Child Benefit.

[Keith Tindell]

I think you have a point with heating allowance, i am a member of a golf club, and on a Tuesday it old farts day, look around the club room and 40 of us all on heating allowance, however, i would be happy to forgo mine if i knew they were tightening up on the real scams, housing allowance being no1, and i can think of a lot more worth sorting out. But at the end of the day we cannot afford half of this, KT

[Captain Kong]

Child Benefit.
As most of us on here (if not all) are no longer in reciept of CB what do our members think about the benefits to OAP's.Should the Bus Pass, free TV Licence and Heating Allowance plus the £10 Christmas Box be abolished????After all these are paid to all pensioners no matter what their status even to our Honourable Members of Parliament qualify if they are pensionable age.How many on here dont need it and think it should be means tested just like the Child Benefit????
Regards.
Jim.B.
.
. Jim,
I look at it as a Thank You for working for 50 years, paying taxes, paying NI Stamps into the coffers of this once great Nation.
If they do not give it to me and others who have done the same, then they will give it to others who have Never contributed.
The State Pension is rubbish, I believe it is the lowest in Europe.
A few weeks ago, Cameron was in the UN in New York, he announced that he was giving £12,000,000 of our Tax Payers money to the Islamic Gangs in Syria, the very same Terrorists who are killing our Soldiers in Afghanistan.
A week or two before, Hague gave over £5,000,000 of military equipment to the same Terrorist organisation.
Equipment that our own Troops are short of.
Now if Our Government has so much money to throw away on Terrorist Gangs then they can afford to pay my TV Licence after 50 years of Service to the Nation.
Cheers
Brian.

[John Pruden]

young kids having kids should go after the fathers not go to the DHSS there are young mums out there of 18/19 with kids different fathers why should the tax payer pay for their irresponsibility stop any child benefit to any child not residing in this country. we pay for the one night stand{and we had no fun} parents have to take the price of their actions.jp

[Calvin Kent]

I know of one lady who used to be a friend of the family. Cannot keep her knickers on and has nine kids by at least four different fathers. The council paid for two houses to be built as one for her on a new development as she was always down their offices complaining of over-crowding. I believe she has also managed to get four of the kids "statemented" so also pulls in extra money for them via disability living allowance and carer allowance. She knows of every benefit to which she can lay claim and makes sure she puts herself in the position of being able to claim it. Her boyfriends never move in with her as they are invariably claiming in their own right for another property. The scary thing is she is still only 43 so has a few more child-bearing years ahead of her.

Regards
Calvin

[Ivan Cloherty]

Calvin, do you think she will adopt me

[Gulliver]

As most of us on here (if not all) are no longer in reciept of CB what do our members think about the benefits to OAP's

Not abolished,but everything means tested-EVERYTHING.If you really need it,you will get it,if not you won't.
By the way Jim,I doubt whether any MP's would use a Bus Pass.so it's not costing anything.It's decent non-car-owning (by choice)people like me
who opt to use the buses who need them.. Also,think about this.The majority of people who use buses these days are concessionary(mainly senior citizens).If you take away our passes,there will be no need of bus services anywhere,which means no subsidies for the bus operators,which means no bus companies required,which means loss of jobs....

Winter Heating Allowance should certainly be means tested.I resent people on high incomes getting the standard payment.

All in all,means testing will only hurt those who shouldn't be getting a benefit in the first place.(and they know it,hence the almighty outcry at the slightest mention of benefit being
cut.)
Gulliver

[Jim Brady]

Gulliver,Davey it is surprising just how much the bus pass is worth to many pensioners,it's not just for a ride on a bus for a day day out to the seaside.I dont know how much the minimum bus fare is where you live but here it is £2 just to go one stop.Having said that take the scenario where pensioners have to travel to the shops todo their weekly shopping,husband and wife set out to carry out this chore that ups their shopping bill by £8 which they could've spent on some extra food.In the good weather it gets the pensioner out of the house and keeps them mobile hence keeping them mobile and fit stops them vegetating in the house and so less of a drain on the NHS.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[Red Lead Ted]

You have seen nothing yet wait until next November. That's when the fan will hit the shi* . I wouldn't put it past this government to do what they done years ago and start sending a visitor to your door from the D.W.P. And having a good old snoop around at what you have and what you haven't got in your possession. The D.W.P. Still to this day regard a refrigerator as a luxury and not an assecity, And don't rule out loosing your D.L.A. Car lads or your bus pass we have squaddies on active service in Afghanistan winning the fight against terrorists or so were told. With grenades in one and there P45 in there other **** pocket. So when you get the knock on the door and your sat in front of your 42 inch t.v watching sky, with the central heating on your laptop running, And you have stocked up your refrigerator after a trip to tescos in your D.L.A. Car or bus pass i suggest you Sad days indeed Terry.

[Gulliver]

Gulliver,Davey it is surprising just how much the bus pass is worth to many pensioners

Agree with all of that Jim.

By the Way, I don’t actually have my bus pass yet-I’m just getting practice in defending my right to have one! Why don’t I have one? Well,I was looking forward to getting it in May when I turned 60 (for bus passes ,men or women. It’s 60) But the government moved the goalposts in line with their progressive retirement age policy.So now I have to wait two more years until I’m 62. Same with the Winter Fuel Payment,although thankfully my partner gets that for the house,so I don’t have to overstretch my occupational pensions further,with the cost of gas and electricity increasing this winter.
Thankfully,I should still get my state pension at 65,but you sometimes get the impression that the government(makes no difference which one,-Labour were just the same) are wanting we seniors to die off before we get our benefits.

I suppose we’ll be hearing soon from ‘our ex-pat man in Holland’ telling us how lucky we are compared to those in Europe,or our ‘ex-pat’ men on the Mediterranean defending their right to winter heating allowance to heat their orange-grove shrouded villas in the Arctic climate that is so prevalent there !


　
Laugh?..I nearly made another donation to this excellent site !

[John Pruden]

how many grandparents have the job of looking after grandchildren while the mums and dads have to go to work? the price of child care per child could be as much as £250.00 per week? how much are we saving the government per year in claims for child care? as being disabled my wife should be able to claim attendance allowance but has been told with the bent doctors in the dwp i would be getting medicals every few months and not to bother even claiming it that is the state of our nation at this time?jp