News
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New Website for Victims of Hate Crime
Government plans changes to DLA
Direct Payments Changes Consultation
Our news section of the website will be used to keep you up to date on a range of news items that we hope you will find informative.
If you have any disability news items that you think others may find interesting please send them in.*
* The Editor’s decision is final on which items are published on our website.
SDPP New Brokerage Service
NEW BROKERAGE SERVICE
6 independent voluntary sector organisations have now been given contracts to provide brokerage to help people develop and put in place support plans which will meet their needs in better ways than through traditional services. People should now be given the choice of either an independent broker or a social services broker to help them at this important stage of the Self Directed Support process. Coordinated through SILC (Surrey Independent Living Council) people can access
brokerage support from the following organisations, Deaf Plus, SAVI (Surrey Association for Visual Impairment), Just Advocacy, SDPP (Surrey Disabled People’s Partnership), Oakleaf Enterprise, Voiceability.
For more information or a copy of the new leaflet, contact SILC. Tel 01483 458111, Text 0790 481 0935 or email admin@surreyilc.org.uk
VAT Refunds On Disabled Goods
If you buy goods online then you will usually end up paying VAT but it is possible to reclaim this VAT if the goods you bought are for the use of a disabled person. In this piece I will outline the steps you should take to do this.
On the website where you buy the goods there will be a contact page where you can see their postal address and telephone number amongst other things. Once you have paid for the goods, you will get an email invoice from the company where the goods you have bought will be listed with the amount you paid and will have the amount of VAT listed. You could print off the invoice but if this is not possible you can phone the company and ask them to send you a printed invoice to your home through the post. You could email the company and ask for this, but it could take much longer.
While you are waiting for the invoice, you should phone HMRC (His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) and ask them to send you a small blue booklet entitled: ‘VAT Reliefs for disabled people’. You can phone them on: 0845-305-0203. Inside this booklet there are two forms you need to reclaim your VAT refund. You fill out the page entitled: Eligibility declaration by a disabled person’. The other form which is entitled: ‘Supplier’ is filled out by the company you bought your disabled product from.
Send a very short covering letter to the company explaining that you would like them to reclaim the VAT for you. Enclose both the forms from the HMRC booklet, the one you filled out and the one for the company to fill out, and it is a good idea to enclose a photocopy of your delivery note from your order for the company to refer to. The company should phone you to tell you that you have been refunded or will send an email.
If there has been no response from the company for a week then it would be perfectly fine to phone them back and ask about the status of your refund request. Often companies pay back money to people without getting round to telling them about it. If they have not done so, a phone call is always a good way to remind them.
Article Written By: William Dartnall
New Website for Victims of Hate Crime
There is a new website for victims of hate crime (homophobic, race and religion and disability) which includes an online reporting form to enable victims to report hate crime online.
The website is called True Vision and is supported by all police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and can be accessed at www.report-it.org.uk
Hospital Passport
Recently at the East Surrey Empowerment Board, there was a discussion about the 'Hospital passport'. This document enables individuals to write about their needs including communication needs, dietary needs as well as their medication needs. If you need to go to hospital for any reason, this can be given to the hospital staff to ensure they are aware of your needs. It has been highlighted at many empowerment board meetings that often hospitals are not aware of individuals needs and on occasion this has caused distress.
It was suggested that those with specific needs would really benefit from filling in a hospital passport and taking the document with them, should they need to be admitted in to hospital.
Download your hospital passport
You can also obtain a Hospital Passport by contact Surrey County Council – Social Care Services on: 03456 009 00
Government plans changes to DLA
Under proposals by the Coalition Government Disability Living Allowance (DLA) will be renamed Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and a consultation has been launched into its overhaul on a social rather than medical basis.
The proposed new benefit will require claimants to qualify for at least a year to receive payments and focus on their ability to carry out a range of key activities necessary to everyday life.
Individuals claiming PIP will have to qualify for the benefit for a period of six months and be expected to continue to qualify for a further six months before an award can be made.
All claimants, excluding those terminally ill, will also undergo a full assessment along with periodic reviews of all awards.
At present DLA is centered on a person's care and mobility needs which are then used as a proxy for the extra costs faced while allowing people with certain health conditions or impairments to be automatically entitled to specific rates of the benefit without a full assessment.
Personal Independence Payment will consider the impact an individual's impairment or health condition has on their daily life and have two components.
The Mobility component will be based on the individual's ability to get around, while the Daily Living component will be based on their ability to carry out other key activities necessary to participate in everyday life.
The government suggests that in most cases an in-depth analysis of an individual's circumstances through face-to-face meeting with an independent healthcare professional will be necessary, while it is also looking to enable claimants' to manage their health condition or impairment.
The plans have angered charity Disability Alliance UK, which fears cuts are likely to mean over 360,000 disabled people losing DLA across the country and notes that a third of disabled people already live in poverty.
It also highlighted that the Government has proposed axing payments of DLA to disabled people living in care homes, which may result in higher charges to councils to provide lost support or to the NHS for health emergencies.
Neil Coyle, director of policy at Disability Alliance, said Margaret Thatcher recognised that DLA could help disabled people pay for everyday things like heating or specialist equipment.
"But the coalition Government wants to cut 20% of this essential support and risk leaving our most disadvantaged citizens facing deeper poverty and exclusion," Surrey Coalition of Disabled People will be leading on a response to the consultation on this proposal.
Consultation
The consultation will close on February 14th and the full consultation document can be found on the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) website: www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations/2010/dla-reform.shtml
Website for bus information
Web site that shows the next departures from any bus or tram stop in mainland Britain - www.nextbuses.mobi/
What does it do?
This site shows the next departures from any bus or tram stop in mainland Britain. However, the service won’t tell you if the bus is accessible (for example wheelchair accessible).
Live information is shown where available, otherwise scheduled times are given.
How does it work?
Find your stop
The homepage lets you find your bus stop two ways:
- Type in a street name (e.g. "hillside ave"), stop name (e.g. "city hospital") or full postcode (e.g. "CF4 3BU") and press search. You can refine a search by stating a town or area, e.g. "hillside ave leicester".
- Click on a recently viewed stop (if you have used the site before).
Browse stop list
Search results are shown group at a time, plotted on a map to help you find the right one. Click on a stop name to go straight to its departures. Page through the results using more and previous. If you still can't see the stop you want, show stops by street name or by area may be helpful.
Departure board
The site shows the next few departures from the selected stop. Live information is shown as e.g. "in 5 minutes" and scheduled times are shown as e.g. "1425". Click show this stop on a map to see exactly where it is in the street.
Tips
- Where you see stops shown on a map, you can simply press a number key (1, 2, 3 or 4) to go straight to departure times (may not work on some phones).
- Click a route number on the departure board to filter out all other services.
What does it cost?
This service is free, apart from any data charges made by your mobile operator (contact your operator for details).
Scooter Passes on Buses
Important information for scooter users who travel on public buses. There has been a new scheme introduced by bus companies which means that you now have to have a scooter pass to be allowed to travel on the bus with your scooter. To find out more information on why this has happened and how you can obtain a pass, please read the following links:
CPT Code for the acceptance and use of mobility scooters