Westminster – Page 58 – The NEN

‘Bedroom Tax’ – minister demands fair deal for Scotland

Today (1 April) is day one of the Westminster government’s controversial welfare reforms. The Scottish government pre-empted the changes with two statements on the eve of the changes:

If the UK Government proceed to impose their plans for the bedroom tax on Scotland then Scotland must get its fair share of funds to deal with both the human and financial impact, Welfare Minister Margaret Burgess said yesterday.

In a letter to the UK Welfare Reform Minister Lord Freud, Mrs Burgess (picured below) demanded a fair deal for Scotland to address the potentially devastating impact of the bedroom tax, which is set to impoverish families and individuals.

The Scottish Government is completely opposed to the bedroom tax, which will affect 16,000 families with children in Scotland, but if UK Ministers proceed with cuts then Scotland must get its fair share of Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) funding, says Mrs Burgess.

Despite both Scotland and London having the same number of households hit by the bedroom tax, Lord Freud is set to award London with £56.5 million of DHP compared to only £10 million in Scotland.

Welfare Minister Burgess said: “The bedroom tax is a socially divisive measure that will increase social inequalities across Scotland. It’s a policy that the Scottish Government is totally against as it hits our most vulnerable citizens in these already challenging economic conditions.

“This is a policy devised in London on the basis of housing benefit increases and overcrowding. However, in inflation-adjusted terms, 93 per cent of the housing benefit increase is attributable to the situation in England whilst London has almost two and a half times the level of overcrowded households compared to Scotland.

“We have consistently made that case to UK Government Ministers that we are opposed to these cuts – if they proceed to impose their plans then Scotland must get its fair share of funds to deal with both the human and financial impact.

“The small levels of DHP in Scotland is woefully inadequate and unfair to deal with the impact and scale of this policy.

“Civic Scotland is united in opposition to the bedroom tax and this Government has already taken action to strengthen the protection against eviction for rent arrears in advance of the introduction of the tax. From 1 August 2012 we brought pre-action requirements for rent arrears into force to ensure that proceedings for eviction is always the last resort.

“We are also providing an extra £2.5 million to social landlords for advice services to ensure there is support on hand for people who will lose housing benefit due to the under occupancy measures and other housing benefit cuts being introduced by Westminster from April.

“The UK Government’s agenda is completely at odds with the values of the people of Scotland and the aspirations that this Government has for our nation. Only through independence can Scotland have the levers required to create a welfare system that is aligned to Scottish needs and values.”

Thousands of vulnerable people in Scotland will be protected from increased Council Tax bills following the UK Government’s abolition of council tax benefit this week, Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth John Swinney announced yesterday.

Around 560,000 people will receive support to ensure they are not affected by the UK Government’s 10 per cent cut in funding for Council Tax Benefit successor arrangements.

The Scottish Government and local authorities in Scotland are working in partnership to invest £40 million in 2013/14 to bridge the funding gap and mitigate the impact of the UK Government’s benefit cuts.

Mr Swinney (pictured below) said: “Hard working and vulnerable people are having to bear the brunt of these Westminster benefit cuts. Instead of protecting our poorest households, Westminster has responded to this recession by imposing deeply damaging welfare cuts which will make it far harder for people to meet the rising cost of living.

“To ensure households across Scotland do not face additional burdens the Scottish Government and Scotland’s councils are providing £40 million in 2013/14 to ensure that around 560,000 people in Scotland are protected from this reduction.

“Whilst Council tax bills will be increasing in many areas of England as a result of benefit cuts we are using the limited resources we have to ensure vulnerable people do not have to face increasing bills.

“We are determined to do everything that we reasonably can to help those who need it most, however we cannot meet every Westminster cut. We are making available an extra £2.5 million to social landlords to help them ensure that people affected by housing benefit changes have the advice and support they need.

“And we are providing £5.4 to organisations such as Citizens Advice to help those affected by benefit reforms. This extra support will assist social landlords in their efforts to engage directly with affected tenants and seek to identify ways in which they can deal with the impact of the changes.

“These unjust policies show why we need the powers of independence to protect vulnerable people rather than simply trying to cushion the blows in Scotland. It would be far better to control benefits and welfare so unfair policies like abolishing Council Tax benefit are not even considered, let alone implemented. “

Swinney calls for welfare cuts U-turn

The Chancellor should use next week’s UK Budget to revisit welfare reforms which stand to place real strain and hardship on Scottish families, Finance Secretary John Swinney said today. Writing to the Chancellor ahead of Wednesday’s Budget, the Finance Secretary has highlighted the impacts in Scotland of the UK Government’s welfare reform programmes.

The letter sets out Scottish Government analysis which shows, for example, that whilst the bedroom tax will save the UKG money, this will be outweighed by the costs imposed on the Scottish economy. Over time the policy will remove £110m from the economy, through its impact in Scotland alone. This does not capture the wider social costs of the policy nor the distress and disruption that it will cause.

The letter also highlights that the full package of welfare reforms will present significant financial and operational challenges for all layers of government in Scotland. In his letter to the Chancellor Mr Swinney urges the UK Government to:

Provide immediate support for investment and jobs
Withdraw its bedroom tax policy
Take action on the distribution of European Structural Funds (ESF)
Improve access to finance for small and medium sized enterprises
Devolve responsibility for Air Passenger Duty to the Scottish Parliament

Commenting on his letter Mr Swinney (pictured below) said: “Since 2010 the UK Governments fiscal policy has been premised on the need to maintain market confidence and the UK’s AAA credit rating. The Chancellor has chosen austerity over investment in growth and jobs and the cost has been the continuing deterioration in the public finances, prolonged recession and the downgrade of the UK’s credit rating.

“That cost is increasingly borne by the most vulnerable in our society and public services in Scotland urgently seeking to mitigate the worst impacts of the UK’s disastrous welfare reform programme. Scottish Government analysis shows that based on reasonable assumptions the projected UK Government savings from the bedroom tax are significantly outstripped by the net loss to the UK of over £100 million over the long-term. This policy is unfair, is unlikely to deliver savings in real-terms and cuts across devolved policies. The Chancellor should use his forthcoming Budget to withdraw it.

“While we welcomed the Chancellor’s partial recognition of the need for urgent investment to boost growth in the Autumn Statement. we again call on the Chancellor to use this Budget to provide a real stimulus and greatly expand capital investment With colleagues from Wales and Northern Ireland, I have also called on the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to invest in growth.

“Small and medium sized businesses are the lifeblood of Scotland’s economy. Growth will be led by the private sector yet it continues to be choked by half-hearted Coalition measures. Figures released last week on bank lending again confirm that the UK Government’s action to improve access to finance for the country’s small and medium sized businesses is failing to deliver. We continue to press the Coalition Government to go further and faster in improving access to finance.

“With the powers of independence Scotland would have the economic levers and the scope to tailor welfare policies in line with Scotland’s interests, to ensure that Scotland’s businesses and people no longer have to fund the failures of a UK Government.”

Leith MP focuses on food bank fears

Mark Lazarowicz, MP for North and Leith, visited a ‘pop-up’ food bank outside the Houses of Parliament this week, and earlier today he at the Kirkgate collecting signatures for a petition to highlight the issue of growing poverty and the increased reliance on food parcels across the UK.

Mr Lazarowicz said: “Hundreds of thousands of people in the UK are now forced to get support from food banks. Leith is the latest area where a food bank is being set up. I have enormous respect for the dedication of staff and volunteers who are helping through food banks to meet the growing need for food aid but that need is a clear sign of Government failure.

“The depressed state of the economy combined with cuts in welfare support have led many people, both in and out of work, to turn to food banks as a last resort. The growth of food banks is stark evidence of the failure of Government economic and employment policy. Food banks show just how much people in our community care for the most vulnerable but they shouldn’t have to be a substitute for Government action. That’s why I am supporting this petition, which calls for the government to ensure there is an accurate count of the number of people using food banks in Scotland and for Government action to ensure that no families in the UK go hungry.”

Before Christmas, the North and Leith MP took part in food collection drives at local supermarkets and he recently attended a meeting at South Leith Parish Church Halls to look at setting up a food bank in Leith.

Britain’s largest network of food banks, the Trussell Trust (which is involved in the proposal to set up a food bank in Leith), estimates that they will need to support in excess of 260,000 people over the next year.

Welcome news as unemployment down in Scotland

Scotland’s jobless total fell by 13,000 to 206,000 between October and December, according to official figures published by the Office of national Statistics (ONS) today. The total number of employed in Scotland now stands at 2,461,000. ONS figures showed that the Scottish unemployment rate was 7.7%, marginally below the UK average of 7.8%. UK unemployment fell by a total of 14,000 to 2.5 million.

The number of people claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance in Scotland fell by 600 from December to 137,000 in January – down 5200 on the January 2012 figure. The ONS figures also showed that youth unemployment in Scotland fell by 28,000, or 5.9%, over the last year.

Scottish Secretary Michael Moore said: “The government continues to work hard to reduce unemployment by laying the foundations for a stronger, more balanced economy.”

Scotland’s headline employment rate (for those aged 16 to 64) rose by 0.1 percentage points over the three month period to 70.7 per cent, while the claimant count in Scotland fell by 600 over the month of January 2013 – the third consecutive monthly fall.

At Holyrood, government ministers particularly welcomed a significant fall in youth unemployment, which has fallen by has fallen by 28,000 over the last year. The youth unemployment rate fell by 5.9 percentage points – the largest annual fall since the series began in 2006, and the rate is at its lowest since November to January 2011.

Finance Secretary John Swinney said: “This is the third set of monthly unemployment figures in a row that have shown a fall. What’s more, the fall in youth unemployment is particularly encouraging. Scotland has lower youth unemployment, higher youth employment and lower youth inactivity than the UK. This month’s release sees the largest annual drop in the youth unemployment rate since the data series began in 2006.

“Unemployment fell by 14,000 across the UK as a whole with Scotland accounting for 13,000 of this net fall. But we must not be complacent – too many people are still looking for work, and the Scottish Government is taking action to address this by maintaining the most competitive business environment anywhere in the UK and investing in our infrastructure.

“The budget passed last month includes a tax relief package for business worth over £540m this year and bring forward a further £385 million package of economic stimulus. But with the full economic and fiscal powers of independence the Scottish Government could do even more to strengthen our economy and create jobs.”

Youth Employment Minister Angela Constance said: “Today’s figures are the clearest demonstration yet that the Scottish Government’s action on youth employment is helping to support more young people into jobs. It is fantastic that we have achieved an historic high in the number of school leavers going into work, education or training. A record 89.9 per cent of our young people are rightly securing opportunities after school. However – one young person not in training or employment is one too many. The biggest fall in youth unemployment since 2006 is something that the public, private and third sectors can be very pleased with, but our work must continue.”

MP visits Prince’s Trust

MP for Edinburgh East Sheila Gilmore visited The Prince’s Trust Centre on Ferry Road last Friday to meet young people and discuss the impact of youth unemployment.

The meeting provided an opportunity for the MP to meet a group of under-16’s participating on The Trust’s Fairbridge programme, which focuses on developing key employability skills, as well as participating in a round-table discussion with Prince’s Trust Job Ambassadors who provided an in-depth insight into the challenges they faced whilst unemployed.

The effect unemployment has on young people is significant, according to recent research by The Prince’s Trust. The Youth Index, which gauges young people’s wellbeing across a range of areas from family life to physical health, found that around 33% of those surveyed claimed to feel down or depressed ‘always’ or ‘often’, and that one in five unemployed young people across the UK believe their confidence would never recover from their spell out of work.

Ms Gilmore also got an insight into the range of programmes offered by The Prince’s Trust as a means of engaging with unemployed young people or those struggling at school and at a risk of exclusion.
Sheila Gilmore MP said: “We know that periods of unemployment at a young age can have an adverse impact on people for the rest of their lives. The work that The Prince’s Trust does with young people to help them build up their skills and confidence is crucial in preventing this.”

Speaking after the MP’s visit, Heather Gray, Director of The Prince’s Trust, Scotland, said: “We were delighted to welcome Sheila Gilmore to our Edinburgh Centre. It provided a positive opportunity for Ms Gilmore to meet with young people and hear about the challenges they face in finding employment as well as to discuss what can be done to help young people into employment and training and towards a positive future.”

Heather Johnston, a Job Ambassador for The Prince’s Trust Scotland, was one of the young people who met the MP. She said: “I was unemployed for five years – it is demoralising and can impact heavily on self-esteem. As a Job Ambassador for The Prince’s Trust, it is important we get as much support to ensure young people, like me, get an opportunity to achieve a positive future.”

Government ‘caught red-handed’ over pension reforms

Hundreds of local women will lose out as a result of the latest pension reforms, according to North and Leith MP Mark Lazarowicz.

House of Commons Library research has revealed the true cost of last week’s pension reforms to 500 women in Edinburgh North and Leith and 2,900 women in Edinburgh as a whole who are set to lose out. Five hundred local women born in 1952 and 1953 will not be eligible for the single tier pension since they are due to retire in 2017, before the state pension reforms come into effect. Men born during the same period, however, will qualify.

The news comes after the Government claimed that “we have to be absolutely transparent [about who will lose]” yet it has failed to make clear the full consequences of the planned reforms.

The unravelling of this latest pension announcement is the second time this government has been caught trying to hide the full impact of its changes for pensioners following the Granny Tax, according to Mr Lazarowicz.

He added: “Ministers have been caught red-handed hiding the truth on pension reforms. This government’s pension changes have hit hardworking women in Edinburgh time and again and these reforms are no different. 500 women will be nearly £2,000 worse off compared to men, but instead of being honest with the women that will lose out this government tried to bury the truth. Once again Ministers have been caught with their hands in pensioners’ pockets – it’s about time this government had the decency to be honest about who will lose out under their plans.”

The Bedroom Tax – a Poll Tax for the 21st century?

It could become the most hated piece of legislation to be inflicted on British people since the infamous Poll Tax. And it’s now only weeks away …

In April, a new measure is to be introduced that will apply to all tenants of working age – welfare reforms will cut the amount of benefit that people can get if they are deemed to have a spare bedroom in their council or housing association home.

Under the legislation, size criteria will restrict housing benefit to allow for one bedroom for each person or couple living as part of the household. Children under sixteen years old will be expected to share with others of the same gender, while children under ten will be expected to share regardless of gender.

Under the new legislation – labelled the bedroom tax – all claimants who are then deemed to have at least one spare bedroom will be affected and face an ‘under occupation’ penalty: a cut to their housing benefit.

The cut will be a fixed percentage of the Housing Benefit eligible rent, which the Westminster government has stated will be set at 14% for one extra bedroom and 25% for two or more extra bedrooms.

Those affected – around 660,000 working-age social housing tenants (over 30% of existing Housing Benefit claimants in the social sector) in the UK – will lose an average of £14 per week, with Housing Association tenants expected to lose around £16 per week.

The architect of the scheme is investment banker and Welfare Reform Minister Baron Freud of Eastry – who incidentally lives in an eight-bedroom Kent mansion when he is not staying in his four-bedroom townhouse in London’s Highgate. The noble Lord believes that ‘spare council house bedrooms are a luxury the country can no longer afford: “It’s not fair or affordable for people to continue to live in homes that are too large for their needs when, in England alone, there are around five million people on the social housing waiting list and over a quarter of a million tenants are living in overcrowded conditions. It’s only right that we bring fairness back to the system and make better use of the social housing stock.”

He went on: “Nearly a third of working-age social housing tenants on housing benefit are living in accommodation which is too big for their needs, in spite of the fact of severe overcrowding. We are stopping the practice of the state paying for rooms beyond claimant needs, and that should go in some way to help tackle the social housing shortage that has been blighting too many lives.”

Lord Freud and his ministerial chums hope that more households will chose to ‘downsize’ to smaller, more affordable properties – and in the process slash £500 million from the Housing Benefit bill. So the government reduces the national debt and tenants get suitably-sized homes: a win, win situation, then – everybody’s happy?

Sadly not. There’s a desperate shortage of suitable, smaller accommodation, as Shelter Scotland Director Graeme Brown explained: “The UK Government is simply failing to listen to the voice of reason being put forward by housing professionals, social landlords, MSPs and individuals. Penalizing low-income people for having an extra room assumes that there is a ready supply of smaller properties for them to move to. This is simply not the case. So the only consequence will be people stuck in homes with mounting rent arrears and a further descent into debt. Even at this late stage, we urge the UK Government to modify its proposals.”

According to the latest Scottish government figures, there are 586,000 households in the social rented sector in Scotland, and 105,000 of these – roughly one in five – will be affected by the Bedroom Tax, each losing an average of around £50 per month.

Advice organisations have already seen a significant increase in demand for their services, and the imminent welfare reforms will inevitably lead to even more desperate cries for help.

Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) Chief Executive Margaret Lynch gave evidence about the impact of welfare changes on advice services at the Scottish Parliament earlier this month.

She said: “We expect demand for benefit advice, to increase even further along with an increased need for other areas of advice such as debt, housing, and budgeting due to changes in benefits. This increase in casework, as well as the increasing complexity and time-consuming nature or many issues, is of course having a knock-on effect on the ability of our service to help our clients.

“We are already at breaking point so desperately need to be adequately resourced to enable us to help those who need it most as we aim to mitigate the impact of welfare reform as much as possible. The recent benefits uprating bill debate highlighted the statistics showing how the poorest are paying the price for cuts. The evidence we are publishing today is not just statistics but is based on the real lives of real people. It is not just about the numbers of people affected, but the severity of the individual cases. We have seen a big rise in the number of people in crisis situations, either because of the direct impact of a benefit cut or because they have fallen through the gaps in the safety net that is meant to protect them.

“The evidence we are publishing shows who is really being hit hardest by current policies and it includes thousands of people who are genuinely sick, disabled, and vulnerable and deserve support. The impact of current policies don’t just hit the individual claimant but can also have a huge effect on children and others being cared for. Pushing people further into poverty and financial difficulties will lead to an increase in other problems such as homelessness, health inequalities, and family breakdown, as well as lead to rising debt and an increase for food hand-outs. Tackling these issues in future years will only add to the overall public spending bill, not reduce it. The UK government must heed this evidence and question whether they really want to continue on a track of devastating reforms which can only damage more lives.”

Shelter Scotland has issued advice to tenants likely to be hit by the imminent benefit cuts, and urge them to ACT NOW:

If you’re going to be affected by a deduction to your housing benefit then it’s very important that you prepare for the change before April 2013.

There are several things you can do:

take in a lodger – renting out a spare room would bring in extra income, but make sure you get the agreement of your landlord first and check whether this will affect any other benefits that you’re currently receiving
ask for a contribution to your rent – your family members may be able to pay more towards your rent
move to a smaller property – you may be able to transfer to a smaller property, speak to your council or the housing association you’re renting from to see if you can apply to do this
apply for a discretionary housing payment – your local council may be able to give you temporary support to help you stay in your home through a discretionary housing payment.

If you can’t pay all your rent after the reduction you may have to think about finding somewhere else to live or you will risk falling behind with your rent and possibly being evicted. Speak to an adviser in your area as soon as possible if you’re worried that this may happen to you.

For Local advice:

Granton Information Centre 134-138 West Granton Road. Telephone 552 0458 Email info@gic.org.uk

Pilton CAB, Drylaw Shopping Centre: Telephone 202 1153 Email pilton@caed.org.uk

Local MP calls for immediate investment in Port of Leith

Edinburgh North and Leith MP Mark Lazarowicz has called for immediate government investment in the Port of Leith. Participating in yesterday’s Westminster debate on unemployment in Scotland, he called for new investment in infrastructure by Government both north and south of the border to create new jobs, pointing to plans to develop the Port of Leith as a potential focus for Government-backed investment.

The North and Leith MP said: “Youth unemployment has risen sharply locally and there is also a problem of underemployment – people aren’t able to get as much work as they would like, whether with their employer or where they are self-employed.

“House building is always a sign of activity in the economy as a whole and there have been only 8 new homes built in Edinburgh North and Leith in the last quarter. Yet once again in his autumn statement the Chancellor failed to provide funding for new affordable housing.

“There were no plans either for High Speed 2 to extend to Scotland. In other sectors where the Government has announced investment – often more than once – little has happened on the ground. The Chancellor heralded new capital investment again today, but it needs to happen now not in some dim and distant future.

“A £119 million development of the Port of Leith is on a list of shovel ready projects here in Scotland. Both the UK and Scottish Governments need to get on with projects like this to create jobs so that young people desperately seeking work are not left disillusioned.”

Deal struck for single question referendum?

There is speculation that the Scottish and Westminster governments have reached a deal over the independence question. Following months of negotiations it appears that the Scottish people will now vote in a one-question referendum – a straight yes or no – other than a ballot paper that contains another – increased powers for Holyrood or ‘devo-max’ – option.

It also seems that likely that sixteen and seventeen year olds will have the right to vote in the independence referendum, scheduled to be held in autumn 2014.

Further details will be announced when Prime Minister David Cameron meets Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond at the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood next Monday.

Should sixteen and seventeen year olds have the right to vote? Let us know!

Local MP backs action on pre-payment meters

Mark Lazarowicz MP (pictured above) backs action on fuel poverty to help cut bills of pre-payment meter users

With steep rises in energy prices on the way this winter, Mark Lazarowicz MP for Edinburgh North and Leith, is backing a new Bill to make it easier for customers who use pre-payment meters (PPMs) for their gas and electricity to switch suppliers.

Currently, users can switch providing they are not more than £200 in debt – the Bill would raise that to £300 benefitting over 200,000 people. Mark said: “This Bill matters because pre-payment meter users pay more for their gas or electricity even though they are over twice as likely to be in fuel poverty than those who pay by direct debit. People often use PPMs because they are trying to budget responsibly – in some cases precisely because they were in debt – but debts for fuel bills can take a long time to pay off when someone can only afford to pay off a small amount each week. The Government is always urging consumers to switch – this Bill would make it easier for PPM users to do so and they are the people who could benefit most.”

The number of pre-payment users has risen steadily in recent years either as a conscious choice or because suppliers install a meter where someone is in debt to them. Last year over 15% of electricity customers in the UK used PPMs (4.1 million) and 13% of gas customers (2.9 million).

A recently published study by Consumer Focus found that one in six pre-payment users cut off their own energy supply in order to make ends meet – a measure of how carefully they are budgeting. Traditionally pre-payment users have paid much more for their gas and electricity than those who pay by direct debit or standard credit.

There have been improvements more recently due to action by the regulator, Ofgem, so that the prices PPM users pay better reflect the costs of installing and maintaining the meters, but further action is needed to ensure PPM users get a fair deal.