Your Choice Barnet, that provides services for adults with learning and physical disabilities. Your Choice Barnet Ltd (YCB) began operating as a Local Authority Trading Company (LATC) in February 2012 and 100% owned by Barnet Council. In February 2013 a year after its creation Your Choice Barnet, was in serious financial difficulties and as a result, it looked to make savings by cutting staff terms and conditions and reduce staffing levels in some of the social care settings. It also received a £1 million bail out from Barnet Homes requiring a 6% interest repayment. A significant number of loyal hard working care staff were made redundant last year as a result of this cut which has led to an increase in agency staff delivering services. In January 2014, Your Choice Barnet were still in a financial crisis and stated they needed to cut the staff bill by a further £400,000. It is obvious to everyone that the ongoing attack on the terms & conditions of care staff will ultimately lead to: • fewer stimulating activities in a safe environment for adults with disabilities in Barnet. • fewer staff to work with adults with vulnerable disabilities in Barnet. • less supervision of, training and support for remaining skilled staff. • loss of professional staff and lower morale and motivation among remaining staff. • negative impact on staff health and well-being, with a knock-on impact on service quality. Both the Francis Inquiry into Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust and the Winterbourne View abuse scandal highlighted the shocking results of employing unskilled and unsupervised staff. I note in a recent article http://www.conservativehome.com/localgovernment/2014/03/maude-praises-the-barnet-formula.html you have been extolling the virtues of mass outsourcing “Our approach is already paying dividends, by allowing us to cut Council Tax bills to all residents next year.” Surely you must concede that instead of making a gesture of funding a tax cut, which will save a Band D taxpayer all of 26p a week; the money would have been better spent on ensuring safe and quality services for adults with disabilities. In another article http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/barnet_can_make_future_council_tax_cuts_due_to_one_barnet_outsourcing_says_westminster_finance_chief_1_3429038 you are quoted as saying: “We’ve made enough savings via the One Barnet programme so that we can meet our budget and distribute the money saved, back to the community.” In which case why are you not ensuring the savings you are referring to are redirected to Your Choice Barnet?

Access to Work isn't a benefit and doesn't incur a cost to government - in fact it brings money into the treasury, yet Deaf and disabled people are having their support allowance capped or cuts made (meaning they can no longer afford to use qualified interpreters or the support they need). This places jobs at risk and has already resulted in job losses and demotions. People currently in work are potentially being forced out of work and onto benefits, which goes against everything the government is telling us they are trying to achieve. Deaf and disabled people bring a vast amount of skill and talent to our workforce that we can't afford to lose. We want to ensure that full support is provided, and people are enabled to gain, maintain and progress in their chosen careers. Personal choice and control needs to be handed back to the experts on Deaf and disabled access needs in the workplace - the individual Deaf and disabled people who use the scheme We want to ensure Deaf and disabled people are not subjected to a glass ceiling due to lack of support.

Boris Johnson wanted to cut £45 million over two years from the fire service. To save £28.8 million in 2014, on 9 January 2014 he decimated the London Fire Brigade, closing Belsize, Bow, Clerkenwell, Downham, Kingsland, Knightsbridge, Silvertown, Southwark, Westminster and Woolwich Fire Stations. As part of this austerity drive, he also cut 552 firefighter positions, 14 fire engines and 2 FRUs. Westminster for example has lost its 109 year old fire station - and now uses Lambeth’s instead, over the river. Is it fair that Lambeth taxpayers fund a service used by Westminster? And that world heritage sites, like Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Cathedral as well as tourists and taxpayers are left without emergency protection, with only two bridges into Westminster from Lambeth? Five of the ten closed by the Mayor are Grade 2 listed buildings. And a 6th is just behind Harrods. Others, like Kingsland and Silvertown, are located in areas where property values are rising dramatically (due to to projects like Crossrail and the Mayor's Royal Albert Docks development). This is not about saving money, as the Mayor has found public money to fund vanity projects such as the 'not so public' Garden Bridge (£60 million in public money), the Emirates Air Line and the Barclays Bike Scheme. Closing and selling these fire stations is like selling the family silver to gain a one-off windfall. Southwark Fire Station alone was valued at £10 million in 2010. Once they are sold into private ownership, taxpayers will never be able to get them back. We won’t be able to afford them. And we can’t afford to lose them either. Boris Johnson stated that fire incidence is down (which is disputable). Firefighters do more than fight fires. Recent events like the gas explosion in Marylebone remind us of that. They educate us (and save lives as a result). They assess risks in our homes (for free).They are the ones who will cut you out of your car when you have a road traffic accident. They are our first response when terrorists attack as was the case in 7/7 in 2005. They rush in to the underground or train stations when smoke is pouring out. They have an arson investigation unit. They do voluntary work within the community. They train locally and have local knowledge, like learning where the disabled live or knowing their way around housing estates; all this local knowledge has been dispersed through the closures. Response times have increased and insurance premiums with them due to the reduced fire coverage. All to save the price of a few cups of coffee. An annual increase of £5 on council tax would have prevented the closures. Our communities will be poorer and more vulnerable if we lose these fire stations forever. Please do not let that happen. Please sign and share the petition. And let the Mayor know that what he is doing is dangerous...

Under the new qualifier, if you can walk from your vehicle to the other side of the road, you probably won't qualify for Higher Mobility Allowance! My Motability vehicle is my contact with the outside world. I can't use public transport, and would therefore be dependent on the goodwill of others. Many thousands are in this position, and would be trapped in their homes or deprived of the allowance under the current legislation. I have a degenerative condition of the spine. As things currently stand I would not qualify for the higher mobility allowance because it is deemed that by walking 20 metres you have sufficient mobility and therefore do not qualify. This is obviously not true. My condition means that it can be difficult to walk those distances. But under the rules as they stand I would not qualify. This will have a huge impact on my life, my wife and children. I was eligible for an adapted car, but under these news rules it may be that I don't qualify. There are countless people like me, facing losing mobility assistance and becoming prisoners in their own homes. The government must rethink this rule change.

I am sure many of you are aware of the measures that the Govt has in place to root out the supposed fraudsters claiming Disability and Sickness Benefits. Samuel Miller has taken the time to make a complaint on behalf of the British People and has provided a long list of links to support this. If a Canadian is going to put the effort into helping us, surely we need to speak up with him. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has investigated the United Kingdom Government. Their report, released on 24th of April 2024, shows the committee is appalled by reports of deaths linked to benefit claims that it says have a disturbingly consistent theme. (https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRPD%2FC%2FGBR%2FFUIR%2F1&Lang=en) Further, a Freedom of Information Request made by The Big Issue in 2023 showed that in the last 10 years, £350m has been spent trying to uphold decisions made by the DWP regarding Personal Independence Payment and that 68% are then overturned at Tribunal. This suggests a possible £320m waste of money. (https://www.bigissue.com/news/social-justice/disability-benefit-appeals-pip-universal-credit-cost-dwp/ )  In addition, According to an interim Parliamentary Report on Suicides, one suicide is estimated to cost £1.67m. (https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmhealth/300/30005.htm) and according to research carried out by Professor Barr, which was presented to The Commons Work and Pensions Committee “the work capability assessment (WCA) was linked to about 600 suicides in just three years.” (https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/dwp-ignored-hugely-alarming-research-that-linked-wca-with-600-suicides-mps-are-told/ ). Thus, the 600 suicides over a three year period has cost Britain £1,002,000,000 or £334m per year. Sadly, according to the Interim Report on Suicide Prevention “those who have lost a loved one due to suicide are more likely to commit suicide” and that for every suicide, a “minimum of six people will suffer a severe impact”. That is a potential minimum of 3600 families and friends affected by a suicide who will try and seek help from their GP etc, adding further costs that may not be recognised by The Government. Unfortunately, Professor Barr said it was not possible to examine the impact of universal credit on mental health, and whether it had also led to suicides, because DWP was refusing to release the data needed to carry out that research “when it is within its power to do that and it would be possible to assess those impacts”. Another complainant, Craig Bulman, has said that "The persistent cruelty of the government has driven me to submit the UN report to the International Criminal Court. I contend that these actions may constitute crimes against humanity as defined under Article 7 of the Rome Statute and the International Criminal Court Act 2001, Schedule 8, Article 7. It is my sincere hope that the International Criminal Court will consider launching an investigation into the actions of the United Kingdom Government from 2010 to 2024. Such behaviour is wholly unacceptable in a civilised and democratic society. We, as a democracy, pride ourselves on upholding the rule of law—a cornerstone of our values—and it is utterly inconceivable that any agency or government department could justify conduct that inflicts profound harm on vulnerable populations. This is not the standard of governance we expect, nor should it ever be tolerated."   "Since 2010, successive Conservative governments in the UK have orchestrated policies that not only marginalised but systematically dismantled the safety nets for the disabled and vulnerable. This severe and sustained assault has led to unprecedented scrutiny from the United Nations, marking the first time a member state was investigated for potential human rights violations against disabled persons. The UN's damning findings echoed the chilling narratives captured in John Pring’s pivotal book, 'The Department,' which lays bare the harsh realities and sometimes fatal consequences of these policies that have not just failed but actively harmed those most in need of protection, exposing disturbing truth about The Government’s responsibility and the real human costs of austerity." If you would like to make your own complaint to the ICC, and submit evidence, you can do so using this link https://otplink.icc-cpi.int  While you have your health, none of this matters. One simple mishap could expose you to this chaos. Please share this Petition as much as possible.  http://blacktrianglecampaign.org/2012/09/23/united-kingdom-government-denounced-for-crimes-against-disabled-people-to-international-criminal-court-in-the-hague/ UNCRPD investigates UK Govt  https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/oct/20/un-inquiry-uk-disability-rights-violations-cprd-welfare-cuts Ian Duncan Smith and Chris Grayling reported to Police over fitness to work tests. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/iain-duncan-smith-police-assessing-possible-investigation-into-dwp-ministers-over-fit-to-work-tests-a7020471.html UN probe into Disabled Human Rights violations http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/homenews/13648683.Revealed__contents_of_dossier_which_sparked_UN_probe_over_disabled__human_rights_violations_/?ref=twtrec Did David Cameron admit multiple murders to Andrew Marr? http://voxpoliticalonline.com/2015/04/20/did-david-cameron-admit-multiple-murders-to-andrew-marr/ Why the U.K. Government Has Failed the Disabled Community http://www.newsweek.com/uk-government-has-failed-disabled-community-461517 The increasing death toll due to the loss of benefits. Telling it as it is https://mzolobajluk.wordpress.com/2015/09/14/the-increasing-death-toll-due-to-the-loss-of-benefits/ The Mirror "Tory Welfare Cuts grossly violated rights of disabled people" says the UNhttp://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tory-welfare-cuts-gravely-violated-9215742 "Ken Loach's Film is not true to life" comment reposted from original article by fairer society. http://www.afairersociety.uk/2016/11/07/its-a-fact-ken-loachs-film-is-not-true-to-life-it-doesnt-show-how-bad-it-really-is/ UN urged to act after Conservative Government refuses to act http://voxpoliticalonline.com/2016/11/13/un-urged-to-act-after-conservative-government-dismisses-report-on-disability/