Long post. Loadsa good stuff.
The minutes of the last meeting of the North West Mental Health Welfare Rights Advisers Group are now available for download from here and in due course (give us a minute) from their pages within the GMWRAG site.
GMWRAG was quite upset to discover that since the NWMHWRAG pages migrated to this site in 2011 not one person has noticed that the section was erroneously titled the North West Mental Health Advisers Welfare Rights Group and not the North West Mental Health Welfare Rights Advisers Group. WHO was not paying attention? All of you apparently!
The People’s Front of Judea are most upset. Eats, Shoots and Leaves indeed! Other documents from the meeting can be downloaded from below but also from the now correctly titled section. Anything else you’re not telling us?
GMWRAG sometimes gets asked how one joins such an exclusive club or “old boys clique” as we recently were amused to hear it described. We’re thinking of adopting the passing of a UC quiz as the entry requirement.
Suffice to say we’ll be asking the (mostly female) Principal Officers of Welfare Rights services across GM to withdraw from GMWRAG anyone heard spouting such inanities especially given that attendance at GMWRAG meeting is fairly evenly divided between the sexes but if anything skewed well away from “old boys”.
In the meantime, we have been handed some late-breaking corrections to some of the above and we detail these below, which goes to prove that there is occasionally some value in being tardy!
“On the minutes – slight correction needed to this bit
Note differences to shared accommodation rules for over 35s, under
occupancy (non dependant couples get two rooms, overnight carers not dependant on SDP)
It should say something like this –
Note differences to shared accommodation rules –
- single over 35s – get one bedroom rate even if chosen to live in shared accommodation
- single under 35s – exemption from shared accommodation rate not dependent on SDP (just on the disability benefit – ie PIP DL / DLA mid/high care etc)
under occupancy –
- non dependant couples get two rooms,
- overnight carers – stricter than HB – person needing care must be getting disability benefit – PIP DL / DLA mid/high care etc)
Second thing –
When we were discussing the protection on death rules & no bedroom tax for 3 months, it was asked if – when a non dependant dies – whether the non-dep deduction would still apply.
The speaker said they thought not – but since had a look to see if there are any Regs/guidance to confirm that!
Reg 37
This is what the guidance says – 
It does not make sense to say that a non-dep who has died should still be making their contribution to the tenant (that is the theory of non-dep deductions isn’t it? ie that the non-dep should pay something towards the cost of the roof over their head – unless exempt). There will be no non-dep income.
Also if the exemption was due to non-dep’s PIP daily living etc – that would have stopped.
So we think this is a mistake/omission.”
G.M.W.R.A.G. 
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