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Welcome to the One Voice website

News

Benefits News

The House of Lords defeated the ESA Bill on 3 amendments on January 11th. The Government minister's immediate response was that they will go ahead with their plans for Employment and Support Allowance, despite the Lords' views.
As one of the cross-bench (non- party political) Lords stated - "we dont think that disabled people should pay for the bankers' screw-up">>>>>

The Government have also ignored nearly everyone's views who took part in the consultation on the changes they want to make to Disability Living Allowance. More about that here>>>

The time allowed for people to complete and return an ESA50 questionnaire form is being cut from 6 weeks to 4 weeks. This will make it more difficult for people to get and include independent medical evidence to send in with their claim. The knock-on effect is likely to be that more people are denied benefit in the first instance and have to take part in the long and draining appeals process.

Meanwhile there has been no feedback on the findings of Professor Harrington's recommendations: Six months after ATOS carried out a pilot programme of recording medical interviews as per the professor's recommendations, no one is being told of the results - a Freedom of Information request for the information has been refused on the basis that it ' would not be in the public interest for us to know'.

The homeless charity Shelter has criticised the ATOS decision making and suggested some changes:

"We are very concerned that Atos assessments are not accurately reflecting claimants’ actual ability to work and that mistakes are being made by JCP decision makers. In particular we are concerned about the effect that inaccurate assessments, bad decisions and stressful appeals processes have on homeless and vulnerable people. There is a need for:

1. effective communication with all those going through the WCA at all stages of their journey;
2. more training, particularly with regards to mental health and fluctuating conditions;
3. proper and rigorous monitoring of the capability of Atos HCPs and JCP decision makers;
4. the use of additional evidence and advocacy;
   
5. integration with the Work Programme so that both the WCA and Work Programme providers are identifying an individual’s barriers to work;
6. the sharing of information to further benefit the understanding of a claimant’s future needs;
7. learning from how the appeals process considers the evidence"

Wolves Council wants your views

Wolverhampton City Council is giving every citizen the encouragement and opportunity to have a say in the budget cuts and which services are the most important to us.

Tthe council needs to make £7.8 million savings to balance the budget in 2012/2013. It is important that we all get involved as decisions about our services could affect us for the next 10 years.

You can fill in an online survey, or get involved and have a say in other ways. For more information check out our blog post.

Harrassment Report Published

‘Hidden in plain sight’, the final report of the EHRC inquiry into disability-related harassment was published on 12th September.

The report concludes that harassment is a commonplace experience for disabled people, and at the same time institutions like police, housing and councils often dont believe harassment is taking place or don’t tackle it effectively.

There are 7 challenging recommendations for institutions to take on to tackle harrassment.

read more on our blog, here>>

Warm Front Grant re-opens

The Warm Front scheme is now accepting applications to make homes more energy efficient. The Warm Front scheme provides heating and insulation improvements to households on some income-related benefits living in properties that are poorly insulated and/or do not have a working central heating system. Qualifying households can get improvements worth up to £3,500 (£6,000 where oil central heating and other alternative technologies are recommended).  Grants are available for improvements such as:

• loft insulation
• draughtproofing
• cavity wall insulation
• hot water tank insulation
• gas, electric, liquid petroleum gas or oil heating
• glass-fronted fire. 

The scheme is now targeted at people on certain income-related benefits and living in properties that are poorly insulated and/or do not have a working central heating system. Applicants must own their home or rent it from a private landlord. 
Applications can be made at any time.

Get an applicaton form here>>

Debt Advice

Since we launched our online Directory version 2.0 >, we have had a number of requests for links to more information on Debt, and managing your money.

We have added more links to the Directory, we have also zipped up our debt self-help pack for you to download - it brings together some guidance from One Voice as well as helpful leaflets and forms from the National Debtline. You should only download it if you have broadband connection as it is 3.11MB>>

If you want a print copy or cd-rom, contact us

Website Accessibility

New to site....

Updates

Updated Access Pack here>>

Updated Accessability problems at new Bilston Leisure Centre here>>

New Funding opportunities here>>

Funding and grant opportunities without a deadline here>>

New Lurker page>> - showing you parts of the internet you might not know about!
(new Lurker page added every month)

Recent Blog Posts:

Our Blog has 2 or more posts a week, so go and have a look - there is often information on community groups and what they are doing, as well as opinion, news, and information>>>>>>

On the Website....

Access

Resource for disabled people and others interested in making the environment accessible.
Includes help on doing access audits, advice on improving access, holding accessible events, information on access in Wolverhampton. Read more →

Directory

You can download a copy of the Disabled People's Directory here>>
Or order a print copy from the office>> (free to disabled people)
You can check out the online version Here →
The Directory has information and advice on transport, work, money and benefits, health, living and dying, leisure, getting involved, elected representatives, house and home etc

Fun Stuff

Podcasts, DVD reviews, What's on, poems, essays, creative content
Read more →

Downloads

Download booklets, leaflets, information, newletters etc
All downloads avaiable in rtf, doc or pdf. Audio CD's and tapes available on request.downloads>

About Us

Learn about One Voice, what we do, where we are, how to get involved, how to contact us. More →

Find Us!

You can find out where we are and how to contact us here>>

Photographs by One Voice.

Last Update: 12 January, 2012