KAREN ANDERSON: Back into the Universal Credit maze with son's long-term wellbeing in mind
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I can’t work out what on the Government are trying to do with the Rwanda policy for what they deem as illegal immigration. I know it is an election year, and they are trying to do big stuff that catches the eye and wins votes, but who are the people who would decide that’s their choice in the ballot box based on this intensely flawed policy?
When you think of all the money that has been invested in this thing so far with not one person having been sent to Rwanda, it can only seem like they are on a mission of some sort to make it work no matter what so that they don’t have to stand in front of the electorate and admit they got it wrong.
However, if you think about all the times over the last few years that they were approached for funding for all sorts of genuinely needed local policies and we were told that there was “no magic money tree”, it seems somewhat difficult to grasp where the priorities of the people we have in power sit when it comes to who gets what out of the coffers.
'The percentage of fraudulent benefits claimants in this country is vanishingly small – less than 1 per cent, and far less than what is lost to errors by the administration. But to listen to the rhetoric about Rwanda, you would suppose that the boats that cross the channel are filled with chancers with pound signs in their eyes. Nope. Mostly desperate people in search of a better life who have been exploited by the people traffickers. So, is it really a policy that gets your vote?'
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Why aren’t there policies in place that support people in lower paid jobs at source, topping up their wages or giving tax breaks so they can provide for their families without having to go to a food bank in the first place? I heard a volunteer on the telly the other day saying that they wished they didn’t have any customers as that would mean folk were properly supported. Revolutionary!
Although I have claimed a benefit for the boy since he was diagnosed with autism, I hadn’t gone down the road of Universal Credit or employment support as the process of interviews and everything that it entails is so terrifying for him that the risk to reward equation always came down on the side of ‘let’s not’, and luckily, I have always been able to manage financially.
Recently, owing to a change in my circumstances, I have had to gather my strength and head into the UC maze. Thankfully, the initial online form filling was OK, and the Jobcentre staff in Dingwall have been excellent to deal with, but the main reason that things have gone relatively smoothly is that approaching age 16 when he had the option to take control of his own benefits, he couldn’t handle it and I had to step in and be interviewed and approved as his official appointee. This has enabled me to act on his behalf over the last six years and meant that I was in the system and could deal with everything for him in this latest claim.
With the support of his doctors, and my advocacy, we have negotiated stage one and been accepted for UC, now we are working on the next stage to obtain the enhancement for his disability. It’s not easy, but essential and will support him when I am no longer able to – hopefully many years in the future.
The percentage of fraudulent benefits claimants in this country is vanishingly small – less than 1 per cent, and far less than what is lost to errors by the administration. But to listen to the rhetoric about Rwanda, you would suppose that the boats that cross the channel are filled with chancers with pound signs in their eyes. Nope. Mostly desperate people in search of a better life who have been exploited by the people traffickers. So, is it really a policy that gets your vote?
Karen is Mum to an autistic son in his twenties and campaigns for the rights of unpaid carers to be supported in their caring role and involved in the decisions that affect their lives and the lives of the people they care for. You can find her on twitter and Instagram @Karen4Carers.
