Dear Clare
Hi. To follow up on the reply by Liz Thompson. I would strongly
recommend that you contact the Citizen's Advice Bureau & the
Benefits Helpline on this one (phone operator & ask for Freephone DSS
- or the number used to be 0800 666555 but I think that has
changed). The reason for suggesting the CAB is two-fold: first they
should be able to advise on this specific case, but also because
(according to a colleague who is one of their trained volunteers) the
CAB passes data to the government on the type & number of queries
they handle - which should mean that the govt. is informed of such
cases where the rules seem unreasonable & therefore has the option to
review them .
We have also had some success in cases like this by tapping into
the Hardship funds (separate from Access). Then there is the
University's development fund (if you have one) which can be
used for specific grants to meet specialised individual needs
such as the fridge you mentioned. Then there are other
possibilities - try your local Training & Enterprise Council -
they may have ideas; he may have come from a line of work (e.g.
armed forces have SSAFA) where there are charities which offer
help to former members. You might also try local Diabetic
organisations as they may have ideas / knowkledge in this area.
Also can I clarify the comments made at Skill Conference last week:
as I understood it, the issue of concern was not just that the
DSS counts the Student Loan as "Income" but also that where the
person is a student they are assumed to have the Student loan
income EVEN IF they have not applied for the loan at all. The
DSS view was said to be that it is available to the student &
therefore counts as income even if not "collected" by the
eligible student.
Hope that's helpful
Regards, Deb
----------------------
Deb Viney
Disability Co-ordinator
University of Southampton
[log in to unmask]
Tel: 01 703 595644 (Highfield, Mon Wed & Fri)
or 01 703 216200 ext. 518 (Tu & Thur, UoS New College)
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