Jobcentres have given claimants referrals food banks for many years and on the whole it’s worked quite well. It’s helped possibly millions of people throughout the years.
This referral comes in the form of a referral slip which contains some personal details about the claimants for example if they have children and any other essential details.
Some food banks will only accept people if they’ve been referred by outside organisations such as the DWP, social services and so on.
For no apparent reason the DWP aren’t happy with handing out food bank referrals stating that it’s and have decided that it’s now an “inappropriate use of personal claimant data” and referrals need to be stopped.
Thousands of claimants rely upon these referrals and often request them when they’ve had their benefits sanctioned or are waiting weeks for their first benefit payment, they’ve literally kept people alive as they are unable to buy food.
The DWP have decided that claimants now have to approach another agency, such as their doctor, housing association, social worker to obtain a food bank referral.
This then automatically puts another barrier to receiving much needed food from a food bank.
I dont for one minute believe the DWP’s data protection argument is valid, after all they don’t have a problem with sharing claimants details to other organisations and agencies that work alongside them. Nor do they respect a claimants privacy when they’re looking up a claimants details and activities on social media etc.
That’s apparently ok.
Contrary to the DWPS depiction of claimants they are intelligent enough to read the contents of the slip and realise that they will be handing over their personal details. to food banks, it’s ridiculous to think otherwise.
However the real reason that the DWP don’t want food banks to be able to publish their statistics showing that massive amounts of claimants are being forced to access food banks
This is as a direct result of the benefits system completely failing claimants and pushing them further into poverty.
Unbelievable aren’t they willing to put a claimants basic human rights at risk in order to save themselves and hide essential details.
Their benefits systems were created to make people suffer afterall how dare they ask for help.
I hope you all enjoy the festive period even though I know it’s tough for so many of us.
Here over at The Poor Side Of Life HQ it’s going to be a quiet one, to be honest I’m not really celebrating it.
Of course I’ll make sure that my daughter enjoys Christmas but as a single parent and having no family etc to celebrate with it’ll be quiet.
I’m going to take the time to reflect and maybe get some rest, it’ll be a welcome change.
Don’t feel pressured into celebrating Christmas if you don’t want to. Christmas is a tough time for so many of us, remembering times past and people long gone.
I’m here if you’re on your own and want to chat.
A huge thanks to everyone that reads and shares my blog posts it really does mean the world to me.
And as for the Tories they can get to feck. I have zero time for them.
I’m so sorry to have to tell you that our good friend and comrade Christine Clarke passed away earlier this week.
Christine was a huge supporter of my blog and our campaign and was a constant support not only to me but to others.
She had a very kind heart and was a long time protector of our planet having been a long term member of the green party. Christine was also a campaigner at Greenham Common and other campaigns.
Her kindness knew no bounds and this radiated to others always there to comfort people especially at Ashton Under Lyne Jobcentre demos. Always there to help and advise others in their time of need.
Christine, you will be sadly missed by so many thanks for the memories and good times. I shall miss you dearly.
My photo that was taken on one of our Universal Credit demonstrations.
Well it appears that the DWP have been busy conducting a survey about the concerning list of proposed new powers they’re wanting to implement.
These include:
Trained DWP investigators having arrest powers
Trained DWP investigators having search and seizure powers
Collecting information about where claimants are spending money
Apparently the DWP research findings reveal that a majority of the public questioned were in favour of every one of these measures being introduced.
Combine this with the constant failing of the DWP system, it’s dire incompetence, lack of any unaccountability and data leaks the very suggestion that staff could arrest claimants and seize their possessions is likely to worry and cause distress for thousands of people.
The draconian suggestion that the DWP could start looking at how claimants spend their money is also going to cause distress.
George Orwell wasn’t wrong was he.
This week the first King’s Speech promised proposals to “reform welfare and support more people into work” whilst giving no details of how they’re going to do this.
It makes me wonder if the above are included in these supposed reforms but I hope they aren’t.
I’d like to question the legality of their proposed plans, is it within the law for the DWP to access claimants bank accounts without permission? Would that in itself be a serious data leak?
If this is allowed will people be sanctioned for spending their money on what the DWP could regard as being ‘wrong’, will they have a list of items that claimants won’t be allowed to purchase?
I’d like to see these proposals being challenged by those that can do this.
It’s hard enough having to live whilst claiming social security, the cost of living and rising energy costs have made everyday living much harder.
Every day more people are forced to access foodbanks for help because they can’t afford to eat.
Winter is also on it’s way and it’s pretty cold where I live, this will result in more people forced to live in cold damp homes
Having a decent quality of life has become a long forgotten thing, a dream of the past and we deserve so much more than this.
The sooner this corrupt government is out of power the better because the public can’t take much more.
Thanks to Benefit And Work for their original reporting of this.
As Ireland announces their 2024 budget today they show in detail how it intends to use one of the strongest public finances in Europe.
This budget intends to cut future pension and climate costs whilst at the same time introducing more measures to ease the public’s cost of living stresses.
Having a budget surplus in Europe whilst unusual, should be something that the Irish government should be proud of. It’s quite an achievement considering there was after a rise in public spending during the pandemic.
The rather savvy decision to increase Irish corporate taxes paid by a small number of foreign firms has resulted in them having a surplus amount of 2.9% of gross national income last year.
Budget details are as follows and doesn’t exclude others:
1. A mortgage tax break worth up to €1,250 for homeowners. It will be given to those with a home loan of between €80,000 and €500,000 at the end of last year. Those who qualify will get 20 per cent relief on the increased amount of interest paid on their mortgage between 2022 and 2023.
2. At the moment working people start paying tax at the top 40 per cent rate once they earn €40,000. This rate will be increased to €42,000.
3. There will be three energy credits of €150 each – one before Christmas and two after it.
4. A double payment of child benefit will be made before Christmas, and a double welfare payment after Christmas.
5. The Qualified Child Increase is to rise by €4 to €46 per week for under 12-year-olds and to €54 per week for over 12-year-olds.
6. The successful hot school meals programme is to be extended to a further 900 primary schools in April and parents benefit is to be extended to nine weeks from August.
5. The monthly Domiciliary Care allowance is to increase by €10 and Child Benefit is to be extended to 18-year-olds in full-time education.
6. All social welfare payments are to rise by €12 a week.
7. The budget will also include the establishment of new savings funds where excess corporation tax revenues will be lodged.
8. Tax credit for renters is likely to climb from the current €500 to €800.
9. The free schoolbooks scheme will be extended to students in the first three years of secondary school.
10. There is an agreement to reduce childcare fees by another 25 per cent but that it would occur “later” in 2024.
14. Theres also help for small business and farmers and also a social welfare package put together by minister Heather Humphreys.
15. Finance Minister Michael McGrath will lay out how much the government intends to invest in a sovereign wealth fund that his department says could cover much of Ireland’s age-related costs to 2035 if enough of the corporation tax receipts are saved
16. A second, smaller 14 billion euro ($14.8 billion) infrastructure and climate fund, available to catch up on targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions and act as a buffer against capital spending cuts in any future downturn.
.
17. This will involve help for pensioners, people in receipt of social welfare payments with the focus being on children and families thus making it easier to raise a family and helping to reduce and an aim to end child poverty.
18. Donohoe announces funding for over 2,500 additional beds in hospital and community settings, along with an increase of more than 22,000 staff through additional recruitment.
Mr Varadkar said the budget will be “a little bit different to last year because inflation is moderating
He also said: “The nature of the tax system is that middle income and higher income people pay the most income tax so therefore any income tax package is going to benefit middle income people and more affluent people more.
“But that’s why you have to see the budget in the round and there will be other measures for example around the cost-of-living, around social welfare and around the cost of childcare and the cost of school and college. They will benefit everyone. People who aren’t working for example will benefit a lot from them.”
Whilst I’m not saying this budget is perfect and I’m sure there’s some that will criticize it but it’s a world away from what the UK is offering at the moment.
The huge difference between that the UK’s budget announcements and those of Ireland is alarming and shouldn’t be ignored.
In the UK unemployed and disabled people are demonized for claiming benefits and the government continues to attack most vulnerable with cuts to benefit payments and extremely harsh DWP compliance requirements and rules.
What this does show is that Ireland clearly understands the importance of investing financially in the well-being of it’s people. They know that this helps their economy a great deal.
The UK will never have a healthy economy like Ireland until they do the same, it’s extremely short sighted not to do so. Common sense shows that this helps to grow both local and national economies.
Huge changes are needed in the UK as well as creating policies with aims like those of Ireland.
The question is will this happen with future UK governments? I won’t hold my breath.
The government is planning to impose stricter sanctions for benefits claimants, the chancellor Jeremy Hunt has confirmed
As this year’s Conservative Party conference ends Jeremy Hunt revealed plans to impose tougher benefit sanctions. Saying that it will encourage people to look for work.
However research has shown that sanctions cause destitution and worse for already financially vulnerable people.
Punishing people even more because they can’t find work doesn’t help people find work and combined with the cost of living crisis it will push thousands of people into even more poverty causing extreme distress and harm.
When speaking at the Conservative Party Conference, chancellor Jeremy Hunt said that 100,00 people are leaving the labour market every year for a “life on benefits”. He also said that this is why the government is replacing work capability assessments and examining the sanctions regime.
Hunt neglects to tell his audience that one of the reasons why unemployment is rising is because business such as Wilkos and small businesses are being forced to close. They find themselves unable to trade anymore because of the financial crisis.
Hunt went on to say “It isn’t fair that someone who refuses to look for a job gets the same as someone trying their best.”
This isn’t true though, people claiming universal credit working or not working have to adhere to strict job searching rules as stated in their claimant commitments.
Pitching claimant against claimant isn’t a new trick by the Tory party. They’ve been doing it for years under their ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor ideology.
Their remit has however changed as it’s clear to see that they regard everyone as not deserving of help especially disabled people who always bear the brunt of the government’s cruel policy changes.
Instead further punishments will undoubtedly force vulnerable people to look for unsuitable low paid work which could damage their health and plunge them into even more poverty than they’re already in.
Anela Anwar, Chief Executive of the anti-poverty charity Z2K, said: “The government needs to stop scapegoating people in poverty. More people are claiming disability benefits because more people are seriously ill or disabled – not because people have suddenly become lazier.
“The punitive and trigger-happy benefit sanctions system already leaves hundreds of thousands of people without the money they need to survive every year. And it doesn’t work: evidence tells us that sanctions leave people sicker and even further from the labour market.
“Further tightening the screw will only cause more destitution, prevent people re-engaging with DWP, and no matter the safeguards in place, will inevitably affect some of the most vulnerable.”
Indeed it will and life is going to become a great deal harder for vulnerable people that need help and support rather than even more punishment from a cruel uncaring government.
Personally I’d like to see them all live as we have to, with no access to funds and forced to live in damp, substandard housing. I’d like to see if they could survive this for over a year, but it won’t happen.
One thing they’ve managed to excel at is totally destroying the UK, its foundation, reputation, people, industry, businesses.
The current state of the stock market proves this, when big businesses and major players from around the world stop investing in the UK there really is no future for it. No one wants to invest in a country that’s failing everything and everyone.
We need a general election asap because the Tory government will stop at nothing to continue to feather their own nests, even when they put the future of the UK at great risk.
My photo. It totally reflects the state of the UK at the moment.
If you like my blog please can you share it. It makes a massive difference and raises much needed awareness.
I don’t get paid anything for the work that I do and it’s a huge struggle for me.
If you’d like to contribute towards keeping it going there’s a donate button at the top and side of this blog post.
Any donations made will be used to pay my internet bill and make it possible for me to continue blogging these important issues.
Rather unsurprisingly the government has recently announced their proposed plans to reform work capability assessments. Using the guise of their new so called “mission to “support people into work”.
Why will these changes cause distress and harm?
Putting even more pressure upon already vulnerable disabled people causes an anxiety like no other. Imagine having the fear that you could be sanctioned for being physically or mentally unable to comply to job search requirements constantly hanging over you.
It’s already hard enough trying to cope with day to day life when disabled and putting more pressure upon them will, I fear push many into illness or worse.
Disability charities and campaigners have been calling for reforms to work capability assessments for a long time now. These assessments cause huge distress for disabled people as a whole and those with mental health conditions.
The DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) announced earlier this year that they planned to scrap said health assessments by 2028. Instead they’ve pushed forward these changes with gusto.
According to prime minister Rishi Sunak said: “Work transforms lives – providing not just greater financial security, but also providing purpose that has the power to benefit individuals, their families and their communities.
He went on to say “That’s why we’re doing everything we can to help more people thrive in work – by reflecting the complexity of people’s health needs, helping them take advantage of modern working environments, and connecting them to the best support available.
He also forgot to mention the truth that work does not transform lives for disabled people, it’s not a cure for disabilities and these plans will make life as a whole worse because of the added pressure that will be put upon them to comply.
Despite what Sunak claims minimum wage and zero hour employment do not give people financial security. They barely earn enough money for able bodied people to live on let alone disabled people who need more financial support to survive from day to day.
Sunak talks about ‘modern work environments’ whatever they may be as if they’re the answer to everything but in reality it’s very different.
I doubt he knows what these ‘modern work environments’ are after all he’s never had a real minimum wage job himself. He hasn’t got a clue.
I suspect that once in operation the DWP will ram up the pressure for job search requirements for disabled people to a level unseen before.
What support will the government supply for disabled people?
From experience not much if any at all. The government and DWP like to spin proposals like these round using fancy words and language which is meaningless and nothing but word salad.
To be honest I don’t know anyone that has a minimum wage or zero hour contract that can positively say that their work has provided them more financial security.
Thousands of people that are forced to claim Universal Credit (UC) are dependent upon food banks and the kindness of family and friends to survive.
The UK now has more children living in poverty than we have seen in modern times. We also have more disabled people having to go without meals or care that they desperately need.
NHS hospitals and services are being run to the ground, we have schools at risk of collapsing because the government failed to fix the concrete problem years ago and they expect us to believe that they care about disabled people.
Truth is as I’ve said many times before they don’t care. All the government cares about is saving money and not spending any on disabled people.
The government also likes to throw around ‘benefit fraud’ especially when related to disabled people. It’s extremely hard to qualify for disability benefits in the first place and even more so trying to ‘fool’ the system.
They need to concentrate on their tax dodging pals instead.
Not all disabilities are visible and everyone with a disability should be treated with kindness and support both emotionally and financially.
I know that this will never happen but I can dream can’t I.
Anela Anwar, chief executive of the anti-poverty charity Z2K told the Big Issue “Disabled people are already disproportionately likely to be in poverty, and these proposals will only make this worse. The Health and Disability White Paper recognised that the work capability assessment is not fit for purpose – yet DWP is now consulting on plans to make it even stricter.
“This will inevitably lead to seriously ill and disabled people losing vital income, and being forced to look for work they can’t do or be sanctioned. Government must think again and provide financial stability and support to seriously ill and disabled people on low incomes, not yet more cuts and threats.”
The consultation’s proposals include reflecting “improved employer support in recent years for flexible and home working” – meaning a person with a disability is more likely to be approved as ‘fit to work’ during a work capability assessment.
These proposed changes are due to come into force in 2025. Soon after the government will proceed with their plans to scrap the work capability assessments. People will instead be assessed for a new health element of universal credit during personal independence payment (PIP) assessments.
Thanks to the Big Issue and DPAC and DNS for previously reporting upon this.
If you don’t follow them I highly recommend it.
If you like my work and would like to be updated every time I upload a new post I recommend that you subscribe to it it’s free.
The DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) Independent Case Examiner also known as ICE has revealed that they are overwhelmed by a huge amount of complaints from claimants.
This was revealed when they responded to an MP’s written question recently in parliament.
ICE is an organisation used by the DWP to deal with claimant’s complaints against the DWP. This is the next step when a claimant has exhausted the DWP’s internal complaints procedure and is still not satisfied with the response given.
Complaints against the DWP can be for various reasons including and not excluding others;
A failure by the DWP to follow proper procedures
Excessive payment delays for benefits
Sub standard customer service given to claimants.
It’s also noted that there has been a 17% increase in the number of complaints made to ICE in the year 2021to March 2022.
In itself may not be seen as a huge increase, however it is an increase and should be dealt with in the utmost urgency
However the huge increase in complaints arises in the proportion of cases that ICE has agreed to look into. This has increased by an astonishing 68% in the last year.
This therefore means that ICE is receiving a huge increase in complaints where it believes that there is a case to answer than in previous years.
As a result of this increase there are now 1,249 cases waiting for an ICE investigator to be allocated. The average time for a complaint to be dealt with currently takes is 53 weeks,so in total this means that it takes over a year before an investigation begins.
Personally I don’t know any person making a complaint against the DWP that can afford to wait that long albeit for financial and other complaint reasons.
It takes a great deal of courage to make a complaint against the DWP and as a result many don’t make complaints when they should do.
The complaints procedure is complex and very stressful for everyone making a complaint against the DWP and as a result it can impact a person’s health and ability to manage their daily life’s.
It comes as no surprise that legal justice that claimants are entitled to is subject to long indefensible delays without question.
It’s also noted that the DWP can make a decision to apply cruel, harsh and often unwanted sanctions on the most vulnerable and in need of help whilst their real and valid complaints.
Once again it’s one rule for claimants and yet another for their oppressors.
Please read, share and tweet this article doing so makes a huge difference in raising awareness!
A huge thanks to everyone that reads, subscribes, shares and helps to keep my blog and campaign going.
I couldn’t do it without you.
I don’t receive any payment for the work that I do and every penny makes a huge difference.
If you’d like to donate and can afford to do so there’s a donate button at the top and side of this blog post.
The poor side of life 