Isn't it all just a load of existential nihilism anyway? Having a little Snoop around. #WearAMask please & thanks. ❤️ = solidarity. 🏳️🌈 & Disability ally.
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ALT Chart showing Total growth in Real Household Disposable Income per person, by decade: UK
ALT https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2026/10/30/is-it-ignorance-or-greed-that-is-driving-debate-on-social-security/#gsc.tab=0 Funding the Future Is it ignorance or greed that is driving debate on social security? 30 Oct 2026 So, the aim of this supposed welfare expenditure is to: ...To support those with disabilities & serious illness. Those demanding cuts in these payments have four things they should make explicit: 1. They should say they want to increase inequality 2. They should say they think we have insufficient poverty in the UK 3. They should make clear that the vulnerable should suffer more than they already do 4. They should make clear that greed motivates their every action Then they should say why: The vulnerable should be ignored Children should suffer extreme poverty After that, they need to explain what they think the costs of their action would be: Those from whom payments would be withdrawn To those who support those in need (many also live in poverty)
ALT DWP FOI dated 5 Oct 2026 (FOI2026/93104) revealed that a total of 575,310 claimants qualified under the Substantial Risk (SR) route by August (UC claimants) & March (ESA claimants) this year (2026) in England & Wales Of those, 215,930 (38%) were also in receipt of the Daily Living PIP award by the end of March 2026 (DWP FOI Ref: FO12026/102820) This leaves 359,380 (62%) SR without Daily Living PIP Of those SR who attempted to qualify for Daily Living PIP (312,240: 54%), 96,310 failed to qualify which equates to a failure rate of 30.8% (DWP FOI Ref FOI2026/931 04)
ALT https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/timms-review-of-pip-terms-of-reference/timms-review-of-personal-independence-payment-terms-of-reference GOV.UK Timms Review of Personal Independence Payment: Terms of Reference Published 30 Oct 2025 We have also outlined future plans to remove the Work Capability Assessment (WCA). Following that, the PIP assessment will become the single gateway for health-related and disability benefits, placing additional importance on this element of the system.
ALT https://lurgeelife.wordpress.com/2025/08/17/the-5-remaining-pathways-to-work-proposals-the-2025-autumn-white-paper-whats-the-likely-impact/ The 5 remaining "Pathways to Work" proposals & the 2025 autumn White Paper: What's the likely impact? August 17, 2025 A blog by Liz @LurgeeLife Another recent DWP FOI has further revealed that 125,000 of the 301,000 Substantial Risk claimants without DL PIP have tried & failed to qualify for DL PIP. This equates to a DL PIP failure rate of 29.6% within the Substantial Risk cohort, compared to a 23% DL PIP failure rate for the total 'Health Element' cohort.
ALT https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-05-21/3753 Sir Stephen Timms (Labour, East Ham) Answered on 10 June 2026 The available requested information for Universal Credit (UC) limited capability for work & work-related activity (LCWRA) Work Capability Assessment (WCA) decisions where claimants qualified for LCWRA due to 'substantial risk arising from work-related activity' is provided in the table below Financial Year Volume of UC LCWRA Substantial Risk decisions Total volume of UC LCWRA decisions Proportion of Substantial Risk 2019/20 81,240 246,040 33% 2020/21 52,990 186,250 28% 2021/22 55,780 273,180 20% 2022/23 48,870 327,230 15% 2023/24 56,130 357,190 16% 2024/25 53,670 397,370 14% 2025/26 (to Nov 25) 26,280 229,020 11%
ALT https://www.eerstekamer.nl/wetsvoorstel/36582_participatiewet_in_balans#p2 Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal Participation Act in balance This bill amends the Participation Act...to improve the balance between subsistence security, reintegration, & enforcement Due to complexity, strict enforcement, & limited support, the Participation Act is sometimes perceived as too harsh. To address this, this proposal introduces a package of over 20 measures that give implementation professionals more scope to provide people with proper support. Primarily to help them find work, and if that is not (yet) possible, to ensure an adequate income & other forms of participation. Trust & the human dimension will take center stage in the implementation.
ALT https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=22284&langId=en European Commission Dutch Participation Act not (yet) a success Jan 2020 ...the Participation Act is underpinned by...assumptions made by policymakers, which in practice have turned out to be incorrect Assumption: People targeted would be able & willing to perform paid work Evaluation: > half of targeted population think this may well be the case in the future, but not at the moment. Most experience impediments due to health problems. Municipalities confirm this. Assumption: instruments of the Act would function as an incentive & help to match supply & demand Evaluation: > half of employers are unaware of important instruments of the Act...& financial arrangements give municipalities an incentive to use the instruments for people with the highest chance of finding a job...members of target group with lower chances of finding work are not sufficiently benefiting
ALT https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2025/51/unemployment-up-in-november-particularly-among-young-people Statistics Netherlands Unemployment up in November, particularly among young people 18/12/2025 Unemployment among young people rose to 9.1 percent https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2025/08/no-further-increase-in-young-people-in-paid-work Statistics Netherlands No further increase in young people in paid work 21/02/2025 Increase in unemployment among young people not in education This increase consisted mainly of young people who were not actively seeking work due to illness.
ALT https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/22 Universal Credit Act 2025 4 PROTECTED LCWRA **AMOUNT** for tax years 2026-27 to 2029-30 (1) Where it is necessary in order to achieve the result in subsection (2) for any of the tax years 2026-27 to 2029-30... (2) The result to be achieved for a tax year ("the current tax year") is that for each combination of the protected LCWRA amount & an amount of the standard allowance, the sum of those amounts for the current tax year is at least (in each case) the amount given by increasing- (a) the sum of those amounts for the previous tax year, by (b) the relevant CPI percentage for the current tax year. (3) In this section- (a) "THE PROTECTED LCWRA AMOUNT" means the amount of the LCWRA element that applies to a pre-2026 claimant, a severe conditions criteria claimant or a claimant who is terminally ill (within the meanings of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013)
ALT https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/376 The Universal Credit Regulations 2013 Meaning of "pre-2026 claimant" 27A.(1) For the purposes of regulation 27, a claimant with limited capability for work and work-related activity is a "pre-2026 claimant" if the claimant- (a) was entitled at any time before 6 April 2026 to an award of universal credit that included the LCWRA element, and (b) has been entitled to an award of universal credit that included the LCWRA element continuously from that time.
ALT https://www.jrf.org.uk/social-security/guarantee-our-essentials-reforming-universal-credit-to-ensure-we-can-all-afford-the Guarantee our Essentials: reforming Universal Credit to ensure we can all afford the essentials in hard times Written by: Trussell & Joseph Rowntree Foundation 30 Jan 2026 Amount needed to afford essentials for the adults in a household (2026/27) 1. Single (£ per week) 2. Couple (£ per week) Food & non-alcoholic drinks 1. £42 2. £74 Electricity & gas 1. £24 2. £33 Water 1. £7 2. £11 Clothes & shoes 1. £7 2. £11 Communications, incl. phones, internet & postage 1. £8 2. £11 Travel 1. £21 2. £42 Sundries - e.g. toiletries, haircuts, cleaning materials, bank charges 1. £13 2. £20 Total (rounded based on unrounded components) 1. £120 2. £205
ALT https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/22 Universal Credit Act 2025 Standard allowance for tax years 2026-27 to 2029-30 Step 1 Where the tax year is 2027-28, 2028-29 or 2029-30, take the amounts resulting from Step 2 for the previous tax year Step 2 Increase the amounts identified in Step 1 by the relevant CPI % for the tax year Step 3 Increase the amounts resulting from Step 2 by the relevant uplift percentage for the tax year (3) The "relevant CPI %" for a tax year is the percentage by which the consumer prices index for the September before the start of the tax year is higher than it was for the Sept before that (or 0% if it is not higher) (4) The table below sets out the relevant uplift percentage for tax years 2026-27 to 2029-30- Tax year Relevant uplift % 2026-27 2.3% 2027-28 3.1% 2028-29 4.0% 2029-30 4.8%
ALT https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/consumerpriceinflation/september2026 Office for National Statistics Consumer price inflation, UK: September 2026 Release date: 21 October 2026 The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 3.5% in the 12 months to September 2026, up from 3.1% the previous month.