interestrateripoff Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2148449/Its-drink-dole-Go-rehab-lose-benefits-alcoholics-drug-addicts-told.html Drug users and alcoholics are to be forced to enter treatment or face losing out-of-work benefits, Iain Duncan Smith will announce today.The Work and Pensions Secretary will reveal that 160,000 dependent drinkers are in receipt of one or more of the main welfare handouts, with large numbers having been claiming for a decade or more. Around 80 per cent of Britain’s estimated 400,000 ‘problem’ drug users are also claiming. Sources said that the new universal credit, which is replacing all existing out-of-work benefits from next year, will be used to introduce contracts with addicts that would require them to seek treatment or see their payments halted. So will this mean loads of alcoholics / drug addicts signing for intervention and just continue to use? Plus how much is all this "intervention" going to cost the taxpayer? Looking at the figures quoted there's about 500,000 people who will need treatment? How much does it cost to successfully treat a drink/drug addict? If you do successfully treat them they are going to get jobs in our economic recovery? Plus how much cash do alcoholics return back to the system with buying drink? Do none alcoholic dole claimants contribute less back to the Treasury? Plus if you treat all of these alcoholics will that mean job losses in the brewery industry? 160,000 alcoholics are going to be drinking a lot of alcohol? Although that in turn raises the interesting thought that the govt is indirectly subsidising the brewing industry? This appears to be opening up Pandora's box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 ...do as we say, not as we do... joke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 If you've ever lived near alkies then you'll appreciate that just giving them extra money to buy booze doesn't help the problem at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleepyHead Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 (edited) This is the trouble with the Tory attitude. They see the problem of unemployment, and they blame the unemployed. Totally ignoring the real cause, bankers & politicians corrupting the monetary system to make themselves rich. Edited May 23, 2012 by sleeping dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 If you've ever lived near alkies then you'll appreciate that just giving them extra money to buy booze doesn't help the problem at all. I agree Sarah, it is a big problem we have got, and it a problem that extends from the very top to the very bottom of society....a very hard nut to crack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Police Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 If you've ever lived near alkies then you'll appreciate that just giving them extra money to buy booze doesn't help the problem at all. Plenty of alkies on HPC. Have you noticed how the grammar and spelling declines precipitously on a Friday night? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Hovis Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 (edited) I won't search for the story but there was a late teen girl a couple of years ago who was getting extra money, via incapacity benefit, because of her alcholoism making her incapable for work, and this money was going on drink. I accept that alcoholism can be a genuine condition / illness and that it should be treated as any illness, but in this case the benefits system was giving her the ammunition to kill herself and that made no sense to me. So a +1 for this first step at benefits reform, with accompanying treatment for the illness. Go on then, found it: Alky girl’s £8k benefits binges HARD-drinker Hayley Nash has more than doubled her benefits to £8,000 a year — by being signed off sick as alcoholic. Twin Charlotte is also set to sting the State — as she registers as her sister’s CARER. Hayley, 20, started boozing aged 12 and sinks 12 cans of lager and a litre of vodka a day. She’s been warned she’ll die if she does not stop. Hayley gets £316 a month income support. On top of that, she’s paid £350 disability allowance. The annual total is £7,992. She gives mum Wanda, 56, a bit as keep, but the rest goes on booze. Hayley, who has an enlarged liver and angina, told this week’s Closer magazine: “I’ve tried to give up several times but I can’t.” She added: “I can’t go anywhere without Charlotte. She’s the only one who can calm me down when I have panic attacks, or violent outbursts. I’ll feel less guilty about asking her to be with me all the time if it’s her job.” Hayley, who’s never worked, was diagnosed alcoholic at 14. She and her sister live with Wanda in Walsall, West Mids. Charlotte, who’ll get at least £50 a week, said: “Hayley is the most important person in my life. I don’t want to lose her, that’s why I don’t mind becoming her carer.” Douglas Murray, of The Centre for Social Cohesion think-tank, said: “It is not acceptable that there is a cost to the state of two people just because of alcohol.” a.lazzeri@the-sun.co.uk http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2922628/Scandal-of-alcoholic-girls-8000-benefits-binges.html?print=yes Edited May 23, 2012 by Frank Hovis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Hovis Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 Plenty of alkies on HPC. Have you noticed how the grammar and spelling declines precipitously on a Friday night? Getting pissed on a Friday night does not mean you are an alcoholic. Are you a temperance campaigner perchance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
interestrateripoff Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 Getting pissed on a Friday night does not mean you are an alcoholic. Are you a temperance campaigner perchance? Just a binge drinker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellerkat Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 Just a binge drinker. Alcofrolic is the word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nationalist Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 If someone wants out-of-work benefits they should be expected to turn up to a work centre 9-5 Mon-Fri. If they don't turn up then they get no benefits. In the work centre they can do what they like: chat, play cards, read the papers, but they must be present, just like an employee has to turn up to work. You could even have a scheme where anyone who needed some help could have minimum wage use of their labour. Just turn up at the work centre and say, "I need a couple of lads to help me carry a piano up some stairs," and you'd just have to pay min wage for the man-hours you use. Your payment would be used to offset the dole cost. Sometimes the unemployed would be told, "You're on nights," and they'd have to attend the work centre overnight (also weekends) this would cover all nocturnal piano moving requirements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 Plenty of alkies on HPC. Have you noticed how the grammar and spelling declines precipitously on a Friday night? ....I don't believe what they say about you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tired of Waiting Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2148449/Its-drink-dole-Go-rehab-lose-benefits-alcoholics-drug-addicts-told.html (...) Excellent policy, for all involved, but mainly for the addicts themselves. It may even cost more for us tax-payers, I don't know, but it is the right thing to do, both medically and morally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Lorne Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 This is the trouble with the Tory attitude. They see the problem of unemployment, and they blame the unemployed. Totally ignoring the real cause, bankers & politicians corrupting the monetary system to make themselves rich. ..this issue has nothing to do with unemployment...and it was the 'loonie' left , Clown, Balls and Co who kept many of these people on a disability type allowance for more than a decade to pay for more drink and drugs...compulsory treatment is the correct way forward.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Monk Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 I think we should worry about all of the people who do want to work, who are fit for work, and who are desperate to find work, before worrying about those who don't want to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Lorne Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 Plenty of alkies on HPC. Have you noticed how the grammar and spelling declines precipitously on a Friday night? ..hahh...you have been 'sussed'...it takes one to know one.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snafu Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 This country is so entirely screwed on all levels. Become an alcoholic at 12 (or 14). Continue drinking and be on benefits, Become an official alcoholic, receive more benefits. Get your sister, who is also an alcoholic, to care for you - and get paid doing it. Depressing. Depressing on so many levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rain'ard Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 The relapse rate is extremly high with this client group and I believe also that you are looking at 15 years per client to sucess. The cost of the imput from professional and volunteers would be enormous. Another U turn comming up from the coalition no doubt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RufflesTheGuineaPig Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 The problem isn't that no-one want to work. The problem is that high rents mean it isn't WORTH working as all your income gets eaten up by rent. EVERYONE'S SOLVING THE WRONG PROBLEM AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olebrum Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 Are they planning to cut the pay and bonuses of bailed out city bankers addicted to gack? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 The relapse rate is extremly high with this client group and I believe also that you are looking at 15 years per client to sucess. The cost of the imput from professional and volunteers would be enormous. Another U turn comming up from the coalition no doubt They mean well, bless them.....as forever, politicians saying what they think people want to hear...I will believe it when I see it and see the good results that will or won't come out of it....may take a bit of time, a long term policy if it is to work.......anyway nobody can solve another's problem until the person who has the problem accepts they have one and wants and is able to fix it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tired of Waiting Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 The problem isn't that no-one want to work. The problem is that high rents mean it isn't WORTH working as all your income gets eaten up by rent. EVERYONE'S SOLVING THE WRONG PROBLEM AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! + 1 And high property costs affect not only living costs but also production costs (business premisses), and even government costs, and taxes - like I say in my sig., below. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patfig Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 + 1 And high property costs affect not only living costs but also production costs (business premisses), and even government costs, and taxes - like I say in my sig., below. HPC and free beer............................. tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 Plenty of alkies on HPC. Have you noticed how the grammar and spelling declines precipitously on a Friday night? Do they vomit and piss over the balconies? They mean well, bless them.....as forever, politicians saying what they think people want to hear...I will believe it when I see it and see the good results that will or won't come out of it....may take a bit of time, a long term policy if it is to work.......anyway nobody can solve another's problem until the person who has the problem accepts they have one and wants and is able to fix it. But we don't have to encourage them to drink by giving them extra money specifically for that. It should work like this: too fat to work: no extra money until you have slimmed down, and then you don't qualify anyway. too drunk to work: no extra money until you have sobered up and then you don't qualify anyway. too drugged up to work: no extra money until you have got clean and then you don't qualify anyway. If people don't make an effort to help themselves why should the state pander to their lifestyle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil324 Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 Do they vomit and piss over the balconies? But we don't have to encourage them to drink by giving them extra money specifically for that. It should work like this: too fat to work: no extra money until you have slimmed down, and then you don't qualify anyway. too drunk to work: no extra money until you have sobered up and then you don't qualify anyway. too drugged up to work: no extra money until you have got clean and then you don't qualify anyway. If people don't make an effort to help themselves why should the state pander to their lifestyle? It stops them stealing and is cheaper than sending them to prison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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