Over the next several periods we will…

• Identify how poverty is tackled in the UK

• Identify what central government, the Scottish government, councils, voluntary groups and private companies do to tackle poverty in the UK

• Understand the arguments over whether these organisations do too much or too little to tackle poverty

Success Criteria• I will be able to identify the

different aspects of the benefits system in Britain today

• I will be able to identify what different organisations are doing to tackle poverty

• I will be able to reach a judgement as to whether or not the benefits system is too harsh or too generous

Tackling Poverty:Central Government

Lesson Starter

• In what ways does the government help to tackle poverty? Write as many ways as you can think of.

• The Department for Welfare and Pensions is the biggest spending department in the UK Government - spending £166.98bn in 2011-12, which is Of that huge sum, £159bn was spent on benefits - an increase of 1.1% on the previous year. That is 23% of all public spending.

Tackling Poverty:Central Government

• UK spending on welfare is to be capped at £119.5bn for 2015-2016, Chancellor George Osborne has announced.

• The basic state pension and some unemployment benefits will be excluded from the cap.

Tackling Poverty:Central Government

• What benefits do you think this money is spent on? Why?

• Number yourself 1-4. • On your own think about the following benefits.

What are they? Who might claim them and why.

• Rank the following benefits in order with the most spent first.

1. Job Seeker’s Allowance2. Pensions3. Disability Living Allowance4. Housing Benefit

Tackling Poverty:Central Government

Total spent on benefits in 2011-12

Highest spend on pensions

JSA (the brew or the dole) is quite low

http://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/year_spending_2013UKbn_12bc1n#ukgs302 – Government spending figures

Should there be a benefits system?

Should there be a benefits system?

YES NO•A democratic society should look after the poorest and weakest in society•Having no benefit system would lead to an increase in crime as poor people need to get money somehow•Some people deserve help – the disabled, lone parents, unemployed etc.•Anyone can face difficulties such as becoming unemployed or developing a health problem and so they should be entitled to help•The government should be responsible for creating jobs and helping people get jobs•Children should not suffer because of their parents’ mistakes•The system creates equality

•Why should people that work have to pay for people that don’t?•Why should people have to pay for drug addicts, alcoholics etc. to get benefits when they choose to become addicts?•People on benefits are “laughing at” people who go to work•People should take responsibility for their own actions – not look to the government for everything•The system costs too much - taxes would be better spent on other things like improving education and healthcare•People cheat the benefit system by working and claiming benefits•The benefits system encourages people to be lazy

Tackling Poverty

Tackling Poverty

• You need to know about what is happening to tackle poverty. This is the responsibility of:

1. Central Government (London)2. The Scottish Parliament3. Local Authorities (Councils)4. Voluntary Sector5. Private Sector

Central GovernmentThe UK Government’s Department of Work and Pensions are responsible for providing people in need in the UK with financial support. Some of these benefits have been around for a long time and are listed below. However, the coalition government are introducing a Universal Credit as part of their welfare reforms.1.Jobseekers Allowance (JSA)2.Income Support3.Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) (Formerly Incapacity Benefit)4.Disability Living Allowance (DLA)5.Cold Weather Payment6.Winter Fuel Payment7.Sure Start Maternity Grant8.Community Care Grant9.Social Fund10.Tax Credits11.Minimum Wage

1. The Jobcentre• This helps people

who are out of work to find work.

• Also helps people to claim benefits.

• Unemployed people can use this service to arrange mock interviews, look at job vacancies and meet with special job advisors.

2. Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)

• This is the main benefit for people who are out of work.

• Must be looking for work or working under 16 hours per week and be over 18.

• To keep getting JSA you must go to a Jobcentre office every two weeks to show how you’ve been searching for a job. This is known as ‘signing on’.

3. Income Support

• This is extra money to help people on a low income and people working less than 16 hours per week.

• It is for people who don’t have to sign on as being unemployed.

4. Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

• This is financial help to people who are unable to work because of illness or disability.

• Aims to help people into work.

• Evidence suggests people who work are in better health.

5. Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

• For people who have severe difficulty walking, need help getting around or need to be looked after.

6. Cold Weather Payment

• Money towards heating costs during very cold weather.

• Available to people on income support, JSA, ESA or Pension Credit.

• Payment of £25 for each 7 day period of very cold weather between 1 November and 31 March.

7. Winter Fuel Payment

• An extra payment to help older people with the cost of heating bills.

• Amount paid depends on a person’s circumstances.

• Payments range from £100 to £300.

•The cost of providing benefits for people out of work has risen constantly over the last several decades.

Cost of benefits 2011-12

8. Universal Credit• Universal Credit is a new benefit that has

started to replace 6 existing benefits with a single monthly payment into your account. Universal Credit will help you to be better off in work, start a new job or work more hours.

• Universal Credit will eventually replace:• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance• Income Support• Working Tax Credit• Child Tax Credit• Housing Benefit

8. Universal Credit• At this time, your eligibility to claim Universal Credit

depends on where you live and your personal circumstances.

• Universal Credit started to be introduced in stages from April 2013.

• The plan is to make Universal Credit available in each part of Great Britain during 2016. New claims to existing benefits, which Universal Credit is replacing, will then close down, with the vast majority of claimants moving onto Universal Credit during 2016 and 2017.

• There are no limits to the number of hours you can work a week. Your Universal Credit payment will reduce gradually as you earn more - you won’t lose all your benefits at once if you’re on a low income.

Impact?• The government estimates

3.1 million households will be entitled to more benefits as a result of universal credit.

• 2.8 million households will be entitled to less, but will receive a top-up payment to protect them from a drop in income.

• New claimants will receive the lower payment.

• Across all households, ministers say there will be an average gain of £16 per month.

8. Universal Credit• How much people receive depends on their personal

circumstances. Universal Credit is paid differently to current benefits. It’ll be paid once a month into a persons bank or building society account.

• Any help people get with rent will be included with their Universal Credit payment and then they pay the landlord yourself.

• People have to sign a ‘Claimant Commitment’ to make a claim for Universal Credit. The individual and their ‘work coach’ will decide what goes into the Claimant Commitment, e.g.:

• what you need to do to look for work (e.g. registering with recruitment agencies, writing a CV)

• how many hours you need to spend looking for work each week• your circumstances (e.g. work history, health, family or caring

responsibilities)• Your benefit might be cut if you don’t do what’s in your Claimant

Commitment.

Critics of Universal Credit• The government thinks this will help promote good budgeting and more

closely replicate monthly salary payments – arguing that 75% of all employees receive wages monthly. "This will help smooth the transition into monthly paid work, encourage claimants to take personal responsibility for their finances and to budget on a monthly basis which could save households money.

• Campaigners are worried that the shift from weekly and fortnightly payments to this new regime may push claimants recipients into debt.

• The National Housing Federation says the shift from paying landlords to paying claimants direct for the housing benefit element could trigger unprecedented levels of arrears and increased rent collection costs

• 84% of associations believe that rent arrears will increase as a direct result of welfare changes.

• BBC obtained figures that showed when the direct payments were piloted in six areas of the country there was a big rise in rent arrears as some tenants failed to pass that money on, with arrears rising from about 2% to 11%.

Tackling Poverty

The Scottish Parliament

1. Aims of Scottish Parliament

2. Scotland's Regeneration Strategy

3. Universal Home Insulation Scheme (UHIS)

4. Scottish Child Poverty Strategy

Aims of Scottish Parliament

• Aims to target all areas to do with poverty – not just income.

• Works to improve health, housing, educational attainment, employability and access to services.

• Solidarity Target – “To increase overall income and the proportion of income earned by the lowest three deciles as a group by 2017”.

1. Aims of Scottish Parliament

• Aims to simplify benefits

• End the so-called “benefit trap”

• Free childcare• Tackle fuel poverty• Improve social housing• Increase opportunities

for apprenticeships

1. Aims of Scottish Parliament

More Choices more Chances

• Targets young people between 16 and 19.

• Aim is to get them back into education, employment or training.

Scotland’s Regeneration Strategy

Scotland's Regeneration Strategy sets out a £175 million programme of investment to support the country's most disadvantaged communities, transforming the prospects of the people who live there.

Universal Home Insulation Scheme

• This is interest free loans for more expensive insulation measures including boiler replacement to improve energy efficiency.

• £12.5 million which was invested by the Scottish Government in September 2011.

Scottish Child Poverty Strategy

Aim is to reduce child poverty by maximising household resources and improving children’s life chances.

Tackling Poverty

Local Authorities

1. Housing and Council Tax Benefit2. Affordable Warmth Dividend

(Glasgow)

Housing and Council Tax Benefit

• This is help towards paying rent and council tax and is available to people on low incomes.

Affordable Warmth Dividend

• This is a scheme operated by Glasgow City Council to assist residents of the city who are 80 years of age and older with additional costs associated with winter.

• £100 affordable warmth dividend is part of efforts to wipe out fuel poverty in Glasgow.

Tackling Poverty

Voluntary Sector/ Pressure Groups

1. Child Poverty Action Group2. Shelter3. Save the Children

Child Poverty Action Group

• CPAG campaigns use evidence of the hard realities facing children in low-income families to call for changes that will help end child poverty.

• Support from the public helps strengthen their campaigns and reach decision-makers.

• CPAG in Scotland took a lead role in the campaign for free school meals, which was launched in 2001 to persuade the Scottish Parliament to introduce universal free school meals and therefore ensure that every child in Scotland has at least one decent nutritious meal a day.

Child Poverty Action Group

• 1 in 4 children in Scotland live in some kind of poverty.

• CPAG seeks to raise awareness of and tackle child poverty in Scotland.

• CPAG offer advice to families and produce publications.

• For example, CPAG helps families claim certain benefits such as tax credits.

Child Poverty Action Group

• CPAG in Scotland works with other Scottish members of the End Child Poverty campaign - a coalition of 150 organisations from civic society including children’s charities, child welfare organisations, social justice groups, faith the vision of a UK free of child poverty.

Shelter

• This is a charity which tackles homelessness and poor housing

• Shelter gives advice, information and campaigns for political change

• They lobby the government and encourage them to do more and change policies to assist the homeless and those in poor housing

Save the Children

• This is a charity which works to influence government policy regarding child poverty.

• Work with MSPs to discuss potential policies and campaign to end child poverty.

• For example, STC believe all children should be entitled to free school meals and that childcare should be paid for by the government.

Tackling Poverty

Private Sector

1. Job Creation2. Public Private Partnerships

Job Creation

• Scottish Entrepreneur Tom Hunter set up the Hunter Foundation in 1998.

• Invested £35 million to encourage Scots to be entrepreneurs.

• Positive Destinations – scheme where grants are given to companies to be used to help young people in terms of education, employment or training.

Public Private Partnerships

• Private companies build state of the art hospitals and schools which councils can’t afford to build.

• These ensure that people have access to good quality healthcare and education which in the long run will tackle some forms of poverty.

Tackling Poverty

Minimum Wage• This is the minimum amount per hour that

workers in the UK are entitled to be paid • It is set by the UK Government (see table

below)• The national minimum wage will increase by

19p an hour to £6.50, the government has announced.

• The new rate comes into effect in October 2014 and will benefit a million workers.

•The transition to Universal Credit will take place in three phases over four years, between 2013 and 2017. •From 29 April 2013, it will be trialled in Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside, Greater Manchester, before rolling out to Oldham, Wigan and Warrington in July. •The government says the new scheme will mean people are better off in work than on benefits.

I can…• I will be able to identify the

different aspects of the benefits system in Britain today

• I will be able to identify what different organisations are doing to tackle poverty

• I will be able to reach a judgement as to whether or not the benefits system is too harsh or too generous

UK Welfare Attitudes

• http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2013/jan/08/uk-benefit-welfare-spending# - attitudes survey by The Guardian