Last of the Bouetians
Friday 14th May 2010, 2:30PM BST.
Amanda McLaughlin and her four children are among a handful of people left on the Bouet estate ahead of its demolition. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 0969620)
A MOVING date cannot come soon enough for the remaining residents on the Bouet estate.
Around four of the 148 properties there are still occupied and those people left should be moving within the next few weeks.
Amanda McLaughlin, 32, is a single mum with three girls and a boy between the ages of nine and 13. She has lived in Rue des Pins for nine years and was told two years ago that she would be moved.
The family now live in an area littered with rubbish and surrounded by boarded-up buildings with broken windows, tiles and doors.
‘It’s awful. We’ve been here nine years and we’ve had trouble the whole time.’
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The low level that our daily paper goes to never ceases to amaze me. The word “Bouetians” is so often used in a derogatory and insulting term. I am sure the ‘Press were quite aware of this when they published their article.
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Its funny how we always get the same quote when a tenant from the Bouet is interviewed ‘Its been awful, we’ve had nothing but trouble’. Makes you wonder who the mysterious troublemakers really are.
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Nice headline. The concern for many islanders, including myself, is are they coming to a place near us soon? I hope not.
The only benefit will be the asbo families will not have Miss X’s numerous clan too blame from number whatever for all & sundry. Whilst immediately claiming her own, however many, as being little angels.
They always are when the claimant is so switched off from their daily activities & more in tune with readying themselves to go out on a regular lash with whoever at the drop of a hat.
I hope many of the lower class can integrate into a new part of the island & society without dragging it down so they feel right at home.
I have no doubt many people will have their way of life blighted by some of these unsavoury individuals.
I know many that would delight a whole lot more from being in constant conflict with their neighbours than being polite, courteous & friendly.
It is a source of free entertainment for the little feral idiots. Object with the slightest little annoyance, noise pollution from scooters with the silencers taken off being a particular favourite, & its a green card for the start of a never ending hate campaign.
Mr & Mrs smith from their nice property they worked very hard for takes the place of Shazza & Bazza from number 37. Once tranquil lives quickly become a living hell. Constantly worried about fear of conflict or criminal damage on everything that is not locked up in a high fenced secure area.
The Bouet is a dump but is fitting for what some of these individuals deserve. No doubt there will be many news stories in the coming months from people whose lives have been turned upside down by ex bouetians branching out into society.
In a matter of a few short months Miss X & her nine kids from different fathers can transform what was once a highly desirable place to live. Into an environment where they moved from.
Confusion & major arguments with drunks on fathers day & kids hoarding scrap to smash up wilfully & randomly for pointless but constant free entertainment.
I hope I am wrong & values will be enhanced with a new way of life. I very much doubt it though.
I hope the authorities will act quickly so that house prices are not affected by these people. It is now a case of wait & see who
is unlucky enough to have them living nearby.
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Hold on a minute Paul, this sort of behaviour happens in the private sector too, I think it is awful to tar everyone with the same brush, and as for the headlines in the Press, calling them Bouetians, how dreadful is that? I know there have been problems down there but it has been home for a few hundred good living citizens for a number of years and they dont deserve that.
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It is difficult not to tar everyone with the same brush. It doesn’t matter where you go throughout the British Isles, the areas dominated by Social Housing are messier, the atmosphere is ruder, crime is higher, eduction is lower blah blah (of course these are all generalisations, but there is a propensity nonetheless). This is an accepted truth, the problem is tracing back the steps to identify the causality. For that reason, it is not possible to simply blame the residents in general terms.
I suspect what actually happens is that a minority in these areas have a very big influence on the quality of the lives of the majority. Once again, poor majority. How does this happen so often in society?!
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Well done Paul, good comments. I think you should be commended for speaking out against these terrible people. People like you are the true heroes of the middle classes. And you’re right, what the hell will this do for the price of my property goddamit?
Paul, you didn’t directly say it, but I will. These people are all the same, every last one of them! We should treat them with the utter contempt they deserve.
Honestly it makes me sick to my stomach the thought of them smoking their cider and drinking their spice outside MY HOUSE.
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Bloody hell Paul, I thought I’d just walked into a National German Socialist Workers Party discussion.
Replace ‘islanders’ with Germans and ‘Bouet’ with Jewish Ghetto and ‘lower class’ with Jews.
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Whilst I have never trained as a psychobabbelist I have noticed that every three or four months Paul comes up with a nasty post such as the one above
He is clearly reflecting on something very depressing that has happened in his own past.
Let it go Paul before you go too far
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Yes this behaviour does also occur in the private sector but not to nearly the same extent as outlined by Paul.
Bouetians may not be a particularly pleasant term but these people made their estate what it was and will no doubt spread mini bouets where ever they are placed. The States Housing authority say they don’t tolerate such behaviour but they do very little, if anything, to deal with these people.
It’s beyond me how the Social Security haven’t introduced measures such as paying benefits for the first child only. But no they keep paying for all further children so these women have no need to be careful and use contraception. They keep having children as a way of “earning” money and avoiding having to get a job.
Whilst I agree it’s not the childrens’ fault in all of this I do think the parents must be held accountable and should bet jobs and Social Security must introduce preventative measure by drasticallly reducing benefits for these people.
There are many people in the private sector who may genuinely want a large family but realistically it’s not possible largely due to the expense of raising a large brood. They don’t reproduce willy nilly and expect tax payers to foot the bill.
Mark Dorey why do you think it’s OK for this situation to continue in this day and age?
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Paul you wrote,
“I know many that would delight a whole lot more from being in constant conflict with their neighbours than being polite, courteous & friendly”.
Brilliant piece on self reflection.
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i beg your pardon , i lived on t bouet and yes it has a few shameful ppl, but a lot was also very kind, honest and always thought of others too. low schooling is rubbish as i knew a few kids that went to grammer and onto collage in the uk. when the housing offer you a place, it does not matter where it is , only that you have a roof over your head
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Ah Paul magic. I tell you what, maybe we should introduce sterilisation at birth, and you have to complete a competency test before it is reversed. You must prove you have the financial security, the mental stability and that you will in no way be a burden on society before you can have children? There was me thinking we celebrated liberation from the Nazis last week?
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Golden Brown. If people are mature enough to copulate then they should take responsibility not to over populate.
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Ever heard of contraception? Might be able to save a few bob. States should only fund one child, the rest they shouldn’t fund for.
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@ paul ~ i think your comments are EXCELLENT!!!!
I know alot of people who lived down the Bouet and none of them worked, and still dont work, they are lazy people who think its OUR job to keep them as the states are too stupid to see the bigger picture.
I used to live in a lovely states house, in a lovely area till we were told we earn too much so we had to leave, now there is an 18 year old with 2 children both from random men, who doesnt work, has no interest in working, and is lapping it up in my old house.
I suffer from Asthma and we asked for central heating as we only had a coal fire to heat a 3 bedroom house and were told no!!! This one walks in, no money, no care for anyone not even her children, had the house completely gutted and had everything brand new and central heating well isnt she lucky.
When my father decided being a dad was too difficult, and walked out, the states told my mother to give up work and they would support her as she would be better off, thank god my mum had pride told them where to stick it and has worked every day ever since and i couldnt be more proud of her! So for all you bouet rejects that are taking good people’s homes, and forcing good people to pay high priced private rent, i hope your proud of yourselves, your all the same.
Leave school, no GCSE’s, get Pregnant, get a house, dont work, states will keep you! good to know where my hard earn tax money is going! I own my house and have done for some time now and i tell you what id rather work my hands to the bone and know i paid for my house, than be a lazy so and so and never work because the states will keep me!
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OK, Paul’s expressed his views in a very forthright manner, and not everyone in social housing (Gsy and UK) can be tarred with the same brush, however, the fact is that he – we – still all pay taxes (stealth and otherwise) have no say as to where the money goes, and a considerable chunk of that money does indeed go towards funding social housing and it’s residents.
So, is paying for them not enough? Must we also smile, acquiesce, and not have an opinion, as we go to work (many in jobs we can’t stand), scrimp and save for every single thing we want, and generally have to bite the bullet of the life we have chosen, whilst we subsidise a portion of the population’s lifestyles – good, bad and otherwise – ?
Take away the premise that it’s somehow estate residents ‘fault’ that they live there, must they not take ANY responsibility for what they do in their lives, just like everyone else on the planet?
And finally, the real litmus test for all that would criticise Paul for his outspoken views…
when the new estate rises from the ashes, if there’s some really nice, top quality homes available for private buyers, who here can honestly say they’d put in a bid to buy one…?
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I used to work at Le Marchant House and the people that’d be queueing outside on a Thursday morning, whilst smoking fags, spitting, swearing, eagerly waiting for the doors to open to collect their benefit used to make me mad!!!
Most of them had no disability in sight and were perfectly capable of getting outta bed to collect their money so why can’t the lazy so and so’s do that for the other 4 mornings of the week!!!!
Why does it continue to be right that us honest people get up and go to work every day to support these people!!! I’d prob be a lot better off if i spat out a couple of kids and didn’t go to work but I have a conscience!!!!
I agree that these people will just take their bad ways wherever they are moved to, something really needs to be done to encourage people to get a job and not just sit on their bum!!!
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@ Bemused ~ the scary thing is these people can get upto nearly £500 a WEEK from the states, so yeah sometimes you acutally are better off popping out some kids, getting your £12 rent paid for you and not working which is shocking.
The states make it too comfortable for them! If like someone else said they only help pay for one child they soon would find a job or their “back problems” would soon go!!!
I cant understand why these people think its acceptable for us good honest people to support them.
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Ok, to be fair, a lot of you do have a point but can I please add that not all single mothers reproduce purely to get benefit and be able to sit on their backsides.
Some do yes – like I said, you do have a point there but not all do that. Some women might have two, three, four children by one man who then for whatever reason (and no, not just because she’s sleeping around and drinking, maybe he cheated or abused her or the relationship may have simply mutually ended)have now become single mothers and need help.
If you have a woman with more than one child, with the ridiculous cost of childcare and the even more ridiculous cost of living on this island, if she doesn’t have various qualifications and get a high paid job then she simply cannot afford to work. Let’s remember, not all men can support their children financially as they should.
You do have the scumbags yes who sleep around, have x number of kids by same number of fathers and who don’t give a toss about thier kids and drink their benefit away – but don’t tarnish all single mothers with the same brush.
Just like I’d imagine not all “bouetians” or states house tenants are scum.
The way I tend to think is that you have your good honest people who NEED to live in a states house, who can’t afford private sector and you have your people who can’t work for different reasons (illness, disability, and yes single mothers who aren’t high earners and can’t afford childcare). These people do NEED help.
You then have your scumbags, the ones who cause all the trouble. These are the ones who don’t work because frankly – they can’t be ar**ed. The ones who do go out and reproduce for benefits and lie about health problems so they don’t have to work.
Not everyone in a states house or on benefit is a scumbag and it’s not fair to label them all. How are the states house children of today going to work their way out of that life in the future when people are so hateful toward their way of life? They will become bitter (understandably being treated as lower class citizens) and be the scumbag of tomorrow without a bit of compassion.
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May I pitch in that I am a single mum of two.
Both my children were planned by my fiancee and I. Unfortunately, he decided to leave me for someone else. I have had to claim supplementary benefit now and apply for a states house.
I don’t want to be on benefit, nor do I want to live in a states house but I have no choice.
I do have qualifications, however with two young children it’s impossible for me to work. All my relatives work so cannot be my childcare and the prices of childminders and pre-schools are crazy.
I cannot afford to work – what an absurd statement but indeed a true one. I was not a high earner – after paying for childcare alone for ONE child, all I’d have had to live on and pay rent and bills with would have been £400 per month (before tax and social deductions)
When they both start school, I will then be able to get a part time job and believe me, I eagarly await the day I am able to live without benefits because I do feel humiliated.
I do not smoke, I do not drink alcohol whatsoever, nor do I go out with friends weekly. Every penny goes on living and the children.
I am not proud to be taking your hard earned taxes, nor am I out on the prowl to get pregnant by some random to get more benefits. Some women are but not all of us single mums are the terrible excuses for human beings you seem to think we are.
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Paul
A little forthright, but what you say is mostly correct unfortunately, anyone that says otherwise is either one of the ones you accuse, or has never set foot on one of these estates.
Scarlett
I couldnt agree more with your comments.
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There are some obviously angry comments on here about the use to which income taxes and social insurance contributions are put, and feelings, among others, that those who can’t afford children should either have that right taken away, or limited. Similarly, that the States makes life too “comfortable” for those on benefits, and that all those who lived on the Bouet estate were exactly the same.
This is prejudiced, ignorant and makes me deeply concerned for the future of our island community.
For the record, I am a single mum to two children. The children’s father (yes, believe it or not, they have just the one father….) left when the youngest was a few months old. He has since left the island and therefore provides no financial support whatsover. The past few years have been amazingly difficult at times, but and it is a HUGE but, I am very well qualified and have been able to work the whole time.
As a direct result of my parents valuing education, I went through school achieving good exam results, and on to university. Since then I have studied several postgraduate courses – all boosting my employability and potential earnings. Also, my mum is able to help with childcare part time which reduces the cost of childcare for my youngest.
However, I am in a very rare position. Women typically earn less than men anyway, even in similar roles, and on this expensive island it is unusual to find couples who don’t both work, in order to be able to afford even a basic lifestyle. By sheer single minded determination I somehow manage to survive with no States help at all, and paying my own contributions to tax and social insurance each month. How on earth do you expect single mothers with no family help, and who are less able to earn “liveable” wages to survive?
Had my parents not placed such value on education, or if I had not placed continuing value on education, then I can guarantee that I would not have been in a position, for the past 4 years, to remain “self-sufficient”. I am lucky because I have always been able to see a future for myself and my children, and had the tools to help forge that future. Many do not have such a vision, sometimes because they are written off by the education system, some are written off by their parents, some by society. Yes, Paul and Scarlett – the likes of you.
I blame society – especially those nasty, vile finger pointers – for the present state of affairs. I also blame the education system which fails far too many of its children. There is no doubt that the social security system is in need of an overhaul, but in so doing, the emphasis has to be on finding solutions and making improvements, rather than “eliminating problems” (it’s back to the Nazi imagery again, isn’t it).
Anyway, who is really going to suffer if these ridiculous ideas of limiting benefit payments to one child, or only allowing people one child each become reality? Has anyone heard of China??? I think a lack of understanding, and absence of compassion is the key problem. I also believe that the vast majority of single parents deserve congratulations. Raising children is an incredibly difficult job, and when you are by yourself it is doubly so. People tend to respond better to encouragement than to criticism – try and remember that.
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Right, time to add my thoughts I think. As someone who is not in the finance sector, I am fed up with paying tax, yet the big finance houses (for the past couple of years and hopefully not much longer) pay either zero or a meagre 10% tax on their vast profits. They then carelessly gambled in the pursuit of even larger riches and failed and led the UK and to a much smaller degree Gsy into recession.
So the holier than thou, who like to harp on about states house tenants should maybe look closer to home before kicking those that are already down.
How about this, I was born in a states house, grew up in a states house. My father worked, mother looked after me and my 2 siblings. We didnt have much but it was enough. I hardly saw my dad as he was always at work, 7am til 7,8,9 pm 7 days a week. I even remember him working through the night on seveal occassions. So dont tell me that states house tenants are lazy scumbags, I would suggest that the white collar workers doing little for a lot and getting bonuses for doing what they are paid are lazier.
Now it has been pointed out previously that negative conotations about states house tenants can lead to a cycle, which I think is fair comment. Fortunatly enough, I did well at school and got a good job and managed to buy my own property, which is all my parents ever wanted, because they didnt want us to suffer the same stigma as they had for living in a states house. Incidently they moved into the private sector when all 3 of us finished school, allowing another family who need social housing a home to live in.
We live in a comfortable welfare state, the upside being good schools, Dr’s, Dentists etc – and also a lower rate of tax then most. If you dont like your taxes covering those who earn less or nothing at all, I suggest you have a look around the world for somewhere where your taxes are not used for that. Good luck with that.
And for those that say, why didnt your dad have get a better paid job, well someone has to be tradesmen, who else would do all the work on your beautiful homes?
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I too was born and raised in States Housing. Both of my parents worked and managed to sort out childcare which wasn’t easy but they did it. They had no choice.
My parents instilled good values and morals in me and my siblings and I too had a very good education and have worked hard for everything I have (as have my siblings I might add).
Not all States House tenants these days are lazy scroungers but sadly many are. If a “benefit career” wasn’t so well paid then they’d have to work. Same as the rest of us.
Bemused’s observations are, unfortunately, completely accurate and it’s high time this came to an end. Mark Dorey said recently in his letter to the Press that they can’t avoid having people hanging around outside Social Security as they often have to make appointments for people. I’m sure though that if this is the case then appointment times are staggered and that there is a waiting room? Much the same way as a doctors’surgery yet you don’t see such behaviour there.
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I was born on the bouet, my parents both worked , i went to school but missed my exams <<>> my children are from the same father, who walked out after seeing someone else. I did work, did have a lovely flat. but now with my youngest only 7months old and a 5.8 12 year old i get £185 pw to live on. By the time i got food and electric and essentials i have nothing left so please do not judge us all the same. I lived opposite the bouet park, yes I hated it for all the fights ect, but there was some real honest people living there too
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OK, so, there are some fine, decent upstanding people that grew up/live in States houses, and some very deserving, genuine causes, that cannot be condemned for what life has randomly thrown at them.
The truth is, however, like it or no, they still have their lives subsidised by those who don’t, and those who pick up their tab are entitled to have an opinion on it.
There are many equally fine, decent upstanding people who struggle to live in the private sector, don’t earn any more than States tenants do, but still wouldn’t feel entitled to live in social housing.
Both my parents were manual laborers earning low wages, and we had b*gger all. We lived in a run down, damp cottage, with no running water, no bathroom, an outdoor lav, no heating and no spare cash…not in the 1800′s, but in the 1970′s.
The fact is, though, it was OUR run down, damp cottage, no one else helped us pay for it, there was no constant supply of benefits, and we didn’t expect it, either. We just got on with it.
The experiences I had in my childhood taught me I was responsible for my own life, my own actions, and that if I wanted something, then I was the one who had to d*mn well pay for it.
I cannot believe that the generations of families who grew up in social housing haven’t learnt similarly by their experiences, and that this is where much of this sense of entitlement, this ‘right’ to live lives/ in homes subsidised by others, has become the ‘norm’.
In my view, social housing for those who truly need it, is invaluable, and essential. But the catch 22 here is surely that healthy, working families being forced to maintain a low wage or lose their home, is providing no incentive whatsoever for them to even try to ‘better’ themselves…
The question is, for me, anyway, when will our Government – any Government – have the cahonas to sort out a situation that they themselves have a hefty responsibility in creating?
I debated with Dave Jones not so long ago regarding a similar issue, and his response was essentially that the States can’t dictate to people how they live their lives, and that everyone must be cared for…
perhaps so, but I’d venture the opinion that a scheme which penalises people for trying, whilst rewarding them for not, is doing them no favors at all.
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Scarlett
“The truth is, however, like it or no, they still have their lives subsidised by those who don’t”
In the event of you or your family ever falling off the fence, society will be there to pick up the pieces or at least put a roof over your head.
In all parts of society there are those that play the system, some more obvious than others. What’s worse the man on benefit who lays the back pain on a bit thick or the rich man that avoids document duty on his house purchase?
All are culpable to a greater or lesser degree but ‘pram face’ is an easier target.
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Scarlett
I grew up on a states housing estate La Vrangue and I would say that I knew of no-one who was on benefits while I was there (17 years) eveyrone seemed to have at least one parent working. You cannot say the same now. What I will say is that there were very little benefits available then so people worked. Unfortunately Dave Jones thinks that if you work you do not need to be in a states house and there in lies the problem.
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Scarlett – I hope that one day you are never incapacitated and in need of some help from the state.
It is people like you, with your narrow ingnorant perceptions of people that help to keep these people in the status quo. If someone came to you for a job, and they were neck and neck, same exams experience the lot, and ones address was Balmoral Clos and the other was Milbrook estate, I wonder who you and the others with similar views would employ?
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These people should have to work to have their money, those that abuse the system should be found and then made to do tasks which are not wanted, such as cleaning public lavatories.
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Quick Comment
I grew in a Council house in Liverpool with mass unemployment due to Maggie, graduated from University, have a successful career and now live in a beautiful home on this island so have seen the worst and best of life and have close friends still struggling back in liverpool.
The Bouet may have HAD problems but lets look to the future. Better housing, integrated into a mixed community of wealthy, middle and hate the word lower class families will benefit everyone.
Life is not always easy and if we can not provide facilities that means everyone can work then we have a responsibility to help those not as well off as us.
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Sorry Auntie GP but unfortunately I was incapacitated for several weeks within the last couple of years due to sudden and genuine illness. I live in the private sector but what I was paid in sickness benefit didn’t even cover the rent. I had to borrow money to make ends meet on a very basic level. I am still repaying those debts. I have worked for 30 years and contributed my stamp. Are you able to explain why my basics weren’t even covered during the time I was physically unable to work and I had to borrow money to survive?
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What you have is the same as anyone else – so maybe now you are more sympathetic to their plight and understand why they have social housing which is subsidised through the rebate scheme? I have had the same as you my friend and your right it doesnt cover a mortgage payment or months rent, and short term you can beg steal or borrow to survive. In the longterm you would of been screwed and would of needed to cut your outgoings down by giving up your private sector home and moving to social housing.
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Auntie GP, I must apologise for my rant. I do realise that the paltry payments for genuinely ill people are of course not your fault but at leat you usually take the trouble to reply. Unlike Mark Dorey.
I would still be interested to know, however, why sickness benfit doesn’t cover anywhere near the basics? And is it true, as claimed in earlier posts above, that some of the non-workers are on as much as £500 per week?
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Auntie GP. There’s a problem though with a single person cutting down outgoings (which I couldn’t possibly do more than I have already) and moving to social housing. Just because I may need to, however temporarily, the States Housing simply do not house single people of working age unless they have children. Just ask Dave Jones. Hence the situation we have with alot of unhappy people wanting answers as to why this unfair system is allowed to continue.
I think perhaps you fail to realise that most of those in social housing live an extremely comfortable lifestyle.
No I’m not sympathetic to the “plight” of the many benefit scroungers who choose their way of life whilst sticking two fingers up at the rest us – the people paying their “wages”. I do however think that those who are in genuine need deserve assistance. Sadly these cases are few and far between.
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Aunty GP, Neil, I have to believe the only reason you have both failed to understand my comments is that you’re both so high up on that horse of yours.
Come down a tad, re-read what I wrote, than please explain why I am wrong, what part of the below was so offensive to you, and why this means I shouldn’t benefit from ‘states help’ should my family ever ‘fall off the fence’ or I become ‘incapacitated’…
‘there are some fine, decent upstanding people that grew up/live in States houses…’
‘some very deserving, genuine causes, that cannot be condemned for what life has randomly thrown at them….’
‘In my view, social housing for those who truly need it, is invaluable, and essential…’
…and of course, my feeling on the Government’s (NOT the individuals concerned) part in all this…
…’a scheme which penalises people for trying, whilst rewarding them for not, is doing them no favors at all…’
or have I missed something, and they now allowing States tenants to remain in their homes as and when they get better, higher paid jobs?
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It is quite shocking how the system is designed to reward some for their uselessness & sheer contempt for a life that most of us feel is normal.
Alcoholics that can’t work because they have a drink problem. Drug addicts that can’t work because they take drugs. There is a simple solution.
I have noticed many well seasoned benefit abusers that are cultured by their upbringing.
Their parents have managed to blag the system & the children are now in a position to use what has been passed down to them & make good from whatever their “entitlements” may amount too.
Junkies & drunks need their benefits stopped instantly if they fail at the first detox. Who in their right minds would keep chucking good money at a problem that just gets worse over time? The current system does.
Youngsters that are so unhappy with their single parent, & numerous step-daddies, upbringing will do whatever it takes to secure a life of their own. So sad when it is a mirror reflection of the one that they are desperately trying to escape from.
Education is what is lacking in some of these peoples lives. Allowing them a lifestyle that they grow accustomed is where the system needs to change.
I believe the benefits are far too attractive. When one has the consideration of fuel for transport to work n back. Tax & insurance payments. Lunches & the numerous other expenses. The benefit culture has more disposable income than most of the lower earning non finance workers.
It would be shocking for some how comfortable life would become if they chose not to work. On the face of things the money does not seem all that much. Take out all the general expenses & one sees a different picture all together.
Somebody needs to take a hard line approach & say enough is enough. It is quite possible the junkies & drunks will not be an attractive employee in many job positions but I am sure the states could find work for them.
Even picking up litter or general maintenance so that they earn what is handed their way rather than just taking all the time.
A states run kinder garden is another idea so that the single mothers can make a start towards contributing rather that expecting.
Most of all a system designed so that it is as unattractive as possible & future proof so that all the lazy scumbags don’t pass their knowledge onto their offspring. This culture needs to be cured once & for all.
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Scarlett
No horse riding here. I don’t trust anything without an ignition.
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Scarlett – I apologise, perhaps i did misread your comments. however, i can assure you that there are no horses around here. Iv said on other threads that I work within the social welfare system and spend a lot of time in peoples homes and I see how they live, trust me when I say that the number of system abusers is relativly small compared to those that try their hardest and are good honest people. Do not be fooled into thinking we have a massive problem with layabouts because you see a group of a dozen or so hanging around outside Soc Sec – there are approx 1800 states houses on the island, and you dont see 1800 people hanging around outside.
Also its worth mentioning that people who are unemployed do have to take part in the CEPS scheme and other initiatives – so they do in a way earn their money. Those on sick, do not have to do anything but provide a Dr note – perhaps it is the GPs and medical specialists that need to have a think about the way they issue the certificates. If you work at Soc sec you are not a medical expert by any means and so have to go by what the experts say.
Hardline needed? maybe. But is there room in this day and age for barbaric methods against people who are ill with alcoholism or who are addicted to drugs? Maybe in the far or middle east but not in western civilisation? Can you really state that we should not be helping the druggies and alcoholics if they fail once at rehab? To me thats the same as saying if you are on a diet and cheat with a cake, yuo should not be allowed to go back to weight watchers.
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Still no answer as to why a cheque from Social Security when a doctor certifies someone off as unable to work for several weeks (not years) does not even cover the basics for someone in the private sector. We can’t get a rent/mortgage rebate and pay £20 a week for accomodation, get our heating paid, get taxi’s paid etc etc. And that’s despite paying into the pot when we are working.
Since when did Social Security do home visits? Not heard that before. Maybe the wrong people are being visited. Surely they don’t all hurriedly stash their 42 inch plasma TV’s, iPhones and designer gear under the stairs every time the doorbell rings just in case it’s the Social calling.
Yes a hardline approach is exactly what’s needed.
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Some very interesting comments from a variety of people, many of whom seem to have no idea of the world around them. Thank you Auntie GP for this quote “Do not be fooled into thinking we have a massive problem with layabouts because you see a group of a dozen or so hanging around outside Soc Sec – there are approx 1800 states houses on the island, and you dont see 1800 people hanging around outside.” A voice of reason towards the massively ignorant.
I work, my wife works part time, and looks after our 2 year old daughter the rest of the time. Because we both work we pay tax, like many people I know who live in States Housing, why have we not been given a States House. We do not earn enough to rent private accomodation or to get funding to buy a house on this island of over inflated house prices (thanks for that finance industry), and yet we have been waiting on the list for several years. There are many empty houses, there are many people who I speak to who are looking for smaller housing now children have moved out who have been told no we do not need the houses.
You will always get a few bad eggs,. that is what the legal system is for, parents are responsible for their children (I don’t think there is a limit.) I agree that the rules for behaviour should be much stricter, and although housing cannot tell people how to live their lives, they could act like a landlord who gave a monkeys about the property being rented. In the private sector poor tenants are thrown out. Don’t taxes also fund the Police service too. Maybe they should think about doing their job.
THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN! It needs a complete review and overhaul. It is all very well and commendable that they are trying to get house to a certain (high) standard but good people do need the houses. The best way to get a house someone in housing told us to “have another child”. I think that just sums it up to be honest.
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Cheesed Off – why don’t you have savings for precisely this sort of emergency?? I am sure you would balk at the prospect of paying some of the private sector rents you see in the paper. I think the fault is with the island generally if people living in the private sector can’t afford to maintain savings for this kind of emergency. Or, if the benefits system is so divorced from the private sector that statutory sick pay comes nowhere close to the real cost of living, then something needs to be done. However, bear in mind that, just with family allowance, there are some who genuinely need it and some who really don’t. End of the day, it all becomes unworkable in terms of complexity.
Aren’t you annoyed that your social payments are paying for the mega wealthy who need no help at all?
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Cheesed off – I sympathise, i really do. If you have a mortgage then you ought to take out the insurance that will kick in if you are unable to work for a time – so thats would be the mortgage covered – the rest I am afraid I do not have an answer for. I do not proclaim to have all the answers, but I do not think it is fair to jump on here and states house bash and so where there is a defence, I will defend. I belive soc sec have done visits for quite some time, and in fact I seem to remember them advertising for visiting officers recently, perhaps you could take a change in career, i believe the states have a good sick pay policy.
Anon, the system is not perfect, if it is broken, show me how and where it is broken and tell me how it can be fixed?
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Single Mum As Well – you answered your own question there. I can’t afford to have savings as the private sector rents are extortionate. Unfortunately I don’t have choice other than to reproduce just to secure social housing.
Maybe a small part of the answer is fairer distribution of family allowance. It would be a step in the right direction.
Auntie GP thanks for your response. I may think about a change in career, I’d certainly know the right people to visit.
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