No Evidence Welfare Sanctions Work

Sanctions on welfare payments which have allegedly caused thousands of claimants to fall into hardship and depression are being handed out without evidence that they actually work, Whitehall’s official spending watchdog has found. The DWP is also failing to monitor thousands of people whose benefits are being cut or withheld while many are being pushed outside the benefits system, said the National Audit Office. Auditors concluded there has been a failure to measure whether the government is saving money while the application of the sanctions regime varies across the country and from job centre to job centre.  The report has been seized upon by critics of the government’s sanctions regime who say it is punitive, wasteful and not aimed at finding people work. Read more on the Guardian website.

Benefits and Tax Changes Amount To 'Speeded-Up Thatcherism'

The Government's welfare benefits and tax changes will widen income inequality between rich and poor on a scale similar to that of Margaret Thatcher, new analysis reveals.  Research for the Fabian Society claims cuts to benefits and tax credits, particularly for working-age families with children, will amount to a “speeded-up replay of Thatcherism”, with inequality increasing twice as fast by 2015 as it did under the former Conservative prime minister.  The poorest families will lose more than 12 per cent of their net income on average, compared to around 3 per cent of net income for households in the ninth decile (the second most wealthy income bracket).  Read more on the Fabian Society website.

Asked by Lord German

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the total amounts of unused discretionary housing payment funding returned to the Government by each local authority in 2012–13; and what was the cumulative total for the whole of the country. Lord Freud: I will place a copy of the DHP unused allocation table for 2012/13 in the Library which shows how much of the Government contribution towards Discretionary Housing Payments in 2012/13 was unused by each local authority. This also sets out the cumulative total for Great Britain together with individual figures for England, Scotland and Wales.As a one-off arrangement agreed by Treasury local authorities were allowed to carry-forward unspent Discretionary Housing Payment funding from 2011/12 to 2012/13, in total £7.9m was carried forward.

The OBC Will Directly Create MORE £100kpa HB Families

Following David Cameron’s claim that some Housing Benefit claimants get £100,000 per year in HB, a freedom of information request revealed that at most 5 families got this amount in 2010.  But it set me thinking.  The Overall Benefit Cap (OBC) has a fundamental and a systemic flaw.  The systemic flaw is that as rents rise faster than the cap or welfare benefits then more and more families will get caught by the cap each year.  Yet here the obvious is the fundamental flaw – that the OBC penalises large families….and especially the real large families.  This became obvious when I read about a family with 11 children.  A family with 11 children is unusual and as a quick approximation such a family will lose about £340pw in welfare benefits and not get a penny in HB or LHA towards rent.  They will be evicted and become homeless and need temporary accommodation (TA).  That TA cost will be over £2k per week or £100k per annum and have to be met by the public purse.  The same situation applies to all 2 parent families with 6 or more children – they will get their welfare benefits reduced and receive not a penny in HB or LHA towards rent. And that applies whether they live in social housing or rent privately.  Read more on the speye blog.

‘Double Lockout Bill’ Cuts Support For Workers and Jobseekers

A new report reveals that the government’s welfare benefit uprating legislation is based on bogus claims and is a poverty-producing bill that will further exclude the poorest workers, jobseekers, carers and disabled people from the mainstream of society. The report finds that:

· The bill is poverty-producing and means that both absolute and relative child poverty will increase

 · Contrary to arguments made by Ministers, welfare spending on workless families has been falling and most Jobseekers Allowance claimants find new jobs within months

· Contrary to popular perception, benefit fraud is at its lowest ever recorded level and the ‘scrounger’ stereotype is grossly inaccurate

 · The government must focus on the root causes of social security and tax credit demand and prioritise progress on full employment, living wages, affordable housing and affordable childcare

Download a copy of the report from the CPAG website.

Housing and Benefit Enquiries Flood Citizens Advice Bureau

A Citizen's Advice Bureau (CAB) in Islington has seen 1,500 residents pass through its doors in three months, with more than 1,000 housing and welfare benefit enquiries registered. Following new council funding, the CAB returned to Islington in April 2011 with a face-to-face advice service. After a two-year absence, the return has been welcomed by hard-pressed residents caught up in the economic uncertainties of the recession and government funding cuts.
Islington Council says the enquiries between April to end June include:
*Housing: 586
*Welfare benefits: 533
*Debt: 440
*Employment: 191
*Miscellaneous: 378
*Consumer: 76
*Immigration: 34
*Family: 32
Read more on 24dash.

Housing Benefit Bill Set to Swell As Unemployment Soars

Welfare benefits are set to cost about £1.4 billion more than previously expected over the next four years because of rising unemployment, according to the Government's independent financial watchdog. The unemployment benefit bill is to be £700 million higher than thought, while the cost of housing assistance will also grow by £700 million because of larger numbers of people claiming jobseeker's allowance or falling into lower wage brackets, the Office for Budget Responsibility found. Its analysis is based on the revised unemployment estimate after the June budget, when it changed its forecast from 6.3% to 6.5% for 2014. Since then the forecast has been revised upwards again, to 6.7%, but no costing has been carried out for that figure yet. Read more on 24dash.