Thank you Mr P Good suggestion "personal reasons" I will use it if I have to. I've had a confirmatory "claim ended" letter from DLA, no questions. However they take two pages to list all the descriptors I scored LRC & LRM on, and gone to great pains to point out that I do not fulfil the criteria. Considering I gave no reason for ending the claim, I think their response is a little over cooked. Who on earth is in charge of drafting these template letters? I am still waiting for the confirmation letter from ESA acknowledging the close of claim and providing me with my P45. No further word from LA, isn't it amazing how quickly they can act if they suspect something is amiss with a claim? Yet to end claims, it seems to take ages for them to send confirmation out to the "ex" claimant Thanks all!

Consumer dude and antone, Thank you both very much for the advice. My reasons for ending the claims shall remain unknown to them.

Hello again Caggers, On 21st April 2016 I wrote to the LA to requesting them to end my claim for HB & CTA on 22nd April 2016. They have only just replied and their letter tells me I will shortly receive "an entitlement letter" to confirm and also, as I requested an updated Council Tax Bill to confirm the new amount owed and instalments. Then there is this line..... "Please can you let us know why you wanted your claim cancelled" I don't wish to tell them why I ended both of these claims. There is nothing sinister in my decision. Do I have to tell them why I ended my claims? Is there likely to be some sort of investigation if I don't tell them or will they just leave me alone? Thank you in advance for any advice

My Christmas Bonus of £10 was finally paid on 25th January 2016. As usual, no letter sent out to notify. I didn't ring the DWP either, for reasons I mentioned above. On Rightsnet there was brief mention that the delay in paying the bonus this year was planned, courtesy of George Osborne.

Hi Martin, I have always received it since first claiming cIB and now cESA. It has always been paid before Christmas and is in the PO account along with my ESA and DLA. I have the withdrawal receipts from previous years and current ones. Maybe in my area the BDC doesn't send out letters re' Christmas Bonus, I keep good records and all letters. It has been known for changes in notifications/payment dates to be made without notifying claimants. As I said in post above, I am reticent to ring them due to highlighting my name in the system, as my two year deferral for review date for ESA is today. A quick call in this case might end up with me being referred for DLA/PIP transfer which for the time being I am trying to avoid. No problems with my claims for ESA or DLA. All paid on time on fortnightly schedule as posted above.

Thank you for the reply Silverfox1961 I get paid fortnightly, ESA Mondays and DLA Wednesdays. No brown envelopes have arrived here yet. I don't remember getting a letter about the Christmas Bonus in recent years. Nothing in my file. It might only be £10 but it made a serious difference to Christmas here.

Hello Caggers Does anyone know if the Christmas Bonus of £10 has been withdrawn this year or subject to some DWP messing about with the dates it is paid? I am currently receiving Contribution Based ESA (SG) & DLA LRC & LRM I have checked back through the year and the only variant in payment was in April when the annual uprating happened of £1 per fortnight. I asked at the Post Office last week and they knew nothing about it. Last year it was paid on 1st December. I keep all the receipts. I am reticent to call the DWP as my 2 year deferral of review date is actually today. My next payment date is 28 December, if the Bonus is included then, it rather defeats the nature of it. Thank you to anyone who can shed light on this

Signed and shared.

Hi, I'm trying to find out the service provider of a telephone number. I have had this number for a contact in animal rescue for years and not been in touch for a long while, now I need to get in touch, the number is a problem. The number rings for ages then a female voice tells me "sorry there is a fault, please try again" so I do, and get the same message. I am ringing from my landline as I have no coverage in my home. I tried to report the fault to BT, but when they found it wasn't one of their numbers, their suggestion was to ask the person (the same one I am trying to contact by phone) just who is their service provider. The number used to be a BT number. BT tell me that the account was closed. So, is there any way of finding out who provides this number now, so that I can report the fault and hopefully, finally get through? I have no email address or mobile numbers for this person, so other than a long drive into the city to visit, I am a bit stuck. I am hoping that the number is the same and the person just kept the number when they switched service providers. Thank you for any advice you can give.

I've tweeted the link and asked for Re-tweets. If someone has taken Tess in, thinking she was a stray, then surely, locally there must be plenty of publicity about Tess, and I'd hope they'd come forward. The poor chap must be frantic.

Spotted this thread on rightsnet.org and it might be worth keeping an eye on it. http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/6844/ Early days in the thread yet, but it seems, as ever that there's a great deal of floundering and confusion about referrals for repeat ESA assessments being deferred. This is the first mention I have seen anywhere about possible use of the Equality law to defend against future claims of discrimination made by sick and disabled ESA WRAG claimants who are all in the firing line for sanction. First attempt at posting a link, hope it's approved!

Good luck Matt!

All patients with a diagnosis of cancer are entitled to free prescriptions. The exemption covers ALL prescription drugs, not just the ones related to the diagnosis. The exemption lasts for five years. Your Mum will need to get a FP92A form from her GP or Consultant, fill it out, get their signature and then send it to NHS Business Services Authority (BSA) Sometimes the GP surgery will do the sending off bit. Your Mum will be sent an Exemption Card, which she must present at the time she presents prescriptions to any pharmacy. Ask her to keep receipts for any prescriptions she has to pay for before she gets the exemption card. Pharmacies have a special receipt (FP57 form) that they use for this situation and she will be refunded the charges once she has the proof of exemption (the card) I don't think I can post links here yet, but Macmillan and Cancer Research have good, reliable information in a sensible and understandable form for everyone who is either diagnosed or looking after someone with cancer. All the best.

Does your Health Trust have an organisation called Healthwatch? This is usually funded by the Local Authority. They might not be called Healthwatch in your area, but if they exist they might have someone who knows about issues around managing care budgets for MH such as a Community Information Officer. Your local Clinical Commissioning Group might be able to signpost you to the right people.

Just learned that all nurses and midwives are also registered/regulated by The Nursing & Midwifery Council. Another register to check! Sorry about the omission

....as a quick add on regarding Mr Ps post with the job description - BABCP - British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (has Standards for Conduct, Performance & Ethics) BACP - British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (has an Ethical Framework for Good Practice) Sounds good huh? Well no, it isn't. Psychotherapy in any form (and counselling) is totally unregulated in the UK. These two bodies are toothless and free from regulation. My cat could set up in practice and rake in lots of cash and not be called to account for being a cat with no qualifications. Both of the above bodies can take action on complaints made about those registered with them, but it is very rare for either organisation to strike anyone from their register. Anyone who has been removed can continue practicing without any comeback as long as they remove the claim to be a member of the organisation. Shameful.

I'd have a look at any professional body that holds a register. A quickly cobbled together list* based on the qualifications that she cites:- Chartered Society of Physiotherapists (MCSP) Royal College of Physiotherapists Health & Care Professions Council (HCP Reg) Acupuncture Association of Chartered Physiotherapists (AACP) Organisation of Chartered Physiotherapists in Private Practice (Physio First) So she's a physio who is NOT QUALIFIED to provide MH advice or treatment. I'd still have a look on the Royal College of Nursing website to see if she was once a nurse who may have had a disciplinary procedure outcome against her name. It is not unknown for some individuals to stop listing a qualification after their name or on job applications, where there has been something iffy happen career wise. The job description for the "Mental Health Advisor" (from Mr P) shows not only how abusive this programme is, but it's also a raw indictment of how badly wrong most MH care is in this country. From the job description, it really looks as if all you need to be an advisor on this scheme, is a big pointy stick to just "nudge" people into behaving as you want them to. It's very telling that the first part of the role is "Conduct bio-psychosocial assessments via face-to-face and telephone-based interventions" Any truly qualified "professional" would run a mile from any role which involved such ridiculous practices. I wonder if the HCP advisors are ones who didn't get through the ATOS recruitment process? You'd have to be pretty poor professionally to fail that. Keiko, you are so right not to have anything to do with this abusive [problem]. Good luck with fending them off! *I can't post links here yet.

Another thing that will lliw and keiko78 might want to do, is to try and find out exactly what the "HCP" is. Are they a nurse? Are they a doctor? The Royal College of Nursing and the General Medical Council both have registers of those who are legitimately allowed to practice. All you need is first and last name of the HCP and what they claim to be qualification-wise. We all know that the range of HCPs employed by ATOS is wide, it includes physiotherapists too. This is another regulated field that can be checked. I would be sending in a formal complaint to all of the regulatory bodies responsible for whatever "field" the HCP is registered with, and my complaint would be that the HCP in question attempted to coerce me into compliance. Complaints might not be taken up with much gusto (as proven with the ATOS HCPs and the GMC) but it's important to get this kind of abuse down in writing to the professional bodies who hold the registration of the individuals. I cannot imagine ANY circumstances where it would be acceptable to coerce individuals to give consent to either advice or treatment or to someone contact their own doctors. Obviously I am not including MH services where individuals tend not to have any rights of self determination if they get to the point where they are restrained and forcibly medicated (another outrage) But we are referring to a scheme set up by a government that seems to have forgotten that social control is illegal. I think this is a hugely serious issue and maybe those with better legal knowledge could chip in on this subject?

will lliw and keiko78, This looks like one of the pilot schemes that are gradually being rolled out to those on ESA WRAG. It's separate to WFIs the WPP and Work Related Activity. Some time ago, it might have been here or on B&W, a poster called "papa smurf" posted with some authority on the law surrounding coercion to take up treatments or activities intended to improve health. Basically it's a tenet of law that no one should be coerced into taking up any form of treatment/health care of any type as it is considered, in law to be social control. I am sorry but I cannot find the reference in law, the link I had from the original poster, was lost when my old pc died. If any one else could find this (there was a question about it in the House of Lords in about 2012) then it would be very helpful to the people being sent on this further example of immoral bullying of the vulnerable. Nothing finer than politely handing an advisor or HCP, a copy of legislation with a few lines highlighted that prove you are correct and they are wrong. The government appears to have given scant regard to the law regarding health care and consent. We see it again and again. It's highly unlikely that the HCPs charged with running this via existing WPPs, have been fully briefed on the law regarding self determination or coercion. What you have experienced comes very close to coercive practice in my book. We all have the right to self determination and we need to cling on hard to it.

Lily, I can identify with what you say about doubting yourself. Been there, am there. You are right, it is exactly like living under a black cloud. No rain, just endless fear of what is going to fall out of the cloud next. This doubt and destroyed confidence is what the system requires to continue functioning as dysfunctionally as it was intended. If we stand up to them, they obfuscate, undermine, threaten our very lives via the sanction system. I have asked 3 DEAs, 2 managers of the WP, countless staff on the DWP phone lines, several advisors at JC+ just how this system of endless harassment, lies and threat is supposed to aid the recovery of the individual? I did word it without emotive language every time, as I wanted an answer, I didn't want to frighten them off. Not once have I been given a reply. Even face to face, they don't, won't or can't answer, because they know, deep down, that what they do is wrong, but they have to pay their bills too. So the reality of the people suffering before them is lost to them. Our fear is considered less worthy of respect, than theirs. I know how hard it can be to be heard and believed, with MH issues we have to not only battle the system but the epic prejudices held by those working for the system and alas, many of the ordinary people in the street. The complicity of some doctors in this insult is beyond forgiveness. Your feelings about what the GP may have said, hang on to those feelings. With MH issues we are constantly denied our feelings, beliefs and experiences. The whole business of MH provision in this country is beyond bankrupt in my opinion. When you have health care professionals prepared to gaslight, undermine, punish via incorrect diagnosis or functional assessment, and dismiss our concerns with a wave of the hand, then you know you have to hang on to yourself and your beliefs even harder. We do not get a fair crack of the whip either in the NHS, the benefits system or society. Keep on keeping on Lily, the fight might exhaust us, but at least we tried. Best wishes xx

Hi Lily, I wonder if it was the same nurse who glanced briefly at the inch thick wad of evidence I set in with the IB?ESA migration form? I had the same two ludicrous statements on my report. I am 53. It was done by a semi retired, district nurse who had done a prescribing course 20 years ago. Shame the nurse hadn't done a reading course and noted the substantial letter from my GP detailing explicitly exactly how my issues fitted both Regs 29 and 35. It was only a surprise cancer diagnosis and the IV chemo that got me into the SG one month later, so although I requested MR, I didn't get one for the main reasons I am on ESA, just for the chemo aspect. According to the SG award letter (you'd never know that it was one due to the 8 paragraphs threatening sanctions before you get to the brief and incomplete award details) I am to be reviewed on the 23 May this year. My original WRAG award ran until December this year. So cancer got me into the SG but resulted in a shorter award length and no one bothered to read the original evidence. My GP wrote a huge and detailed letter that was sent in with the request for MR, it was completely ignored. SG for 18 months, but only for cancer. I doubt the DM who granted SG, even read the letter. ...and no, I didn't get called for the ritual and pointless WCA at ATOS for the migration. I think the remote assessors working for ATOS must all be equipped with crystal balls.

Andrea, if you don't agree with what I have told you about every GP practice having to have a named GP for MH (this is not a qualified, specialist role) then fair enough, it's not a problem. The information I have given you about named GPs, is correct. There is no need to vent disdain for members of the forum here or the advice offered. I hope you are able to access the help you need soon. Be well.

Every GP practice has to have a named GP for Mental Health. It's in the practice contract. They have to have one. No exceptions.

Google - Turn To Us They have an easy to use, online benefits calculator on their site. It's free, you can use it as many times as you like too.

Andrea, please try and get an advocate to help you with this. You could ask your local CAB to signpost you to any local mental health resource centres that are for service users. Was the new GP you saw the "named" GP for mental health within the practice? It's important to see the one named for MH. They may not be any better than any other GP at the practice but at least you are starting off in the right direction.