Newham parents tell minister of benefit concerns
PARENTS of disabled children from across Newham came together to lobby a Government minister over changes to benefits.
More than 30 concerned carers met MP Maria Miller, the Conservative minister for disabled people, at St Mark’s Community Centre in Beckton.
The Coalition Government is currently consulting over plans to replace Disability Living Allowance with a new Personal Independence Payment.
The meeting at the Tollgate Road centre was organised by Newham-based support group One Voice 4 Parents, and supported by Save the Children UK, to ensure those from the borough were able to have their say.
There were also workshops and role play exercises aimed at highlighting the problems faced and identifying potential solutions.
You may also want to watch:
During a 20-minute question and answer session with the minister, parents and carers raised concerned about the lack a lack of publicity and the complexity of the application process.
One Voice 4 Parents spokeswoman Denise Hazel said: “We hope the Government’s plans for a ‘Big Society’ will include opportunities for parents and carers to help design and implement any new benefit.”
Most Read
- 1 Changes to controversial Newham parking scheme announced
- 2 'Clearly insufficient' - Canning Town teacher in charge of foodbank talks free school meal hampers
- 3 Violent gang stuff sock in elderly woman's mouth and steal her jewellery
- 4 Police appeal for help after woman raped in Beckton
- 5 NHS nurse assaulted at east London hospital
- 6 Police release image after teenager stabbed in Forest Gate robbery
- 7 Tributes to Newham cop who died after positive Covid-19 test
- 8 Council rents offices to ambulance service to save money
- 9 Arrests after girl, 16, falls onto tracks at King George V DLR
- 10 Double murder accused remanded in custody over ‘brutal’ stabbings
Mrs Miller promised to “cut red tape” without cutting the cash families are entitled to, and said feedback from local groups was important to the ongoing consultaiton.
“We are talking about trying to get the cost under control, but keeping spending at the same level as it was last year,” she said.
She added: “The forms are so complex that we now have a website on how to fill them in.
“That cannot be right, and it’s got to be simpler.
“Our main objective is to make the system fairer and more straightforward.”
The consultation over DLA reform runs until February 14. Responses and comments can be submitted via the Department for Work and Pensions website at www.dwp.gov.uk