New Government Proposals on Welfare

This is taken directly from ‘The Coalition: our programme for government’ paper. It is still lacking a lot of details which need filling out, so a proper analysis can’t be made of it just yet. But it does show there are some major changes coming, which seem to be aimed at continuing to force people off incapacity benefits or training people on pointless courses for non-existent jobs through private companies. We should also note that there are massive plans to cut public spending and I think its safe to say, this is one area the government will be targetting.

The Government believes that we need to encourage responsibility and fairness in the welfare system. That means providing help for those who cannot work, training and targeted support for those looking for work, but sanctions for those who turn down reasonable offers of work or training.

• We will end all existing welfare to work programmes and create a single welfare to work programme to help all unemployed people get back into work.
• We will ensure that Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants facing the most significant barriers to work are referred to the new welfare to work programme immediately, not after 12 months as is currently the case. We will ensure that Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants aged under 25 are referred to the programme after a maximum of six months.
• We will realign contracts with welfare to work service providers to reflect more closely the results they achieve in getting people back into work.
• We will reform the funding mechanism used by government to finance welfare to work programmes to reflect the fact that initial investment delivers later savings through lower benefit expenditure, including creating an integrated work programme with outcome funding based upon the DEL/AME switch.
• We will ensure that receipt of benefits for those able to work is conditional on their willingness to work.
• We support the National Minimum Wage because of the protection it gives low-income workers and the incentives to work it provides.
• We will re-assess all current claimants of Incapacity Benefit for their readiness to work. Those assessed as fully capable for work will be moved onto Jobseeker’s Allowance.
• We will support would-be entrepreneurs through a new programme – Work for Yourself – which will give the unemployed access to business mentors and start-up loans.
• We will draw on a range of Service Academies to offer pre-employment training and work placements for unemployed people.
• We will develop local Work Clubs – places where unemployed people can gather to exchange skills, find opportunities, make contacts and provide mutual support.
• We will investigate how to simplify the benefit system in order to improve incentives to work.

Taken from HM Government website

Action needed for young jobless

Britain faces losing thousands of potential plumbers, mechanics and nurses due to unemployment and underinvestment in young people, the Prince’s Trust has said.

A survey of 1,000 people aged 16 to 24 by the youth charity found that many young people were finding it hard to get out of the unemployment trap, citing lack of money as a key issue.

Two out of five of those questioned said that they could not afford to buy smart clothes for a job interview and over half thought they would never be able to buy their own home.

The long-term unemployed were nearly twice as likely to fear that they “will never amount to anything” and three times as likely to believe they don’t have any skills or talents.

Presenting the findings, Prince’s Trust chief executive Martina Milburn quickly contradicted any notion that young people were to blame for their situation.

“Every one of Britain’s unemployed young people has skills and talents that could make a real difference to this country,” she insisted.

Campaign group Youth Fight For Jobs chairman Ben Robinson criticised the government for cutting back on vocational education courses and putting the financial burden on students in post-18 education with higher fees.

“£1.2 trillion given to bail out the banks.

“And now the budget for young people and their future is being cut in the middle of a recession. It is devastating,” he said.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow added that report highlighted “further evidence of the dangers of a lost generation similar to the dark days of Thatcherism, being the victims of a recession manufactured by casino capitalism.”

Taken from Morning Star

Crisis-hit youth centre appeals to parents for help

Mums and dads whose children attend a crisis-hit youth centre are being asked to take a more active role to keep it from closure.

Pensioner Gladys Chilton, chairwoman of Pennywell Youth Project (PYP), says she needs help from the community in her fight to keep the award-winning centre open.

Gladys, who has been involved with the organisation for 12 years, said: “People keep telling me they don’t want PYP to close and all I have to say to them is ‘you know where our door is’.

“There is plenty to be done up there. The place needs a spring clean and a lick of paint, but we need the people power because we can’t afford to pay someone to do it.

“We really need some young blood behind us.”

The youth project, in Parkhurst Road, Pennywell, has won awards for it pioneering work with young people and touched the lives of thousands.
But over the last two years it has struggled to find funding and its bids for cash keep getting turned down.

Many of the management team spend their time cooking and cleaning in an effort to keep the place ticking over.

Earlier this week, the Echo revealed how three key figures in the charity were leaving because of the financial difficulties.

Sunderland City Council is working to ensure that any additional sources of finance are identified and made available.

But, the threat of closure is taking its toll on those who have devoted their time to the project.

Gladys said: “At the moment I’m not well enough to fight back.”

Anyone interested in helping should call 534 5357

Taken from Sunderland Echo

Homeless young people speak out

Homeless, forgotten, sleeping where they can. Wearside’s homeless young people need support.

Today they had their say on plans for a new £1million centre to train, support and house homeless 16- to 21-year-olds in Dundas Street, Monkwearmouth.

Charity Centrepoint says it will create a top-class facility to help give the young people a better start in life, but residents have mounted a campaign against the centres, fearing it will add to the area’s problems.

Councillors will hear both sides at a meeting before making a decision on Centrepoint’s planning application, but two homeless young men have told the Echo that too often the voices of those in need go unheard.

The Echo has given them false names to protect their identity.

David, 21, gave up his £200-per-week job in a factory in Doncaster and moved to Sunderland two years ago to live with his girlfriend. But the relationship ended soon after, leaving him homeless.

Now he bunks in with friends where he can, constantly moving round addresses in Sunderland, Washington and Murton.

He thinks it is vital that Centrepoint gets its facility off the ground as soon as possible to help people in his situation.

He said: “We’re labelled as thugs or druggies or trouble-makers. There are only a few people who give us that label, but we’ve got to live with it until we get to a certain age and situation and it just gets passed on to someone else.

“But I think as long as there is proper security and surveillance at the centre, there won’t be any trouble.

“A lot of us are lucky because we have care-of addresses, so we can get Jobseeker’s Allowance, but it’s hard to find a job and somewhere to live.”

David is one of the youngsters getting help from Wearside Women in Need’s Housing Action Programme (Haps), which works with 16- to 25-year-olds who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Many have support needs around drugs, alcohol or mental health issues.

Haps has 38 accommodation spaces, but operates a waiting list.

Peter is another homeless young man getting help from the organisation.

He said there was a desperate need for facilities such as the one proposed by Centrepoint – especially in the Washington and coalfields areas.

Peter had to leave his family home in Washington after falling out with his parents and siblings. He now sleeps where he can.

He wants to see Centrepoint build its homelessness centre in Washington.

“There are a lot of other homeless people in Washington and they have to go through to Sunderland for support. There are more hostels there, but there’s not much here.

“It’s further away, and if you have people here – friends or family – it’s taking you further away from them.”

Youth project is on ‘its last legs’

THREE members of staff have quit a crisis-hit youth group as fears grow over the future of the award-winning centre.

An emergency committee meeting was held at Pennywell Youth Project (PYP) after three core workers handed in their resignations.

The centre, which has played a key role in transforming Pennywell, is under threat amid a funding crisis.

PYP chairwoman Gladys Chilton, said: “We are really struggling and I am blaming the local authority for a lot of this.

“For two years we’ve asked for more help regarding money for core costs and got nothing.

“If they want to save Pennywell Youth Project then they have to do something fast. We’re on our last legs.

“At the moment we are struggling to exist until March.”

The project’s kitchen staff went first, followed by the head gardener and the closure of the centre’s bike shop Chain Reaction.

This week a teacher from the education department left and it was announced the key administrator and senior youth worker will leave at the end of the month.

Gladys said: “I can’t blame them for going. They have to look out for themselves and take care of their own futures, but it is very sad to see them go.

“We are cutting down, but we are keeping the project going. We are not going to close.”

If the centre can survive until April, when the new financial year begins, fresh funds will be pumped into the project.

PYP normally receives about £90,000 from Sunderland City Council, but the youth centre says this year’s budget has been slashed to £65,000, with no explanation.

Gladys said: “Nothing must happen to the youth project because I think we would see come changes on the estate straight away if the children didn’t have those doors to come through.”

Children’s services ‘value project’

JUDITH Hay from Sunderland City Council’s Children’s Services, said: “The Pennywell Youth Project has an excellent track record for developing ways of supporting both young people and the local community that have really made a positive contribution to our city.

“Sunderland City Council values and supports the contribution provided by all voluntary sector youth projects, including Pennywell Youth Project, to the life our city and hope that contribution continues.

“Grants are allocated a year at a time, and although the amount available has decreased for the period 2010 to 2011, the city council remains committed to providing annual grants and working to support key partners.

“We respond to any request for help and give it our due consideration, and have always provided the project with any support we can.

“We are working to ensure that sources of additional finance are identified and made available where possible in addition to the annual core grant.”

Taken from Sunderland Echo

Rich-poor divide ‘wider than 40 years ago’

The gap between rich and poor in the UK is wider now than 40 years ago, a government-commissioned report says.

“Deep-seated and systemic differences” remain between men and women and minority groups in pay and employment, the National Equality Panel found.

It said in areas such as neighbourhood renewal, taxes and education, policy action was needed to limit inequality.

The issues raised would need “sustained and focused action”, Equalities Minister Harriet Harman said.

“But for the sake of the right of every individual to reach their full potential, for the sake of a strong and meritocratic economy and to achieve a peaceful and cohesive society, that is the challenge that must be met,” she added.

Earning power

Apparent discrimination against people from ethnic minorities was revealed in the report, with those from nearly every minority group less likely to be in paid work than white British men and women.

The panel – set up by the government in 2008 – found that despite women up to the age of 44 having better qualifications than men, men were still paid up to 21% more per hour.

But the authors pointed out that some of the greatest differences come within social groups.

Among women, many work part-time, earning less than £7.20 an hour, much less than the median pay of £9.90 across the country.

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“Most political parties and people subscribe to the ideal of ‘equality of opportunity’,” panel chair Professor John Hills, of the London School of Economics, told the BBC.

“The challenge that our report puts down to all political parties is how do you create a level playing field when there are such large differences between the resources that different people have available to them.

“Things that allow you to buy a house in the catchment area of a good school or allow you to help your children get on the housing ladder. These are very big differences.”

The study said that the type of job and pay a parent had could have a cumulative effect throughout a person’s life, setting them on “tracks that make all sorts of differences”.

By retirement, the difference between rich and poor can be “colossal”, the report added.

The panel pointed out that half of those who have worked in the top professions have net assets worth more than £900,000, while a 10th of those who have had unskilled jobs have property, savings and possessions worth less than £8,000.

BBC social policy correspondent Gillian Hargreaves said the report would make “awkward reading for the government” as Labour had made tackling inequality a priority.

Theresa May, shadow minister for women and equalities, told the BBC that Labour’s policies had failed.

“It is shocking that after 13 years of a government that wanted to focus on child inequality, we’re still in this situation,” she said.

“Labour has had a one-dimensional approach, looking at the symptoms, not the causes. For example, one in six children are growing up in a workless household. We need policies that can make equality a reality.”

The Liberal Democrats’ children, schools and families spokesman, David Laws, said Gordon Brown’s government had “run out of ideas for tackling the lack of opportunity for so many children and the chasm that separates the rich from the poor”.

Full report – An anatomy of economic inequality in the UK [4 MB]

Summary – An anatomy of economic inequality in the UK [1.79 MB]

Taken from BBC News

Young people stuck on the dole

Shock figures released last week showed how young people have been hit hard by the recession. Ken Olende and Viv Smith spoke to some of those who have struggled to find work

Nearly half of young black people in Britain are unemployed. This stark figure comes in a new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think-tank.

Its findings undercut the government’s celebration of the first official fall in unemployment for 18 months and its belief that racism is no longer a central cause of “disadvantage”.

Two weeks ago communities minister John Denham launched a government report, Tackling Race Inequality.

It said, “Socio-economic status and poverty affect people’s chances in life regardless of race or ethnic background.”

Poverty and class do indeed affect quality of life – but race adds a very real extra burden.

The IPPR report looked at 60,000 households, including 7,200 young people aged between 16 and 24. It presents the more complex picture.

Racism

Unemployment for young white people is high, at 20 percent. For Asians the figure rises to 31 percent and for African Caribbeans it reaches a truly staggering 48 percent.

The greatest increase in youth unemployment has been among people from mixed ethnic groups.

Some 35 percent were unemployed in November last year – up from 21 percent in March 2008.

Racism is embedded in every part of society. In schools, black children are more likely to be excluded and marginalised.

Sometimes discrimination is less subtle – as a recent Department for Work and Pensions survey found.

It sent out almost identical job applications to a wide range of companies. Some had names suggesting the applicant was from an ethnic minority, rather than white British.

Those applicants who were perceived to be white received a positive response after nine applications.

Yet ethnic minority candidates had to send 16 applications before receiving a positive response.

All of this makes it hard to believe the government’s claim that racism is now peripheral.

It is also wrong to use the fall in official unemployment figures to claim that the recession is over. There are still 2.46 million out of work and this is likely to rise.

The number of people working part-time jumped by nearly 100,000 in the three months to November, while the number of full-time jobs fell by 113,000 over the same period.

The number of workers who say they have been forced to take a part-time position after failing to find anything full-time was close to 1.3 million, a rise of almost 40 per cent on the same period last year.

Some 46 percent of young women with no qualifications are unemployed.

Some employers have sacked fewer staff because they (and some union leaders) have convinced workers to take pay cuts or work shorter hours.

‘You live in fear all the time’ – Wil Vincent, 21, Birmingham

‘Being unemployed was really bad.

My landlord was only interested in getting the rent, so when I lost my job I found myself on the street.

When I found somewhere to live and was trying to find work, I had to spend my time trying to keep the job centre people happy.

But they kept telling me, “You need to look harder,” even when there was no work available.

I have GCSEs and A-Levels, but even with qualifications nothing was available.

I was looking for full-time work, but the job centre would say, “This is only 12 hours a week, but you should still do it.”

A lot of the jobs on offer are temporary. So it might be 30 hours one week, then nothing for another four weeks.

I was living like that for a year. I didn’t know if I’d have 20 quid the next week – enough money to feed myself and put electricity on the meter.

You live in fear all the time. Will the bank charge you extra for going too far overdrawn?

You’re just stressing out all the time and you can’t stop thinking about it.

I have a British name and passport, so you can’t tell on an application that I’m not white.

Often I’d turn up for a job interview and see them stepping back.

Then it always seemed to be me who didn’t get my calls returned and didn’t get the job.’

‘I won’t accept that black youth are unemployable’- Sean Orefuwa, 26, south London

‘Unemployment is higher for young black men because we are not treated equally.

I refuse to accept that nearly 50 percent of black youth are unemployable, that they are all useless or bums.

I’ve got a degree and I’m finding it really hard to get work.

It’s hard coming out of university into this economic climate. I’ve had to move back in with my parents.

I’ve tried everything from manual labour, unskilled work, call centres and supermarkets – but I still haven’t got anything.

And most people don’t even bother to let you know you didn’t get the job.

I think there is a social stigma, particularly about young black men. The way we are portrayed in the media and society means that you don’t hear the positive stories – you always hear the bad stuff.

When you are judged before you step into the interview room then it’s going to be an uphill struggle.

I think it is easier for society to blame black youth for problems rather than challenge stereotypes and look at the real problems.

We need to be more aware of why we have the problems we do – and of how to challenge them.’

‘They won’t employ you because of skin colour’- Johnny Moaonzele, 22, east London

‘I came to Britain from Congo as a young child. Then I was kicked out of school. They thought I was mental, but I just wasn’t coping.

School was one of the worst experiences of my life. When I first came here people used to abuse me because they knew I couldn’t speak English well.

I didn’t have the words so I could only defend myself by fighting.

There was no support in the school for me – only when I got kicked out did I get help.

Some schools in Hackney put all the naughty kids together in a special class and brand them as bad.

That’s why lots of them quit school – they get into gangs, end up in jail or dead.

Most of the time in schools they don’t care about us, or our talent. It’s all about targets. They invent activities for us – it’s not about teaching but keeping you busy.

I got involved in a gang.

I decided to change my life. I went to university and did a degree in graphic design

But I can’t get a job, nothing is coming through.

Racism is all around us, especially among powerful people.

It’s really hard. People ask, why don’t you just come with us and sell drugs on the street? I’m trying to resist that.

I have a good CV, good references.

But they look at you and think, I’m not going to interview you or give you a job because you are black.’

‘It’s hard to be motivated’ – Ged Colgan, 19, Leeds

‘I lost my job in Leeds so I’ve had to move back to Coventry to live with my parents. It’s really frustrating.

It’s hard to be motivated – it’s like there is nothing to get out of bed for.

I’ve been to so many companies handing in my CV, filling in application forms. But there are hardly any jobs and everything that is available is part time.

It’s demoralising. When they take your form you know the minute you leave it will go in the bin.

I applied for a job that had 150 applicants for only two positions. I keep getting told I don’t have enough experience.

I’ve managed to get a few hours a week working in catering. They are hiring people under 18 to pay them less.

They use the threat of losing your job to make you work harder.

I don’t know what I’m going to do – my life is in Leeds but I’m stuck here in Coventry.’

Taken from Socialist Worker

Thousands of children in poverty, new figures show

Thousands of youngsters are living in poverty in the North East, according to a children’s charity.
Figures released by Save the Children show 73,000 youngsters in the region are living in poverty-stricken conditions, without enough food or warm clothes.

The statistics stress the challenge facing the Government as it tries to live up to Tony Blair’s promise to end child poverty by 2020.

The study also shows that severe child poverty actually increased during the “good times” of prosperity before the credit crunch.

In the pre-recession boom, a further 260,000 children throughout the UK were plunged into poverty, taking the national total to 1.7million.

Fergus Drake, the charity’s director of UK programmes, said: “It’s shocking that at a time when the country was experiencing unprecedented levels of wealth, the number of children living in severe poverty – we’re talking about a winter coat, a bed and other day-to-day essentials – actually increased.

“Measures introduced by the Government in the last two years have managed to prevent the numbers spiralling even higher,w but with unemployment expected to rise, there is a danger that severe child poverty will increase even further.”

The charity’s study, based on the Government’s annual Family Resources Survey, revealed 14 per cent of North East children are classed as being in severe poverty – slightly higher than the national average.

The Government classes children as being in “severe” poverty if they are in a household with an income of below 50 per cent of the average income, after housing costs are factored in, can cannot afford at least three everyday goods and services.

Taken from Sunderland Echo

More families cannot pay their fuel bills

A combination of cold weather, high gas and electricity prices and mounting pressure on disposable incomes could see a substantial rise in the number of families falling into debt with energy companies, consumer groups are warning.

The alert follows a report by the energy industry regulator, Ofgem, last week, which showed large numbers of people getting behind on their gas and electricity bills.

Ofgem said that even before the winter began, more customers were getting themselves into financial difficulties. There was a 13 per cent increase in the number of electricity customers entering into a new debt arrangement with their supplier in the third quarter of last year, Ofgem said, and a 21 per cent increase in such arrangements between households and their gas suppliers.

In addition, the average level of debt of customers in difficulties was 20 per cent higher than a year previously, and there has also been a substantial increase in the number of people with debts of £600 or more.

uSwitch, the price comparison site, warned that regulators needed to take the issue of debt more seriously, but also advised customers to switch supplier more regularly in order to find the cheapest possible deals. One problem is that the customers most likely to get into financial difficulties also seem to be those who find it difficult to pay their bills by direct debit, an arrangement for which most suppliers offer discounted prices.

“The recession will have played a part, but Ofgem cannot afford to brush the cost of energy under the carpet. Energy bills are substantially higher – at £327 or more – than they were at the beginning of 2008, even after suppliers cut their prices last year, and this will have had an impact on the ability of many households to afford and pay for their energy,” said Thomas Lyon, an energy expert at uSwitch. “These debt numbers could get worse as we are in the middle of a bitter winter which could add an extra £60 on to our next quarterly bills because of the extra heating and energy we have all had to use – this will hit those who pay by cash or cheque particularly hard.”

Taken from The Independent

‘We’re losing child poverty battle,’ charity warns

The fight against child poverty has “slid into reverse” with more than 1.7 million British youngsters missing out on enough food and clothes, Save the Children has warned.

Evidence from the charity showed that England has been worst hit by the increase in severe child poverty, with more than 1.5m children now living in families earning 50 per cent below the average income.

“Measuring severe child poverty in the UK reveals that 13 per cent of the UK’s children are now living in severe poverty and shows that efforts to reduce child poverty have not only stalled but have slid into reverse,” a Save the Children spokesman said.

Evidence showed a sharp increase in severe poverty even before the recession, with an additional 260,000 children plunged into severe poverty during four years of economic boom before the recession hit in 2008.

The report also showed that Pakistani, Bangladeshi and black African children were around three times more likely to be in severe poverty than their white counterparts.

Taken from Morning Star