Thursday 21 October 2010

Concerns for the blind after Governement Spending Review

Yesterday's Government Spending review has raised concerns about the welfare of vulnerable members of society, including the blind and visually impaired.

It is a known fact that blind and VI people have great difficulty in finding work due to employers reluctance to employ them and the limited number of jobs they are able to do.  A 12 month cap on the receipt of Contribution Based Employment Support Allowance (ESA) means that many disabled people's benefits will be cut after a year despite the disadvantages they have over fully sighted job seekers.

The"savings" suggest that the elegibilty for DLA may become more difficult to achieve, meaning many will lose out on the support in care and mobility that is essential to an acceptable standard of living.

With local authorities reduction in spending budgets it is unclear where the cuts will be made and there are worries that support and training budgets for the most vulnerable, resulting in finacial difficulties and loss of living standards, independence and dignity for those with sight loss.

Amongst other annoucement include the removal of the mobility componant of people on DLA in residential care, caps on housing benefit will have a huge impact on living standards and local government grants for transport will be reduced by a third, which could effect many visually impaired people who have no other means to get around.

The full effect of the Spending Review is yet to be seen but there is no doubt that many disabled people will be disavantaged, especially those of working age but with the greatest need, many of whom have lost their vision and have contributed tax and national insurance in the expectation that the state would support them if things went wrong and they found themselves unable to work.

"At RNIB we were optimistic when Iain Duncan Smith outlined his vision to help people into work and make work pay, so it is shocking that in reality it is disabled people of working age who will be worst hit."
Quote from Steve Winyard, RNIB Head of Policy and Campaigns

Links:

Monday 4 October 2010

Off to the RNC

Not many posts recently as I've been having trouble with my laptop but I have exciting news.  I have secured a place at the Royal National College for the Blind (RNC) and will be studying Music Production.

After a year in limbo, not being able to work, I'm so excited to be joining this amazing college in Hereford.  It's an amazing place with incredible staff and facilities, working towards training it's students to cope with their disabilities and finding them the skills and places to work out in the real world.  As well as the music production course I'll be learning basic Braille and mobility with a white cane, future-proofing myself if my sight continues to deteriorate.

So, this blog will now include entries about my time at the college as and when time permits.  It'll be good to be busy again, I can't wait.