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Welfare Reform
- 1. Voluntary Action LeicesterShire Changes to Welfare Reform Heather Roythorne - Finch February 2013 Voluntary Action Leicestershire “Helping people change their lives for the better”
- 2. Key Changes to Welfare Background and Timeline The Welfare Reform Act became law in March 2012 Range of changes in force April 2013 Benefits Cap Council Tax Benefit Child Benefit Disability Living Allowance Employment Support Allowance Housing Benefit The ‘Bedroom Tax’ Income Support Universal Credit Voluntary Action Leicestershire “Helping people change their lives for the better”
- 3. Local intelligence Un paid carers 9% of City Population or 30,965 people 32,447 City households include a person with a long term condition or disability 48% of City homes are rented Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) claimants for City and County are reducing month on month. JSA data available monthly in VAL E Briefing www.valonline.org.uk Voluntary Action Leicestershire “Helping people change their lives for the better”
- 4. National Thinking • Cumulative Impact of the changes • Most vulnerable will be hardest hit • National Campaigns: • Contact a Family: www.cafamily.org.uk • Family Action: www.family-action.org.uk • Child Poverty Action Group: www.cpag.org.uk Voluntary Action Leicestershire “Helping people change their lives for the better”
- 5. Specific Contact Details Voluntary Action LeicesterShire’s Helpline Based at our City Centre Offices Monday - Thursday 9am - 7pm, Friday 9am - 5pm & Contact: 0116 257 5050 E-mail: helpline@valonline.org.uk Web: www.valonline.org.uk Heather Roythorne – Finch Worklessness and Economic Growth Project Lead Policy Officer Policy Team 0116 257 4986 heather.rf@valonline.org.uk Voluntary Action Leicestershire “Helping people change their lives for the better”
- 6. Thank You Voluntary Action LeicesterShire working in the City and across the County to “Help people change their lives for the better” Voluntary Action Leicestershire “Helping people change their lives for the better”
- 7. Thank You Voluntary Action LeicesterShire working in the City and across the County to “Help people change their lives for the better” Voluntary Action Leicestershire “Helping people change their lives for the better”
Notes de l'éditeur
- Hello Before we look at the welfare reform bill, A little bit about ME! I am one of Policy Officers at Val and hold responsibility for leading the Val’s Worklessness and Economic Growth work stream which sits across the whole organisation and covers City and County working.
- Introduction In March 2012 the Welfare Reform Act came into law and can be considered as the ‘most fundamental reform to the social security system for 60 years’ From April 2013 a range of benefits and tax credit processes will be phased in. The VAL Welfare reform briefing in your delegate packs contains an overview to each of the changes encompassed by the Welfare Reforms. Picking out a few of these in detail: Cap to benefits : benefit income will be capped at an average weekly earning level. This is estimated to be £350 for a single claimant and £500 for lone parents and couples. The annual benefits earning is there for capped at £26,000 per year. The greatest impact of this change is considered to be with large families and those who have high rents. Child Benefit: For those households where there is one income over £50,000 per year Child Benefit will be withdrawn. This means that a single –income family earning over £50,000 loses the Child Benefit where as a couple who both earn £50,000 will still be in receipt of Child Benefit. Bedroom Tax: Persons living in social rented housing will see a reduction in their Housing Benefit if they are deemed to have a ‘spare’ bedroom that is un occupied for more than 13 weeks per year. This will affect those who offer Foster Care as well as families in general.
- To give a bit of local context to these changes and a baseline from which any affects may impact on, I have stats for Leicester City a a couple for Leicestershire from the recent census and DWP JSA data General points that should be considered are: In 2011 9% of usual city residents were providing un paid care. This includes young carers. In line with this over a ¼ of the cities households have a person with a long term health condition or disability. 25% rent a property from the council or other social housing provider. A further 23% are in privately rented accommodation . This is markedly higher in both cases than the national picture. In addition to this levels of home ownership for the city have decreased in the past decade. Leicester has 3 rd highest level of household overcrowding outside London with a rate of 15% or 18,756 homes. For December 2012 JSA claimants stood at 9,055 for the county and 12,155 for the City. This is a decline for both City and County based on Novembers claimants and the same period in 2011. This data is taken from the Unemployment bulletin produced by Leicestershire County Council using national DWP data for both City and County. It is broken down to a ward level and can be viewed via the VAL E Briefing.
- Number of national charities are voicing their concerns and pulling together case studies / informed impact statements that they are using to inform media, campaigning and planning. Useful site with briefings and case studies are: Contact a Family – disabled children and their families Family Action Child Poverty Action Group
- VAL has a range of support systems for VCS organisations to access: The VAL Helpline offers access to information, advice and guidance for groups and the contact details are here for you. The VAL website has policy briefings and regular updates of VAL’s strategic activity to mitigate against the Welfare Reforms Me: As the Project Lead for Worklessness and Economic Growth at VAL I am juggling a number of projects and actions that aim to improve the VCS ability to demonstrate the impact of service provision especially in light of these changes. Any Questions?