PMQ-worthiness of perils of Universal Credit — and a request for a substantive response from Labour

KUWG's Abby wrote an open letter to the Leader of the Opposition in the UK Parliament.(1) We have published their reply.(2) Below is our Abby's response to the Labour Party's Communication Agent's response.

Dear [Communications Assistant],

Thank you for responding to my email. 
I was hoping for a response to our concern that Universal Credit should be raised at PMQs (or in some other meaningfully effective way), rather than a cut-and-paste about the new direction Labour under Jeremy Corbyn offers us. We understand this very well, which is the main reason we wrote in the hopes that you would engage with us and let us know what Labour's plans are for raising the issue as a matter of urgency.

Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group has been in existence since 2009. We are a collective made up of unemployed people on ESA, JSA and pensioners. 

We give each other peer support as we are made to jump through the hoops (put in place by successive governments) in order to obtain the benefits we are entitled to. The current Tory government is by far the most dangerous to the lives and wellbeing of those not in high paid work. We also do outreach mainly at jobcentres, and campaign and protest on vital related issues such as the dire housing situation in London.

We hold out a lot of hope that the Labour Party with its new leadership and direction will spend the next four years battling in Parliament as we battle with the DWP at work capability assessments and tribunals to overturn bad decisions, and that a Labour government will prevail in 2020.

We hope you will want to engage with us on this and many other issues as we continue to build the movement that will defeat the Tories in Parliament leading up to the next election and then of course at the polls.
I would very much appreciate a substantive response to my email with your thoughts on how Labour will be dealing with the issue of Universal Credit in Parliament.
In solidarity,
Abby Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group (KUWG)

Links

1. http://kilburnunemployed.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/dear-jeremy-corbyn-please-tell-cameron-about-universal-credits-flaws.html
2. http://kilburnunemployed.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/jeremy-corbyns-office-replies-to-kuwgs-open-letter-on-perils-of-universal-credit.html

Jeremy Corbyn's office replies to KUWG's open letter on perils of Universal Credit

Jeremy Corbyn's office has replied on 9 May to KUWG's open letter to the Leader of the Opposition regarding the perils of Universal Credit.(1)

This is what they said:

Dear [KUWG], Thank you for contacting the Labour Party about Universal Credit. Labour’s new direction will offer a real alternative to the Tories damaging cuts to public services and lack of investment in our economy and our people. 2016 will be the start of a journey to elect a Labour government in 2020: a government that will deliver a fairer, more prosperous society that we can all enjoy - a society that works for all, not just the few. There were two major cuts to in-work support in the Summer Budget – one for tax credits and one for its replacement, Universal Credit. Only the tax credit element has been reversed. As a result, current claimants of Universal Credit face huge losses to their income come April 2016. The Government’s cuts to Universal Credit will leave over two million working families on Universal Credit £1,600 a year worse off by 2020.                                                                                                                                   New claimants of Universal Credit will receive far less support than tax credit claimants, including those who transfer across to Universal Credits. There is no rationale for unfairly reducing the support of a working family on Universal Credit compared to a family in the same circumstances on tax credits. This is a political choice by the Tories to drastically reduce support for working families. At a time when the Government is cutting inheritance tax for homes worth over a million pounds, it can’t be right to reduce support for working families. Labour opposes the Tories’ cuts to the work allowance and we are calling on the Government to reverse them in full. We really do appreciate you taking the time to share your views with us - your talents and experience make us stronger in the fight for a fairer, kinder country. We want to increase the say our members and supporters have in our policy making process, and as this develops we will keep you informed. If you’re not already, I’d encourage you to like us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/LabourParty)(2) or follow us on Twitter (www.twitter.com/uklabour)(3) so you can stay up-to-date with breaking news. You can also get involved in the debate and find out more about how we make policy at www.yourbritain.org.uk.(4)
 Best wishes, 
Communications AgentThe Labour Party

What sort of reply is that?

Links

1. http://kilburnunemployed.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/dear-jeremy-corbyn-please-tell-cameron-about-universal-credits-flaws.html
2. https://www.facebook.com/labourparty/
3. https://twitter.com/uklabour
4. http://www.yourbritain.org.uk

Taxpayers Against Poverty: More people should understand why there is hunger in the UK

Revd Paul Nicolson of Taxpayers Against Poverty writes:

More people should understand why there is hunger in the UK — the corrupt buy our land and move the rents overseas

More at: http://www.taxpayersagainstpoverty.org.uk/more-people-should-undertstand-why-there-is-hunger-in-the-uk-the-corrupt-buy-our-land-and-move-the-rents-overseas/

High Pay Centre

The High Pay Centre is an independent non-party think tank established to monitor pay at the top of the income distribution and set out a road map towards better business and economic successs.

Find out more at http://highpaycentre.org

Could disability benefit claimants sue Serco or Hewlett-Packard Enterprise over software screw-up?

Disability News Service reports that appallingly software is causing problems for disability benefit claimants, and that the blame belongs to the private sector contractor involved.

'Appallingly bad' software may cause lost PIP (Personal Independence Payment) letters, says whistleblower(1)

Vital letters that tell disabled people they have to transfer to the government’s new disability benefit are being lost in the system, leading to them losing financial support for months on end, according to a whistleblower.Rebecca*, who has asked to remain anonymous, works for Serco, the company paid by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to run the helpline that deals with all new claims for personal independence payment (PIP).Rebecca has told Disability News Service (DNS) that she believes the missing letters are probably the result of the “appallingly bad” PIP CS software designed for DWP by another private sector outsourcing giant, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (motto: Tomorrow Belongs to the Fast)

Meanwhile, there are loads of 'ambulance chasing' law firms advertising their wares on TV over the PPI (Payment Protection Insurance) fiasco, asserting that banks have set aside millions of pounds to deal with the fallout of that fiasco. And though the TV-advertised ambulance chasing law firms dealing with medical negligence cases say nothing about how much the government has set aside for dealing with medical negligence cases, the Telegraph has revealed that the government has set aside 1/4 of the NHS budget for that fiasco.(2) (How is that for government investment in career development?)

So how about claimants affected by this screw-up suing those involved?

Links

1. http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/appallingly-bad-software-may-cause-lost-pip-letters-says-whistleblower/
2. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/11402075/NHS-sets-aside-quarter-of-its-budget-for-medical-negligence-claims.html

Dear Jeremy Corbyn, Please tell Cameron about Universal Credit's flaws

An open letter to Jeremy Corbyn as Leader of the Opposition

Dear Jeremy Corbyn,

Please find a much condensed version of two cases from The Poor Side of Life website highlighting the catch 22 inherent in Universal Credit. As they illustrate- you cannot serve two masters!(1)

Case one.

In this case a man in Leeds became unable to pay his rent after losing his job.

He had been employed to work 16-17 hours per week and to be available for more hours as needed. His contract stated that he was not allowed to apply for other jobs.

 

His Jobcentre advisor however, said that he had to do just that under the ‘In-work conditionality’ built into his Claimant Commitment under Universal Credit (UC), which requires that you spend all available time seeking more hours or better paid work with the aim of getting your earnings above the threshold that qualifies you for benefits.

He was therefore told to apply for a job with a rival company.

 

The first employer terminated him for breaking his contract not to look for other work.

His JC advisor awarded him for seeking more hours by imposing a 3 year sanction because he’d got the sack (for doing what he was instructed to do by his Jobcentre advisor!)

A young person on UC was employed to work 30 hours per week in a small shop.

As part of his claimant commitment and conditionality he was obliged to make himself available by phone to his JC advisor at all times. The two other employees in the shop, also on UC, were similarly required to take calls from the Jobcentre during working hours.

One day, all three were called to the Jobcentre resulting in the employer having to shut his shop and lose income. He terminated all of them in order to avoid any future such occurrences and employed pensioners, saying that he could no longer afford to employ people on UC.

 

One wonders how many more employers have come to the same conclusion?

 

Interestingly, around 40% of Jobcentre staff will soon be on UC with the same in-work conditionality. In their case however, it will be their employers enforcing their claimant commitments.

Today’s Guardian (3/5/16) highlights the anticipated widespread loss of income that will be suffered by families on UC. (2)

This subject is one which begs to be raised in PMQ as the government remains intent on the politically motivated austerity cuts impacting predominantly on the poor, whether unemployed or working.

In solidarity,

Abby Sullivan (Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group)

Links

1. https://thepoorsideoflife.wordpress.com/2016/04/29/you-cannot-serve-two-masters-universal-credit-and-your-employer/
2.  http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/may/03/universal-credit-cost-cutting-treasury-benefit-reform-resolution

Council sourced housing as a workplace and suckerdom issue

Regarding the exploitation of 'licensees' by a 'property guardian' company called VPS using old Camden Council stock, the Camden New Journal reports:

Empty home schemes: As the costs go up, property guardians ask 'where are our rights?'(1)

Published: 28 April, 2016
By ELLA JESSEL

LIVING as custodians of former pubs, empty offices or in the twilight zones of council high-rises awaiting demolition, Camden’s property guardians are something of a hidden population....

For the charges issued by another 'property guardians' company, go to Global Guardians.(2)

A CNJ reader questions the maths on all this.(3)  It might be argued that the licensees and council are the 'suckers' in this, but we need to face the fact that if the Housing & Planning Bill 2016 gets passed by Parliament, we will all be suckered into slavery and exploitation by a global elite and their friends in Parliament and the 'popular press'. Former Community Care magazine 'Outside Left' blogger Mike McNabb criticised the blinkers of the Daily Mail on housing issues.(4) Yet the clutches of the Daily Mail on Transport for London are contractual, and Green Party Mayoral hopeful 2016 Sian Berry proposed an alternative to that dominance or hegemony.(5)

It is also against the backdrop of the so-called Housing & Planning Bill 2016 that Kill the Housing Bill has been set up, and they have a blog.(6) 

 

Links

1. http://www.camdennewjournal.com/news/2016/apr/empty-home-schemes-costs-go-property-guardians-ask-where-are-our-rights
2. http://www.global-guardians.co.uk/available-guardian-properties/
3. http://www.camdennewjournal.com/propertyguardians
4. http://www.communitycare.co.uk/blogs/social-policy-blog/2010/07/asylum-seekers-2m-home-but-who/
5.  http://www.camdennewjournal.com/sian-berry-locals
6. https://killthehousingbill.wordpress.com/