My Rights, Your Responsibility

Your child's right to be included

My Rights, Your Responsibility is a set of information written primarily for parents of disabled children. It provides information to parents on their child's rights to access activities, community facilities and other services.

So often disabled children and young people are told they cannot join in for reasons relating to health and safety and their impairment. This information tries to address those issues and details what needs to be done to ensure that children and young people can safely join in and that the organisation providing the activity meets its responsibilities in terms of health and safety.

Health and safety should not be used as an excuse to prevent services becoming more inclusive but should be used to ensure that risks are minimised and that we move towards a situation where all children and young people are given the opportunities to join in activities that they would like to do.

As well as the web based information below, there are also a series of 6 printed leaflets.  These can be downloaded from the links below.

PLEASE NOTE: We have had to change distributor for this resource.  Please now contact NCB@robertguy.co.uk or 0207 232 3049 to order hard copy versions.

The six basic leaflets are:

1. Children's rights to communicate their views  and be listened to
2. Choosing a service for your child
3. Expectations
4. The Equality Act
5. What is risk?
6. What services need to know - a leaflet aimed at  service providers

Some earlier copies of the printed leaflets feature information on the Disability Discrimination Act rather than the Equalty Act.   The DDA leaflet can be downloaded from this link.

 http://www.disabilityalliance.org/forthcoming.htm
The DLA roll out A must read for anyone who is getting or is tring to apply for DLA 

 Disability Living Allowance (DLA)DLA will be replaced for people of working age with a new Personal Independance Payment. From April 2013 onwards, all new and existing DLA claimants will be required to undergo a medical assessment to help determine their entitlement. This will not apply to children under 16 or people over 65. It is expected that people in receipt of DLA of working age will be transferred to PIP by 2016.Universal CreditThis will become the main means-tested social security benefit for people of working age. It will replace the current Housing Benefit, Income Support, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), INcome-based Jobseekr's Allowance, Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. Universal Credit will be phased in between 2013 and 2017.Pension Credit.This will be changed to incorporate help with rent and any dependent children, following the introduction of Universal Credit. The Government has ssaid that they will introduce a captial limit for Pension Credit in the future, possibly 2016, that will be higher than that used for benefits for peoplel of working age (this is currently £16,000). Also in the case of a couple, both members will have to be old enough to claim Pension Credit. If one member of a couple is of working age they will have to claim Universal Credit as a couple.Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans.These grants and loans will be abolished, probably in April 2013. Some money will be allocated to local authorities to provide a local scheme but there will be no requirement for them to provide assistance in emergencies. For more information on all these grants visit www.direct.gov.uk

 Couples with children who are receiving Working Tax Credit where one partner is receiving Carer’s Allowance are at risk of losing their full tax credits unless they contact the Tax Credit Office by 6th April.
 
From the 6th of April the Government is increasing the number of hours a couple with children has to work in order to receive Working Tax Credit (lone parents are not affected).
 
Instead of needing to work for 16 hours or more a week couples with children will have to work 24 hours a week or more. If they are unable to find the extra hours they will lose their entitlement to Working Tax Credit. However, following campaigning from Carers UK and other groups including the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group and USDAW the union, the Government has announced that couples including someone on Carer’s Allowance will be exempt from this increase from 16 to 24 hours.
 
This means that a couple with at least one dependent child and where one partner is entitled to Carer’s Allowance, will continue to be able to receive Working Tax Credit if one parent is working for at least 16 hours a week. This includes people with an ‘underlying entitlement’ to Carer’s Allowance - where you are entitled to the benefit but it is not being paid to you because you receive other benefits which are seen to ‘overlap’ with Carer’s Allowance.
 
The Tax Credits Office should already know that someone in your household is receiving Carer’s Allowance if you informed them of this when you claimed Working Tax Credit. However if you are not sure, and particularly if you have started to receive Carer’s Allowance since you claimed Working Tax Credit, you should contact the Tax Credit Office to tell them you are entitled to Carer’s Allowance.
 
To contact the Tax Credit Office, you can call 0345 300 3900, email via www.hmrc.gov.uk/contactus/​email.htm or write to:
 
Tax Credit Office
 Preston
 PR1 4AT
 
You should provide your full name, date of birth, National Insurance Number and email address (if you have one) and inform them that you fulfil one of these exceptions.
 
New entitlement to childcare costs
 
As well as protecting carers from this change, the Government has announced that couples receiving Working Tax Credit which include someone receiving Carer’s Allowance will now be able to claim extra tax credits for childcare if they pay for registered/approved childcare. Again, if this applies to you, you should inform the Tax Credits Office to ensure you receive the extra amount. You can do this from 6th April, but should do it by 6th May 2012.
 
For more information on the Government’s other changes to the benefits system, read our Welfare Reform Frequently Asked Questions at:

http://www.carersuk.org/​help-and-advice/focus-on/item/​2479-welfare-reform-your-questi​ons-answered

HM Revenue & Customs: Emailing HMRC
www.hmrc.gov.uk
At HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) we recognise that many of our customers would prefer to email us.

http://www.dls.org.uk/

Welcome to the online home of the Disability Law Service. Our mission is to provide information, advice and assistance to those with disabilities and their carers. We are a charity and rely upon donations and the limited funding that we recieve from third parties. If you would like to assist the Disability Law Service ('DLS') you can find more information by clicking 'get involved'. Free Legal Advice 0207 791 9800 ​Call now for advice on the below number or why not look at one of our range of free factsheets for assistance. DLS provides free legal advice in the following areas of law: Community Care Law (Advice & Representation) Employment Law (Advice & Representation) Welfare Benefits (Currently factsheets only) Disability Discrimination (Currently factsheets only)

London Legal Walk 2015 is just around the corner again If anyone is not involved but  would like to join the DLS team on the day please feel free to email marathon@dls.org.uk For more details on the walk please see theLondon Legal Support Trusts Website.

http://www.dls.org.uk/Pages/Factsheets.aspx