This morning, around 5.5 million families across the United Kingdom are waking up £1,040-a-year worse off due to the Prime Minister imposing the biggest ever overnight cut to social security.
Despite fierce opposition from across the political spectrum, his government has pressed ahead with this controversial cut which will cause immense, immediate and avoidable hardship.
As the cut comes into effect today, the Prime Minister must face the five most serious consequences of his cut:
Half a million more people pulled into poverty, including 200,000 children.
Makes social security wholly inadequate by reducing the main rate of out-of-work support to its lowest level in real terms since around 1990 and its lowest ever level as a proportion of average earnings.
Around 20% of all working-age families across the UK have lost £1,040 a year. 6 in 10 single parent families will be affected by this cut.
1.7 million people who will experience this cut to Universal Credit are unable to work – due to caring for others, disability, or illness – a promise of higher wages will do nothing to help them.
The cut takes £6 billion of spending power out of local economies. The cut has the most severe impact in Yorkshire and the Humber, the North East, North West and West Midlands, although no region will be left unscathed.
Helen Barnard, Deputy Director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said:“Today the Prime Minister has imposed the biggest ever overnight cut to social security. It makes a mockery of his mission to level up.
“Despite overwhelming opposition, he is ploughing ahead with a cut which fundamentally undermines the adequacy of our vital social security system as we face a cost-of-living crisis. This is not building back better, it’s repeating the same mistakes made after the last financial crisis.
“The Government says a key test of levelling up is improving living standards, yet they have just made around 5.5 million low-income families £1,040 a year worse off. People’s bills won’t get £87-a-month cheaper from today, in fact they are going up. Ministers’ arguments in recent days beg the question: has the party that created Universal Credit forgotten the purpose of the system?
“The Prime Minister is abandoning millions to hunger and hardship with his eyes wide open. Low-income families urgently need him to reinstate this vital lifeline.”
Participants in the Covid Realities project responding to the Prime Minister’s comments on the eve of the cut:
“My husband has been in his job for 25 years +, he hasn’t received a pay rise in 5 years and has recently been told there’s no way he will get one anytime soon.
So I’m sorry but there’s no fix there for us. Once again the only option is to struggle and I’m tired of it.” – Emma, England, Covid Realities
“He has no idea how tough it is and how hard people are working to make ends meet!
It is sickness inducing that he completely misses the point that families will either be cold or hungry due to this cut.” – Kim, Wales, Covid Realities
“Fuel and food is on the increase and … families on a low income cannot afford to absorb these costs.
“It is short-sighted to not think of the long term costs involved when already impoverished working families cannot sustain themselves.” – Aurora, England, Covid Realities
“So our prime minister has said he knows it is tough for people on low incomes, does he honestly? … How as parents can we support our children when we are going without food, hungry and unable to concentrate and even sleep at night with worry and stress, do you really understand?
… I would invite any MP to come and actually experience the day to day drain of living on low income and the impact that has on our mental and physical wellbeing.” – Caroline, Northern Ireland, Covid Realities
Political consequences:
413 parliamentary constituencies across Great Britain will see over a third of working-age families with children hit by the planned £1,040-a-year cut to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit.
Of these 413 constituencies, 191 are Conservative – 53 of which were newly won at the last general election or in a subsequent by-election.
In 35 local authorities across Great Britain, 50% or more of working-age families with children will be impacted by the planned cut.
“THE NASTY PARTY IS WELL AND TRULY BACK”
Edinburgh Pentlands SNP MSP Gordon MacDonald has condemned the £20 a week cut to Universal Credit, which comes into force today. The First Minister of Scotland, the First Minister of Wales and the First Minister of Northern Ireland have also condemned the measure.
The previous week, the Scottish Parliament voted overwhelming to support cancelling the Tory UK Government’s planned £20 a week cut to Universal Credit.
Gordon MacDonald also raised the matter with the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government, Shona Robison seeking information on what representations the Scottish Government has made to the UK Government.
Ms Robison confirmed that the Scottish Government had written to the UK Government on eight separate occasions since March 2020 to ask it to retain the much-needed £20 uplift. In addition on 30 August, Ms Robison joined colleagues from Wales and Northern Ireland to write to the UK Government to urge it to retain the uplift. They are yet to receive a response.
SNP MSP Gordon Macdonald for Edinburgh Pentlands said: “The Scottish Parliament overwhelmingly spoke and demanded the Tory UK Government halts their plans to scrap the uplift to Universal Credit.
“Sadly, we also witnessed every single Tory MSP failing to stand up to their Westminster bosses in opposing the £20 a week cut – the biggest welfare cut since the 1930s at the worst possible time. Even former Scottish Tory leader, Ruth Davidson and six former Tory DWP Secretary of States, opposed the cut.
“I am standing up for the 32,022 households impacted across Edinburgh, but the Tory Government at Westminster has now implemented their plans that will rip more than £1,000 a year out of the hands of the most vulnerable at a time when they need it most.
“I am quite frankly shocked, but not surprised, that the Scottish Tory MSPs not only voted to back the Universal Credit cut which will condemn thousands of families to poverty, but actively defended it – the Nasty Party is well and truly back.
“History will remember them for this – Scottish Tory MSPs are letting down thousands of families and children with this callous cut in favour of propping up their Tory chums in the UK Government who are imposing these policies on the people of Scotland.
“This demonstrates once again how the people of Scotland cannot afford to continue to suffer under Westminster control. We need to have the option of choosing a different path in a referendum which can give us the full powers of independence where we can build a fairer Scotland.”
Edinburgh School Uniform Bank has successfully secured £15,000 thanks to Scotmid Co-operative’s Community Connect award scheme.
Edinburgh School Uniform Bank, which distributes school uniform to families in Edinburgh who are facing financial hardship, was awarded the funding after being shortlisted by the convenience retailer as one of three good causes and charities in the East of Scotland to receive financial support from an £25,000 pot.
Other recipients of funding in the East include Canine Concern Scotland Trust, which provides therapy dogs for patients in hospital after a stroke or suffering traumatic brain injuries, and Scottish Huntington’s Association (see below).
Julia Grindley, Chair of the Board of Trustees at Edinburgh School Uniform Bank (above) said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive a £15,000 Scotmid Community Connect Award.
“This award will allow us to provide school uniform and warm jackets to over 600 local children. This funding will make a huge difference to their confidence and their sense of belonging, as well as keeping them cosy through the winter.”
Since Scotmid’s Community Connect launched in 2017, more than £460,000 has been awarded to 42 good cause groups, enabling key projects to come to life in local areas.
Shirley MacGillivray, Head of Communities and Membership at Scotmid, said: “Community Connect is one of the main ways we can support those communities that we serve and we are delighted to provide Edinburgh School Uniform Bank with this funding, which will help them to continue providing vital services.
“Times remain challenging for many people; being able to help improve the lives of others across the country is one of the very reasons we exist.”
Scottish Huntington’s Association has successfully secured £5,000 thanks to Scotmid Co-operative’s Community Connect award scheme.
The Association, which provides 1-1 advice, peer group work sessions, youth mental health services for children with a parent living with Huntington’s Disease and have a 50% chance themselves of inheriting the condition, was awarded the funding after being shortlisted by the convenience retailer as one of three causes and charities in the East of Scotland to receive financial support from an £25,000 pot.
Gemma Powell, Senior Fundraiser from Scottish Huntington’s Association said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive a £5,000 Scotmid Community Connect Award towards Scottish Huntington’s Association Youth Service.
“This funding will help us bring back our annual youth camp which is attended by young people growing up in families impacted by Huntington’s disease across Scotland.
“This camp offers young people the chance to make and catch up with friends, share experiences, learn more about Huntington’s disease and, for many, enjoy a break from caring responsibilities. We’re so grateful to Scotmid and their members.”
Mel Hughes, CEO of Canine Concern Scotland Trust said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive a £5,000 Scotmid Community Connect Award.
“This award will allow us to develop our Therapet® Visiting Service in the NHS Lothian area, starting with the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh.
“This funding will make a huge difference to patients recovering from a stroke or neurological condition, who will benefit from a Therapet® visit which will aid their physical, mental and emotional recovery.”
Since Scotmid’s Community Connect launched in 2017, more than £460,000 has been awarded to 42 good cause groups, enabling key projects to come to life in local areas.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak made the keynote speech at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester yesterday. On the week the Tories will cut the £20 Universal Credit lifeline, the Chancellor told the conference:
Whatever it takes.
That phrase, and those press conferences, were my introduction to so many of you as Chancellor.
It was daunting to face such a challenge in my first days in office. And what it also meant is that more than a year has gone by before I had the chance to meet you all properly. And that is why these last few days have been such a joy. Meeting you all face to face and hearing so many of you say to me “Wow, you’re even shorter in real life!”
Nothing can ever prepare you to become Chancellor, especially in recent times. There have been occasions where it really did feel that the world was collapsing. In those moments, there are certain things I fell back on. Yes, my family. Yes, my colleagues. Yes, my tremendous Treasury team.
And yes, the person who made all this possible, the person who delivered a thumping Conservative majority, my friend, our leader, the country’s Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.
But the other thing I fell back on is something we all have in this room. Our values. Our Conservative values.
I believe in some straightforward things.
I believe that mindless ideology is dangerous. I’m a pragmatist. I care about what works, not about the purity of any dogma. I believe in fiscal responsibility. Just borrowing more money and stacking up bills for future generations to pay, is not just economically irresponsible. It’s immoral.
Because it’s not the state’s money. It’s your money.
I believe that the only sustainable route out of poverty comes from having a good job. It’s not just the pounds it puts in your pockets. It’s the sense of worth and self-confidence it gives you. So I will do whatever I can to protect people’s livelihoods, and create new opportunities too.
And when it comes to those new opportunities, I am very much a child of my time. I spent the formative years of my career working around technology companies in California. And I believe the world is at the beginning of a new age of technological progress which can transform jobs, wealth, and transformed lives.
So: pragmatism. Fiscal responsibility. A belief in work. And an unshakeable optimism about the future. This is who I am. This is what I stand for. This is what it will take. And we will do whatever it takes.
Our Plan is Working
And there can be no prosperous future unless it is built on the foundation of strong public finances.
And I have to be blunt with you. Our recovery comes with a cost.
Our national debt is almost 100% of GDP – so we need to fix our public finances. Because strong public finances don’t happen by accident. They are a deliberate choice. They are a legacy for future generations. And a safeguard against future threats.
I’m grateful, and we should all be grateful to my predecessors and their 10 years of sound Conservative management of our economy. They believed in fiscal responsibility. I believe in fiscal responsibility. And everyone in this hall does too.
And whilst I know tax rises are unpopular. Some will even say un-Conservative. I’ll tell you what IS un-Conservative.
Unfunded pledges.
Reckless borrowing.
And soaring debt.
Anyone who tells you that you can borrow more today, and tomorrow will simply sort itself out just doesn’t care about the future.
Yes, I want tax cuts. But in order to do that, our public finances must be put back on a sustainable footing.
Labour’s track record on the public finances speaks for itself.
Since 2010, we’ve had 5 Labour Leaders, 7 Shadow Chancellors and innumerable spending pledges. And in all that time they still haven’t got the message. The British people won’t trust a Party that isn’t serious with their money. That’s why they vote Conservative.
We must never forget that the fundamental economic differences between us and Labour run very deep.
Differences not just about debt and borrowing but about how to deal with the real pressures people face in their lives.
And right now, we are facing challenges to supply chains not just here but right around the world and we are determined to tackle them head on.
But tackling the cost of living isn’t just a political sound bite. It’s one of the central missions of this Conservative government.
Picture this: you’re a young family. You work hard, saving a bit each month. But it’s tough.
You have ambitions for your careers for your children.
You want to give them the best more than you had.
Now you tell me: Is the answer to their hopes and dreams, just to increase their benefits?
Is the answer to tell that young family the economic system is rigged against you, and the only way you stand a chance is to lean ever more on the state?
Be in no doubt, that is the essence of the Labour answer.
Not only does Labour’s approach not work in practice. It is a desperately sad vision for our future.
But there is an alternative. An approach focused on good work, better skills, and higher wages.
An approach that says: ‘Yes, we believe in you. We will help you. And you will succeed.”
And better still, it’s more than words. It’s a plan in action. A Conservative plan and Conference it is working.
We’re giving people the means and opportunities to help themselves
Governments rarely get to set the tests by which they will ultimately be judged.
And our test is jobs.
Remember, as economies around the world pulled the shutters down, forecasters were predicting unemployment to reach 12%. Millions of people were on the precipice of losing their jobs, their livelihoods, and their homes.
Well, the forecasts were wrong.
The unemployment rate is at less than 5% and falling. That’s lower than France, America, Canada, Italy, and Spain.
And we now have one of the fastest recoveries of any major economy in the world.
Now it wasn’t that the forecasters had bad models No. It’s just their models did not take account of one thing – and that was this Conservative Government. Our will to act and our plan to deliver.
An increased national living wage. The restart programme. Sector based work academies. Doubling work coaches. Job finding support. Traineeships. Apprenticeship incentives. Skills Bootcamps. And the Prime Minister’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee.
All things we are doing that won’t just help people but will give them the means and opportunities to help themselves.
Our plan for the future
I believe in good work, better skills, and higher wages.
I believe that every person in this country has the potential to become something greater.
And I know that we, and only we, the Conservative party, are the ones who can make that happen.
And our economy cannot be what we need it to be without the courage, creativity and sheer force of will that each new generation brings.
Yet, at its peak just under 1 in 3 workers under 25 were on furlough. One in three.
That’s one million people who didn’t have the fall back of a career history or a network of contacts, and in many cases hadn’t even moved into their first job.
And so what did we do? We created the Kickstart scheme, up running and working in a matter of months. A landmark programme that is helping young people start exciting new careers.
And thanks to our plan, young people, just like John Chihoro who introduced me today, are starting those new jobs in their thousands.
So to give more young people the same chance as John, I can confirm we are expanding our successful Plan for Jobs into next year.
The Kickstart scheme extra support through the Youth Offer, the Job Entry Targeted Support scheme, and our Apprenticeship Incentives. All extended because we believe in the awesome power of opportunity.
And we are going to make sure that no young person in our country is left without it.
But what we do today means little if we don’t also have a plan for tomorrow.
A plan for the future.
A future economy shaped by the forces of science, technology, and imagination.
The years I spent in California left a lasting mark on me, working with some of the most innovative and exciting people in finance and technology. Watching ideas becoming a reality. Seeing entrepreneurs build new teams.
It’s not just about money.
I saw a culture, a mindset which was unafraid to challenge itself, reward hard work, and was open to all those with the talent to achieve.
The future is here
I look across the United Kingdom and that culture is here too in the young people I’ve already spoken about today, unencumbered by timidity and orthodoxy.
And it’s there in our willingness to take risks not just on companies, but on people.
People with the raw potential to create a wave of the most dynamic high growth companies. A wave that will reach the farthest corners of the world.
That optimism, that unshakeable belief that the future, can be different and better was also at the heart of Brexit.
I remember over five years ago being told that if I backed Brexit my political career would be over before it had even begun.
Well, I put my principles first. And I always will.
I was proud to back Brexit. Proud to back Leave.
And that’s because despite the challenges in the long term, I believed the agility flexibility and freedom provided by Brexit would be more valuable in a 21st century global economy than just proximity to a market.
That in the long term a renewed culture of enterprise willingness to take risks and be imaginative would inspire changes in the way we do things at home.
Brexit was never just about the things we couldn’t do. It was also about the things we didn’t do.
That’s why we introduced the super deduction, a UK first in tax policy which is triggering an explosion in capital investment.
That’s why we created the Help to Grow scheme another UK first to help small and medium sized companies digitize skill up and scale up.
That’s why we launched the Future Fund another UK first in government investment backing high potential start-ups.
My point is this: even if you can’t see it yet, I assure you, the future is here.
Now is the time to turn to the future
Last year alone the UK attracted more venture capital investment to our startups than France and Germany combined.
And along with enhanced infrastructure and improved skills, we are going to make this country not just a Science Superpower, not just the best place in the world to do business… I believe we’re going to make the United Kingdom the most exciting place on the planet.
Take Artificial Intelligence. Once the stuff of science fiction. Now it’s reality – and we’re a global leader.
The steam engine kicked off the industrial revolution. Computers delivered automation. The internet brought information exchange.
And as the latest general-purpose technology, AI has the potential to transform whole economies and societies.
If Artificial Intelligence were to contribute just the average productivity increase of those three technologies, that would be worth around £200 billion a year to our economy.
And so today, I am announcing that we will create 2,000 elite AI scholarships for disadvantaged young people and double the number of Turing AI World-Leading Research Fellows, helping to ensure that the most exciting industries and opportunities are open to all parts of our society.
New policy, focused on innovative technology, supporting jobs for the next generation, a sign of our ambition for the future.
Because that’s why we are here. All of us. That’s why we became members of the Conservative party.
That’s why you all give up so much of your time sacrificing things that are important to you in order to help build a better future.
You know, the longer I spend in this job, the more I realise that the worst parts of politics are driven by fear. Fear of change. Fear of losing. The fear of being wrong. Even fear of the future.
And when people get scared they create divisions. They say: “you’re either with us or you’re with them.” But you cannot make progress if you’re pitting people against each other.
That’s what you get from a tired, fearful sort of politics. We saw it last week in Brighton.
It’s not just that Labour don’t like us. They don’t even like each other.
Whereas we, the Conservatives, are now and always will be the party of business and the party of the worker.
The party of the private sector and the public sector.
A party for the old and the young.
The British people want a party that can get things done.
So, at just the moment when it feels like we’ve done enough, that we’ve gotten through, that we can take a rest, we must not stop.
Now is the time to show them that our plan will deliver.
And now is the time, at last, at long last, to finally turn to the future.
Thank you.
Responding to the Chancellor’s speech at Conservative Party Conference, Helen Barnard, Deputy Director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said:“The Chancellor may say he has a plan for jobs but he has no plan for paying the bills.
“He spoke of doing whatever it takes to protect people’s livelihoods, yet he is cutting the incomes of around 5.5 million families by £1,040 a year on Wednesday when we are facing a cost of living crisis.
“It is completely wrong to suggest there is a trade-off between good jobs and adequate social security when they are both essential to improving people’s living standards.”
“This cut will impact many working families and inadequate social security makes it harder for people to seize opportunities whilst they struggle to stay afloat. We must ensure people who are sick, disabled or caring for others and therefore unable to work can meet their needs with dignity.
“To impose the biggest ever overnight cut to social security would be economically irresponsible which is why it is so fiercely opposed from across the political spectrum. The Government can’t credibly claim to be levelling up while levelling down people’s incomes. He must abandon this cut.”
Joseph Rowntree Foundation issues a stark warning ahead of the cut to Universal Credit scheduled for 6 October – the same day as the Prime Minister’s speech at Conservative Party Conference.
New analysis looks at the impact of the Universal Credit cut by local authority.
On Wednesday, as the Prime Minister delivers his speech to the Conservative Party Conference, his government will be imposing the biggest ever overnight cut to social security. This will reduce the incomes of around 5.5 million families by £1,040 per year.
In the Greater Manchester Combined Authority area – the host city of this year’s Conservative Party Conference – around 312,000 working-age families (26%) are facing this historic cut to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit.
If the Government presses ahead with the cut, it would:
Pull half a million people into poverty, including 200,000 children.
Fundamentally undermine the adequacy of our social security system at precisely the moment when families are facing considerable increases in the cost of their energy bills, prices on the shelves are going up and National Insurance is set to rise in April 2022.
Reduce the main rate of out-of-work support down to its lowest level in real terms since around 1990 and its lowest ever level as a proportion of average earnings.
The Government themselves have admitted this week that families may struggle to meet basic costs, like food and heating, by increasing the funding available for local authorities to give grants to families in emergency situations.
The support available through their newly announced Household Support Fund is temporary and discretionary and is typically reserved for one-off emergency situations such as a broken fridge. This scheme does not come close to meeting the scale of the challenge facing families.
Who will be impacted by the cut?
New analysis finds that in 35 local authorities across Great Britain 50% or more of working-age families with children will be impacted by the planned cut.
JRF has consistently warned that:
Working families make up around 60% of families who will be affected by the cut to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit.
Families with children (particularly single-parent families), those containing someone who is disabled, and Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (‘BAME’) families, will be disproportionately impacted by the reduction in Universal Credit or Working Tax Credit.
The cut will have the most severe impact in Yorkshire and the Humber, the North East, North West and West Midlands, although no region will be left unscathed by this decision.
Katie Schmuecker, Deputy Director of Policy & Partnerships at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said:“The Prime Minister is abandoning millions to hunger and hardship with his eyes wide open. The biggest ever overnight cut to social security flies in the face of the Government’s mission to unite and level up our country.
“When the increase to Universal Credit was introduced, the Chancellor said it was to “strengthen the safety net” – a tacit admission a decade of cuts and freezes had left our social security lifeline to wear thin and threadbare for families in and out of work relying on it. This planned cut would reverse the progress made and leave it wholly inadequate.
“People’s bills won’t get £87-a-month cheaper from Wednesday and families are already anxious about how they will get through a looming cost of living crisis. This decision is set to plunge half a million people into poverty and shows a total disregard for the consequences. The Prime Minister cannot say he has not been warned, he must abandon this cut.”
Table 1: Top 10 Labour and Conservative majority local authorities with the highest percentage of working-age families with children impacted by the cut
Top 10 Labour majority local authorities affected
Top 10 Conservative majority local authorities affected
Local Authority
% of all working-age families with children impacted by the cut
Local Authority
% of all working-age families with children impacted by the cut
Newham
64
Pendle
58
Leicester
62
Walsall
53
Manchester
61
Great Yarmouth
52
Bradford
61
North East Lincolnshire
50
Oldham
60
Southampton
49
Birmingham
60
East Lindsey
48
Blackburn with Darwen
58
Dover
45
Kingston upon Hull – City of
58
North Lincolnshire
44
Sandwell
58
South Holland
44
Tower Hamlets
58
Nuneaton and Bedworth
44
Of local authorities with no majority party, with the highest percentages of working-age families with children impacted by the planned cut, Middlesbrough (60%) and Burnley (58%) are both coalition-led councils. Blackpool (57%) is Labour minority and Thanet (55%), Peterborough (55%) and Stoke-on-Trent (55%) are all Conservative minority.
Table 2: Families impacted by £20-per-week reduction to UC/WTC in October 2021
Family type
Families on UC or WTC losing £20 per week in October 2021
Number of families (millions)
Proportion of families who lose
% of all working-age families of that type who lose
All working-age families
5.5
100%
20%
Families with someone in work
3.5
64%
16%
Families without someone in work
2.0
36%
33%
Single without children
2.3
42%
18%
Couples without children
0.6
10%
8%
Single-parent families
1.1
20%
61%
Couple-parent families
1.5
28%
25%
Families where someone is disabled
2.8
50%
35%
Families where no one is disabled
2.7
50%
14%
BAME families
1.1
20%
25%
Non-BAME families
4.4
80%
19%
Source: Microsimulation by JRF using the IPPR Tax and Benefits Microsimulation Model and the OBR’s March 2021 forecasts. Breakdowns may not sum to totals due to rounding.
Making this decision with his eyes wide open:
The cut is opposed by six former Conservative Work & Pensions Secretaries, the Northern Research Group of Conservative MPs, the One Nation Group of Conservative MPs, all the devolved administrations, numerous cross-party committees in all nations of the UK. Iain Duncan Smith recently said, “the extra £20 has returned to UC some of the investment that was cut from my original design.”
100 organisations are urging the Prime Minister not to cut Universal Credit. Among the signatories of the joint open letter to the Prime Minister are leading voices on health, education, children, housing, poverty, the economy and other aspects of public policy. (published 2 September)
Scran Academy’s work with young people has been recognised in two separate Industry Awards.
On Thursday 09 September 2021, John Loughton [founder] and the North Edinburgh charity won the Apprenticeships and Skills category at the 2021 Public Sector Catering Awards, that celebrate those working within public sector catering.
Scran are also a finalist in the Charity of the Year category of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations’ (SCVO) Scottish Charity Awards 2021, celebrating the best of Scotland’s voluntary sector and voted for by industry professionals and the public. The winner will be announced at an online ceremony, hosted by Sally Magnusson tomorrow (Friday 1 October).
The Apprenticeships and Skills Award, sponsored by Brakes, recognised that Scran Academy’s catering operations are an integral part of Scran Academy and are essential to delivering confidence-building experiences for young people.
These include the Scran Café which is located in the NHS Comely Bank Centre and currently creates a welcoming haven for frontline NHS workers and clinical trainees.
The charity also runs its Scran Van, which delivers free community meals, feeds youth groups and supports families across the city. These provide our young people with opportunities to learn, gain new skills, work as a team and solve problems in real-life situations.
Scran Academy was up against stiff competition from across the whole of the UK, including Hospitals, Universities, large catering companies and industry bodies. However, thanks to its team of volunteers, staff and young people, Scran’s unique model of bespoke educational support and training won the day.
Scran pipped, amongst others, University College Birmingham, Compass Group UK and Ireland and The National Association of Care Catering to take the award.
For the Charity of the Year Award, SCVO has recognised Scran for ‘coordinating a coalition of charities that produced, packaged and delivered nearly 150,000 meals during the first Covid-19 lockdown, supporting over 1,000 people per week at its height’.
None of this would have be possible without the 220 local people who gave tens-of-thousands of hours back to their communities. In 2020 SCRAN also delivered its most successful Christmas Hamper campaign, selling 222 in total.
The organisation also merged with Prep Table Scotland, opened the Scran Café in partnership with NHS Lothian and launched the Scran Van food truck to tackle holiday hunger across Edinburgh.
Scran Academy founder John Loughton, and Catering Manager, Will Bain, attended the Public Sector Catering Awards ceremony in London.
Scran Academy Catering Manager, Will Bain, said: “It blew me away to be up against catering managers with hundreds, sometimes thousands of employees, and for them to give us recognition for the work we do at Scran.”
Founder of Scran Academy, John Loughton BEM, said: “This nomination is a real vote of confidence in our community work and a recognition in the power of food to change lives.
“Will Bain and his team-work magic at Scran, to ensure food is positive for all people, not just those that can afford it. At Scran we do hand-ups, not just hand-outs and young people go on to change their own lives once they realise people believe in them.”
Scran Academy’s focus is to help young people from across North Edinburgh to overcome learning and life barriers and lead more meaningful lives.
The community-based school Scran runs – the Scran Academy – uses food to support learners disengaged from mainstream school to access qualifications and work.
Despite being less than four years old, the charity has grown and last year scaled its impact to provide meals for thousands of people throughout the pandemic across the city.
Yesterday, Lothian MSP, and Scottish Greens Co-leader, Lorna Slater joined the overwhelming majority of MSPs in voting to oppose the cruel Tory £20 cut to universal credit that is being inflicted by Westminster.
The cut will impact tens of thousands of families in Lothian, cutting their income by £1,040 per year.
Lothian MSP and Scottish Greens Co-leader Lorna Slater said:“The Tories have shown their true colours. This is one of the biggest social security cuts ever seen in this country and could plunge tens of thousands of families in Lothian into despair.
“It is particularly unwelcome at a time when so many people are still struggling with the impact of the pandemic.
“£20 a week may not be a lot to the Prime Minister and his colleagues, but for far too many families it is crucial to their budgeting and their wellbeing. For many people across this city, it could be the difference between a warm home and a cold one this winter
“Many people claiming universal credit are in fact in work. The so-called uplift was not an act of generosity, but an admission of failure – an admission that the system had been so damaged by cuts that it was no longer able to provide adequate support for people needing help with their incomes for reasons beyond their control.
“The cut is symbolic of a UK government that knows the price of some things but the value of nothing. It shows why Scotland needs the powers to chart a different path that prioritises human need and builds a fairer, greener recovery for all.”
Holyrood Social Security Minister, Edinburgh Northern & Leith MSP Ben Macpherson, closed yesterday’s debate:
A lower-income couple with two young children where one adult is working full-time is going to need to find an additional £31-a-week to cover the cost of living and falling benefit rates from October, according to new analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
In an interviewyesterday, the Business Secretary warned “it could be a very difficult winter”. This comes amid growing concern across the political spectrum that the rising cost of living is about to put immense strain on low-income families.
If the Government proceeds with cut to Universal Credit as planned, changes to the energy price caps, and inflation means that at the same time this couple family are trying to compensate for the £20-a-week they had before the cut, they will soon need to find an additional:
£3 for energy (assuming pre-payment meter)
£8 for other living costs
= an additional £11 per week from October.
On top of this, the same family would need to find an extra £2.50 to cover the increase in National Insurance Contributions from April 2022 because of the Health and Social Care levy.
This would mean in total this family may need to find an additional £13.50 per week or £710 per year (around the entire clothing and footwear annual budget for this kind of family) as well as losing £20 a week from Universal Credit. For this family, the extra costs alone equate to around 3.5% of their weekly disposable income.
Peter Matejic, Deputy Director of Evidence & Impact at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said:“Millions of low-income families are incredibly anxious about how on earth they are supposed to make ends meet from next month.
“Ministers rightly recognise this is shaping up to be a very difficult winter, yet there is little sign of them taking the decisive steps that are necessary to avoid real hardship for low-income families.
“The growing concern about the cost of living reinforces why cutting Universal Credit makes absolutely no sense. Social security is a key defence in protecting families from precisely these sorts of economic shocks, but the Government is on course to impose the biggest ever overnight cut to the system and leave families with an inadequate lifeline.
“The Prime Minister urgently needs to keep the £20-a-week increase to Universal Credit in place. Rising child poverty, soaring demand for food banks, people worrying about keeping their homes and covering the cost of bills, flies in the face of uniting and levelling up our country.”
While urban greenspace is often associated with improved mental health, new research has found the benefits are dependent on the characteristics of the population using the space – and their proximity to it.
Researchers at the James Hutton Institute and Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) looked at the link between greenspace and prescription rates to treat mental health disorders across all Scottish towns with more than 10,000 residents.
They found a significant relationship between mental health and the amount of urban greenspace in areas with high proportions of people from black and minority ethnic and/or in areas of high deprivation.
However, the link between lower prescription rates and greenspace in these communities was only evident when looking at those spaces in the immediate neighbourhood. When considering greenspace within a 30-minute walk, no significant relationship was found between greenspace and mental health disorders.
This suggests that the mental health benefits of greenspace for these groups occur where it is closest to home – with previous research finding they are often the least likely to use their nearest greenspace.
Researchers found no significant relationship between mental health and green space in all other population groups.
The research, which has been published by the Urban Forestry & Urban Greening journal, will provide valuable information for urban and land-use planning, where decisions are taken at the population level.
The lead author Dr Michaela Roberts, Environmental Economist at the James Hutton Institute, said: “Our work supports the broad supposition that greenspace and mental health are positively related, and adds further support for the need to understand a populations’ relationship with greenspaces, to ensure urban greening achieves the highest gains for communities.”
Co-author Alistair McVittie, Ecosystem Services Economist at SRUC, said: “Our results highlight that the relationship between greenspace and mental health relies not only on the presence of greenspace itself, but also on the characteristics of the population using the greenspace.”
The research was funded by the Scottish Government’s Rural & Environment Science & Analytical Services Division.
The Children’s Commissioners of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have repeated their calls to the UK Government to end its two-child limit on Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit warning that the policy continues to violate children’s human rights.
All three have also called on the UK Government to abandon the scrapping of the £20 uplift, which would compound the poverty issues facing children across the nations, and urge the prioritisation of children’s rights in any further changes to Universal Credit.
Giving evidence yesterday (Wednesday, September 8) to the Public Services Committee at the House of Lords, the Commissioners again pointed out that the two-child limit policy – which disallows benefits payments to third and subsequent children born after April 2017 in most circumstances – is a discriminatory policy contrary to the government’s obligations under the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child.
Children’s Commissioner for Wales, Sally Holland said: “We remain deeply concerned that the two-child policy and the scrapping of the £20 uplift breaches childen’s rights to an adequate standard of living and is contributing to a rising gap in poverty levels between families with three or more children and smaller households.
“The two-child limit in particular has a disproportionate impact on social groups where larger families are more common, such as some minority faith and ethnic groups and in Northern Ireland where families are larger than the rest of the UK.”
The Commissioners – Bruce Adamson for Scotland, Sally Holland for Wales, and Koulla Yiasouma for Northern Ireland – remain concerned that UK benefit rules prevent devolved governments from fully tackling child poverty.
Speaking after the Committee session, Children and Young People’s Commissioner for Scotland, Bruce Adamson said: “The Scottish Government had an opportunity yesterday within the Programme for Government to do all that it can to mitigate against the worse of the UK Government’s benefit rules.
“While new commitments on housing, food and the new Whole Family Wellbeing Fund are welcome, not increasing the Scottish Child Payment with immediate effect was hugely concerning as children need this money now.
“Poverty is a human rights issue and while UK benefit rules continue to play a significant part in keeping families in poverty, the Scottish Government plays an important role in ensuring children’s rights are met. The effects of the pandemic – which are still becoming clear – have only served to make a dire situation worse for those in poverty or only just getting by. Both governments must do more.”
Commissioner Sally Holland said: “Children are hungry and living in sub-standard housing in the UK in 2021 and that is a disgrace. Poverty affects every aspect of a child’s life, from their health – both physical and mental – to their education. How can a child concentrate properly at school and learn if they are hungry?
“The State has an obligation to children and every child has the right to an adequate standard of living. Families have a right to social security. These polices are a clear breach of children’s human rights.”
In May, the Children’s Commissioners of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland wrote an open letter to the Right Honourable Thérèse Coffey, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, calling for an end to the two-child limit of Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit and for the £20 uplift in universal credit amounts to be maintained.
First Minister lays out her Programme for Government 2021/22
Leading Scotland safely out of the pandemic, urgently confronting climate change, driving a green, fair economic recovery, and boosting opportunities for children and young people are among the core priorities in this year’s Programme for Government (PfG), published yesterday.Oh … and there’s a referendum in there, too …
The programme sets out plans for a record increase in frontline health spending, new legislation for a National Care Service, a system providing low-income families with free childcare before and after school and during holidays, and actions to drive forward Scotland’s national mission to end child poverty.
The programme also includes plans to help secure a just transition to net zero – creating opportunities for new, good and green jobs, making homes easier and greener to heat, and encouraging people to walk, wheel or cycle instead of driving.
Speaking in Parliament, the First Minister said: “This programme addresses the key challenges Scotland faces, and aims to shape a better future.
“It sets out how we will tackle the challenge of Covid, and rebuild from it. It outlines how we will address the deep-seated inequalities in our society. It shows how we will confront with urgency the climate emergency, in a way that captures maximum economic benefit. And it details the steps we will take to mitigate, as far as we can, the damaging consequences of Brexit while offering a better alternative.
“In the face of these challenges, our ambition must be bold. This programme sets out clear plans to lead Scotland out of the greatest health crisis in a century and transform our nation and the lives of those who live here.
“We will deliver a National Care Service; double the Scottish Child Payment; and invest in affordable, energy efficient homes and green travel. We will ensure that businesses have the support, and people have the skills, to succeed in the low carbon economy of the future. We will show global leadership in tackling the climate crisis. And we will offer people an informed choice on Scotland’s future.
“To that end, I can confirm that the Scottish Government will now restart work on the detailed prospectus that will guide the decision. The case for independence is a strong one and we will present it openly, frankly and with confidence and ambition.
“This programme addresses our current reality, but it also looks forward with confidence and ambition to a brighter future. It recognises that out of the many challenges we currently face, a better Scotland – as part of a better world – is waiting to be built.”
Building on the progress from the first 100 days of this government, with the co-operation agreement with the Scottish Green Party at its heart, the PfG sets the scene for the next five years.
Key commitments for over the course of this Parliament include:
increasing frontline health spending by 20%, leading to an increase of at least £2.5 billion by 2026-27
undertaking the biggest public service reform since the founding of the NHS – the creation of a National Care Service – with legislation brought forward by June next year
improving national wellbeing with increased direct mental health investment of at least 25%, with £120 million this year to support the recovery and transformation of services
investing £250 million to tackle the drugs deaths emergency over the next five years
expanding the Scottish Child Payment to under-16s by the end of next year and doubling it to £20 a week as soon as possible after that, with a £520 bridging payment given to every child in receipt of free school meals this year
investing a further £1 billion to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap and providing councils with funding to recruit 3,500 additional teachers and 500 classroom assistants
providing free childcare to low income families before and after school and during holidays, and expanding free early learning and childcare to one and two year olds
investing £100 million over the next three years to support frontline services for preventing violence against women and girls
providing £1.8 billion to make homes easier and greener to heat, as part of a commitment to decarbonise 1 million homes by 2030
ensuring that at least 10% of the total transport budget goes on active travel by 2024-25, helping more people to cycle, wheel or walk instead of drive
delivering a revolution in children’s rights, including across the justice system
supporting a just transition to a low-carbon economy for people and businesses, including a £500 million Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray
investing an additional £500 million to support the new, good and green jobs of the future, including by helping people access training
delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 and investing an additional £50 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping
taking forward the democratic mandate for a referendum on independence to be held within this Parliament and, if the Covid crisis is over, within the first half of this Parliament, while providing the people of Scotland with the information they need to make an informed choice on their future.
Commenting on yesterday’s Programme for Government announcement, Chris Birt, Associate Director for Scotland at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said:“Alarm bells should already be ringing in both the Scottish Government and Parliament that we are currently set to miss our child poverty targets, with no clear plan on how to achieve them.
“The Programme for Government published today pushes that plan further down the road, both to the budget later in the year and next year’s Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan.
“Time is running out on the targets. Families on low incomes across Scotland are experiencing growing financial pressure and uncertainty . They will hope the commitment to double the child payment “sooner rather than later” happens very soon and that our national mission to end child poverty gathers urgency and scale.”
The STUC welcomed the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government, specifically highlighting the commitments from the First Minister to implement national bargaining in the care sector, additional funding for the health service, gender recognition reform and justice for Scotland’s miners wrongfully arrested in the 1980s.
STUC General Secretary, Roz Foyer said: “Reform of our care sector cannot come quick enough and the STUC will engage fully in this legislation, campaigning for a National Care Service based on sectoral collective bargaining and not for profit delivery.
“The commitment of the First Minister to National Bargaining is therefore very welcome. However, the £800 million additional funding announced over the course of the Parliament is less than a quarter of the expenditure which the Feeley Review said was necessary for the social care sector.
“Yet we still have concerns that the Programme of Government tries too hard be all things to all people. It is simply not credible to raise the levels of investment required to tackle climate change, reduce inequality and create jobs while at the same time boasting about the lowest business taxes in UK and freezing income tax rates for the duration of the Parliament.
“The same lack of ambition is reflected in today’s Scottish Government response to the report of the Just Transition Commission which leaves much to be desired on future job creation and ensuring the burden of climate change is not carried by workers and the less well off.
“Fighting discrimination and inequality is at the heart of trade unions, we know trans people are some of the most disadvantaged and discriminated people in Scotland and the gender recognition bill is therefore extremely welcome in enabling trans people to access their human rights.
“Finally, I welcome the proposed Miners’ Strike Pardon Bill. It has been all too clear for decades that the miners were the victims of a politically inspired political attack and that organs of the state, including the police, were used to repress their legitimate industrial action.
“This Bill will help provide some relief to the thousands of lives were wrecked by wrongful arrest and is a testament to years of campaigning by working class families who refused to give up.”
GMB Scotland Secretary Louise Gilmour said:“The need to tackle the crisis in care is accepted, but the challenge is to end years of exploitation by giving care workers substantial pay increases. That’s how we’ll confront the understaffing crisis and transform the sector.
“It’s why GMB is campaigning for £15 an hour minimum for care workers. The prospect of staff remaining mired in wages of just under or over £10 an hour isn’t credible.
“And there is a growing consensus supporting that view, including among Cabinet Secretaries as the Greens committed to a £15 minimum in their recent manifesto, so we need to make it happen.
“If we are prepared to be bold and deliver proper value for workers across the social care sector then there is a huge opportunity to be grasped, everyone will benefit and Scotland will be fairer for it.”
Joanne Smith, policy and public affairs manager for NSPCC Scotland, said: “Recovery and reform are very much needed as we move forward from the pandemic, and this year’s Programme for Government is the first step in this journey.
“For children in Scotland to have the best start in life, it is vital that all families can access holistic support, where and when they need it, and so we are heartened by the Scottish Government’s announcement of a Whole Family Wellbeing Fund.
“In line with the Promise’s recommendations we would like to see that national spending prioritises early, preventative support for families, therefore stripping out demand for crisis-led services.
“We are also greatly encouraged by the Scottish Government’s commitment to review and redesign the Children’s Hearing System. Through our work with very young children and families in Glasgow, we see the limitations of current justice processes in meeting the distinct needs of infants and their families.
“Given that around a third of children who come into care in Scotland are under the age of five, we need to ensure justice processes are better aligned with infants’ developmental timescales. We look forward to working alongside the Review team to ensure that the rights of infants are upheld throughout the process.”
Mary Glasgow Chief Executive of the charity Children 1st said: “Today’s Programme for Government has rightly prioritised the right of children and their families to know they can access the help and support they need whenever they need it.
“Children 1st have long called for a transformation in the support available to families, which must be based on learning from the – often difficult – experiences of children and their families when they have needed practical, emotional or financial help.
“The proposed £500m investment in a ‘Whole Family Wellbeing Fund’ is a hugely welcome step forward and we are committed to working alongside children and their families, and the Scottish Government, to turn this significant investment into practical action.”
Tracy Black, CBI Scotland Director, said:“With Glasgow hosting COP26 later this year, the Scottish Government is right to focus on its plans for a net zero economy. Yet given the need to cement Scotland’s economic recovery post-pandemic, businesses will feel there ought to have been a greater focus on boosting growth. While there were encouraging mentions of greater access to finance, the devil will be in the detail.
“Firms are already decarbonising their operations, and, by working alongside government, can help urgently transform net zero ambitions into action. Reforming the planning and business rates systems – enabling much needed in investment in low carbon infrastructure – would help achieve ambitious climate targets.
“The First Minister is also right to highlight that COVID hasn’t gone away. Scottish firms have worked tirelessly throughout the crisis to keep staff and customers safe. Businesses are not calling for a rushed return to the workplace, though employers will rightly be speaking with their employees about a gradual return in line with the latest guidance.
“As the economy reopens, skills shortages remain a key concern, so employers will be frustrated not to hear more about plans for upskilling and retraining.
“Business investment is absolutely vital to Scotland’s economic recovery, and the government should do everything in its power to attract – not repel – investment and the very best talent. Ultimately, by working more closely with business to create sustainable economic growth, ministers will be able to achieve their goals of improving people’s living standards and public services.”
