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The collapse of local welfare assistance schemes

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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Good piece of work here by Greater Manchester Poverty Action on the almost inevitable on-going collapse of local welfare assistance schemes, following the decision in 2013 to devolve responsibility for them to local government (aka cutting the central government funding completely).

Key findings include:

* 22 local authorities don’t operate local welfare assistance schemes. GMPA estimates that this means 7.75 million people are living in areas where crisis support isn’t available.
* A further 29 schemes are under threat, with local authorities having cut the budget for their schemes by two-thirds over the last three years or operating schemes on budgets of less than £100,000 a year.

Local welfare assistance schemes – the urgent need for a new approach

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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With this letter to the Guardian also having some direct relevance here I would imagine, from the leader of Nottingham City Council.

The scandal of councils in affluent areas getting a better deal

Rehousing Advice.
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Its not exactly a shining example of localism is it?

Still there is a need to continue to point out there are still good schemes out there delivering good targeted crisis provision.

Reinventing national crisis provision, via claims to the DWP is perhaps not the way to go at this time.

Leaving all this solely up to the voluntary sector, will mean that the help will not be targeted, or needs fully met.     

If you have no crisis provision then high cost services like social care will eventually need to be accessed by those without family, community support.

Owen_Stevens
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From the statement on his visit to the United Kingdom, by Professor Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights:

“Local welfare funds, a vital resource for people on the brink of crisis, have been another casualty of austerity. Many local governments in England have closed or cut their Local Welfare Assistance Schemes, leaving vulnerable people and those facing emergencies without anywhere to turn. At least 28 authorities have shuttered their local welfare funds and councils reported reducing their related expenditures by 72.5% between 2013 and 2018. From 2015 to 2018, the proportion of destitute people who reported receiving in-kind help from local welfare funds dropped sharply by 28%. The collapse of this resource for people who face sudden hardship has apparently been of no concern to the government, which decentralized responsibility for the funds and does not collect any information on what has become of them.”
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23881&LangID=E

Owen_Stevens
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Trussel Trust report on investing in local welfare during and beyond the Covid-19 crisis: https://www.trusselltrust.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/LWAS_1020_v3.pdf

Owen_Stevens
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Some recent reports

Children’s Society report directly relevant to this thread: https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/2020-10/leave-no-family-behind.pdf

JRF report on destitution which, among many other things, lists a policy implication relevant to this thread: https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/destitution-uk-2020

[O]ne of the most striking findings to emerge from both the quantitative and qualitative evidence in this latest report is the growing reliance on charitably run food banks as a core welfare response. This is mirrored by the fading importance of emergency assistance from statutory local welfare funds, as they are downgraded or abolished by cash-strapped councils in many parts of England. Although the food-bank sector made remarkable efforts to meet the accelerating need for food parcels during the national COVID-19 lockdown, some people in need could not access this support. In any case it seems unwise to rely on this voluntary effort to ensure that the basic physiological needs of large numbers of UK residents are met. Preserving a layer of localised statutory welfare support that is well led, co-ordinated and joined up with other local services, and is complementary to a strengthened national social security framework, is vital to addressing destitution in England. To achieve this, the UK Government would have to invest significantly more in local welfare assistance, ensuring that every local authority in England has a scheme that provides direct support, including cash, to people in crisis. Jurisdiction-wide welfare assistance schemes still operate in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Owen_Stevens
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https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/feb/01/government-faces-more-pressure-to-extend-20-a-week-covid-top-up

Separately, a group of Tory MPs are backing a bill by fellow backbencher Paul Maynard calling for a review of council-run local welfare schemes in England, which provide food, clothes, replacement cookers, fridges and beds for people in extreme hardship, but which have withered in recent years.
[...]
Maynard, the MP for Blackpool North and Cleveleys, said the government should consider issuing guidance to all councils requiring them to put in place adequately funded local welfare schemes to help people in extreme hardship.

There had been a steep rise in the numbers of people requiring emergency assistance in his own constituency, he said: “We need to ensure we learn the lessons of the pandemic to embed a better provision of emergency support for some of the most vulnerable in our society.”
[...]
Tory MPs expected to support Maynard’s 10-minute rule bill on Tuesday include Commons education committee chair, Robert Halfon, Iain Duncan Smith, Peter Aldous and Jason McCartney. Other backers include Green party MP Caroline Lucas and Labour’s Stephen Timms, chair of the work and pensions select committee.

Dan Manville
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Owen_Stevens - 01 February 2021 11:43 AM

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/feb/01/government-faces-more-pressure-to-extend-20-a-week-covid-top-up

Maynard, the MP for Blackpool North and Cleveleys, said the government should consider issuing guidance to all councils requiring them to put in place adequately funded local welfare schemes to help people in extreme hardship.

I note the absence of the word “funding” there; wasn’t the withdrawal of the LWA budget in 2014 the main problem?

Owen_Stevens
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Thanks Owen, just to confirm for folks that might think this a document about more schemes closing. It is actually making the case that authorities that kept schemes open, actually were in a better position to help than those that did not. So its making the case for an expansion of LWP. 

https://www.trusselltrust.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/02/Local_Lifelines_beyond_COVID19_Joint_briefing_final_240221.pdf

Owen_Stevens
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Tory-run councils more likely to cut local welfare schemes, says study
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/mar/16/tory-run-councils-more-likely-to-cut-local-welfare-schemes-says-study

I think the study is behind a paywall - If anyone has a link then feel free to post it

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Owen_Stevens - 16 March 2021 05:31 PM

Tory-run councils more likely to cut local welfare schemes, says study
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/mar/16/tory-run-councils-more-likely-to-cut-local-welfare-schemes-says-study

I think the study is behind a paywall - If anyone has a link then feel free to post it

Here a piece on the study from Cardiff University: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/2507603-conservative-led-councils-in-england-more-likely-to-slash-financial-support-for-people-on-low-incomes,-study-shows

And here’s the abstract: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1360780421990668

Owen_Stevens
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Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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Good Twitter thread summarising the Resolution Foundation report that Owen posted a link to.

https://twitter.com/resfoundation/status/1585931873204985856