Your messages will be delivered to the Prime Minister soon!

Thanks again to everyone who took part in the ‘Dear Prime Minister’ action this summer. Hundreds of people took part, online, at festivals and by sending in postcards. You raised all kinds of important issues relating to poverty, and suggested what needs to be done!

We’ve now collated all your messages. You covered a huge variety of topics, but the ones that came up most often were:

• Tax – many people were particularly angry about the huge discrepancy between the amount that is lost each year through benefit fraud (£1 billion/£1.5 billion ncluding tax credits) and the amount lost through tax evasion, avoidance and fraud. Why is the Government focusing so much on benefit fraud and not on tax evasion?
• Education and Training – many of you are calling for more and better training opportunities for young people, and targeted support for children from disadvantaged families.
• Welfare reform – you called for large-scale welfare reform, referring to the many complexities and aspects of unfairness within the system. The Government has, of course, announced some plans for this now. Church Action on Poverty has already submitted some suggestions.
• Housing - you were worried about the lack of affordable homes, as well as homelessness.
  If you’d like to take more action on this issue, why not join in Poverty & Homelessness Action Week?
  
• Asylum – you were worried about the injustice of asylum destitution, and demanded the right to work for people seeking asylum.
  If you’d like to take more action on this issue, look at the resources for our Living Ghosts campaign.
• Living Wage – many of you called for the Minimum Wage to be raised to lift people out of poverty.
  If you’d like to take more action on this issue, see our Living Wage web page.
• Interest rates, credit unions and debt – you pointed out the extortionate practices of high-cost lenders, and the need to support fairer alternativeslike credit unions.
  If you’d like to take more action on this issue, see our Debt On Our Doorstep campaign.

• Banks and the rich – many of you called for the banks to pay back more of the money they received in bail-outs, or for action to close the gap between rich and poor.
• Cuts – you wanted the Government to protect the poorest people in society from the impact of spending cuts. Unfortunately, this is not happening, and we’ll be pressing the case very storngly with Government. You can see Church Action on Poverty’s response to the spending cuts here.
• Health and social care – you talked about service provision being cut, the sick and disabled being treated as liars in terms of enefit claims, and a lack of joined-up care.
• Family and child poverty – you called for more direct strategies to lift families out of the cycle of poverty.
• Participation and voice – there were many calls for the Government to truly listen to the poorest and most marginalised in society, to find out the reality people are facing in the UK today.

Thank you for your messages. They are helping us to plan a major new three-year campaign, that will mobilise churches and individuals across the UK to tackle the issues you’re worried about. We will be asking people to make pledges to Give, Act and Pray to Close the Gap between rich and poor. We hope that you will join us in this important work.

The campaign will be launched in January, when we deliver all of your messages to 10 Downing Street. From now on, you’ll receive regular emails from us with updates on the campaign, and simple actions you can take to help close the gap between rich and poor.

Greenbelters send their messages to the Prime Minister

At the Greenbelt festival last weekend, we invited festival-goers to send postcards to the Prime Minister, highlighting the issues he must act on to protect the poorest from the effect of the cuts.

We also asked them to be photographed as a visal message about poverty. Watch our slideshow to see some fun images!

Young Christians’ messages to the Coalition Government

Church Action on Poverty recently received this very encouraging message from the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu:

Archbishop John Sentamu with young people

Thank you for taking the time to send me your report ‘Dear Prime Minister’.

Recently, at a Forum entitled ‘Make a Difference’ held here at Bishopthorpe Palace, young people from across the North of England were encouraged to apply their Christian beliefs to political issues and draw up their own Manifesto.

The event was organised by my Youth Trust, in conjunction with Theos, the Public Theology think-tank, and the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity.

The young people came up with their own Manifesto with their priorities for the future of Britain. This consisted of nine key points, as follows:

1. A commitment to broaden education opportunities for young people through apprenticeships and work experience.
2. A commitment to provide more opportunities for young people outside of education such as transport, sport and, support centres.
3. A commitment to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, introducing minimum wages for fairtrade workers.
4. A commitment not to increase university fees, and to make university more accessible for young people.
5. A commitment to provide training and support for those who are unemployed and to create jobs to help serve the local area and local government.
6. A promise to keep life sacred as a gift from God and review current legislation on abortion and euthanasia and to offer support to all affected.
7. A commitment to have one CRB form every five years, to prevent Government legislation from becoming an obstacle to adults working with young people.
8. A commitment to regulating businesses to ensure ethical trading.
9. A commitment to reform asylum policies and change attitudes, affirming the importance of offering protection where it is needed.

I am sure you will be encouraged, as I am, that young people want to make a positive difference in our nation. I have sent the Youth Manifesto to the Prime Minister and I await his comments.

With every blessing,

John Sentamu, Archbishop of York

What three things would be in your Manifesto? Send your message to the Prime Minister now!

Now people are writing to the Chancellor too

Our friends at Derbyshore Unemployed Workers’ Centres have been running their own campaign – sending letters to the Chancellor pointing out the challenges facing people who are dependent on benefits. Here’s the press release they sent out:

Dear Chancellor, You Think You’ve Got Problems!

The Chancellor of the Exchequer is in a mess with the country’s finances but his problems are nothing to the weekly agony faced by people on low incomes.  So says campaigners at the Derbyshire Unemployed Workers’ Centres who have took the unprecedented step of directing people struggling to make ends meet to contact the Chancellor for help sorting out their budgeting problems.  George Osbourne, the new Chancellor is preparing his first budget to be delivered on Tuesday June 22^nd.

Four people from North Derbyshire, a single parent, a low paid worker, a man on long term incapacity benefit, and another claiming Employment and Support Allowance have all laid bare their budget problems.  All of them have expenditure exceeding their income.  The four, Justine Bark and Anthony Lomas of Chesterfield, Richard Brown from Temple Normanton and Mary from Staveley have asked the Chancellor where they should make cuts.

‘Looking at our people’s outgoings and the difficult decisions to be made, the Chancellors budget deficit problems are a piece of cake’ said Colin Hampton, co-ordinator at the Derbyshire Unemployed Workers’ Centres, ‘The question they are asking the Chancellor is whether they should cut back on food, heat, light, clothing or household necessities.  These people have nothing in their budgets for holidays, private pensions, savings for unforeseen problems and three have no home insurance.  All they can cut back on is the basics of life.’

The Derbyshire Unemployed Workers’ Centres is highlighting the problems facing those living on benefits and workers on low hours/low pay minimum wage jobs.

‘If George Osborne says to our four people who have come forward that they should get a job, or more jobs in Mary’s case, we will remind him that you can’t set a budget on expectations of a rosy future.  His advisors are telling him that unemployment is likely to rise in the next period so it makes sense for everyone to budget on the situation that confronts them.’ Colin Hampton went on to say.

Campaigners are asking the Chancellor to raise the basic minimum income and minimum wage so as to avoid making matters worse for those experiencing poverty in his budget next week.

‘People on low incomes did not cause the Government’s budget deficit.  That was the outcome of the reckless activities of investment bankers and the lax regulation to control them,’ commented James Eaden President of Chesterfield TUC who are staging a rally at noon in New Square on the day of the budget. ‘Workers and those unable to find jobs should not have to pay for the banker’s bail-out.  If the noises coming out of Downing Street are correct then it appears that we are going to have a battle on our hands.  We cannot allow the Government to pass on the debts of the rich on to ordinary people struggling to make ends meet.’

Send your own message to the Prime Minister now!

Your messages about tax

More of your messages are pouring in now on postcards – thanks for your support. We’ve passed on some of them to a friendly bishop, and we hope that the issues you’ve raised will be discussed in the House of Lords on 15 June! Just the first step in making sure the government knows what needs to be done.

Today, a selection of the messages you’ve sent in about tax – a key issue in relation to inequality:

“Take action to tax the bankers in order to deal with world and home poverty and tackle the effects of global climate change which effects the poorest in the world.”

“Work towards internatonal legislation to reduce tax loophole evasion by nultinationals not paying taxes in countries where they are operating.”

“Tax assistance/breaks for those on low incomes. (Particularly pensioners, single parents and carers)”

“Please rule out increases in VAT.   This is the most regressive tax, because poorer people necessarily spend a higher proportion of their income on food, heating, clothing, attracting VAT.   As in wartime, so in crisis financial times, ‘one nation’ demands that those who can afford it should bear the main tax burden.”

“End land speculation and resulting recurring crises by instituting ‘land rent’ -  a tax on site value.”

“Those who caused the hole in the nation’s budget should be made to refill it.  It is totally unacceptable that those who had no part in it should be paying for it.”

“Reduce the tax burden for the low paid and increase tax on incomes over £100,000.”

Have you sent your letter yet? Do it online now, or call 0161 236 9321 and ask for some Dear PM postcards!

Your messages about housing

Lots of messages still coming in – people have begun to return the special Dear PM postcards that went out in Church Action on Poverty’s recent mailing. (If you’d like some postcards to share in your church or group, just give us a call on 0161 236 9321.)

Today, a selection of your messages about housing, another key issue:

“To provide decent housing for all those who are homeless or living in temporary accommodation and make sure all empty and derelict buildings  are available to local councils for redevelopment for the needs of the poorest people. It should be against the law to leave buildings empty indefinitely without their being put to good use for those in desperate need.”

“Definite rules for including truly accessible social housing on new developments”

“Please act to put more resources into providing lower-cost housing, whether for purchase or rent.   As well as benefiting all poorer people, this will be a major contribution to community cohesion, since ‘jealousy’ about housing is a major contributor to group conflict.”

“Affordable housing in all areas of the country.  I live in Cambridge where the only way many working in health and education and similar vital roles, can take jobs here is to live far out of town, thus adding to traffic congestion, victims of rising fuel costs and long journeys to and from work.”

“Probably, one of the main deficits of the past 20 years has been the very low supply of affordable housing.   All local authorities must be encouraged, and assisted, to dramatically increase building low-cost, and carbon neutral, housing.”

“Providing social housing for families who are vulnerably housed in private rented accommodation.”

“Protect and encourage housing association and other charity housing to let, to ensure that here is always affordable housing where the jobs are. Many people have had to exceed their budget to take out a mortgage, but could rent long-term if there were better access to equitable and stable renting opportunities.”

“Housing that people can afford, that they want to call home.”

Have you sent your letter yet? Do it online now, or call 0161 236 9321 and ask for some Dear PM postcards!

Your messages about children and young people

People are still adding more messages to the Prime Minister – thank you! Many of you are urging the government to protect children and young people from the effects of poverty:

“To ensure that children from disadvantaged backgrounds are given every possible help in receiving personalised help in education so that they do not remain at a disadvantage for the rest of their lives. They should be given every possible opportunity to discover their gifts and capabilities and the education process be more adaptable to accommodate their needs.”

“Tackle the iniquities around kinship care – unless you find ways to address the injustices surrounding this very vulnerable group of children and their carers all your talk about valuing the family will be empty rhetoric.”

“No child should suffer from poverty and neglect.  Implement strategies to actively combat this.”

“Maintain Working Tax Credits and Child Tax credits at current levels – or higher.”

“Targeted funding in schools for children from poorer backgrounds”

“To keep Child tax Credits and Working Families Tax Credit in place so that families with children are able to afford to keep themselves in a reasonable standard of living and to extend free school meals to families on low incomes even if they work over 15 hours a week.”

“Ensure that childcare is accessible, affordable and safe to enable families to work.”

“Education – more emphasis on making young people aware of how to be employable, what the value of money really means, that material things are not as important as some people think they are, and that making choices or saving up for something you really want is just part of life”

Have you sent your letter yet? Do it online now, or call 0161 236 9321 and ask for some Dear PM postcards!

Your messages about debt and credit

Today: a selection from the messages you’ve sent in about debt and credit.

• Set a legislative limit to rates of interest chargeable by loan companies – a long standing goal of the Debt on our Doorstep campaign and something which exists in various other Western countries.

• Set a legal cap on interest rates so those forced to resort to doorstep lenders and pay-per-view companies are less likely to be dragged down into levels of debt that are impossible to clear just to provide themselves with basic necessities of modern life.

• Cap the interest rate for subprime lending.  Investigate the practices of subprime companies.  Statements from these companies should be clear as to the debt incurred, how it is made up and charges made to the debt and why.
• Debt on our doorstep is an old tune that is isolating thousands of unfortunate families.  People are being driven mad by arbitrary price levels on utilities, that do not favour the poor.  Faced with demands people resort to loan sharks; this means less money to feed and clothe their children.  It means education is a low priority and income generation takes up too much time.  Deprived of care and ill-educated, these families can fall apart.  We should value money for what it produces, not raise prices perpetually resuting in confusion.

Have you sent your letter yet? Do it online now, or call 0161 236 9321 and ask for some Dear PM postcards!

“Debt on our doorstep is an old tune that is isolating thousands of unfortunate families.  People are being driven mad by arbitrary price levels on utilities, that do not favour the poor.  Faced with demands people resort to loan sharks; this means less money to feed and clothe their children.  It means education is a low priority and income generation takes up too much time.  Deprived of care and ill-educated, these families can fall apart.  We should value money for what it produces, not raise prices perpetually resuting in confusion.”

Your messages about welfare and benefits

Your letters to the Prime Minister have been flooding in via our online Dear PM action, as well as the special postcards we’ve been sending out. Thanks to everyone who’s responded!

We’ll now start posting a selection of your messages on this blog. Today, some of the comments people have made about welfare and benefits:

• Look at how the benefit system makes it impossible for homeless young people who have a small part-time job (eg McDonalds at weekends)  to take up a place in supported accommodation where they would learn life skills and be helped into education/training and employment.
• Amend the stringent targets benefit advisers have to meet with regard to the work capability test for Employment and Support Allowance.
• Ensure that the benefits system is simple, workable and does not provide a disentive to work, especially for the young.
• Replace means-tested benefits with a citizens’ income.
• A simplified tax and benefit system whereby wealthy individuals and companies cannot dodge taxation due in the UK and in developing countries thus increasing the tax burden on mid- and low-income families. This, coupled with a benefit system which is accessible to those on the margins of society, would make a great difference to the lives of the poorest.
• Benefits departments should be able to talk to each other, so that clients are not shuffled from one department to another. There should be one point of call for all benefits.  This will save time and money and the claimant will feel human as opposed to a form-carrier.
• A benefits system that does not penalise recipients (typically some benefit rules result in a £1 loss on every £1 of income generated, representing a 100% tax rate!) while being paid benefits, and which has a taper built into it, so that the movement off benefits into paid work does not prodcue a sudden loss of income.
• Offering free NHS prescriptions to those on benefits.

Have you sent your letter yet? Do it online now, or call 0161 236 9321 and ask for some Dear PM postcards!

The welfare system for disabled claimants is corrupt

Nicholas Couchman is a supporter of Church Action on Poverty.

Dear Prime Minister

I am writing regarding the welfare benefits system. As is well documented, there have long been problems with the medical assessment of disabled benefits claimants.

The situation appears to originate from the involvement of UNUM Provident in the welfare benefits system. So many complaints were received from disabled benefits claimants regarding their medical assessment that a Select Committee looked into the issue. The evidence presented to the Select Committee indicated that the medical assessments of disabled benefits claimants were not infrequently corrupt.

Further evidence of this has been debated in the Houses of Lords and Commons, and explored by the Works and Pensions Committee. It shows that the experience of disabled benefits claimants has,if anything, worsened over time. A memorandum submitted by the British Medical Association says:  “The BMA was disappointed in a number of aspects of the Government’s response to the report of the Social Security Committee, and we believe that neither the Department nor the company have endeavoured to improve the service for claimants by addressing the criticisms made of the medical workforce—both quantity and quality—by entering into dialogue with the workforce and the BMA to address such matters as pay and training”.

The National Audit Office have also looked into the issue. Their report of 2003 indicates that the quality of medical assessments had not improved since the report of 2001 as the rate of successful appeals against decisions not to award benefits remained high. A Select Committee on Public Accounts report in 2002 made the same finding. A Department of Work and Pensions report in 2006 noted that attempts to reduce official error, that is errors made by the Department, were not as successful as attempts made to reduce fraud.

I must add that David Freud was appointed as an adviser regarding welfare benefits reform in 2008 despite his own admission that, regarding his 2007 report Reducing Dependency, Increasing Opportunity, “I didn’t know anything about welfare at all when I started…” Yet he took just three weeks to research and write the first draft of his report. In 2009 a life peerage was conferred upon David Freud and he was nominated by David Cameron as Shadow Minister for Welfare Reform.

I have at this point to declare an interest. According to a report by the leading UK specialist in a condition from which I suffer, ME, I am “permanently unfit to return to any form of employment”. I have disengaged from the welfare benefits system as the effort of engagement is causing a serious worsening of my condition.

Accordingly I would call upon the Government, welfare benefits claimants and other interested parties to an authentic engagement to create a welfare benefits system in which there is no place for maladministration, official error or the abuse of claimants. I have a number of specific concerns.

There is no disincentive upon the Department of Work and Pensions regarding maladministration and official error. An appeal against a decision by the Department may correct the decision but does not hold the Department accountable for the decision, that is, the Department does not have to explain how the error came to be made. Further, the Department is not penalised and the claimant compensated where decisions are corrected. My experience indicates that the Department has no regard for its own rules and procedures. Accordingly I would assert that there is no rule of law regarding the operations of the Department. The Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman should have no option but to investigate and resolve authentic complaints regarding the Department. I would accordingly assert that presently there is no accountability in the welfare benefits system.

The test for incapacity for work should be a test of employability. There is no point in claimants who have no possibility of being employed seeking employment.

In a nutshell, the appointment of UNUM Provident, an organisation noted for their unlawful and corrupt practices, as consultants regarding welfare benefits reform has had the consequence of a corrupt welfare benefits system. Further, the appointment of David Freud as an adviser regarding welfare benefits is inexplicable given his own admission of incompetence.