Sharp rise in applications for welfare

New figures show 135,000 households have received help

The number of applications to councils for welfare assistance rose by 13 per cent in the last year, according to the latest statistics.

Scottish Welfare Fund statistics to 31 December 2014 show that during the most recent quarter (October to December 2014):

23,715 Crisis Grants were awarded, 10 per cent more than the same quarter last year. These were predominantly for food, heating costs and other living expenses, with an average award value of just over £70;
12,290 Community Care Grants were awarded, 15 per cent more than the same quarter last year. These were predominantly for home furnishings and white goods, with an average value of just under £600.

Welfare Minister Margaret Burgess said: “Scottish Welfare Fund grants are a vital lifeline for people in crisis. Since the Fund launched in April 2013, 135,000 households have received help to buy everyday items and with basic living costs including eating and heating. It’s so important that we continue to reach out and that’s why we are making £33 million available this year to the Scottish Welfare Fund to help low income households.”

In April 2013, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) abolished two elements of the Social Fund – Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans – and transferred funds previously spent on them to Scottish Ministers. In its place, the Scottish Government established the Scottish Welfare Fund (SWF). The Scottish Welfare Fund is a national scheme run by local authorities, based on guidance from Scottish Ministers. The guidance has been developed in partnership with COSLA, local authorities and other stakeholders.

Since the scheme began in April 2013 nearly 135,000 households have received at least one award from the Scottish Welfare Fund. Around 55 per cent of households in receipt of funds were single person households with no children. Around one third were households containing children. During the first nine months of 2014/15, 72 per cent of Scottish Welfare Fund budget has been awarded.

Demonstrators set to ‘besiege’ Edinburgh Jobcentre

‘We are fighting back’ – Ethel MacDonald, ECAP

Demonstrators will descend on High Riggs Jobcentre today to declare their resistance to benefits sanctions and workfare.

The protest at the Jobcentre near Tollcross will continue over lunchtime and organisers Edinburgh Coalition Against Poverty say: ‘We aim to send a strong message that cutting people’s benefits and forcing them to rely on foodbanks is not acceptable. Sanctions and workfare not only attack the claimants directly affected, they undermine all workers’ wages and conditions.’

Ethel MacDonald of ECAP said: “An increasing number of benefit claimants are being sanctioned under the DWP’s increasingly repressive measures and more than ever the Job Centre is aggressively pushing the Workfare programmes.

“Just consider the barbaric numbers: according to Corporate Watch, 139,000 sanctions were handed out to Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants in 2009 but this more than tripled to 508,000 in 2011, the coalition’s first full year in government. And the Child Poverty Action Group state that since 2010 sanctions have increased by 126%.”

Sanctions can be from a period of four weeks to up to 3 years.

ECAP support claimants to contest sanctions and resist being sent on workfare. Ethel MacDonald explained: “Claimants are not prepared to remain passive victims – we are fighting back. With the support of ECAP, Edinburgh Jobseeker Jimmy recently overturned a four week sanction imposed after the Oxgangs Neighbourhood Centre refused to take him on a Community Work Programme workfare placement. Workfare provider Learndirect falsely alleged to the DWP that Jimmy had been ‘very intimidating’ to the placement manager – in fact he had just politely informed him that it was disgraceful that a community resource was participating in such exploiting schemes.

“ECAP and Jimmy met the Scotland area manager of Learndirect, insisted that Learndirect withdraw the sanction referral, and also wrote to the DWP explaining that it was Jimmy’s democratic right to express his views on workfare to the placement boss. The DWP have now overturned the sanction and are repaying Jimmy his benefits.”

542 voluntary organisations have declared they will not take part in workfare and signed the Keep Volunteering Voluntary agreement.

The decreasing number of organisations still participating in the schemes are under pressure to pull out of programmes which lead to benefit cuts and sanctions. ECAP regularly blockade and occupy workfare users such as the Salvation Army and DEBRA, and workfare providers like Learndirect. And this week Brian Tannerhill denounced that the organisation he founded, McSence, were using workfare and called on the communities of Mayfield and Easthouses to tell the directors of the Midlothian social enterprise this was unacceptable.

The Edinburgh action is supported by Edinburgh Anti Cuts Alliance, Greater Leith Against the Cuts, Edinburgh Industrial Workers of the World and Edinburgh Anarchist Federation, and is part of a Britain-wide Week of Action in the run-up to the General Election. Co-ordinated via Boycott Workfare, demonstrations are taking place Britain-wide.

Smith Agreement: call for halt to Work Programme extension

Holyrood Ministers have called on the UK Government to keep its promises on devolving further welfare powers and reverse the extension of new Work Programme contracts.

The move came at yesterday’s Joint Ministerial Working Group on Welfare, where Social Justice Secretary Alex Neil and Fair Work Secretary Roseanna Cunningham met Scotland Office Undersecretary of State David Mundell and Department for Work and Pensions Minister of State Mark Harper to discuss progress on implementing the welfare elements of the Smith Agreement.

The UK Government agreed to consider revised wording from Scottish Ministers on its planned Scotland Bill in three areas – the power to create new benefits in devolved areas, the ability to make discretionary payments on reserved areas and clauses on support programmes for unemployed people.

Ms Cunningham said: “UK Ministers took a conscious decision to extend the Work Programme in Scotland until 2017, despite Smith recommending its devolution on expiry of the current contract. Despite successive requests, vital information on the cost and impact of existing services that would enable us to move forward quickly in re-designing support, has not been provided.

“So in order to build more effective, targeted and fairer employment support services in Scotland, I have asked the UK Government to cancel the Work Programme contract extension and for the transfer of the necessary resources and legal powers to deliver an alternative service to meet the needs of unemployed Scots from April next year.”

Mr Neil said: “We are committed to supporting a Bill that implements the Smith Agreement and commands broad support, but UK Ministers have watered down the proposals, given us mixed messages and stalled on progress.

“So I welcome today’s new offer to consider our proposed changes to the wording of the Bill, which we will supply as quickly as possible. I do however want to see decisions taken by UK Ministers before the election, to enable the Bill to be introduced as early in May as possible. As ever, the UK Government will be judged by its actions and how seriously they’re taking the Smith Agreement process.”

Welfare powers: get a move on!

Scottish government says swift action is needed on welfare

Scottish ministers have urged the UK government to deliver Lord Smith’s recommendations for new powers on welfare almost four months after the report’s publication .

The call comes ahead of the Joint Ministerial Working Group on Welfare in Edinburgh later today (March 11) that will be attended by Social Justice Secretary Alex Neil and Fair Work Secretary Roseanna Cunningham, and which will focus on future delivery of welfare and employment support services in Scotland .

Mr Neil said: “It has been over a month since the Working Group met for the first time and weeks since the Smith Commission delivered its recommendations. Over that period of time there has been a frustrating lack of progress from the UK government in recognising that its current proposals do not meet Lord Smith’s recommendations.

“We want to see early progress on flexibilities around Universal Credit as well as assurances that the UK Government will deliver the Smith report in full. It’s really frustrating that the UK has refused to make early progress on those flexibilities, although these are technically feasible now. And they have refused to change their draft clauses which fall short of the Smith proposals.

“Just last week both the Welfare Reform Committee and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation highlighted the scale of the damage inflicted by Westminster’s austerity agenda on people across Scotland.

“With more powers in our own we hands we could build a system better suited to our needs. The Scottish Parliament is best placed to make decisions about welfare policies that affect the people of Scotland.”

Ms Cunningham added: “This Government’s commitment to Fair Work means we believe people should be supported into work, instead of being punished for being unable to secure employment. The UK Government’s current conditionality and sanctions regime isn’t working and the UK Government needs to adopt a positive and proportionate approach to support people, rather than cutting their incomes and having to deal with misguided policies such as the ‘bedroom tax’.

“We await vital information on employment services, such as the Work Programme, to enable the Scottish Government to move forward quickly in re-designing this type of support for Scotland. We are determined to use these powers to deliver seamless, effective support in Scotland that helps unemployed people in Scotland into work and delivers sustainable and inclusive economic growth.

“As we move towards the UK pre-election period, we call upon the UK government to act swiftly on the Smith recommendations to ensure we can bring forward a Bill that is fit for purpose and allows us to take a new approach to tackling inequality.”

Recovery? What recovery?

Latest statistics show sharp rise in number of hard-pressed households receiving help

The experts tell us the recovery’s underway, but many ordinary Scots families are still feeling the economic pain – the number of households applying for welfare assistance has risen by a third in the last year, according to the latest statistics.

Scottish Welfare Fund Statistics to 30 September 2014 show that during the most recent quarter (July to September 2014):

52,400 applications were made to the Scottish Welfare Fund, an increase of 33 per cent on the same quarter last year;
25,800 Crisis Grants were awarded, 32 per cent more than the same quarter last year. These were predominantly for food, heating costs and other living expenses, with an average award value of just over £70;
11,200 Community Care Grants were awarded, 51 per cent more than the same quarter last year. These were predominantly for home furnishings and white goods, with an average value of just under £600.

Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice Alex Neil said: “That anyone should be live in poverty in a wealthy country is completely unacceptable and we’ll continue to tackle poverty and inequality to create a more prosperous and fairer society.

“Scottish Welfare Fund grants are a lifeline for people in crisis to buy the everyday items, or cover basic living costs that so many of us take for granted. This is why we are taking steps to establish the Fund in law through the Welfare Funds (Scotland) Bill.

“120,000 households in Scotland, one in twenty, have now been helped by the Scottish Welfare Fund in its first 18 months of operation. The increase in applications over the last year is due, in part, to work done by local authorities and advice services to raise awareness of the Fund.

“We have allocated £33 million a year to the Scottish Welfare Fund to make sure that we continue to reach out to households in the most deprived areas – around half of awards are made to applicants in the 20 per cent most deprived areas of Scotland. Many families are paying a heavy price for the UK Government’s welfare reforms and this investment will help to mitigate the effects of these cuts on some of our most vulnerable households.”

Citizens Advice Scotland calls for halt to benefit changes

Citizens Advice Scotland’s Chief Executive Margaret Lynch has written to the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Work and Pensions calling for a halt to the introduction of the new Personal Independence Payments (PIP) to claimants in Scotland, as PIP is a benefit that will be devolved to the Scottish Government.

Speaking days before the draft legislation based on Smith Commission is due to be published, Margaret Lynch said: “PIP is the replacement benefit for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and is an area that will be devolved to the Scottish Government following the Smith Commission recommendations. However it will take to October 2017 to be fully rolled out to all DLA claimants – and that is if there are no further delays to its introduction.

“As we know that the Scottish Government will be developing and introducing its own PIP equivalent, we don’t want to see disabled claimants having to go through changes in their payments, how they are paid, and how much they are paid, twice in a short period of time. I think this will be of major detriment to claimants and is unnecessary and possibly very distressing. In addition it seems a waste of resources to pay for the assessments of tens of thousands of disabled people to transfer them onto a system that they will not be staying on.

“Therefore I’m calling on the DWP to halt the migration of all existing DLA claimants to PIP and I hope this will be backed by the Scotland Office and the Scottish Government.

“CAS has already detailed the massive delays that new claimants are seeing in getting a PIP assessment and then having a decision made. Whilst these delays continue, sick and disabled clients are facing severe hardship, unable to meet the costs of living, and getting into debt.

“The DWP should concentrate on getting the process right for these new claimants and let current DLA claimants stay on their current award until such times as new Scottish system is in place.

“I had very much hoped that issues like these, and the halt to Universal Credit that has also been called for, could be raised and discussed with relevant stakeholders before draft legislation is published but it has been a disappointing process. The very short time scales we have been hampered by has led to a short sightedness of being able to look at all the complex and inter-related issues that need discussed and debated.

“This is not the first time I’ve pointed to process and timescales hampering the need for full and frank discussion and debate. This has to be taken seriously. All parties and stakeholders must have time and forums to bring out issues such as these and look for a way forward. The migration of DLA claimants to PIP is just one example of an area we would like to influence on behalf of the 330,000 clients we deal with every year.

“Whilst I recognise that the Scotland Office has tried to bring people together, it’s clear that we need to have all UK government departments playing their part in the processes that are required following the Smith Commission.”

However the Department for Work and Pensions says a delay in implementing PIP north of the border would ‘disadvantage’ disabled people in Scotland.

A DWP spokesman said: “Under the Personal Independence Payment, claimants receive a face-to-face assessment and regular reviews to ensure support is directed according to need.

“Latest figures show just that, with over 22% of people getting the highest level of support under PIP, compared to 16% under the outgoing DLA system. To halt this progress now would be to disadvantage disabled people across Scotland.”

Scottish government commits £100 million to welfare support

‘It is unacceptable that anyone should be living in poverty in a country as wealthy as Scotland’ – Margaret Burgess, Housing & Welfare Minister

Measures to tackle the impact of Westminster welfare reforms will receive £104 million of Scottish Government support next year, it was announced today.

£8 million will be allocated to funding advice services which support those affected by welfare changes and for the delivery of the Emergency Food Aid Action Plan which helps organisations combat food poverty in Scotland.

Around £35 million will be divided between local authorities to support people affected by the bedroom tax.

£38 million will be allocated to the Scottish Welfare Fund and its delivery. The Scottish Welfare Fund provides a safety net to people in an emergency or a disaster and helps people on low incomes access household goods.

In addition, the Scottish Government is committing a further £23 million funding for the Council Tax Reduction scheme which supports vulnerable people in meeting their Council Tax liabilities.

The £104 million forms part of the Scottish Government’s draft budget for 2015-16.

To date the Scottish Government’s welfare support has:

Helped over 100,000 households, including 32,000 families through the Scottish Welfare Fund, between April 2013 and June 2014.
Protected over 537,000 vulnerable people from increased Council Tax liabilities, following the UK Government’s abolition of Council Tax Benefit.
Helped 71,000 households affected by the bedroom tax, at an average cost of £50 a month.
Helped to deliver 72 projects which are supporting 20,000 people through the Making Advice Work programme funded by both Scottish Government and the Money Advice Service.

Announcing the welfare budget allocations ahead of the Welfare Benefits for People Living with Disabilities Debate, Housing and Welfare Minister Margaret Burgess said:

“It is unacceptable that anyone should be living in poverty in a country as wealthy as Scotland.

“We recognise there is still a problem which is why we are taking action and setting aside £104 million in next year’s budget to tackle poverty and inequalities and to help those affected by welfare changes.

“By allocating £38 million to the Scottish Welfare Fund and its delivery, we are making sure that we continue to reach out to those in the most deprived areas of Scotland. This Fund will help families access support and help to buy everyday items that many of us take for granted.

“We are still paying a heavy price for Westminster’s welfare reforms, this investment will help to mitigate the effects of these cuts on some of our most vulnerable households.

“As we have already set out in our submission to the Smith Commission, full responsibility over welfare and social policy is the only way for us to tackle poverty and to create a more prosperous and fairer society.”

New projects to help families tackle money worries

£2.4 million funding to help families deal with debt

Community projects which will help vulnerable families deal with debt and welfare problems are to benefit from a £2.4 million funding boost. The money will see 16 projects receive significant funding through the Scottish Legal Aid Board’s ‘Tackling Money Worries’ programme.

Local independent advice agency Granton Information Centre is a partner in two Edinburgh initiatives – with Stepping Stones and Changeworks in Canny Families, which provides help to young families and expectant mothers in North Edinburgh, and the Family Friendly Money Advice project in Leith, a collaboration with NHS Lothian, Citadel Youth Centre, Dr Bell’s Family Centre, the City of Edinburgh Council and Edinburgh Community Food.

See below for the full Tackling Money Worries project list

TMW_Project_Listing_2014

‘Tackling Money Worries’ support will be focused on low-income families facing a change in their circumstances, as this places them at higher risk of debt and money problems. Among the projects are:

• Eight projects focusing on the birth of a child and early years;

• Two projects focusing on changes to family structure; for example, when a relationship breakdown occurs;

• Six projects focusing on the impact of going through the criminal justice system, including families where someone is in prison or about to leave prison.

There will be direct advice and help for families to deal with crisis debt issues, as well as help with building on their money-management skills to support family life throughout their early years and childhood.

The TMW programme will bring together quality debt advice providers and agencies that are already trusted by families in their community. It will also build lasting and effective connections that will benefit families in the longer-term.

The funding of these projects has been made possible by Scottish Government approval for SLAB to spend up to £2.4m between October 2014 and the end of September 2016 on initiatives related to the Child Poverty Strategy.

This is on top of Scottish Government funds which, in combination with funding from the Money Advice Service, are already supporting 92 grant funded projects.

These programmes were due to end in March 2015, but both funders now intend continuing this funding partnership beyond that date. This would enable extension of help for people on low income in Scotland across a longer period.

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “In the past week we have seen the publication of a report that laid bare the extent of child poverty in Scotland. This is a totally unacceptable situation in a country as wealthy as ours.

“It is vital that the most vulnerable members of our society are provided with the help and support that they need, at the times in their life when they need it most. The Tackling Money Worries programme will help 16 projects across Scotland deliver this support through a £2.4 million investment.

“We know that the UK Government’s benefit reforms are driving people into poverty and that is why we are investing £81 million in the next financial year to help mitigate the effects of these changes.

“This help is vital but I am clear that we must also work to address the underlying issues of poverty in our society. That is why we have set out the need for Scotland to have full responsibility over welfare and employment powers to the Smith Commission.”

Dr Lindsay Montgomery, Chief Executive of the Scottish Legal Aid Board said: “We are delighted to announce the launch of this new programme of projects. The projects will play an important role in helping find long-term solutions for low-income families struggling with financial difficulties by dealing with their underlying debts.

“They will provide support to some of the hardest to reach families in Scotland who are most at risk of facing complex financial problems. We appreciate the financial support from the Scottish Government for this programme of grants.”

A visit to Granton could improve your health – and maybe your wealth!

A visit to Granton Information Centre could improve your health – and may also improve your wealth! The local advice centre received top marks from clients in a satisfaction survey conducted over the summer.

Highlights of the survey include:

• Around 71% of GIC clients have a medical condition – but almost half of them feel GIC has helped to bring about an improvement in their health

• 48% of clients received additional income following GIC’s intervention – and with another 22% awaiting decisions it’s very likely that this figure will rise to over half. Additional income includes both one-off payments and ongoing benefits entitlements – ranging from a few pounds to five-figure sums.

• 97% of clients would recommend GIC’s services to others

• 96% found GIC assistance ‘very helpful’, 98% found staff ‘very approachable’ and 74% found the help and support they had received ‘more than expected’.

Two hundred clients were chosen at random from GIC’s live cases database and invited to participate in the Satisfaction Survey, which was carried out over the summer. The results are based on the final total of 108 respondees.

GIC manager Caroline Pickering said: “There has been an increased demand on GIC’s service over the past few years and our management committee thought this would be an ideal time to review the services we provide – to look at what we are doing, what works well and what can be improved.

“The best people to guide us in this are the people who use those services, so we are very pleased with the positive results of the survey. It’s great for staff to be recognised for the hard work they do. Some of the comments we received from grateful clients were really touching.”

GIC chairperson John Mulvey said: “We know the staff are working exceptionally hard in difficult circumstances so we’re delighted to see how much service users and the wider community appreciate their efforts. The organisation has been working in North Edinburgh for thirty years now but it’s clear that GIC’s services are needed as much today as they ever were.”

Greens: Citizen’s Income would reduce inequality

Green Yes, the Scottish Green Party’s campaign for a Yes vote in the independence referendum, has published a paper showing how a Scottish Parliament with responsibility for welfare could implement a Citizen’s Income to reduce inequality.

The Greens have worked with Dr David Comerford, research fellow in economics at the University of Stirling, as well the Citizen’s Income Trust, to model the impact of the policy on household incomes.

One of the aims of the policy is to reduce the incredible complexity of the tax and benefits system, which penalises those with unreliable work or insecure housing. A longstanding Scottish Green policy, the Citizen’s Income would sweep away almost all benefits and the state pension and replace them with simple, regular payment to every child, adult and pensioner.

The paper is the latest in a series produced by the Green Yes campaign showing how independence opens up possibilities for progressive change in Scotland. Other papers have covered jobs, wages and the economy, local democracy, banking reform and digital rights.

CITIZEN’S INCOME – 70% CENT OF HOUSEHOLDS BETTER OFF

Under the model detailed in the paper:

– Weekly payments are proposed of £50 to children, £100 to adults and £150 to pensioners.
– 70 per cent of households would be better off than presently.
– Those in the lowest income bracket would benefit the most.
– Measures of inequality would be brought in line with some of the most equal countries in the world.
– Income earned in addition to the citizen’s income would continue to be taxed progressively.

Patrick Harvie MSP, Co-convener of the Scottish Greens, said: “This is a policy to recapture and renew the idea of a welfare state that looks after everyone. Scotland is a wealthy country, and we should be able to choose a different approach to austerity and the harmful attitude which pits people on poverty pay against those on benefits.

“A Citizen’s Income would ensure everyone’s basic needs are met. It’s a simple idea that could transform this country by reducing inequality and allowing each of us to make our own decisions about working, caring, learning and creating, without ending up on the breadline.”

Alison Johnstone, Green MSP for Lothian and member of Holyrood’s Economy Committee, said: “The referendum debate allows us to imagine what sort of Scottish welfare system we could design after a Yes vote, and this is the Greens’ vision for a simpler and fairer approach. A Citizen’s Income would be an especially positive policy for women as it would make it easier to combine working and caring roles.”