Afghan war pilot hero: Moment my wife said ‘Flee for your life!’ and I began dangerous escape from Kabul to UK | The Independent

Exclusive: Pilot who fought with coalition forces, fled the Taliban and arrived here by small boat tells his amazing story – as clamour to stop his deportation grows

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This is all so wrong and the UK needs to do so much more.

Anyone who put their lives and those of their families at risk should have no problems accessing the UK, so in these instances more safe routes have to be established.

As to the persons accessing in small boats why penalise them, when it should be the criminals who are using these people to make money. Journalists appear to be able to access these criminals so why not the legal authorities, could it be viewed that it is somewhat easier to go after the people coming in small boats than the criminals using these people.

It could be that Rishi is just doing a PR exercise to give some indication that the Government is doing something when in reality they know full well it will not be successful.

Let’s face it who really trust politicians, any politicians.

 

Source: Afghan war pilot hero: Moment my wife said ‘Flee for your life!’ and I began dangerous escape from Kabul to UK | The Independent

Companies would have to offer repairs for worn-out products for up to 10 years under proposed EU rules | Reuters

The European Union wants to give consumers the right to have worn-out products like washing machines and televisions repaired by producers even after the sales guarantee has expired, to cut waste and make goods last longer.

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This is how it was many, many years ago, when goods were made to last, but then manufactures saw that the buying market was not taking place as they wished it to. Then technology moved so fast that many items were out of date as you bought them, certainly, mobile phones for the advertising encouraged this.

It was thought resources would be never ending, but we see now, hopefully, not too late, that resources are running out or by harvesting them Earth is being destroyed and so in time our own lifetime on Earth.

Yes, what the EU is doing is welcomed, but as usual they have not thought it through, so is the case with any government.
To make goods last longer their prices will increase and so will costs of any repairs thereby causing many people to not afford to do so or will escalate the ‘cost of living’ which so many of us wish for it to decrease.

Yes, manufacturer Warranties should be increased to well more than 2 years for that is when many products tend to require repairs if any are currently possible. But longer Warranties will also increase costs of products, maybe making them out of reach for many, which could have been another reason for the growth of our throw away culture.

What is required is not just one action, but many actions from various areas, Governments, manufacturers and the buying public.

Governments making decrees will only cause more unrest, they need to take everyone with them, but means they for once need to listen and not just carry on regardless, but that is not the government way, any government.

Source: Companies would have to offer repairs for worn-out products for up to 10 years under proposed EU rules | Reuters

‘My brother with Down’s Syndrome is slowly spiralling’: The severity of the social care crisis laid bare

Nearly half of social care providers in England have been forced to close part of their organisation or hand back contracts to councils due to cost pressures in the last year, i reveals

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This is the true state of Social Care in the UK and this government is not listening, but then no previous government has listened.

The closed ears of UK governments have lead to this crisis, which if anyone cared to look would have seen it coming well before 2010, but the Tory austerity cuts from then only enhanced the crisis much more and still is to this day, with no seen improvements coming from any future governments.

It is not only with Down’s Syndrome but in every aspect of social care both childrens and adults. It requires an immediate increase, of at least, £12 billion to reverse the decline, but to enable continued sustainability much more in all the coming years. For if it is not done we can say goodbye to social care and following very closely the NHS as well. For without a sustained and credible social care the NHS crisis will continue to get worse no matter how much is given to the NHS.

Social care is the immediate priority and then the NHS. both are in severe deficit of staff, social care more so than the NHS. While NHS staff salaries need to be increased in-line with inflation, all social care not only require an inflation increase in salaries but a massive upgrading from the forthcoming April 2023 £11 per hour to around £13/14 this year and £15 next year. To do nothing more than the increase to £11 of the National Liviving Wage is effectively completely saying social care can end to any degree.

Human rights will be ignored and safeguarding alerts will escalate and everyone will blame social workers when the real culprits will be the government.

 

Source: ‘My brother with Down’s Syndrome is slowly spiralling’: The severity of the social care crisis laid bare

Boris Johnson admits he misled Parliament over Partygate – but says ‘he didn’t mean to’ – Mirror Online

Boris Johnson will be hauled before the Commons Privileges Committee for an explosive showdown over whether he deliberately misled MPs with what he knew about lockdown parties in Downing Street

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By this admission it shows he had no idea what he was doing and only acted on views of others, so perhaps a ‘Tub of Lard’ would have been also suitable as Prime Minister, or was he a tub of lard. His actions all depended on who pulled his strings.

He shows he was totally incompetent not only as Prime Minister, but also as an MP, the best he could do is leave completely, so can his strings be pulled again.

 

Source: Boris Johnson admits he misled Parliament over Partygate – but says ‘he didn’t mean to’ – Mirror Online

Fewer than five accessible toilets in York – campaigners call for more | York Press

THERE are fewer than five accessible toilets for disabled people to use in York, new figures show.

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This is not only in York, but throughout the UK.

To find Changing Places toilets look on https://www.changing-places.org/.

Many more are required as suitable toilets are very essential facilities.

Perhaps Building regulations should be changed so any new commercial buildings have to include not only male/female and disabled toilets, but at least one Changing places toilet, it will take time, but the numbers of toilets will increase.

But also more needs to be done in existing buildings as everyone has a right to use a toilet.

 

Source: Fewer than five accessible toilets in York – campaigners call for more | York Press

Government has no plans to review level of social work bursaries despite nine-year freeze – Community Care

The government has no plans to review the level of social work bursaries despite them having been frozen since 2014. Care minister Helen Whately said the government did not intend to “assess the adequacy of social work bursaries for the forthcoming academic year”, 2023-24, in response to a written parliamentary question from Labour’s Emma Lewell-Buck. Whately […]

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Yes, bursaries frozen again, but the word coming forth is ‘A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are committed to supporting social workers in their education and training. We invest in Think Ahead – a graduate fast track programme to become a qualified social worker supporting people with mental health needs – and we provide financial aid to students to qualify through the social work bursary and education support grant [which funds practice placements].” ‘

This to some extent is true, but not the whole truth for support has to be sufficient, but that is not part of the promise, so student social workers are let down by the government while studying and when qualified again let down as the salaries to be received are also not keeping pace with inflation.

Government lies or half-truths or is half being generous, which this government will never be.

 

Source: Government has no plans to review level of social work bursaries despite nine-year freeze – Community Care

Shortfall of £2.3bn a year in England’s care homes ‘putting people at risk’ | Social care | The Guardian

Exclusive: Funding hole directly affects elderly people whose bills are entirely or partly paid for by councils

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Yes, the £7 billion is just scratching the surface and will do nothing to improve the quality of social care, just perhaps, stop any further declines.

To improve quality the staff vacancies in all areas of social care need to be filled, but the rates currently being paid to carers will never achieve this, so these rates need to be considerably increased without delay, for to delay the staffing shortages will only get worse.

Even the increase to the National Living Wage to £10.42 in April 2023 will not bring in more care workers for that rate is far from a Living Wage and then it is reduced by having to pay income tax. to bring in more care workers the rate has to be in the region of £14.00 per hour and also an alteration to our immigration criteria to encourage people from outwith the UK to come to work in care.

This Government and all previous governments have allowed by their inability or unwillingness to properly fund social care for social care to continue to deteriorate. this deterioration increases health inequalities which are and will continue to reduce the quality of care in the NHS.

At least £12 billion just for social care is required and this government needs to pay this to local authorities without any further delays, or we can say goodbye to both social care and the NHS.

So to provide substantially more funding for social care and in doing so cover all vacancies and more will not only improve the quality of care in social care, but also the NHS, as both are in dire need of major improvements and currently staffing levels in both can’t do more than they are currently doing.

We need a listening government, but I can’t see this coming from this current government or the next one, be it Labour or Conservative.

Source: Shortfall of £2.3bn a year in England’s care homes ‘putting people at risk’ | Social care | The Guardian

Sheffield tree inquiry: council misled the public and courts in ‘dark episode for Sheffield’ | The Star

Sheffield Council misled the public and courts in what was described as a ‘dark episode’ for the city, according to the damning findings of the street tree inquiry.

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Trust in anything has to be earnt and can take considerable time to achieve, if ever, but this trust can so quickly disappear where actions happening are irrelevant, dishonest, unbelievable and much more. Then trust has to be re-earnt if it is ever possible to do, but large and assumed powerful organisations tend to believe that they can do as they wish and don’t show respect to others.

So, let’s hope this is taken by Sheffield City Council (SCC) as a warning to do better next time, but, in the past, there will have been other occasions of similar actions, so will ‘lessons be learnt’ we all hope so, but will they.

This is not just lessons for SCC but all other authorities and especially governments, for governments are seen to be so much more powerful and they do exert their assumed power on these other authorities which is not generally recognised by the population and the authorities are blamed when it should be the government.

It is not the authorities and government who should be powerful, but the populations, but in many instances the populations are discounted to the point of being irrelevant and that is so wrong.

Just relying on elections is way insufficient and many more ways need to be available for the populations voice to be heard and for it to be so much easier to do.

But, here the ability to bring these actions has been made so much more difficult has they can be expensive and the access to Legal Aid has been, over the years made so much more difficult to receive and the time it takes can, if when possible, is far too long.

We are supposed to live in a democratic country and while the UK is so much more democratic than some countries, there is still a much longer way to go for it to be fully democratic, will it, well only time will tell.

 

Source: Sheffield tree inquiry: council misled the public and courts in ‘dark episode for Sheffield’ | The Star

‘Burning shame as Brits from all sections of society were left in Covid’s crosshairs’ – Anna Morell – Mirror Online

All Covid support has gone, but there are still shielders – disabled people who know their underlying conditions put them at too great a risk from Covid to venture out and reclaim a fully lived life now

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COVID-19 was and perhaps still is viewed as a once in a lifetime situation, but over the years there have been many instances were pandemics could have occurred Bird Flu, to name one and there is influenza, which is a form of COVID, where vaccine is available each year for those who are seen to be at risk and for those in some of the emergency services.

When the COVID-19 vaccine became available, yes, certain groups were deemed to be in need of the vaccine, but not those with Learning Disabilities, (LD), even though many are deemed eligible for the influenza vaccine. Then when they were included for the COVID-19 vaccine, at first it was only those with certain conditions and not all.

You may say that sufficient information was not available, but was it for it is already known that persons with LD, have a life expectancy of on average 20% less to those who don’t have LD, and this is from the LeDeR programme. The resulting reports are sent to the Department of health & Social Security so there is no way that the department can say they were not aware of the information. Perhaps it was decided that persons with LD were not considered to be a sufficient priority as they were deemed to be not important enough, who Knows, perhaps this will come out in Matt Hancock’s WhatsApp messages, but who knows.

This is a disgrace and shows that this Government and perhaps any government don’t really care about anyone, other than themselves and those who they seem to believe to be important.

Source: ‘Burning shame as Brits from all sections of society were left in Covid’s crosshairs’ – Anna Morell – Mirror Online

Systems for challenging adult social care decisions failing, warns rights regulator – Community Care

The system for challenging councils on their adult social care decisions is failing those who need it, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has warned. Inaccessible information, “complicated and stressful processes” and a lack of advocacy were undermining people’s ability to challenge local authority decisions in England and Wales, the rights regulator found, on […]

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Mostly I agree with the points raised and certainly more needs to be done to make the processes more equitable and so much easier to go through. But, in many instances it is down to trust, for a good proportion of the population are scared of very large organisations and certainly those who appear to have great power, which Local Authorities, (LAs) certainly have.

Over the years I have submitted many complaints to my LA, and in the main my complaints have been upheld, but the process can be very long, so is very time consuming and exceedingly stressful.

I was caring for my daughter for going on 40 years and over time became much more knowledgeable about processes and certainly what mine and my daughters Rights were.

I studied the legislations including the Care Act 2014 and I became aware that a significant number of LA staff were not very aware of what was in the Care Act, and also became aware that in some instances the Care Act was being ignored to some extent, either by design or lack of knowledge.

That being said, in one Formal complaint, I became so incensed about the complaints procedure that I added to the complaint , a complaint about the procedure.

Only once have I progressed a complaint to the Ombudsman, but was told I submitted to them too late, even though this was due to the LA taking over a year to forward to me their final response. To have a deadline to submit, to me is totally wrong and does not take into account the stresses encountered by persons with needs and their carers which in many instances can be considerable.

Also, the Ombudsman only takes into account whether the processes were fully followed and not the right or wrongs of any decision, which again needs to be rectified. So does the opportunities to raise a Judicial Review, which over the years has been made much more difficult due to Governments making it more difficult for persons to obtain Legal Aid to fund the process, having to rely on finding a law firm to take on by ‘No Win, No Fee’.

A ‘no win, no fee’ agreement, also known as a conditional fee agreement, is an arrangement between you and your personal injury solicitor. It means that if your compensation claim is unsuccessful, you will not have to pay a contingency fee for your lawyer’s services.
While the Care Quality Commission is being given more powers, it should be given much more including the provision to investigate complaints.

I had the ability to understand, over the years, the process and have the strength and ability to go through the processes. At times having to explain my Right to complain by any media I wished to use, being in writing, by telephone, by email, etc and not as I was informed on occasions only on their complaint form and at times advised I would have to go through a more senior staff member, which again is untrue. So, I have had to talk through some LA staff what the process is.

Over the years I have become so much more involved with my LA, in that they call upon me to help them in various ways, as they wish to avail themselves of my ‘Expert by Experience’ knowledge and over the years have seen some improvements to some degree.

I am now 73 and took early retirement at 62 due to health, but this gave me more opportunities to be involved and I am now a regular contributor to many areas within my LA. But I have over the years become involved with my local Healthwatch, Health Authorities and many over local voluntary and Charity organisations.

I do appreciate that many others will not have the time, the strength and other requirements to do what I have and continue to do, so I do hope by doing what I do I am helping to improve what is there not only for my own family, but for many others too.

Unfortunately, over the last few years I had to deal with the death of my wife in September 2020 and my dear daughter in October 2022 and my involvement in the areas above have in many ways been helping me to deal with these losses and I have received many supporting comments from persons I am in contact with in my LA and other organisations.

To me complaining and then being involved in other ways has been, in most respects, good for me and my family and have been able to become much closer to the processes which are not easy to deal with and to know the people I am dealing with. This will not be possible for most of the population, but I do hope in time more improvements will be made.

The largest of these is funding, which since 2010 for all LAs has been well short of what is required due to Tory austerity cuts and really needs to be reversed. The government said the cuts would be absorbed through saving being made, well in most respects there were not opportunities to make saving, unless cuts to services were made, which there has been to many, if not all services, leading to great deterioration to the lives of many.

This Government and all future governments need to ensure that funding cuts are not the way forward and lead to much more deprivation and many more inequalities.

 

Source: Systems for challenging adult social care decisions failing, warns rights regulator – Community Care