Summer Budget 2015

EarthRod

Strange it is. Good salary, brilliant pension, long holidays, working indoors in a controlled environment and long hours so kept excitingly busy. Also working with nice, well-behaved children with just the occasional stabbing to keep the juices flowing.

Beats the hell out of being up a telephone pole in icy rain and windy conditions repairing downed wires under contract conditions, no pension, long hours, high injury rate, short holidays. But still kept excitingly busy.

(overstated to make the point)

Enki

Its evident that markets cannot govern themselves there are plenty of examples, the need for living wage being the latest, its good to see the the conservatives begin tentative steps to abandon its principled free market malarkey, their education and journey needs greater development, they are like naughty fox hound pups, reversing to type with tax credit abandonment.  

If people work hard and have the talent, get paid more as they do now and have always done, that's good.

Ruperts slippers

I work in the Plumbing industry, earnings have stayed static since 2008 and price work incentives and bonuses have gone.. I've recently been offered a position on the books, it's the same salary as again 2008 with longer hrs and a higher work load... With no pension..
We have a child care bill of £335 a week, with no help but I'm married and boring now and fully live up to my expectations to provide for my children, whatever it takes..
I feel we do have a social obligation but it cannot continue to be an open cheque book, it saddens me to think that organizations like the IFS claim there is no incentive to work, and the header picture in the link sums up the problem.

Toko Black

The Work Related Support Group is now going to get £30 less a week for new claimants - many people (most) with disabilities fall into this group including myself.
With long term help and support, I may well be able to get back into work, but for that's a long term goal. With treatment having to be paid out of my own money, contributing to rent and council tax, getting £75 a week simply would not be enough to live off. I am already struggling with a large electricity bill I can't pay, a notice to seek repossession of the flat from the council and a summons for council tax payments.
I managed to get help last year from Shelter to manage some of my issues and communicate with the council on my behalf to resolve rent/council tax arrears (it's a lack of communication from me due to illness that causes these issues to escalate).
However, I could only get support for a limited period of time, and now I am back to trying to look after myself and getting into severe difficulties all over again - all down to not having someone to help me talk to the council or other services.

I took PIP to tribunal stage last month but lost my case .... it's stacked against people with mental health issues.
One of the last comments the Judge said before I left was that "I could do these things if I 'chose to'".

Now I am in a position of probably having to end my therapy sessions which were my last hope of getting better because I simply can't continue to pay for them.
My living environment and personal welfare is simply not conducive to someone trying to get well, but there is no way on earth I can afford to get in help to improve it and it simply won't happen if it's left to me.
I desperately wanted to end my life after the PIP tribunal ruling, but I can't do it to my mum, so I am left flipping between being in a dissociated state of simply not accepting the reality of my situation and feeling like my life is one long prison sentence.

What really makes me choke back vomiting is when we are told that people that really need the help will get it to justify cuts and reductions as though only people who are skiving and dodging work living the doley lifestyle will be targeted.
How on earth is reducing benefits for the disabled and ill ie the reduction by 30% of ESA for most applicants 'targeting the work shy' ?

Pecker

Time will tell, but that's what they've said at the moment.

It is the one hope.  In the mid/late '90s we were in a similar situation.  There was an awful teacher shortage, and pay was frozen across the public sector, so a 5% pay rise just for teachers was out of the question.

The 'threshold' payment was introduced.  Pay rises were still low, but for those with experience (at that time over 7 years' experience) there was a further £2k on offer after another 2 years, then another £1k 2 years after that, and another £1k two years later.

So, after 6 years, you could get another £4k.  Not a fortune, but a pretty decent amount.

I'm not necessarily expecting this, but it shows that a 'pay freeze' can be circumvented.

Steve W

domtheone

That's absolutely extortionate, imo.

Can't groups of parents get together and share the looking after kids duties.  Say 1 day a week each.  Rotating every week/month depending on the amount of parents available?

Surely more cost effective than shelling out £335 a week

I don't have kids, nor will i ever now (closest i'd get to it is other family members that have to pay such fees) so childcare costs are fairly irrelevant to me but i still get worked up about how much it costs.

Unbelievable.

Perhaps Stelios ought to branch out.

Easychildcare anyone

Cliff

'Elf n Safety won't allow that. To many rules and regs these days when it comes to child care.

domtheone

Surely if it's a private arrangement between parents, H&S can do one and keep their noses out?

Sve

Nope, your looking after other peoples kid, CRB check the whole nine yards, unless you want the parents to end up in jail and the kids in care.

Member 581642

Definitely CRB checks, why would you want health and safety not to be involved ?