The hidden costs of welfare reform
“However, for most participants – regardless of age, qualification level and gender – welfare-to-work appears to increase anxiety. This is a potent reminder that the costs of welfare reform cannot – and should not – be measured in economic terms.” Daniel Sage argues for a broader definition when considering the impact of welfare to work policies.
The path to the precipice
“We are blithely rushing along a path towards a fundamental change in our welfare system that will have far-reaching social and fiscal consequences. There is a perfect storm of a poorly contracted Work Programme, political rhetoric, and short-term accounting practice.” Richard Johnson looks at the debate on the next round of welfare reform.
Frontline Friday 4th October 2013: Our favourite frontline blogs this week
Here’s our list of ten frontline blogs we’ve particularly liked from the week of 30th September 2013 – from welfare reform and legal aid, to the Conservative Party conference and the Daily Mail.
Long term unemployment: four people in their own words. And why the word “vulnerable” needs to go
“One of the reasons I’m posting these transcripts is that in the last week especially, we’ve not heard enough from people who’ve actually experienced long-term unemployment.” Kate Belgrave shares four stories from people who have been unemployed for several years.
Why it won’t work
“Any organisation thinking of bidding for probation work ought to be fully aware that despite all the rhetoric and spin, every Government policy from now till the next General Election will be designed to make the task of Transforming Rehabilitation as difficult as possible…” Jim Brown explains why the probation reforms won’t work.
Shouldn’t “Policy Exchange” be honest? “Propaganda Exchange” is more accurate
“I’m SICK of half truths and misleading sentences. Sick of cherry picked data that uses random figures to paint false pictures. Sick of assumptions about the labour market and fraud that just aren’t true.” Sue Marsh takes aim at a new report from Policy Exchange.
Chris Huhne, rehabilitated. Too bad for everyone else.
“The appearance of Chris Huhne’s weekly column is now a serious irritation. He is a crook, a liar and a cheat. His greatest talent is blaming others for all of that.” Kate Belgrave shares a few thoughts on the return of Chris Huhne and a few people she has met who’d love to be welcomed into genteel society as well, but never will be.
Labour to scrap the bedroom tax – a huge political mistake and huge opportunity missed
“The Labour Party has vowed to scrap the bedroom tax. They have finally said it after so long. A cause for celebration you would think but as usual the Labour Party makes a pig’s ear of it.” Joe Halewood questions the Labour Party’s approach to scrapping the bedroom tax.
Frontline Friday 20th September 2013: Our favourite frontline blogs this week
Here’s our list of ten frontline blogs we’ve particularly liked from the week of 16th September 2013 – from the question of what are the Lib Dems for, to education and welfare reform, and the outsourcing of probation services.
Councils using zero hours, casual staff and the work programme
“This post lists the results of an FOI I recently sent to councils to get a rough idea of how many people councils employed on zero hours contracts or zero hours-type working arrangements and how many councils were using the work programme.” Kate Belgrave investigates the increasing use of zero-hours and casual work contracts in local authorities.
Frontline Friday 13th September 2013: Our favourite frontline blogs this week
Here’s our list of ten frontline blogs we’ve particularly liked from the week of 2nd September 2013 – from welfare reform and the real Chris Grayling to outsourcing of public services and teaching in schools.
Hoban meeting update
“So, yesterday, as most of you will know by now, representatives from Spartacus finally got to meet with Mark Hoban to discuss Employment and Support Allowance and Work Capability Assessments after almost a year of trying.” Sue Marsh provides an update on Spartacus’ meeting with Work and Pensions Minister Mark Hoban.
Protests and government extremism
“So interesting that the Taxpayers’ Alliance got a free, media-wide pass yesterday to bitch again about people on benefits…” Kate Belgrave disputes the idea that disability rights campaigners are extremist.
It’s fraud, Lord Freud.
“You have got to admire the consistency – the last 27 words contain four statistics and four of them are wrong. When speaking about disability benefits Government ministers have consistently abused numbers to make their case – but four inaccuracies within 27 words is surely a record.” Paul Morrison challenges yet more inaccuracies from Lord Freud.
Frontline Friday 30th August 2013: Our favourite frontline blogs this week
Here’s our list of ten frontline blogs we’ve particularly liked from the week of 26th August 2013 - from housing policy and community engagement in health, to the political intentions behind the Government’s Lobbying Bill.
Trying to work but living below subsistence level
“What a shame it is that the welfare system is not designed to facilitate those people who want to work, even if only part time, but instead makes it impossible for them to work.” The Masked AMHP tells the story of a couple who typify the unintended consequences of recent welfare changes.
Do people really ‘get used to a life on benefits’?
“The cornerstone of the Coalition’s welfare reform agenda is the idea of ‘welfare dependency’…But how valid this is this assumption? Do people get used to a life on benefits?” Daniel Sage puts the Government’s welfare reforms to the test.
The human cost
“The future may look bleak for probation and probation staff, but not half as bleak as it does for many of our clients, and we’d do well to remember that.” Jim Brown is concerned about the impact on clients from outsourcing of probation services and welfare reform.
Here is how the UK Govt hid 1 million jobless from official unemployment figures
One of the purported achievements of the Coalition Government’s disastrous economic policy of austerity, has been the unemployment figures. Pundits say that at 7.8% (2.51m) they are nothing to shout about but not the disastrous rates seen in states such as Greece (26.9%) or Spain (26.3%). In reality, the unemployment rate is more than double this in […]
The (invisible) problem of riches
Last week on this blog, Jonathan Bradshaw argued that our ‘benefits system’ wasn’t broken and highlighted how the tax system in the UK did not do anything to help tackle poverty as it failed to redistribute wealth effectively. Whilst the tax system may not directly redistribute wealth, if everyone (including organisations) paid the tax that they were […]