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additional room for an overnight carer
I would be interested in others experiences of this.
I have been contacted by a social housing based adviser in glasgow as they are having difficulties getting an extra room allowed for an overnight carer in relation to the “bedroom tax”.
apparently one client has been refused on the basis that the named carer also has DLA themselves at middle rate care.
it would also seem that the local authority are being pretty stringent in carrying out checks when anyone applies for this additional room.
are other local authorities doing this?
“apparently one client has been refused on the basis that the named carer also has DLA themselves at middle rate care”.
And how have they justified this?
dont know the specifics at this stage nevin as i only just had a quick chat over the phone about it.
I said i was going to fire it on here and send them the link so it might encourage their organisation to join here and they can tell us.
at a guess it would be the “you cant be disabled and be a carer” argument that i have even seen presenting officers use before so it wouldnt surprise me if thats the thinking.
“at a guess it would be the “you cant be disabled and be a carer” argument that i have even seen presenting officers use before so it wouldnt surprise me if thats the thinking”.
That was my first thought as well.
“are other local authorities doing this?”
Not my case but I am aware of one example where DHP was initially refused. Claimant sought advice and instead put in request for extra bedroom for overnight Carer, which was genuine. Local authority worker who rejected original DHP claim responded by ringing up and screaming abuse at the advisor and referring client to fraud team on some spurious basis. Fraud team visited and wrote lengthy report on how the house was untidy and smelled of cigarette smoke.
Different advisor, different client, same local authority, puts in request for extra bedroom for overnight Carer. Same LA worker rings advisor, tells her that she has already referred one such case to fraud team this week and threatens to do so again.
Obviously a rogue LA worker but worrying nonetheless.
“....screaming abuse at the advisor….”
I have absolutely no reason to doubt you Billy and I accept what you say at face value but it would be difficult to get away with that kind of behaviour in a busy HB office.
Depends on the culture of the office I suppose, makes you wonder doesn’t it?
“screamed abuse” were the exact words as reported to me but I suppose these things can be exaggerated
I remember, some years ago, remonstrating with a woman in the DWP in what I thought were reasonable, even if somewhat slightly animated tones. She told me I was the rudest person she’d ever spoke to. I told her that she should get out more.
I’m liking that Nevip.
Years ago, when I was a young(ish) support worker, I remember politely but persistently making a straightforward and reasonable request to a jobcentre worker. She was refusing it with ever increasing agitation, misunderstanding something simple. Eventually I asked her to check the rules with her manager. She responded by angrily shouting to the lengthening queue behind me that they would all have to wait “because this man thinks he knows my job better than I do”.
Perhaps unwisely, I replied that I agreed with her and if she spent more time doing her job and less time being rude to her customers she might get better at it. At which point she summoned security and I had to do the walk of shame past a sniggering queue and out of a jobcentre, with uniformed gorillas in close attendance. My parting shot was “I’ve been thrown out of better places than this before”.
I did, however, ring from the pavement outside, speak to someone else and get what I wanted.
Happy days…
My parting shot was “I’ve been thrown out of better places than this before”.
Now that’s class!
On the original point, the main LA we deal with has been very accommodating on the overnight carer point. As long as client is receiving the appropriate level of DLA they’ve been quite happy to take the client’s word for it.
It’s not the rudeness that drew my attention. I’ve been around the block on more than a few occasions. It wasn’t even the abuse bit. It was the “screaming”. I work for a LA and most departments are in open plan offices. Anyone heard “screaming abuse” would soon draw down the attention of a manager or two, no matter what the culture of that particular office was. LA’s are very sensitive to complaints by the public, particularly if they come through a local councillor, concerning the behaviour of council officers towards them. On the other hand, maybe whoever was on the receiving end was simply using poetic license when telling the story.