Unemployed earning more than working households

That's not very green, if you'll excuse the double meaning.

It's also very expensive. In terms of pay back period from cutting expenses saved, we must be talking of the order of 10 years. By then the grass will have managed to fight back, and be starting to grow right through the tarmac.

My experience of British workmen this past couple of years (I've been refurbishing my place and the wife wanted a new kitchen) is that they're hard working if you meet two conditions:

1. You pay them in cash, and only when all work is completed.
2. You supply hot sweet tea every two hours while they're on the premises.

Pay in advance or stop the tea coming and you're doomed...

And nor would benefit claimants.

Ret.

..

As I said.

The argument remains.

WM

Not if a proper job has been done - such as laying a weed-proof membrane below the tarmac. Of course, getting a 'proper job' done in the UK today is very difficult - unless you do it yourself! Leaving out the membrane will save the contractor money on his quote - and it will be a couple of years before the weeds begin to push up through the thin sliver of tarmac laid on the poorly prepared base!

No matter what job you want doing today, be it car servicing, boiler installation, new bathroom, etc. you will be very lucky to find a conscientious tradesman who has pride in his work. There are still some around - but they are in a minority!

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There is of course that old established national company going by the name of Bodgit & Scarper Ltd they usually request "cash" up front for materials, more "cash" halfway through and a final payment in "cash" they have a mobile phone number and if you are lucky enough to get their land line number it will be answered by a child (dad's not in he will call you back -- ha ha ) or an answering machine

Depends how the ground is prepared prior to covering with tarmac. There are chemicals that will ensure the soil remains sterile for a lot longer than 10 years.

Is that really all a typical claimant will get, per week?

Or is that just the basic building block on top of which other amounts will be stacked (except for someone who lives singly in a relative's household)?

Indeed.

And neither do claimants have to.

That is the Adult, Single Person's Allowance. That is what I get.

How much do you get?

Contribution-based Jobseeker's Allowance

You get a weekly rate according to your age:

Age Amount

Your payments might be reduced if you're getting a pension.

Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance

The maximum weekly rates are:

Status Amount Single people aged 16 - 24 £47.95 Single people aged 25 or over £60.50 Couples and civil partnerships (both aged 18 or over) £94.95 Lone parents (aged under 18) £47.95 Lone parents (aged 18 or over) £60.50

Your payments might be reduced if you receive income from part-time employment. You'll get less if you have savings over £6,000. If you have savings over £16,000 you probably won't qualify.

If your partner or civil partner works 24 hours or more a week on average, you can't usually get income-based JSA (contribution-based JSA isn't affected). If they work less than 24 hours, it may affect how much you get.

.. and no fuel allowances, or anything like that (tust HB, CT and medical).

WM

..

As I said.

WM

All good advice. My problem is that a) I am a keen DIYer, and b) I am something of a perfectionist. Sometimes I have to get workmen in because the job is beyond my skills (like when I had a new condensing combi fitted recently) and that is when I despair at the sloppy nature of much of the work.

I can see ways in which the job would have been much neater if only they'd taken a bit more care and a bit more time. A quick example was in relation to the boiler change. The new boiler was placed in a different position to the old boiler in my garage. Removal of the old boiler left a square hole in the garage wall about 9" x 9" . The contract included bricking up the redundant hole. Now if I had been doing the job I would have removed the half and quarter bricks from around the opening and replaced them with whole bricks so that the brickwork matched up and 'carried along' the wall. The lazy bugger who did the job just filled the hole with bricks with no attempt to match up the 'repair' with the existing brickwork. It's a typical British worker bodge-up.

Ret.

And the laying of a heavy-duty weed-proof membrane beneath the tarmac will complete the job.

Ret.

What about water rates, gas, electricity? When I was single, I found that almost half of my cash income went on those items. (And still does!) I remember when two ceilings (bedroom and hall) fell down (it was a Victorian house built on clay, and a number of dry summers had caused the house to shift, finally knocking out much of the plaster key in the lathes - the whole thing just fell off the lathes in chunks. I asked Social Security for a loan or grant to get it repaired, but they told me to get a second remortgage (!!!). I lived without ceilings for two years, until I learned how to do plastering out of desperation...

...

Indeed, you can imagine the fun I have with such bills and doing my best to reduce them.

WM

Only the ones who seek to emulate the police and home office civil servants

You really are becoming very silly and tiresome Alan.

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Struck home again

Not at all - but your obsession with the police, which results in you dragging them into almost any post on any subject, just indicates how obsessed you are with them.

Ret.