We must a very sick nation which needs to drastically change its lifestyle.  We certainly do, me included 100% BUT that doesn't stop me getting off my bum and going to work.  With so much help in this country for Disabled people the numbers should be going down not up.  

>With so much help in this country for Disabled people the numbers should be going down not up.

I believe there is a quite sizeable proportion (not only disabled, but the population as a whole) with the mindset that if they can manage on handouts, why bother getting off your bum?

> Where did you read or hear this moonmaiden.   I think that has to be impossible to be true unless every single  landlord in the country would have to have an imaginary property.
>

Directly from Local Government meetings I attended in my role as a DWP Fraud Officer-so it's not from anything you will find on the internet-& I still have the same contacts.

I'll give you an example I was involved in-Landlord X received in excess of £10,000 per week HB for properties he owned & let to people on low incomes & benefits-however he actually didn't own any of the properties & the identities were either stolen or fake(& it was/is quite easy to get a National Insurance Number for a baby who died before Child Benefit was claimed) or the alleged claimants were in his gang & in on the fraud.X is now serving 10 years in Armley for him & his gang defrauding 6 different Local Authorities of over £2,000,000-recouped by the seizing of all their assets)This is just a drop in the ocean believe me

The next biggest fraud was stolen/forged giros & orderbooks-this fraud obviously has been drastically cut since payments are no longer paid by order books

The DWP obviously is involved but whilst the amount paid out on fraudulant claims is included in the DWP figures-the money is actually from the Local Authorities.

The doctors who assess people for the disability benefits receive more money for negative reports than positive ones & also there are dedicated DWP staff whose sole job is to get people off benefits by any means they can & they get bonuses for exceeding their quotas(which most do)& they laugh about the successes they have had-including the case of a quadaplegic they stopped all benefits for !

Now the DWP is run by Ex Dept of Employment management the get people off benefit any way they can & sledge the customers attitude previously only seen in the old Job Centresis now throughout the Dept. It isn't easy to claim benefits you cannot speak to anyone locally without an inside knowledge of the system(which I fortunately still have)

There are still a lot of people working  whilst getting Jobseekers who form the vast majority of the fraudsters.

As for the alleged increase in IB & disability recipients-these include people who get no money because they get works pensions or do not qualify for money but who get a credit for national insurance towards their reitrement pension. Also there didn't used to be a special benefit for young disabled people which there now is & these claims are also now included in the figures now quoted-whereas before they were not.

However you obviously have your opinions based on information gleaned from the Net, TV & other media sources which you are entitled to however my opinions & knowledge comes from being at the sharp end for so many years(over 33)

I believe there is a quite sizeable proportion (not only disabled, but the population as a whole) with the mindset that if they can manage on handouts, why bother getting off your bum?

Couldn't agree with your more JG  but from what the government are saying it seems the Sickness scheme is the new one to hit. once on sickness the interviews and benefit period is longer.

Shambles really all over.    Most people that work don't do it just to keep themselves and their families but out of self respect and the feeling of being someone and part of a community.    This is what is diminishing. Very sad.   

" we" have to pay the price.

Directly from Local Government meetings I attended in my role as a DWP Fraud Officer-so it's not from anything you will find on the internet-& I still have the same contacts.

However you obviously have your opinions based on information gleaned from the Net, TV & other media sources

:-((  I hardly base my opinions based on just media sources quite the opposite,  that to me almost implies you should know the stats more because of your previous employment :-)

My opinions are based on the published facts from Government ministers and opinions expressed by their experienced advisors.  I follow politics, question time.  Read Government published articles.

David Freud a well respected person was employed JUST to help sort out the mess as an advisor. He certainly didn't come from " within" 

Here you can find him on your previous employers website :-) 

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/welfarereform/freud_report.asp

I quoted him in my earlier posts hardly tabloid reading.

Being honest I think you and I are actually talking about different things, you appear to have worked in the fraud type role one that fits quite easily into transparent fraudlent transaction boxes.

My comments are based on the " fraud" being committed by the loop holes were the " previous" and existing DWP were and are having huge problems trying to resolve and prove.    The whole welfare system looks to be under review.

I dont disagree with others that it is not every day people alone who are bringing the country down but the rules , loop holes and also failings that are also.

>There should be free dentistry for all

In a perfect world maybe.. I have never heard of free dentistry unless there was some type of major malformation.

One thing i have noticed here is that most teenagers,mostly girls,have perfect teeth.If one tooth is slightly crooked then they get braces.Most kids in my children's school have or have had braces,most of them wouldn't even need them.But it seems the perfect smile is of utmost importance.

My daughter had braces put on a month ago,and because i don't work i had to pay $450,It could have been as high as $1000.We were on the waiting list for nearly 6 years.Because we had to go public.
My sister's daughters both have braces,and because she works she had to pay $2,500 each,she had to go private,and there was no waiting list.

Not as costly as over here, we are paying just over £3K (nearly 3 times as much) for the private treatment.  But then almost everything in the UK costs more than elsewhere, it's a rip off.