Category Archives: Benefits

Former shadow chancellor Ed Balls says plans to cut disability benefits ‘won’t work’

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Influential Labour figure says cuts ‘not a Labour thing to do’, while George Osborne says when chancellor he resisted move as ‘step too far’

The former shadow chancellor Ed Balls has criticised plans for cuts to disability benefits, saying on his podcast that it was “not going to work”.

George Osborne, the architect of welfare cuts during the coalition years, also told the same podcast that he had resisted freezing personal independence payments (Pip) – a move currently under consideration – because he felt it was going too far.

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UK politics: Unison attacks ‘shambolic’ announcement of NHS England’s abolition – as it happened

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Union says staff will have been left reeling after surprise news that body will be scrapped

Starmer is now talking about regulatation, and giving examples of where he thinks it has gone too far.

l give you an example. There’s a office conversion in Bingley, which, as you know, is in Yorkshire. That is an office conversion that will create 139 homes.

But now the future of that is uncertain because the regulator was not properly consulted on the power of cricket balls. That’s 139 homes. Now just think of the people, the families, the individuals who want those homes to buy, those homes to make their life and now they’re held up. Why? You’ll decide whether this is a good reason because I’m going to quote this is the reason ‘because the ball strike assessment doesn’t appear to be undertaken by a specialist, qualified consultant’. So that’s what’s holding up these 139 homes.

When we had those terrible riots … what we saw then, in response, was dynamic. It was strong, it was urgent. It was what I call active government, on the pitch, doing what was needed, acting.

But for many of us, I think the feeling is we don’t really have that everywhere all of the time at the moment.

The state employs more people than we’ve employed for decades, and yet look around the country; do you see good value everywhere? Because I don’t.

I actually think it’s weaker than it’s ever been, overstretched, unfocused, trying to do too much, doing it badly, unable to deliver the security that people need.

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Watchdog suggests alleged ‘two-tier’ sentencing guidelines may breach Equality Act – UK politics live

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Lady Falkner, chair of the EHRC, says moves run the risk of positive discrimination

Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.

PMQs is about to start.

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Starmer facing Reform UK byelection challenge as Mike Amesbury quits as MP after assault conviction – UK politics live

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Contest in Runcorn and Helsby will be a challenge for Labour

Around 80 Labour MPs could refuse to back government plans to cut billions from the welfare budget, Amy Gibbons and Tony Diver claim in a story for the Daily Telegraph. They report:

The Telegraph understands that around 80 Labour MPs – roughly a fifth of the parliamentary party – “won’t tolerate” billions of pounds of welfare cuts set to be announced by the Chancellor later this month.

The anger is said to have spread beyond the “usual suspects”, with MPs who would not typically criticise Sir Keir threatening to “give the government a slap” over the proposals.

Our Labour values are built on a simple but powerful idea: that every individual, regardless of background or circumstance, should have the support they need to make the most of their lives. Everyone who is capable of working deserves the security, dignity and agency that employment offers. Of course, there are some people who are not able to work and they must be treated with compassion and respect. But for those that can, we must restore the pathways to opportunity which are currently so sparse for millions of people. It is exactly what a Labour government exists to do …

As MPs, we understand that delivering this new social contract requires hard choices to be made. We welcome the work that has begun to rebuild our welfare system, and we are fully supportive of it. We believe reforming our broken system is not only necessary, but also a truly progressive endeavour. And so we have established the Get Britain Working Group to make that argument, insistently.

The radical package of reforms will see:

-£5bn in savings by making it harder to qualify for Personal Independence Payments - a benefit not linked to work that is meant to help people with the additional costs of their disability

This government is determined that instead of facing a life on benefits … we stretch every sinew and pull every lever to ensure that we can get those people into work, because that is the best way for them to have a successful and happy life into the future.

So I think it’s quite right to look at a benefit system which is clearly broken.

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‘Don’t punish the vulnerable’: Labour MPs uneasy over planned welfare cuts

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Ministers say ‘unsustainable’ rise in spending must be tackled but many backbenchers fear changes will not work

Dozens of backbench Labour MPs are unhappy with plans to cut billions from the rising welfare bill, with ministers holding meetings to convince them that the changes to disability benefits are necessary.

Labour MPs told the Guardian there were deep concerns within the parliamentary party that the changes would take money from the poorest, which was not what they had entered government to do.

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Liz Kendall says getting people into work is best way to cut benefits bill

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Chancellor is eyeing welfare system for potential cuts but pensions secretary says more support for jobseekers is key

The work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall, has said helping more people back into a job is the best way to cut the benefits bill, as the chancellor looks for savings ahead of the 26 March spring statement.

With Rachel Reeves zeroing in on welfare as a source of potential cuts as she prepares to take action to meet her self-imposed fiscal rules, Kendall said the starting point must be getting people back into work – not numbers on a spreadsheet.

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Rogue landlords in England to face curbs on housing benefit income, says Labour

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Deputy PM Angela Rayner announces plans as she presents £350m funding increase for affordable housing

Rogue landlords in England will face curbs on how much housing benefit they can receive if their properties are substandard, Angela Rayner has said as she announced an extra £350m for affordable housing.

The deputy prime minister presented the funding increase, adding to £500m already announced at the budget, as part of the government’s drive to build 1.5m homes.

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Labour to ‘fix benefit system to get people back into work’

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Pledge to fix broken welfare system follows new evidence that people are worried about returning to work for fear that benefits will be withdrawn

Britain’s broken welfare system is fuelling the “greatest unemployment challenge of a generation”, ministers have concluded as they draw up a root-and-branch overhaul designed to counter the spiralling numbers deemed too unwell to work.

Rules that force benefit claimants into an “all or nothing” choice between working and being deemed too sick to work are set to be redrawn, the Observer understands. It follows new evidence that thousands of people who want to work are worried about taking steps to return to the workplace out of fear that their benefits will be withdrawn.

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Bereaved parents launch court challenge over UK benefit ‘discrimination’

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Widowed parent’s allowance claims for those not married or in civil partnership can only be backdated from 30 August 2018

Two bereaved parents have filed a case at the European court of human rights, claiming that the UK government’s treatment of them is discriminatory.

Jyotee Gunnooa and Andrew Byles lost their partners but were unable to claim a benefit for widowed parents because they were not married or in civil partnerships when the deaths happened.

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DWP ‘blocked whistleblower giving evidence to carer’s allowance review’

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Staffer told by official it would be inappropriate for him to give evidence to review of scandal-hit benefit

The Department for Work and Pensions has been accused of blocking a whistleblower who repeatedly raised the alarm about carer’s allowance from giving evidence to an independent review of the scandal-hit benefit.

The DWP staffer was told by a senior official it was inappropriate to share with the review their knowledge of the inner workings of a system that has become notorious for its often cruel treatment of unpaid carers.

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Give working parents help with childcare and commuting costs, UK thinktank says

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Child poverty plan must address the 70% of families with at least one parent in work, Resolution Foundation says

Labour must offer extra support to working parents, including with childcare and commuting, if it is to fulfil its promise of cutting child poverty, the Resolution Foundation thinktank has argued.

The government’s manifesto promised an “ambitious strategy” on child poverty, and ministers have said they will publish a 10-year plan in the spring.

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DWP spent £50,000 trying to stop release of review into disabled man’s death

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Previous government spent almost £1m trying to prevent release of documents in 56 legal cases

More than £50,000 of taxpayers’ money was spent on lawyers to try to prevent the release of a safeguarding review ordered after a disabled man starved to death in his own home.

The costs were part of a bill of nearly £1m spent under the last government to prevent the release of various documents under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act.

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‘We live on Pot Noodles’: rickets hits homeless families with no kitchen

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Families placed in hotels in England are being forced to live on snack foods, putting young people’s health at risk

Homeless children placed in hotels are developing rickets and other diet-related health problems because their parents lack anywhere to cook.

The Magpie Project, which works with homeless mothers in the east London borough of Newham, where more households are living in temporary accommodation than anywhere in the country, said families living in hotels were eating an unhealthy diet of takeaways and snack foods because they had no cooking facilities or anywhere to store fresh produce.

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Keir Starmer gives speech on migration after record figures for 2023 revealed – UK politics live

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Prime minister holds press conference to announce plans as ONS announces net migration figures

Here is a chart from the ONS report illustrating the latest figures.

Here is the PA Media story on the figures.

Net migration to the UK hit a higher than previously thought record of 906,000 in the year to June 2023, revised official estimates show.

The measure for the difference between the number of people arriving and leaving the country then dropped by 20% in the latest period, the 12 months to June 2024, and now stands at 728,000.

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Russia imposes travel ban on cabinet ministers, calling it retaliation for ‘Russophobic’ policies – UK politics live

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Kremlin bans UK cabinet ministers including Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Yveette Cooper from entering country

The Federation of Small Businesses applauds the ambition in the government’s Get Britain Working, but says that overcoming the “pervasive poverty of ambition” about employment in the public sector won’t be easy. This is from Tina McKenzie, the FSB’s policy chair.

This is a start – but only a start – in fixing the pervasive poverty of ambition in the Jobcentre, health and other state systems when it comes to getting people back into work. Increasing employment is ultimately the most sure-fire way to drive up living standards and economic growth.

Ministers have a huge job to persuade public institutions that work is good for health and that everyone who needs work should be helped to get a job or start-up in self-employment – not least getting rid of the idea that the only good work is in graduate jobs, the public sector or volunteering.

The ambition behind the 80 per cent employment target is both clear and important ..

To deliver on this policy agenda, government and small businesses must work in partnership to drive real change through the whole employment system and make sure the country is helping those who most need work.

It is right to ensure that young people who are seeking work are helped to find a job or training. Positive early experiences in the jobs market are vital for young people’s future life chances. They must be supported to take part, not faced with self-defeating sanctions.

Success will also depend on ministers making the investment that’s needed in health services and quality training. Jobcentre staff must have a central role in redesigning their services, and devolution must never come at the cost of staff terms and conditions.

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Housing, social care and universities: who lost out in the UK budget?

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Rachel Reeves made funding the NHS a priority but people working in other areas said they were disappointed

Rachel Reeves’s first budget emphasised raising taxes to help the NHS, as the health service tries to cope with huge waiting lists and an ageing population. Funding the NHS was a top priority but people in other sectors – from universities to social care – feel the budget was a missed opportunity to tackle impending crises or introduce desperately needed reforms in their areas.

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Surprise fall in UK inflation badly timed for benefit recipients

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Payments such as universal credit linked to previous September’s figure, meaning a rise of just 1.7% in April

Last month’s surprise fall in UK inflation lands with bad timing for millions of people who receive state benefits linked to the figure, who can now expect their payments to rise by just 1.7% next April.

A number of benefits, including universal credit, are increased each tax year in line with the cost of living figure for the previous September.

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Labour to set up review after carer’s allowance overpayments scandal

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Exclusive: overhaul of system that imposed draconian penalties for innocent and minor errors in benefit claims is expected

Draconian penalties levied on unpaid carers who unwittingly rack up “overpayments” running into thousands of pounds after falling foul of benefit rules are to be overhauled, the Guardian understands.

The move comes six months after a Guardian investigation revealed tens of thousands of vulnerable unpaid carers were being ordered to repay hefty overpayments – and even threatened with criminal prosecution – over minor breaches of earnings rules.

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Pressure mounts on Rachel Reeves to drop ‘dangerous’ £1.3bn cut to benefits for disabled

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Thousands could lose up to £4,900 a year if the plan is retained in the forthcoming budget

Rachel Reeves is coming under intense pressure to use the budget to abandon a £1.3bn cut to benefits for people with disabilities, first announced by the Tory government, amid warnings it will lead to hundreds of thousands of the most vulnerable people losing almost £5,000 a year.

The leading independent thinktank, the Resolution Foundation, has called on the chancellor to drop or delay changes to the work capability assessment (WCA), arguing that key aspects of the policy have not been thought through, and that around 420,000 people who are unable to work through disability or ill-health could lose up to £4,900 a year.

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Reeves’ economy inheritance claim one of Labour’s ‘biggest lies’, Hunt tells Tory conference – UK politics live

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The shadow chancellor said he ‘would have died’ to have had the legacy Rachel Reeves had when he took over

Robert Jenrick has used a campaign rally just outside the Conservative conference to paint the issue of migration in highly stark terms, saying his party will “die” if it does not commit to quitting the European convention on human rights. (See 8.23am.)

Speaking to supporters in a studio theatre at Birmingham Rep, Jenrick repeated his styling of the issue in Brexit terms, saying the choice was between the “leave” of leaving the ECHR or “remain” of staying in it, and that this was a chance to “get migration done”.

This is more than just, ‘leave or amend’ – frankly, our party doesn’t have a future unless we take a stand and fix this problem. It’s leave or die for our party – I’m for leave.

Foreign national offenders in our country,who we have struggled to deport because of our membership of the European Convention on Human Rights – that’s the issue I was raising.

What is the biggest challenge we face as a party?

Our biggest strategic challenge is the fact that the average age above which you are more likely to vote Conservative than Labour is now over 60.

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