Thursday 17 July 2014

Carrying on

On the day of the reshuffle the DWP put out its independent report into the way the bedroom tax is working.  It's a process known as burying bad news.  But it was noticed, particularly by the Liberal Democrats, who decided that it was just too bad to defend any longer.  And it's that, unfortunately, which has been the news story, rather than the contents of the report itself.  Let's skip the politics and look at the facts.
You can read it all here - "Evaluation of Removal of Spare Room Subsidy".  There's a lot of it, so you might like to copy most of the media and just look at the Key Findings from page 15.  Crucial is the fact that only 4.5% of affected claimants have moved "within the social sector" in the first 6 months of the reduction, with another 1.4% moving to the private rented sector.  There's nowhere to move to.  Most people said that they had done more to find work or better-paid work (well, they would, wouldn't they?) but hardly anybody had taken in a lodger.  41% of tenants have paid the full shortfall, 39% have paid some, and 20% have paid none.  Where have people got the money to pay the extra?  57% say they have had to cut back on essentials (like food) and 26% had had to borrow money.
And on it goes.  The RSRS (as the report calls it) is a massive failure, as everyone except IDS and Freud predicted, and all it has achieved is to plunge poor people into greater penury.  The BBC got a quote from Iain Duncan Smith: "This department is delivering some of the biggest welfare reforms in over 60 years, designed to return fairness to the system and we are on track to make the £6bn savings we had previously set out.  At the same time we are helping to make sure our housing benefit reforms have a transformative effect on the lives of those who in the past were faced with a system which trapped people into cycles of workless and welfare dependency.  The scaremongering by those opposed to our welfare reforms - in particular our housing benefit reforms - has been proven to be without substance, and we are already seeing the effects of people moving into work."  The risible DWP Press Office chaps tweeted desperately in similar vein.  But the Lib Dems decided that they couldn't defend it.

There was some barely-noticed news on the outsourcing front.   The contract for electronic tagging of offenders, previously held by G4S and Serco (both of which were found to have defrauded the taxpayer of millions) has gone to - wait for it - Capita!  Some asked why Capita; why does it always have to be these three?  But it's an inevitable part of the outsourcing business.  If you create huge contracts only the big firms can bid, and it was these three which were prepared to bid for everything.  
One lot of contracts of interest to many is Community Work Placements.  But CWP doesn't seem to be going well.  The Boycott Workfare team is doing a great job of publicising companies and organisations which agree to take part by taking free labour.  One was recently claimed by the government as a success, providing a photo-op for Osborne.  It quickly decided to withdraw when it discovered the trouble it was attracting.  It looks like the CWP contractors are targeting councils and housing associations for placements, if Seetec is anything to go by.  They say, "Examples of such projects include estate maintenance and local renovation, groundswork, horticulture, recycling as well as administration, customer service and sales, warehousing, distribution and cleaning services. The list of potential projects is almost endless."  Sadly, it will be tempting for cash-strapped councils to go for this.  Presumably they can adapt the hi-viz jackets they use for Community Payback offenders on similar projects.

8 comments:

  1. The fibdems have had ample opportunity to distance themselves from the Bedroom Tax and have declined to do so - up till now. The change of attitude has less to do with this report than the impending General Election. They are trying to distance themselves from the harsher policies of the coalition which up till now they have defended and advocated.
    I hope the electorate aren't fooled.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fine. But let's not get hung up on the politics of it.

      Delete
  2. I have a 3 bed Council house and raised 4 boys and 1 girl in it,4 boys in 1 room,it is run down,clean but run down My daughter is in the last year of school and the 1 son remaining has just finished his apprenticeship,he has found a job,16 hrs a week that will help him with his level 3,he makes £90 pw.pays £20 for his keep,which I think is fair.

    I work 4 part time jobs and my income varies,so my HB is reviewed Monthly,I have just notified the Council that I will need a 1/2 bedroom in the future,the response? Because your son is no longer in Training/School you will be required to pay an additional £15.93 Per Week....I realise that they are my kids/adults but still find this confusing.

    Another wonderful letter states that they have overpaid HB during the last 16 Months and I am being taken to Court,I have proof that all income has been reported to the Council on a Monthly basis for at least 4 Years,but apparently this is not there problem.thanks bitch over.

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  3. It was a pleasure watching Krishan Guru-Murthy and Danny Alexander on Channel 4 News tonight. If only all interviews were conducted with such rigour

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree. John Snow, Krishnan G-M, Kathy Newman do a good job on Ch4 News. It's the best news prog on TV right now. Little wonder perhaps Paul Mason and Michael Crick defected to Ch4 News from BBC 2's Newsnight.

      Delete
  4. Mark Harper, the new Disabilities Minister, was responsible for those absurd, racist, “immigrants go home” buses in London a few months ago according to the Guardian:

    http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jul/18/border-police-arrest-cleaner-mark-harper-immigration-isabella-acevedo

    Mmmmm. If the Guardian’s allegation is accurate, it seems to me that the buses were a better reason to resign than whether or not Harper’s cleaner was an illegal immigrant.

    ReplyDelete
  5. IDS copped a lot of flak on LBC for CWP placements. He was criticised by the presenter for forcing people to work for their benefit. IDS said that it was ok because it was 'voluntary'. LBC missed a trick here because of course CWP placements are mandatory but the show does hints that the public will no tolerate 'workfare'.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not too sure about that Anon (19 Jul. 2014 06:21).There are sadly more than enough ill informed 'punters' out there who see nothing wrong with 'feckless, lazy scroungers' working for their benefits. They also sadly agree with the odious Smith about it being 'work experience'.

      They say all this of course without realising it means firms like Poundland can undercut local rivals with regards to wages as well as prices. And the fact that one day THEY could be replaced in their jobs by a workfare 'trainee' or two.

      Yes, more people are waking up. However, there needs to be a big proverbial wake up call to make those in power sit up and listen.

      Delete

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