A shocking 128,000 children in Britain will wake up homeless and in temporary accommodation this Christmas, a new report by Shelter reveals today (Wednesday 6th December).

The report finds 2017 has seen the highest numbers of homeless children in a decade due to the worsening housing crisis.

Image: Wera Hobhouse MP.

Wera Hobhouse MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Communities and Local Government, commented:

“It is heart-breaking that so many children will be spending this Christmas without a home to call their own.
 
“This child homelessness crisis is a stain on the government’s record.
 
“Ministers urgently need to invest in the genuinely affordable homes our country desperately needs.
 
“We need tougher measures to tackle soaring rental costs and protect families from being evicted at short notice.”

House of Commons

Tuesday 5 December 2017 Meeting starts at 11.30am

Oral questions: Justice (including Topical Questions)

Ten Minute Rule Motion: Service Animals (Offences) 

Rt Hon Sir Oliver Heald QC MP (North East Hertfordshire, Conservative)

Opposition Day Debate: A debate on Universal Credit on a motion in the name of the Official Opposition

Sir David Amess MP (Southend West, Conservative)

Theresa May is facing fresh pressure over Universal Credit after Labour unveiled plans to force ministers to publish secret reports on detailing the controversial policy’s impact on the poorest.

In an Opposition Day motion on Tuesday, Jeremy Corbyn’s party will seek to stage a binding Commons vote to release the documents which the Government refuses to make public.

The Department for Work and Pensions drafted five “Project Assessment Reviews” between 2012 and 2015 to alert civil servants and ministers to potential pitfalls of the Tories’ flagship welfare reform programme.

But despite rulings by the Information Commissioner that the documents’ publication is in the public interest, the Government has still not released them.

ABC Note: A Conservative MP Heidi Allen wept in the House of Commons after hearing of the desperate situations of people affected by government welfare reforms. Heidi Allen’s voice cracked and she was visibly emotional following the speech by Labour’s Frank Field, chairman of the Work and Pensions Select Committee.

Move the slider to 15:41:00 to listen to Frank Field's speech. 

Today sees the launch of UK Poverty 2017 which highlights that overall, 14 million people live in poverty in the UK – over one in five of the population. This is made up of eight million working-age adults, four million children and 1.9 million pensioners. 8 million live in families where at least one person is in work.

The report, which has been produced in-house by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) Analysis Unit for the first time, examines how UK poverty has changed over the two decades, as well as more recent developments.

Over the last 20 years, the UK has dramatically reduced poverty among people who had traditionally been most at risk – pensioners and certain types of families with children. But that progress is beginning to unravel; poverty rates for both groups have started to rise again.

The analysis highlights that the three factors which have led to a fall in poverty and are now under question; state support for many of those on low incomes is falling in real terms, rents are increasing, and rising employment is no longer reducing poverty. As a result, JRF is calling for a national mission to transform the prospects of millions of people living in poverty in the UK.

This is the first report to assess the progress the UK is making in reducing poverty rates and tackling the underlying drivers of poverty since the publication of JRF’s We Can Solve Poverty in the UK in 2016.

Visit the JRF Dashboart Click here:  

See more on the JRF mission to Solve UK Poverty click here:

Download a copy of the JRF full report and summary:

Hundreds of thousands of children and pensioners have fallen into poverty over the past four years, a report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reveals today.

Hundreds of thousands of children and pensioners have fallen into poverty over the past four years, a report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reveals today. It is the first sustained increase in poverty since the mid-1990s, with stagnant wages a key factor. 

An NHS England board paper has warned that a lack of funding will mean waiting times standards won't be met next year.

NHS chiefs also said that factoring in England’s growing and aging patient population, NHS revenue per person will fall by 0.4% in 2019/20.

Liberal Democrat former Health Minister Norman Lamb commented: "This is the inevitable consequence of the government's continued underfunding of our NHS. "Patients will suffer longer waiting times for routine operations, while progress towards improving mental health care risks being reversed. "The public very clearly wants to see more investment in the NHS as a national priority. "The Liberal Democrats have set out a clear plan to raise £6bn for the NHS and care by putting a penny on income tax. "We need to be honest with the British people that securing the best possible standards of care will mean all chipping in a little more."

The UK care home sector is faced with an unsustainable £1bn funding gap, the Competition and Markets Authority has warned. This has led to care homes propping up their finances by charging higher prices to those who pay for their own care, with average self-funders’ fees (£44,000 per year) around 40% higher than those paid by councils.

The watchdog also warned that uncertainty about future funding means more care homes are closing and there is not enough investment in new accommodation for council-funded residents.

A man aged 65 in the UK can now expect to live, on average, to 85.6 and a woman of the same age to 87.8, new figures reveal.

A boy born today could expect to live to 89.5, whilst a girl could expect to live to 92.1.

Triple lock pension refers to adding the largest amount to your pension from three different variables. It could be the growth in national average earnings, the growth in retail prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index or a minimum of 2.5 per cent. 

This agreement also covers countries in the European Economic Area and Switzerland.

Please us the Office of National Statistics calculator below to work out your life expectancy: 

Work & Pensions Committee

Committee opens new phase of inquiry: next steps to fix Universal Credit

The Committee published a report on Universal Credit: the six week wait in October 2017. Following the package of changes to UC announced in the November 2017 Budget, the Committee took evidence from a panel of experts on 29 November, asking “Did the Chancellor fix Universal Credit?” Now we are opening a new phase of the inquiry  - and a new web forum -  and calling for evidence on the areas they identified as the first priorities.

Number one was self-employment and the Minimum Income Floor

Self-employed people can claim UC under different rules to employees, if they can demonstrate that they are “gainfully self-employed”. Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches determine whether a claimant is gainfully self-employed. If they meet this gateway condition, they are exempted from UC work search requirements to allow them to focus on developing their business.

Self-employed UC claimants are subject to a Minimum Income Floor (MIF). This assumes they are making a certain, minimum amount of income each month. For most claimants, the MIF is the equivalent of a full-time worker (35 hours per week) on the National Living Wage. Their UC award is calculated on this basis, regardless of whether they have actually earned that amount. Newly self-employed people are exempt from the MIF for one year after starting a business, known as the “Start-up Period”.

The MIF is intended to encourage claimants to earn as much as possible, ensure the Department does not subsidise unprofitable self-employment, and discourage under-reporting of income. In some circumstances, however—such as where self-employed claimants have fluctuating incomes—this can result in them receiving much less in UC  payments than employees on the same annual income.

From April 2018, the Surplus Earnings Rules will apply to both employees and the self-employed on UC. These are intended to discourage claimants from manipulating their income to maximise their UC entitlement. They are also intended to mitigate the risk of claimants with variable incomes being unfairly rewarded or penalised by receiving more or less UC than they would if they earned the same each month.

Free school meals and passported benefits

Under the legacy benefit system, a variety of “passported” benefits are available to families who receive out-of-work support. Because UC is paid whether claimants are in- or out-of-work, it has “earnings thresholds” for some passported benefits (eg. the Healthy Start Scheme and help with health costs). There are plans to introduce thresholds for others (eg. Free School Meals). On surpassing these thresholds, claimants become ineligible for the passported benefits. There is a risk that the thresholds create “cliff edges” in UC which disincentivise claimants from moving into work or working more hours, as they may struggle to compensate financially for the loss of their passported benefits.

Work incentives

The work allowance (the amount an individual can earn before UC is withdrawn) and the taper (the rate at which earnings above the Work Allowance are withdrawn) are the tools in UC that determine incentives to work. DWP’s original vision for UC emphasised the generosity of its work allowances compared to the equivalent income thresholds in legacy benefits. The 2015 Summer budget, however, reduced the generosity of UC work allowances. They are now set in the range of 5 to 10 hours per week at NLW, depending on claimant group. The current UC taper is 63%, reduced from 65% in the 2016 Autumn Statement.

Universal Support

Universal Support is intended to help claimants adjust to being on UC: for example, providing help with budgeting. Iain Duncan Smith, the former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and an architect of UC, has emphasised that Universal Support is vital to UC functioning effectively and achieving its aims.

Universal Support is developed and delivered at a local level. Some funding is available from DWP to local authorities, with levels negotiated individually with each local authority through UC Delivery Partnership Agreements. Local authorities can deliver services in-house, or can commission services.

Support for childcare costs in Universal Credit

Eligible claimants can receive up to 85% of their childcare costs through UC. Like the rest of the UC award, this is paid in arrears. Claimants have to report their childcare costs within specific timeframes. For the live service, claimants must notify DWP within a period up to and including the end of the assessment period that follows the assessment period in which the costs were paid. Full service claimants must notify the Department, via the online system, of the amount paid before the end of that assessment period: a shorter notification period than in the live service.

The Committee would like further written evidence on Universal Credit, drawing on points raised at our evidence session on 29 November. This evidence will inform us in our rolling programme of work on UC.

We welcome submissions on one or more of the questions below, from individuals and organisations. The deadline is 9 January 2018.

Self-employment

In addition to new submissions, the Committee would welcome updates on submissions made to its earlier inquiry on Self-employment and the gig economy.

• What effect has UC had on self-employed people?
• How can the Department best balance protecting public funds with supporting self-employed people in UC? Does the Minimum Income Floor (MIF) achieve this balance?
• Are any groups of self-employed people particularly likely to be affected by the MIF?
• What are the options for reforming the MIF, and what are their cost implications?
• Is the existing Start-up Period for newly self-employed UC claimants appropriate? If not, what changes should be made and how much would these cost?
• To what extent will UC Surplus Earnings Rules offset the impact of the MIF?
• How should “gainful self-employment” be defined under UC? For example, should “gig economy” workers be eligible to claim UC as self-employed?
• What is the relationship between the MIF and National Living Wage/National Minimum Wage? Is there a risk that removing or reforming the MIF would undermine the NLW/NMW?

Free School Meals and passported benefits

• How should eligibility for Free School Meals in UC be determined?
• How can eligibility criteria for passported benefits balance UC work incentives with achieving value for money? Is this balance currently being achieved?
• Are current eligibility criteria for other passported benefits (eg. help with health costs and the Healthy Start Scheme) appropriate? If not, how should they be reformed?

Work incentives

• What would be the impact of adjusting a) the taper rate or b) UC work allowances on employment incentives in UC? Which option for reform would be most cost-effective?
• Should UC have different taper rates and/or work allowances for different claimant groups?
• How can the Department help UC claimants better understand the impact on their incomes of moving into work or taking on more hours?

Universal Support

• How important is Universal Support to the success of UC?
• Is Universal Support working well, and how could it be improved?
• Are there local variations in the quality of Universal Support? If so, how should these be addressed?

Childcare support

• Are UC systems for reporting childcare costs easy for claimants to use? How might they be improved?

 See the full inquiry details, and submit your evidence  or join in the debate on our new UC forum here: 

North West Durham CLP (Constituency Labour Party) in partnership with Unite Community are holding a day of action to call for the Government to Pause and Fix Universal Credit. This will be one of the biggest days of action ran by the CLP on this issue.

Please assemble:  Saterday 02 December 2017 10:00am at UNIT 4, 26 Newmarket Street, Consett, County Durham, DH8 5LQ

Whether people have improved their chances of finding a job, developed fresh perspectives on sustainable development, learnt a new language, gained a clearer idea of European citizenship, or found a new passion for volunteering: Erasmus+ has produced many success stories.

The Erasmus Programme has been enriching lives for the past 30 years. It is not just a time in someone's existence, it is a turning point.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

How can you take part? Please click here: