The State of our Welfare
A CAB View
North
Lancashire
Citizens Advice
Austin Staunton
20
13
14
Question 1 – Agree or Disagree
Benefits are an
important safety net
to support people
when they need help.
Question 2 – Agree or Disagree
We all benefit as a
society when support
from benefits is
available to those that
need it.
Outline
• CAB Service Delivery
• Overview of policy intention and reforms.
• Where are we now?
• Where are we going.
• Issues for clients and advice agencies.
A view from the Bureau
Citizens Advice Service
“We are here with
advice when someone
needs us,
whatever the problem.
In person, online and
over the telephone.”
Lancashire Advice Delivery Headlines 2012/13
 32,561 Individual clients
 100,323
Problems




Benefits
Debt
Employment
Housing
29,956
37,921
6,611
5,683
30%
38%
7%
6%
Welfare Reforms
Key Government Aims
•
“…the biggest change since Beverage
introduced the welfare system…”.
•
Improve incentives to work – ‘making
work pay’
•
Reduced ‘Welfare dependency’
•
Reduce complexity –’simplification’
•
Reduce the benefits bill.
Achieving those aims
• Welfare Reform Act – March 2012.
• £14bn cuts annually to 2014.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Benefits uprating restricted.
Structural changes to the benefit system.
Localisation of support
Benefit cap.
Tougher conditionality regime
More to come…?
Key reforms
• A New Language – New Rules
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
UC
BC
–
ESA –
PIP –
HB
–
LCTS LWA –
Universal Credit
Benefit Cap
Employment and Support Allowance
Personal Independence Payment
Housing Benefit
Localised Council Tax Support
Localised Welfare Assistance ESA
www.adviceguide.org.uk
Other changes
• Child Benefit – Income Tax chanrges
• Contributory ESA – limited to 1 year
• Appeals – ‘mandatory reconsideration
• Benefit rates – uprating capped at 1% pa
• State pension age - changes from 2016
• Overpayments – all recoverable
www.adviceguide.org.uk
UC The Flag Ship – revised timetable
•
All ‘on track and on budget’?
•
Pathfinders for single claimants (‘simple claims’):
•
•
April 2013 – Tameside
•
July 2013 – Wigan, Warrington & Oldham
•
October 2013 – Hammersmith and Fulham
•
November 2013 – Rugby and Inverness
•
February 2014 – Harrogate and Bath
•
April 2014 - Shotton
National roll out for new claims:
•
•
‘by 2017’ – significant revision of original
timetable
All existing claimants transferred by ?????
Include a
caption or
strapline here
Personal Independence Payments
•
Replace DLA for working age claimants
•
3.2m people affected
•
Reform led by 20%budget cut
•
All claims likely to be medically assessed
•
Points based criteria
•
Children & older claimants not migrated (yet?)
Include a
caption or
strapline here
Employment Support Allowance
Fitness for Work Test
– Not Fit For Purpose
• Client Experiences
Include a
caption or
strapline here
Employment Support Allowance
Fitness for Work Test – Not Fit For Purpose
Recommendations
o
Work Capability Assessments Should be Reviewed
o
The Mental Health Descriptors should be reviewed
o
Mental Health assessments - qualified assessors only
o
Feedback from Tribunal Service
o
Improve staff training for decision makers
o
Inform claimants about other benefits
o
Inform claimants about right of appeal
o
Address issues of Financial hardship
o
Address ATOS behaviours
Include a
caption or
strapline here
Failed Fitness for Work Test
What Happens Now?
o
Sign on for JSA?
o
Apply for jobs?
o
Attend Work Support Schemes?
o
Appeal?
Likely Result Outcomes?
 Failure to sign on
 Medical condition prevents – actively seeking work
 Intermittent health condition demonstrates lack of
commitment
Outcome
- Sanction
Include a
caption or
strapline here
Sanctions
1st failure
High (e.g. failure to
take up offer of paid
work)
91 days
2nd failure
3rd failure
182 days
1095 days
Medium (e.g. not
28 days
taking all reasonable
action to find work)
91 days
91 days
Low (e.g. failure to
undertake specific
activity)
Until comply
(+ 7 days)
Until comply
(+ 14 days)
Until comply (+
28 days)
Lowest (failure to
take part in a WFI)
Until comply
Until comply
Until comply
Include a
caption or
strapline here
Housing costs
•
5 million households claiming HB
•
Single room rent extended to under 35s
•
LHA rates uprated by CPI, not actual rents
•
‘Bedroom tax’ – under occupancy penalties
• One bedroom = 14% reduction on the
eligible rent
• Two bedrooms or more = 25% reduction
Include a
caption or
strapline here
‘Bedroom Tax’ impacts
•
10% of households affected nationally
•
Households in arrears due to Bedroom Tax up 59%
•
Arrears up by an average of 28% between March –
June 2013
•
Only 2% of tenants affected have moved to alternative
social housing
•
60% trying to ‘pay and stay’ but are already in arrears
•
8% or households affected in receipt of DHPs but only
for 3-6 months
•
24% of landlords report a rise in empty properties
•
42% report a drop in demand for larger properties
Include a
caption or
strapline here
Localisation – Welfare Support
•
Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans abolished
•
Budgeting Loans replaced by ‘budgeting advances’
•
SF budget given to Local Authority but not ring-fenced
•
Local arrangements (food banks, furniture schemes)
•
Provision for crisis situations variable
•
Independent Review Service abolished
•
Recent announcement that government grant (£347m)
to be abolished in 2015
Include a
caption or
strapline here
Council Tax Support – Decisions
•Some working age households who have had full help are
now paying towards their Council Tax Bill Whatever their
income
•Expected 20 per cent of their bills from 2013
•BUT – Big variations
– Blackpool – 27%
– Peterborough – 30%
– Lancaster 0% for this Tax year
– Others looked at different options
E.g. 0% Band A with different % against each Band
Include a
caption or
strapline here
Criminalisation of Claimants
Include a
caption or
strapline here
Facts about ‘benefits Britain’
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
People think around 41% of benefits go to the unemployed. The
real figure is 2.6%.
42% of the Welfare Bill goes to pensioners, 21% goes to the low
paid.
Nearly 80% of JSA claimants stop claiming within 6 months.
Of the 7.8 million families receiving child benefit, 1.2 million have
more than two children.
People think around 27% of welfare is lost to fraud – the real figure
is only 0.7%, around £1.2 billion.
Around £17 billion of benefits go unclaimed every year.
Immigrants are 60% less likely to claim than a British-born person.
64% of families receive benefits – that’s 20.3 million families.
The UK spends 12% less on benefits per head than France and
19% less than Germany.
93% of new Housing Benefit claimants in 2010 and 2011 came from
working people - UK housing costs are the 3rd highest in Europe.
Source: oliverjamesopinion.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/10-facts-about-benefits-britain
Include a
caption or
strapline here
Reforms – The Personal Impact
•
400,000 lose £50+ under UC
•
500,000 fewer entitled to PIP than DLA
•
Less affordable housing
•
Risks for most vulnerable
•
Multiple delivery challenges:
•
‘digital by default’
•
Rent no longer paid to landlords
•
Monthly payment
•
Paid to households not individuals
Reforms – The Personal Impact
– some changes mean people will no longer meet
the more restricted eligibility criteria
– People having to adjust to a big drop change in
income or monthly benefit payments.
– Increased borrowing from high interest rate
lenders
– More people falling into absolute poverty.
Longer Term Impact – In to Deep
•CABx
–
–
–
clients
Particularly poor
High % in receipt of means tested benefits
Average monthly income less than half of UK average
•Many clients teetering on the edge
•Relatively small change – 10% in income or expenditure
turned a manageable situation into debt problems
•40 % of clients said the could not cope and felt
they were in Crisis
Impact of Debt – In Too Deep
•Over 25% of clients were seeking treatment
from their GP for stress, anxiety or depression
•Half of those being treated for depression felt
their symptoms were caused by their debt problems
•In many cases clients reported that the impact of
debt on their lives had been devastating
– Relationship breakdown
– Feeling of isolation
– Long term impact on health
– Difficulty of living on a tight budget to repay debts
Impact on voluntary
and advice agencies
Food Banks – People using them
•2008 - 09
•2009 -10
•2010 - 11
•2011 - 12
•2112 - 13
•2013 – 14
26,000
41,000
61,468
128,697
200,000
500,000 +
Welfare Reforms Issues
•It is not a crime to claim benefits
•Many will have multiple cuts – benefit links
•Loss of associated free services
•Not being eligible does not take away the
disability
•High Interest Rate lenders taking
advantage of move to monthly payments
•More people in Poverty
•Knock on effects e.g. Health Services
•Impact on voluntary organisations
Benefits – a public view
1. Benefits are an important safety net to
support people when they need help
Strongly agree
Tend to agree
TOTAL AGREE
42
39
Neither agree nor disagree
Tend to disagree
Strongly disagree
TOTAL DISAGREE
Don’t know
10
3
2
81
5
4
Source YouGov Plc. Online survey of 1955 adults September 2013
Benefits – a public view
2. We all benefit as a society when support
from benefits is available to those that need it
Strongly agree
Tend to agree
TOTAL AGREE
25
39
Neither agree nor disagree
Tend to disagree
Strongly disagree
TOTAL DISAGREE
18
9
4
Don’t know
5
64
13
Source YouGov Plc. Online survey of 1955 adults September 2013
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