from being evicted from a care home.

In fairness to local authorities, it has been proved time and time again that it is cheaper to allow people to reside independently in their own homes with care supplied by the council and/or the Independent Living Fund, but many people prefer to make their homes in care homes whilst others chose to be looked after in their own properties.

[22] PENSIONERS GO HUNGRY TO PAY COUNCIL TAX: Two and half million pensioners face a daily financial crisis trying to balance their food intake compared to paying their council tax. The choice is to economise or cut back on food or heating or both and/or go into debt or borrow to pay their council tax. Other options are to cut out socialising and hobbies or their use of their car or even sell the vehicle.

Council tax rises more rapidly annually then the state pension and elderly people become more and more in arrears trying fruitlessly to keep up the payments. The band ‘D’ council tax currently stands at £1268 per annum whilst the state pension for single person is a mere £84.25 per week.

Two years ago, the Chancellor of The Exchequer gave pensioners £200 each to help with the payment of council tax. This vote catching ploy lasted one year and now Help the Age are trying to get him to re-introduce the payment permanently and annually.

Many people say that the current way of local taxation is unfair and we at ‘Disability Matters’ tend to agree because there must be thousands of pensioners who are just a half penny the wrong side of self support’ on the one hand and ‘state benefits’ on the other hand the latter of which give a savings figure limit after which no benefit may be claimed and these ‘limits’ vary from benefit to benefit. It is no wonder that those pensioners not on any state benefit and when council tax is paid cannot really afford to pay it. Secondly, no matter how many people reside in a single property, be it 10 or 1, the council tax remains the same. No body wishes to return to the days of the Poll Tax, a disaster thought up by the Conservative under Baroness Thatcher, but surely some consideration should be given to the number of people resident in a property and their financial income by assessment.

[23] BAILIFFS - UPDATE: In December 2006 we wrote an article on County Court Bailiffs following much criticism of the manner in which some Bailiffs operate. Now on the one hand the House of Lords wants to curb the powers of the Bailiffs and on the other hand present a Bill called the ‘Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill’ which will increase the powers of the Bailiff and at the same time do little to curtail the activities they have been accused of such as breaking into premises and indeed permit them to ‘lawfully’ break in premises using reasonable force. Words fail us.

[24] HOSPITALS FLEECE PATIENTS AND VISITORS by banning mobile phones from hospitals on the grounds of safety only to force them to use expensive bed side ‘phones. The Department of Health has said in a leaked report that there is no safety reasons why cell phones cannot be used generally unless used close to certain types of equipment being used at bed sides. It would appear that private hospitals have always allowed the use of ‘mobiles’ whilst NHS have banned them. Charging for hospital phones can be 75p per minute for incoming calls from landlines and 45p per minute from mobiles.

This is not say that cell phones should be freely available on hospital wards - what a nightmare having thirty different ringing tones going off throughout the day and night when somebody fails to switch the cursed thing off. A separate area away from sick and ill patients would suffice but not a general free for all in the wards surely. A Commons Health Select Committee have demanded a review on NHS hidden charges such as telephone and car parking charges.

Two years ago, the Law and Benefit Review published an article on the subject of telephone call charges at Cheltenham General Hospital after the editor received a BT telephone bill for ten days in hospital of over £200 plus VAT and found that the profit being made by the company who installed the bed-side system was unbelievable but necessary, according to the company, to pay for the equipment, maintenance and upkeep - profit didn't enter into it of course.

[25] DISABILITY EQUALITY SCHEME: Monday December 4th 2006 saw the launch of the Disability Equality Scheme for the Healthcare Commission, an action plan which sets out how they should ensure that disabled people are treated equally. A new law called the Disability Equality Duty, which complements the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, came into force on December 4 2006. This law requires all organisations across the public sector to act proactively on disability, and to remove barriers likely to have a negative impact on disabled people. The Disability Equality Scheme is a step towards developing disability equality as an essential central commitment of the Commission.

[26] COLD WEATHER PAYMENTS - UPDATE: We recently drew to the attention of the Parliamentary Under Secretary State at the Department of Works and Pensions via Mr Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP that many people in the South Cotswolds were not receiving cold weather payments when the outside temperature indicated that they should do.

The Under Secretary of State has agreed that the annual review of linking post codes to weather stations, in this case, GL7 mored closely to the Metrological station at Lynham, Wiltshire, should be included in this years [2007] review. We are not sure what is meant by this as Lynham is already the weather station responsible for recording temperatures below zero for seven consecutive days now. In the South Cotswolds during the winter of 2005/2006, two separate weeks produced qualifying temperatures but no cold weather payments were generated to qualifying people. This decision may affect qualifying temperatures over the winter of 2006/2007.

[27] SAFETY RULES MEANS THAT YOU MAY WALK TO THE AMBULANCE NOW: Well not yet, but may be soon as an ambulance crew in Bradford refused to carry a 82 year old lady up stairs quoting Health Safety rules prevented them from doing this even though their ambulance was presumably fitted with stretchers and carrying seats. The lady then had to shuffle herself up the stairs and along a corridor to her home all with a splint on her leg. The ambulance crew told the lady that the regulations and guidelines had prevented them from lifting people. A full enquiry is allegedly being carried out so avoid the area operated by the Yorkshire ambulance service for the time being as you may find you will have to lift yourself off the road after an accident and walk to the ambulance.

Unison, the trade union are looking after the interests of public service workers and are constantly harping on about the Health and Safety at Work Act 1994 to its members. Look at their website www.unison.org.uk to see what we mean. Police Community Support Officers have quoted it, now ambulance staff - whose next in the emergency services to cry ‘Health and Safety”. In fairness, our emergency services have carried out their duties impeccably as one would expect, but if Health and Safety appears now to be upper most in many of their minds, where does it leave the public in their pleas for 999 for help? Come on Unison, everybody realises that the safety of our public emergency services is paramount but dumping old ladies on door steps, PCSO’ s refusing to walk along unlit roads without pavements in the countryside?????

In addition to the 1994 Act, two other Acts of Parliament also look after the interest of employees, the Employment & Safety Information Act 1988 and the Offices, Shops & Factory Premises Act 1963 plus a host of Statutory Instruments or ‘regulations’.

UPDATE: Yet again, Health and Safety at Work has been used by ambulance crews this time in North London. Whilst two ambulance crews - presumably four trained crews - enjoyed their break laid down under new rules to comply with Health and Safety and European Working Time Directives, a dying man was unable to be assisted despite 999 calls. A single paramedic did finally attend the scene but the man was later pronounced dead later on his arrival at hospital.

What nonsense is this? ill thought out regulations -again - that appears to have caused an unnecessary death. These regulations do nothing for the excellent name that the men and women of our UK ambulance service have achieved. Through regulation alone, a death has apparently been caused by bureaucratic nonsense dreamed up in Brussels. Sure ambulance crews must have and are entitled to their breaks but not all at the same time?

[28] SCOTTISH DISABLED LADY CONNED: Edinburgh man, who conned a disabled woman out of £25,000 by pretending he would help her start up a taxi company, has three weeks to repay her. Taxi driver Scott Brunton, 36, of Redhall Crescent, befriended cerebral palsy sufferer Alison Walker before offering to start a business for her. Brunton pleaded guilty to taking £25,000 between January and May 2005. Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard how he spent the money on gambling. Sentence was deferred for repayment.

MOTORING NEWS

[a] ILLEGAL PARKERS SHOULD BE FINED: Fine, but whose going to do it? The legislation is in place but the manpower is not.

The Baywatch Scheme which ‘Disability Matters’ along with many other organisations supported has all but disappeared with only Mobilise now occasional referring to it. Various schemes introduced by the larger supermarkets have come and gone without any real effect on the problem whilst many local supermarket manager do nothing to tackle the problems which is plainly obvious to those of us who use supermarkets and whose main concerns appear to be the loss of customers and profit if the disabled parking bays were targeted with wheel clamps or similar prohibitions.

The website www.motorinsurance.co.uk is currently commenting upon the problem of disabled parking spaces being used by motorist who should no better. Most ambulant motorist think that people who park in supermarket spaces reserved for disabled drivers and that the fine should be much tougher. 7% of drivers park unlawfully in disabled spaces and toddler bays according to the website and 85% of drivers would not use them for parking. 77% of drivers said offenders should be penalised and 56% said that offenders should be clamped. 27% of ambulant drivers said that often supermarket car parking spaces were to small and that could be a reason why the disabled and toddler bays were used.

Very fair comment as from my experience if your have say twenty parking bays reserved for disabled drivers, some three or four of the vehicles will have no blue badge displayed. Supermarkets who do not effectively ‘police’ their disabled parking spaces could be in breach of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 as they are not taking the terms of the Act into account but so far nobody yet has pursued this line of action. If legislation is in place for breaches of both ‘on’ and ‘off’ road disabled parking spaces but is not actively pursued, the supermarkets own efforts to deal with the problem fails and Baywatch, which was much publicised and supported by supermarket chains is now a ‘has been’ where does the answer lay?

Two suggestions, increase the power of the legislation to cover disabled parking bays, in supermarkets, private car parking spaces, off street and multi-storey car parks, all disabled parking bays located in public places, railway stations, airports, hospitals, sea ports infact anywhere there is a parking bay marked in accordance with the current or amended regulations for the sole use of a disabled driver in possession of a valid blue badge by increasing the fines to say £80.00 by the issuing of a fixed penalty ticket automatically and/or clamping the vehicle so long as the appropriate signing and warnings are displayed. How long then will it take these arrogant drivers to get the message that they are not allowed to park in a bay reserved for genuine disabled drivers?

The second suggestion is to extend schemes such as many hospitals and Waitrose plc and Cirencester hospital are now using in Cirencester by the use of a private car parking company who are located on site and patrol the bays and issue fines where appropriate. If these two institutions can do it why can’t the likes of Tesco and others as they are making enough profit to be able to with hardly a dent in their profits but with disabled drivers - also their customers - should be able to park in bays reserved for them. [Motoring file]

[b] FINGERPRINTS ON THE MOVE: In the increasing UK police state that we appear to be living in, the majority of law biding motorist are to be subjected to having their fingerprints taken if stopped by the police, if the driver cannot positively identify himself by producing a driving licence or similar document.

Whilst identifying yourself, your cars registration number will be scanned by a special camera to check its authenticity and whether the vehicle is insured or not. All this is due allegedly to 60% of drivers failing to give their correct details to the police when stopped. The fingerprints can only be provided with the drivers permission - what the police will do if a refusal is given we do not know - arrest the driver I suppose.

This use of a sledge hammer to crack a nut plus the expense of all the equipment required to take and check the fingerprints when police forces are for ever shouting for more money has once again been subjected to over-reaction when other methods are available. How about simply changing the law and making it compulsory, as in every other EU country except three, for drivers to carry all their documents, driving licence, insurance note and MOT if applicable with them in the car. What’s hard about that instead of the indignity of having your fingerprints taken electronically at the road side. No documents - then take the finger prints and issue a FPN for failing to carry the documents. Whilst I am not applauding the carrying of ID cards - would this not be a plus point for them for identifying drivers and make it an offence not carry the cards/documents - none of this pussy footing around as the government are saying that such a scheme for Identification Cards would be voluntary - what good is that? [motoring file]

[c] GOVERNMENT/LOCAL AUTHORITY RAMPAGE: Eighteen months ago, congestion charges were in their infancy, the ‘dustbin police’ were unheard of, vehicle emission paranoia was beginning to be discussed and local authority residential parking was based on road capacity. Now all hell has broken loose.

Congestion charging outside towns and cities is now a fact in many places along the M25 and is sure to spread. Road-charging is on the brink of being proposed. Everybody from central government to local authorities are jumping on the motorist - again - to see how much more they are prepared to pay for the privilege of driving a car on a public road. Huge increases in vehicle excise taxation for some 4 x 4’s owners which is already back-firing, as a recent 3 year survey revealed that far smaller vehicles have been found to have CO2 emission higher than the measure being used to calculate the increased charges. Congestion Charges are increasing up to £25 per vehicle per day for some vehicles in London, on-street parking residential parking increasing generally but of course higher charges for higher emission vehicles. Two and three car families who use the road to park on outside their homes will face additional charging as the CO2 emissions of all their vehicles could be combined and taken into account for the residential parking charge.

[d] INCREASE IN TRAFFIC FLOWS: The Department of Transport has forecasted that traffic on UK roads will increase by 30% in the next 10 years and between 40% and 50% on motorways. Can you imagine the states of the M4, M5 and M6 with these increases during rush hour periods. How many more people or cars can these islands consume?

[e] SPEEDS REDUCED: As from January 2007, so-called white van drivers vehicles are to be reduced to driving a maximum of 56 mph by the use of speed inhibitors fitted to the engines. Vans weighing between 3.5 and 12 tonnes will also be reduced to 56 mph and will be banned from the outside lanes of motorways. The problem with doing this is that each vehicle will be driving at the same speed causing congestion on motorways with possibly two lanes containing vehicles restricted to 56 mph in long lines.

Vehicles affected will exclude basic Ford Transits, Mercedes Sprinters and some minibuses so we will still have the lunatic fringe of white van drivers rushing up behind us dangerously as fast as they can on ‘M’ routes and flashing their headlights forcing you to pull over. NOTE: There are rumours that motorway speed limits are to be increased to 80 mph!

[f] DVLC: This government office in South Wales may be used on line to apply for a new vehicle excise licence or make a Statutory Off Road Notice or SORN. The website www.direct.gov.uk or 0870 850 4444 may be used for these purposes. Payment by credit card are used whilst checks are made during the application to ascertain if the vehicle has a minimum third party current insurance and test certificate. Some vehicles such as ‘private light goods’ vehicles or PLG may use this system subject to a the holding of a computerised MOT certificate.

[g] TWO YEAR MOT’S: The Chancellor of The Exchequer has announced a reform of the MOT system in the UK in the ending of the annual MOT test for a two year test instead. This means that new cars will have a four year MOT free period. It is estimated that an average MOT costs £50.35 per test. These changes fall in line with EU standards.

[h] SATELLITE NAVIGATION/RADAR DETECTORS: These Christmas presents have again become the number one theft from parked and unattended vehicles. When leaving your vehicle unattended, always remove the complete system, the detection device, its cradle and wiring from the windscreen and at the same time remove the tell-tail sucker marks buy wiping the windscreen as these are a sure give way that such a device is being used even though it might not be visible. Insurance companies recommend that the devices are removed from the car completely for safety as some insurance companies are not paying out for the thefts of these devices left attended in vehicles in the same way that claims for lap tops left visible in vehicles unattended are also beginning to be refused. Note the serial number and issue numbers of the detectors and navigators and keep them safe and also post code mark them and ensure that your inform you insurance company about them as it is easy to have a radar detector and satellite navigation system that jointly cost more than £1000, the limit for insurance companies without them being informed.

[I] NATIONAL ROAD TOLLS: This plague is said now to be only ten years away according to media reports although pilot schemes are already in operation in some major towns. The increasing number of vehicles on UK roads has risen to 33 million from 26 million in 1997.

Whilst something has to be positively carried out to improve the conditions that we all have to drive in, simply using taxation is not the sensible answer without an alternative means of transport. Rural and country areas cannot exist without ‘the car’ due to the almost total lack of public transport or a very limited public transport system. Such areas will be seriously financially comprised as it will mean that each and every time drivers wish to go out in their vehicles they will have to pay a ‘road users’ tax which is grossly unfair as the government should be providing transport of one sort of another rather than ’stealth taxing’ the motorist out of more money.

Disabled, elderly people and low income families will of course suffer most of all if road tolls are introduced unless some compensation is to be afforded them and ‘Disability Matters’ is determined that some scheme is introduced for them. Parents taking and collecting children of school age from school will be driving at peak time and therefore will be subject to the highest rate of taxation. Has the Government thought of this or are they just blundering along as per normal so long as they receive the money for the coffers. [Motoring file]

[j] RE-TAKING OF DRIVING TESTS: The European Union are proposing to link all driving tests throughout the EU by 2008 so that everybody will take a second driving test after ten years of driving and then a further test after twenty years, thirty years and so on. The object of this is to ensure that people are fit to drive, the older they become the less likely they are to be fit. Eye sight is the major problem - can you read a number plate at 20 meters away - if you cannot you should not be driving. Suffers from diabetes, angina and those fitted with a pacemaker will be compelled to take a medical test before driving again. A recent eye-sight test at a M4 service area revealed that hundreds of people failed the basic eye sight test.
The Department of Transport say they were going to introduce ten years licences or ‘driving permits’ as the EU names them from 2008 onwards anyway to ensure that drivers photographs remain updated.

[k] ITEM 4: We at ‘Disability Matters’ have made seven pledges to assist in anyway we can on these issues. [see ’Disability Matters’ aims for 2007]. We have already written to DPTAC, the government advisors at the Department of Transport on blue badge issues concerning the deployable state of affairs of the UK blue badge system suggesting that drastic changes must be introduced before the whole scheme collapses under the strain of fraud, theft, abuse and misuse. We await DPTACS response.

TRAVEL

[a] On the back of so-called ‘green’ levy’s on household waste, ‘congestion charging’ and ‘pay as you go’ or ‘road charging’ instigated by the Chancellor of The Exchequer in December 2006, he has now added an additional ‘green’ taxation to air tickets, charging from £10 to £100 plus to passengers air tickets depending on how far they intend to fly. At the same time, a suggestion by the writer of the Eddington report concerning ‘road charging’ wants rail companies to introduce a peak time penalty to their rail travellers. So, in one stroke, the general public travelling on business or pleasure to work or vocation by which ever means of transport they choose, aircraft, train or car, will be financially hit and hit hard in their pockets. So which ever way the passenger turns, from rail to car, car to rail, rail to airline, airline to rail, etc. travellers will have to pay considerably more to travel whilst incomes remain in line with inflation. The Pre-Budget Speech in December 2006 announced these ‘green taxes’ on fights to EU countries as from £10 to £40 and on long hauls - anything up to £100 plus, the further you travel the higher the tax. We wonder on what all the money collected will end up being spent on?

[b] DUTY FREE LIMIT DOUBLES: The current duty free rules are to be slightly relaxed allowing holiday and business travellers to outside the EU to bring back goods to value of £290.00 or 430 euros before VAT is applied. The rates only apply to air passengers. If you re travelling back into the UK by rail or car then the increases are somewhat reduced to £200 or 300 euros - all very generous.

Please do not get caught out on the ferry’s crossing the English channel as HM Revenue and Customs delight in stopping vans and cars full of alcoholic drink, counting the load and either fining the occupants or seizing the load and the car as well. Your upper limit of the import of goods into the UK is £200 or the duty free allowance, which ever is the greater. [Gen Feb 07]

[c] NEW CELL PHONE SIM CARD: British Airways have introduced a new sim card that allows you to receive free calls in more than 80 countries on your mobiles which are normally paid for by you at high rates. The simcards come with £10 credit which can then be topped up on-line at www.bagiftshop.com. The bad news is that the simcards can only be purchased on board BA flights.

TRAVEL NEWS

[a] YOUR FINGERPRINTS WILL END UP WITH THE F.B.I. if you are entering the United States of America on vocation or business following an increase in their security regulations for all flights from the United Kingdom. Currently just two fingerprints are taken from passengers entering the USA at all airports and kept on file locally but now full sets of fingerprints will be taken and run against the F.B.I. database prior to your entry into the country. The fingerprints will then be retained on the database along with all USA criminals.

These new regulations are causing even longer times to pass through US Immigration check points and appears to include people of all ages. There are no exceptions for children in the information we have received. Civil Rights campaigners are up in arms about the regulations and it maybe that the rules may be challenged in court as a breach of Human Rights. What happens if you refuse to provide your fingerprints - well, it looks like you will be refused entry which in itself requires some justification as even if American criminal refuses to give his/her fingerprints he can be forced to as in the UK by a court order being issued to obtain the fingerprints.

[b] DEMANDS ARE BEING MADE BY SOME AIRLINES: for the increased passenger ‘green-tax’ announced by The Chancellor of The Exchequer in December 2006 before the new rules are due to come into effect on February 1 2007.

No flights, paid for in advance are subject to this increased taxation so refuse to pay it. All flights taking off after February 1 are subject to the increased passenger tax which varies in amount to the distance being flown, any thing from £10.00 to £140.00 for a return trip even if they were booked and paid for before the new regulations were announced. Take care that airlines do not take the extra charge from the credit cardd you used to pay for air tickets, This is a very ‘grey’ area - do the airlines have the legal right to use your credit card in this way without you express permission?

EURO-NEWS

EUROPEAN PATIENTS RIGHTS CHARTER The EU have commenced a cross-border health services consultation which is to include patients rights and mobility.

Calls are being made so that patients should not be left to wait for appointments but be allowed to seek out alternatives where ever in Europe they can be found. Many people tired of waiting for appointments month after month are already finding alternative means to have treatment but who pays for the healthcare and whose countries rules apply have still not been answered. Several UK citizens have already travelled to France and Germany having given the NHS due warning that unless their operation was carried out with a specified time they would seek redress outside the UK and require the NHS to pay for the treatment. We are following up the seeking of medical attention aboard after the ’failings’ of the NHS and the result we be reported in a forthcoming Law and Benefit Review.

Draft regulations which will be put forward next year, will address these issues. What is hoped to be achieved is a uniformed package all over the EU. Currently, health regulations vary from country to country so cases of malpractice or medical error are dealt with differently often with much to the detriment of patients.

There is a need for a uniform EU-wide procedure with each EU state respecting each others competence to decide how to organise and finance their health systems, safety and quality of the medial care provided in the internal market thus ensuring high levels of health professionalism for EU citizens. Set compensation rules must also be enshrined in any European Charter.

MEP Liz Lynn, a Liberal Demcrate UK politician is taking a leading part in this matter and who often works on the behalf of disabled people.

UN ADOPTS DISABILITY CONVENTIONS: The United Nations General Assembly have adopted unanimously a treaty on the rights of disabled people. All the countries that ratify it will have to introduce laws ensuring that disabled people are treated fairly. It will take twenty countries to ratify the treaty so that it will come into force. It will now be up to 192 member states of the UN to ratify the convention and begin to put in to practice. The European Union who have also agreed new rights for disabled people in EU countries, will sign the treaty as a legal entity - a first in the field of human rights.

The UN convention sets out in detail the rights of disabled people and covers civil and political rights, accessibility, participation and inclusion, education, health, employment and social protection. The treaty also recognises that attitudes need to change if disabled people are to achieve equity.

All to often, disabled people have appeared to have enjoyed the same rights as others but in real life matters have been somewhat different. The countries that adopt the treaty will have to repeal laws, customs and practices that discriminate against disabled people. In some countries this will be extremely difficult or indeed impossible but such counties are unfortunately not expected to sign the treaty.

Disabled people who find that they cannot achieve anything within their own country to deal with problems such as accessibility or discrimination, will have the right to petition the Committee on Rights of Persons with Disabilities once they have exhausted all the avenues within their own country.

WESTMINSTER
The following proposed legislation is currently subjected to Parliamentary procedures.

Welfare Reform Bill, Disabled Persons [Independent Living] Bill, Assisted Dying for the Terminally ill.
Details of the progress of these and other Bills may be obtained by logging onto www.publications.parliament.uk

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FEBRUARY 1 2007

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