It is Evidence Week in the UK parliament. The first of its kind, Evidence Week will run from 25th to 28th June 2018 and will bring together MPs, peers, parliamentary services and people from all walks of life across the UK to talk about why evidence matters. We will be highlighting the role of the House of Commons Library and POST and sharing insights into the work of parliamentarians in seeking and scrutinising evidence.

We look forward to a week of lively discussion about how to use and improve research evidence, with a drop-in installation in Upper Waiting Hall, and a collaborative programme of meetings, briefings and training across both Houses.

The week is an initiative of Sense about Science, the House of Commons Library, Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology and House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, and is being held in partnership with SAGE Publishing with events and briefings being produced in collaboration with community organisations, research and regulatory bodies.

Norman Lamb MP, Chair, House of Commons Science and Technology Committee

Tracey Brown, Director, Sense about Science

Penny Young, House of Commons Librarian

For more information: 

Sense about Science
14a Clerkenwell Green
London EC1R 0DP

T: + 44 20 7490 9590
E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ABC Comment. Have your say below:

Poundland has offered “guaranteed job interviews” to Poundworld employees who face an uncertain future.

Last week, the discount chain collapsed into administration. High street discount chain Poundworld, which has 335 stores nationwide and around 5,100 members of staff, is hanging in the balance.

A few red faces at the Institute of Directors when they got Poundland and Poundworld mixed up.

Then Britain’s top bosses might know more about shopping at the likes of Harrods, than having to shop for bargains at these one pound bargain stores out of necessity.  

The SNP’s protection of free eye tests in Scotland has seen people benefit over 21 million times from the initiative since 2007 – with the Scottish Government investing over £775 million in the policy over the last decade.
 
The policy is a key part of the SNP’s commitment to providing world-leading services for everyone, no matter their background – which has seen over 2.7 million tests taken by children between 2007 and 2018, helping to ensure sight problems are tackled for the youngest people across Scotland.
 
The SNP Scottish Government invested a record £81,660,052 in the free universal NHS eye examinations last year – and more people have taken up the offer of free eye tests in each year since the SNP came to power.

Image: SNP MSP Stuart McMillan
 
Commenting, SNP MSP Stuart McMillan, who chairs the CPG on Visual Impairment, said:
 
“The SNP’s commitment to free NHS eye tests is a vital part of our plan to improve the health of everyone across Scotland.
 
“To see so many people taking up these free eye tests is great news – especially given so many children have been able to access them, with nearly 3 million taking them up over the last decade.
 
“And the number of people accessing this vital service has increased in every year since the SNP came to power.
 
“The significant investment the Scottish Government has made in eye health will be transformative for people across the country – with over £775 million spent protecting and promoting this policy since 2007.
 
“It is this kind of investment that proves the Scottish Government is always looking to the future – and it’s clear for all to see.”

Image: Courtesy of Vision Express

ABC Comment: Are free eye tests a good thing?

The Social Democratic Labour Party are the latest political party to add us to their press release list.

We do get a fantastic stream of information from government departments, political parties, pressure groups, not-for-profits and international NGO’s the European Union and more…Its groiwing and growing folks! 

Keeping up with it is the challenge. 

None the less we do try. 

We would also like to say high to our growing Irish following both above and below the border. 

Universal Credit (UC) is being rolled out in Colchester in July amid a huge amount of concern, with over two hundred faith groups, mental health organizations, not-for-profits and pressure groups calling for a halt this winter to the national roll-out.  

Last week the government lost an important case in the Supreme Court. The Government acted 'unlawfully' in denying two men a 'top up' on their Universal Credit claim, to account for their severe disability, decided Supreme Court Judge Mr. Justice Lewis.

Following this blow, the National Audit Office published a particularly damning report on Friday. Instead of saving the taxpayer money, Universal Credit was costing four times more to administer per claim than projected by ministers and failing on a promise it would help claimants to work. At the same time, UC was plunging claimants into debt and into rent arrears leading to evictions and job losses. What is clear is that many people have died because of government welfare policies.

Homelessness has increased by 43% in one year under the current government and there is a reluctance by some landlords to let to the unwaged, further exacerbating the homelessness problem.

The idea of simplifying the benefits system has in fact been around since the mid-seventies. The idea of UC is that one single monthly payment would mirror the world of work. Currently, Jobseekers Allowance claimants can work up-to sixteen hours a week then after that their benefits are stopped. This idea with UC was that you would be ‘better off in work’ and your Universal Credit would adjust to fit the claimant’s circumstances.

Firstly, what is Universal Credit and why has this ambitious idea been hit by problem after problem since its launch by Iain Duncan Smith in the very early days of the Coalition? Universal Credit replaces six means-tested benefits:

•    Income Support

•    Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance

•    Income-related Employment and Support Allowance

•    Housing Benefit

•    Child Tax Credit

•    Working Tax Credit

On the original timetable, all eight million in and out of work households in the UK – most of them in work - that currently receive working tax credits, child tax credits, housing benefits, income support, means-tested versions of the jobseeker’s allowance and employment and support allowance were meant to be on the new ‘universal’ benefit by October 2017. In fact, just 10% of claimants nationally are claiming Universal Credit and initially only new claims in Colchester will be on Universal Credit.

The national debate centred around the fact that new claimants had to wait six weeks to get paid, though in practice this can be much longer, 12 weeks in some cases and this has been reduced officially to five weeks. Under Universal Credit, there is a formal waiting period of one week with no money ‘the waiting period’ followed by four weeks till you are paid. In practice, many of those earning less than £10,000 a year is in fact paid weekly. You can now ask for an advance, thereby putting yourself in debt.

Little noticed is the fact that the amount of capital you can hold to make a claim has fallen from £16 000 under Jobseekers Allowance to £6 000 for Universal Credit. If you have a windfall or a redundancy payment which you hope to have saved for a rainy day you might find that you are spending this money having been rejected for UC.

The rules around self-employment are simply mind-boggling and you have one year to make your business profitable to support yourself - a criterion that was dismissed as ridiculous by the accountancy profession. If having failed to achieve this, then you will be put back to being required to do job searching 35 hours a week to comply with your claimant commitment - only allowed another chance to be your own boss in five years’ time. An odd policy for the ‘party of business’. Since 2008 48% of new jobs have been self-employed. 

When Housing Benefit was paid separately only your Jobseekers Allowance could be sanctioned. However, under UC the money you need to pay the rent could be stopped. There are hardship payments, 50% of benefits, but these are a loan and discretionary. 

For working families, the news is grim. The Taper rate - the amount of Universal Credit withdrawn as earnings increase - is greater than under the current tax credits system. Now a second earner loses 41p for each £1 they earn but with the Universal Credit, this increases to 63p for every £1. This means that someone earning £5,000 a year would see their income fall from £2,950 under tax credits to £1,850 under the Universal Credit leaving families £50 a week worse off.

Claimants have complained about their frustration of trying to resolve their issues online. People’s lives are complicated and not everyone, especially those in rural areas, has access to ITC.

UC is a wonderful sounding concept on paper, yet it in practice some would argue it has been a catastrophe. Universal Credit is a flagship government policy - it is questionable whether it has helped people in its current form and it certainly has not even achieved its real objective - that of saving the government money.

ABC Comment. Is Universal Credit a good thing? Or should the roll-out be stopped.

Today, March 19th, the Prime Minister visited Street League in Birmingham, to launch a £90m programme that will tackle inequalities in youth unemployment. Nothing of course due to the FIFA World Cup being on and England winning. A chance to focus people away from BREXIT. 

On visiting Street League's programme in Aston, she learned how Street League uses sport to engage with 16-24 year-olds and supports them to develop the key skills needed for employment, such as communication, confidence, interviews and building a C.V.

Minimum wages are for young people 21 to 24: £7.38 - 18 to 20: £5.90 - under 18: £4.20 - Apprentice: £3.70. No wonder being a professional footballer seems attractive.  

The Prime Minister said:

I'm delighted to be here at Street League today, hearing about how they help young people get into employment, and overcome the barriers to getting a job. And it's today actually that we are launching a new £90million programme which is going to be about getting young people into employment, and particularly recognising that young people, aged 16-24 from other ethnic groups are twice as likely to be unemployed as their white peers.

The PM has challenged the country to #ExplainOrChange the inequalities revealed by last year’s Racial Disparity Audit. One of the recent statistics from the Racial Disparity Audit shows that 23% of 16-24 year-olds from ethnic minorities are unemployed, compared to only 12% of white 16-24 year-olds are unemployed, despite both groups having similar qualifications.  

Image: Youth unemployment remains a major issue. 

The Big Lottery Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, has announced plans to put young people at the heart of designing a £90 million scheme to help tackle youth unemployment.

As part of the launch of the new youth fund, Prime Minister Theresa May, spoke to some young people at Street League Birmingham about the challenges that they face, and to talk about what support they need to prepare them for the world of work. 

The Prime Minister spoke to Leela, who shared her journey of how Street League helped her to build her confidence and get to the point where she had multiple job prospects on offer. Watch Leela's story here:

Dawn Austwick, Chief Executive of the Big Lottery Fund, said:

Young people who face multiple barriers to education, employment or training are best-placed to tell us what needs to change for them. Young people will be at the heart of the process to shape solutions and create a dormant accounts youth fund that works for them by working with employers, educators, youth and community organisations.

Matt Stevenson-Dodd, Chief Executive of Street League, said:

Street League supports a diverse range of young people from disadvantaged communities across England and Scotland to move into sustainable jobs. Over the past twelve months, we’ve helped 1,700 young people move into jobs and training. We value the support we receive from all of our funders and partners to help us change the lives of young people for the better.

Stevenson-Dodd also featured on Sky News on March 19th, 2018 to share how important it is that we support young people who are "hidden" from the system and youth unemployment statistics because they aren't claiming benefits.

Street League was able to change the lives of 1700 young people last year, thanks to support from all of its funding and employer partnerships. 

Image: Prime Minister Theresa May meets Street League football lovers. 

Wages grew and wage inequality fell in most EU countries in 2015. Germany is not one of the countries where wages rose most, but it did have the largest reduction of wage inequality. Eurofound analysis shows that the German minimum wage policy introduced in 2015 strongly lifted the wages of the lowest-paid employees, particularly those employees who were lower-skilled, younger or working in services.

Wages and wage inequality are a topic of intense debate among academics and policymakers in Europe. Before the crisis, the discussion centred on wage growth below productivity levels and widening pay differentials across the workforce.

More recently, it has turned to big wage declines in some European countries severely hit by the crisis and the sluggish recovery of wages. But analysis of the most recent micro-data from the EU-SILC survey, for 2015, shows a reversal of negative trends in many EU Member States.

Working paper: Wage developments in the EU and the impact of Germany’s minimum wage (PDF)

Wages rise and wage inequality falls

Average real wages increased in more than two-thirds of EU countries in 2015, but there are substantial differences across the region (see the first column in the table below). Wages grew in most eastern European countries and to a much greater extent than in most western European countries, where wage growth was rather subdued or even negative, especially in Mediterranean countries; exceptions were Denmark, Germany, Ireland and France. Similarly, wage inequality declined in around two-thirds of EU countries (see the last column in the table), although there is no significant association between the changes in average wage levels and in wage inequality levels.

Three main patterns emerge from the analysis:

Strong wage growth (4%–12%), mainly due to wages improving more among the lowest-paid employees (quintile 1), causing a fall in wage inequality. We see this pattern in much of eastern Europe – the Baltic countries, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania – although not in Bulgaria, especially, nor Hungary, where wages grew more among the higher-paid.

More moderate wage growth (1%–3%), mostly due to wage increases among the highest-paid employees, leading to hikes in wage inequality. This is apparent in Denmark, Ireland, France, Italy and Finland.

Wage declines or stagnation (growth of 1% or less) alongside falls in wage inequality generally, mainly due to wage reductions among the highest-paid (Quintile 5). The table shows this pattern in most countries from Croatia down, most significantly in Sweden and the UK.

Germany is similar to the second group of countries because real wages grew significantly (3.5%), although below the rates of eastern European countries. But growth over the wage distribution is completely different in this case: wages increased disproportionately among the lowest-paid employees (by almost 20% in wage quintile 1), which explains why Germany registered the largest reduction in wage inequality among all EU countries in 2015.

Here you can see that the UK is near the bottom of the league table in wage growth, thanks to our government. 

Change in average real wages by wage quintile and change in wage inequality, EU Member States, 2015

ABC Note: UK wage growth right at the bottom. In contrast to the UK, Germany's workers having been surveryed are saying that less pess people wwre struggling compared to 2011 when the last survey was done.  

ABC Comment. Growing inequality in the UK, what do you think? 

Estimates from the Annual Population Survey show that an average of 2.2 million people worked in the construction industry between 2014 and 2016 accounting for 7% of workers across all industries in the UK

7% of workers in the construction industry in the UK are EU27 nationals and 3% are non-EU – compared with all other industries in the UK (excluding construction) - 6% EU27 nationals and 4% non-EU nationals· In London, 28% of construction workers are EU27 nationals and 7% are non-EU nationals. This compares to 13% who are EU27 nationals and 10% non-EU nationals for all other industries in London (excluding construction)

Of the 165,000 EU27 nationals working in construction, it is estimated 49% are EU8 nationals, 29% EU2 nationals, 11% EU15, 10% Irish nationals and the remainder EU other. Compared to EU27 nationals working in all other industries (excluding construction) 47% are EU8 nationals, 9% EU2 nationals, 35% EU15 nationals, 8% Irish nationals and the remainder EU other

The construction workforce is ageing. There was a 13% increase in the numbers of workers aged 45 and over in the construction industry between 1991 and 2011, but non-UK nationals are younger (18% aged 45 and older) compared to UK nationals (47% aged 45 and older)

41% of those working in construction were self-employed between 2014 and 2016. EU8 (63%) and EU2 nationals (66%) in the construction industry are more likely to be self-employed compared to all other nationalities (39%) · 33% of the resident non-UK nationals who work in construction occupations in the UK work in general labour· The construction sector is very flexible but fragmented, which makes gathering data on the workforce intrinsically difficult. Further work is needed to build a comprehensive evidence base of the skills and skill gaps within the industry.

Image: UK Construction and the use of migrant labour.

ABC Comment: Does the UK have too many migrant workers?

ONS has today published new analysis contrasting spending on social welfare across Europe. The new analysis which contrasts spending in European Union states together with Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Turkey and Serbia shows that in 2015 social protection spending in the UK was ninth highest in Europe at 28.4% of GDP.

Across the European Union as a whole, 29.0% of GDP was spent on social protection. However, there were wide variations among member states, ranging from 14.0% of GDP in Romania to 32.0% of GDP in France. Social protection comprises the various benefits provided to households, usually by public bodies, to help with their needs.

Social protection can be in the form of cash payments. For example, unemployment benefit, old age pension or children’s allowance; or in the form of benefits in kind, such as hospital stays or free school meals.

Spending on the Unemployed in 2015

ABC Comment: Have your say below

Applications for asylum fell by 44 percent across the EU in 2017 compared to the previous year, according to a new report by the European Asylum Support Office. EASO recorded a total of 728,470 applications last year for the whole EU. In the first four months of 2018, asylum applications dropped further, according to provisional data, with about 197,000 people seeking protection in the EU, fewer than during the same period in each of the last three years, though still higher that the pre-crisis levels in 2014. 

NB: Lower figures very obviously don’t mean that the issue has gone away — to be precise, the actual migration pressure might be much lower today than in 2015, but so is the acceptance threshold among the electorate for taking in people in need.

ABC Note: 

EASO is an agency of the European Union set up by Regulation (EU) 439/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The agency:

• acts as a centre of expertise on asylum;
• contributes to the development of the Common European Asylum System by facilitating, coordinating and strengthening practical cooperation among Member States on the many aspects of asylum;
• helps Member States fulfill their European and international obligations to give protection to people in need;
• provides  practical and technical support to Member States and the European Commission;
• provides operational support to Member States with specific needs and to Member States whose asylum and reception systems are under particular pressure;
• provides evidence-based input for EU policymaking and legislation in all areas having a direct or indirect impact on asylum.