At the last meeting John suggested we have a summer recess and re-convene in September when the council start planning their budget. This has obvious advantages for me as it will enable me to get on with my degree work. For this reason I propose we operate by e-mail and telephone until september, calling meetings as and when we might need them if there is a need. This means there won't be a meeting on Monday night but please contact me if you need to.
There are no minutes from the last meeting because Nina couldn't make it but we decided to collect testimonies about how people feel about welfare reform in a broad sense. Anything from winter fuel payments, disability benefits, jobseekers allowance, child benefit, tax credits e.t.c. Steve Jowett and I headed out into Southport Town Centre that weekend and collected testimonies. It was interesting listening to what people had to say. I haven't been out since because of not being so well but we need to push for some more testimonies now. The questions are here:
There have been a number of national and local changes made (and proposed) to various aspects of financial support, which have worried people in combination with; each other, wage freezes, job losses, changes to the NHS and social care and a rising cost of living. These include but are not limited to
1. Reforming housing benefit entitlement so that you are only entitled to housing costing a maximum of 30% the market rate without any attempt to provide social housing or control private rent. This risks increases in homelessness, concentrations of families living in poor housing, disruption of schooling and the “cleansing” of the poor from wealthy or urban areas where housing is expensive.
2. Reform of the Employment Support Allowance (ESA) being criticised by a group of six charities, including Parkinson’s UK and Arthritis Care (on the BBC) for problems with the new Work Capability Assessment, which they say does not reasonably provide for people who for example, have chronic illnesses like MS, which have variable and unpredictable effects on health.
3. The new Personal Independence payment, which potentially classes a wheelchair as a “tool which makes life normal” according to a commenter on the Hardest Hit website.
4. Changes to tax credits boundaries and a reduction in the amount of childcare fees families can claim - affecting the ability of parents to maintain employment as well as the proposed withdrawal of child benefit from households with one earner paying high rate tax which has been criticised as penalising stay at home mothers in a tax system which already discriminates against single earner families (including single parents).
5. A proposed cap of £26,000 per year on total benefits claimed which has been criticised for penalising large families and causing potential increases in child poverty.
6. New sanctions for people who fail to maintain their benefit claim and for families using the Child Support Agency to collect maintenance.
7. Cuts to the winter fuel allowance of £50 for the over 60’s and £100 for the over 80’s which have been been criticised as being made in a time when “fuel bills are rising and winter deaths amongst older people are a national scandal” (taken from the BBC).
8. The ending of the EMA scheme which has been independently evaluated as cost effective because it successfully manages to both keep children in education, and improve their achievement, which means they gain better employment and pay more tax as adults, which in turn more than pays for the initial outlay.
9. In Sefton specifically, the removal of the Uniform Grant for the poorest children.
These are a few examples and you may be being affected by different changes being made locally and/or nationally. Please tell us who you are and what you are worried about:
How are these changes or the worry about the changes affecting you and your family?
Have you tried to seek help or advice from your MP, Citizens Advice Bureau or anybody else? If you have, have they been helpful?
The questions are short and simple because the aim is to find out what people are feeling and to take the ones who are worried and lobby Sefton MPs. This was meant to be done by now but because of my illness I am moving the end date to the end of June. Any help collecting testimonies would be great - maybe ask your friends and families? It would be helpful to ask these questions just to cover us:
You can speak to us anonymously and you can share as much or as little information as you like. We may publish quotes from your testimony and any pictures you give us on our blog – http://southportanticutscoalition.blogspot.com, with your MP or the local press but we will not publish your contact details or your full name; on the internet, in the press or in any other way without permission. You can give permission separately to allow your full name and/or contact details to be given to your MP.
(Please complete and sign)
[ ] I understand and agree to the conditions outlined above.
[ ] I would like to be put on the SACC mailing list to receive e-mail updates about SACC my e-mail address is _________________________________________________.
[ ] I would like to be involved in the lobbying meeting with my MP - _______________________, my contact details are________________________________________.
[ ] I would like my full name and contact details to be shared with my MP in case they wish to contact me in response______________________________ (contact details).
The second thing mentioned at the meeting was about journalist's enquiries. I have a couple of updates in that respect. The BBC have been in contact about the program they are making about tax with Nick Robinson. Geography willing they will be coming to film me sometime possibly next week. Tony Wood has also written his article for Le Monde Diplomatique featuring a quote from me. You can read the full article in english here - "Britain's Freelance Protestors". It is a great article actually and he says talking to me helped inform the article in addition to the quote and direct reference to the group, which is great!
Finally, I regularly go to the Sefton Democracy Club (http://seftondemocracyclub.blogspot.com). Their next meeting is on 28th June 2011 at 7pm in Maghull Town Hall. The subject is welfare reform and the NHS. I am going to be speaking a little at it before we have the discussion. I would recommend the democracy club to anyone, we have had very interesting and informative discussions and they have all been very well conducted and productive. Please come along.
I hope you all have a great summer, don't forget about us! I will try and make sure I update you all at least monthly over the recess and please get anyone that can to fill in the welfare survey!
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