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Most working-age benefits were frozen in 2016 by former Tory chancellor George Osborne.

The policy was not included in the party's last manifesto, but at Prime Minister's Questions, Jeremy Corbyn said he "would have ended the benefit freeze" if he had won the election. Labour has been criticized for their response to the budget.

Labour later said it would increase benefits in line with inflation.

During the 2017 general election campaign, Labour promised to scrap the so-called bedroom tax, restore housing benefit for those under 21 and increase Personal Independence Payments for the disabled.

Speaking on ITV's Peston show, John McDonnell MP Shadow Chancellor. MP for Hayes and Harlington said: "We will lift the freeze and we will make sure thereon that people get a proper cost of living increase."

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A very special thanks to Social Welfare Training who have sent us this excellent guide to changes in the budget.

Image: A Social Welfare Training Poster

Please download this 'at a glance' guide below: 

The number of homeless residents across Los Angeles County has dropped to 53,195, new figures show. There was a 23% increase in 2017. 

A new idea is being tested - providing grants for homeowners to purchase 'granny Annexes' as they are called in the UK which can be surprisingly cheap. Residents can get up to $75,000 to build a "granny flat"—if they open it up to a homeless family.

The pilot, for which the county has earmarked $550,000, will grant two or three of such units in areas where zoning is managed by the county as officials assess whether to scale up in the future. It's part of L.A. county's broader initiative to address homelessness, This consists of  51 strategies—from opening up vacant lots for housing to subsidize housing—have been approved between 2016 and 2017.

This wouldn't be the first county to address homelessness through the growing popularity of backyard homes. In March, Oregon's Multnomah County introduced a similar program, going a step further and offering to build as many as 300 tiny homes—roughly 200 square feet,

“While the reduction in our homeless population in the City and County of Los Angeles is modest at best, we are—at last—headed in the right direction,” said LA City Councilmember Jose Huizar, whose district encompasses the largest concentration of homeless residents in the county. 2017 saw a 23% increase in homelessness making LA the homeless capital of the world.

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Commenting on news that NatWest bank plans to review its lending practices to address concerns that they prevent landlords renting to benefit claimants, David Smith, Policy Director for the Residential Landlords Association said:

“With increasing numbers of benefit claimants now reliant on the private rented sector for a home we welcome NatWest’s decision to review its lending practices.

“The RLA continues to urge the rest of the industry to do likewise so that private landlords are better supported to house vulnerable tenants.”

The RLA last week wrote to the Treasury calling for it to work with stakeholders to address the problem of banks preventing landlords with buy-to-let mortgages renting to benefit claimants.

It followed the case of Helena McAleer, a landlord from Northern Ireland, who had her mortgage revoked by NatWest because she was renting to tenants in receipt of housing benefit.

The RSA have also said:

The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) found that three in every five landlords (61%) with tenants claiming Universal Credit have experienced them going into arrears at some point.

In 2016, the proportion of landlords experiencing arrears from Universal Credit claimants was 27%.

Furthermore, the average owed by tenants in rent arrears grew by 49% over the past year, with the figure standing at £2,400.

ABC Note: The RLA also found regular delays affecting the alternative payment arrangement (APA) system, with landlords applying to have housing benefit paid directly to them waiting an average of two months for these payments to be organised by the DWP.

Image: The Residential Landlords Association

ABC Note: there are also variation in what people get under Universal Credit and Claimants that have requested payment to landlords have found this can take up to two months to affect.

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 A quick round up regarding the budget in regards to welfare claimants is:

• Work allowances for universal credit to be increased by £1.7bn
• 2.4 million working families with children to benefit by £630 a year
• An extra £1bn to help welfare claimants transfer to the new consolidated benefit
• Chancellor insists controversial system is "here to stay"

New measures are going to be announced soon by Esther McVey. The forecasts for increasing employment and lowering unemployment looked very positive. This could all change however if there is a no deal BREXIT. 

What does not look so bright in the coming years are the growth targets and these have been downsized.

Employment Growth Prospects:

Image: Employment is set to grow but BREXIT could change all that. 

Theresa May’s hope is that by turning on the taps she can neutralize the threat of Jeremy Corbyn’s anti-austerity rhetoric, but Corbyn in turn delivered a blistering performance following Chancellor Philip Hammond's speech. At times the PM looked like a French Sea Captain at the Battle of Trafalgar as volley after volley hit its mark. Corbyn was well prepared and he looked really on form. A more generous budget. Austerity is far from over and it is too premature to start singing 'let the good times roll'. 

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A no-deal outcome to the Brexit negotiations would require an emergency budget allowing the government to intervene in the event of economic turbulence while setting a “new direction” for the U.K. economy overall, Chancellor Philip Hammond said in a pair of TV interviews ahead of Monday’s annual budget statement.

Brexit and the budget: Hammond, who will deliver the statement in the House of Commons at 3.30 p.m. Monday, local time, told Andrew Marr that it would be based on the assumption of a “negotiated exit, an average type free trade deal.” While a deal based on the government’s proposed Brexit model — Chequers — would, he said “minimize the negative effect,” a no-deal would require what he told Sky’s Sophy Ridge, who got the scoop in an earlier interview: “A different approach to the future of Britain’s economy.”

Tory welfare spokesperson Michelle Ballantyne was this week widely condemned for her comments suggested those on low-incomes should be restricted in how many children they can have.

In a Holyrood debate on Wednesday, the MSP said people on benefits should not “have as many children as they like”.

Ballantyne was accused of hypocrisy as she had claimed child benefits and tax credits for her own six children.

The outrageous comment in the middle of a debate on ending austerity, poverty and inequality visibly shocked other MSPs

The SNP has now produced a dossier showing how deep the Scottish Tories support for poverty producing policies is.

The dossier shows that Scottish Tories:

• Backed the two-child cap, which puts 150,000 Scottish children at greater risk of poverty by 2021.
• Argued there was no “hard evidence” explaining rising foodbank demand – despite the overwhelming evidence pointing the finger precisely at Tory policies.
• Said that only “tiny” numbers were affected by sanctions – when figures show that Scots have been sanctioned 400,000 times since 2010.
• Argued that the minimum wage should be scrapped.
• Branded the Bedroom Tax an “opportunity” – when three quarters of those affected were forced to cut back on food.

Commenting, SNP MSP Tom Arthur said:

“It’s time for the Scottish Tories to get back in touch with reality.

“As much as Ruth Davidson tries to distance herself from her colleagues in London, the record shows that her party has been a vocal and passionate supporter of the worst aspects of Tory cuts.

“With Tory politicians loudly backing the two-child cap, benefit sanctions and calling for the minimum wage to be scrapped – it’s clear that the Tory plan for Scotland is one to increase poverty.”

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Hours and earnings statistics published

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings was published today by the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency.

Weekly earnings increase in real terms, following a decrease in real earnings last year

• * Median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees (“weekly earnings”) in April 2018 were £521, an increase of 4.2% from £500 in 2017.  This is the largest increase recorded since 2015 (5.4%).
• * When adjusted for inflation, real earnings increased over the year by 2.0%, following a decrease in real earnings the previous year.
• * While earnings in cash terms have generally been increasing each year since 2008 (with the exception of a decrease in 2014), real earnings have not. Real earnings were on a downward trend between 2009 and 2014, and an upward trend since 2014. Despite improvements since 2014 and the increase of 2.0% in real earnings over the year, real earnings are still below 2009 levels (£527).
• * At 4.2%, the increase over the year in weekly earnings was the largest of the 12 UK regions. However, NI earnings have remained below the UK average over the past 20 years and in 2018, were the fifth lowest of the 12 UK regions.
• * In the UK, weekly earnings were £569, an increase of 3.5% from 2017 (£550). This is the largest increase in 10 years. When adjusted for inflation, UK weekly earnings increased by 1.2%, which, similar to NI, followed a decrease in real earnings the previous year.

Increase in earnings driven by Private Sector
 

• * The increase in weekly earnings over the year was driven by increases in the private sector. Private sector weekly earnings increased by 4.5% over the year, while public sector weekly earnings decreased by 0.3%. Private sector weekly earnings (£465) were 25% lower than public sector earnings (£621).
• * Increases in pay were experienced across the spectrum for private sector workers, with those in the lowest 10% of the earnings distribution experiencing an increase of 4.8% and those in the top 10% experiencing a 5.5% increase.
• * Earnings in the public sector decreased marginally (0.3%), however remain above earnings in the private sector. Whilst public sector earnings in NI were similar to those in the UK, earnings in the private sector in NI remained below those in the UK and were equivalent to 85% of the UK private sector median.

NI remains only region in UK where full-time females earn more than males

• * Median hourly earnings for full-time females (£12.94) were 3.5% greater than those for full-time males (£12.50). This is the largest recorded difference in favour of females.
• * NI remains the only region in the UK where full-time females earn more per hour on average than full-time males. In the UK as whole full-time females earned 8.6% less per hour than full-time males.
• * The gender pay gap in NI is driven by a larger proportion of full-time females than males working in higher paid occupations, and in the public sector. When all employees (full-time and part-time employees) are considered, the gender pay gap is reversed, and males earn more on average than females. This is because a greater proportion of females than males are in part-time work, where average pay is lower.  It is explained visually at https://www.ninis2.nisra.gov.uk/images/ASHE2018-2.gif

Annual earnings increase over the year

• * The median annual earnings for full-time employees in NI increased by 4.1% over the year to £27,006, but remained lower than the UK median of £29,574. The highest 10% of earners in NI earned above £48,941 per annum.

Highest proportion in the UK earning below the Real Living Wage

• * Approximately 1% of employees earned below the National Living Wage or National Minimum Wage, and 28% earned below the ‘Real Living Wage’.
• * The proportion below the National Living/Minimum Wage cannot be used as a measure of non-compliance with the minimum wage legislation. This is because it is not always possible to determine from the survey data whether an individual is eligible for the minimum wage. For example, if employees receive free accommodation, employers are entitled to offset hourly rates.
• * Those at the 10th percentile earned the same amount per hour as the current National Living Wage (£7.83). In contrast, those at the 10th percentile of the public sector (£9.95) earned more per hour than those at the 40th percentile of the private sector (£9.89).
• * The increase in hourly rates at the 10th percentile of the private sector pay distribution is in line with the increase in the National Living Wage, from £7.50 in 2017 to £7.83 in 2018. This is a clear indication of its impact on low pay.
• * Some of the difference between earnings in the public and private sector is due to differences in the composition of the workforces. Many of the lowest paid occupations exist primarily in the private sector, while there is a larger proportion of professional occupations in the public sector.
• * The ‘Real Living Wage’ (£8.75) is set by the Living Wage Foundation and recalculated each year. NI has the highest proportion (28%) of jobs paying less than the Real Living Wage, followed by East Midlands (27%) and Wales (26%). In the UK as a whole, 23% earn below the ‘Real Living Wage’.
• * The following interactive chart shows the hourly earnings distribution 2002-2018. https://www.ninis2.nisra.gov.uk/images/ASHE2018-1.gif . The change in distribution shows the impact of minimum wage over the last 15 years.

Paid hours in NI remain above UK average

• * The total weekly hours worked by full-time employees in NI increased by 0.2 hours over the year to 38.3 hours. This is the third year of increases in paid hours in NI (from 37.9 hours in 2015 to 38.3 in 2018).
• * Total weekly paid hours in NI were 0.8 hours higher than the UK. NI paid hours, which have been consistently higher than the UK average over the past 10 years, were the highest of all the UK regions.

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End Hunger UK Campaign Conference 2018, had Channel 4 and BBC News filming and doing interviews, as well as 154 participants, including a Government Minister, 2 MPs, campaigners from around the country, representatives from food poverty organizations and 20 experts with lived experience of food poverty, including lots of 15-year-olds from Lancashire!

There were also short films, poetry, and a photo exhibition. There were sessions on everything from the Right to Food, to measuring food insecurity, to setting up End Hunger UK groups, to Universal Credit. 

The organizers said they were particularly inspired by the poem 'Breadlines' read superbly by ‘Matt’ which you can hear recited below.

As a matter of urgency, End Hunger UK is calling on the Government to:

• Reinvest at least £2 billion into the Universal Credit system in the 2018 autumn Budget.
• Take action to improve the flexibility and support for people on Universal Credit.
• Make improvements to Universal Credit, to ensure it does not leave more people at risk of debt and destitution.
• Make a long-term commitment to ensure Universal Credit provides people with enough income to afford good food on a regular basis.

Click here to download a ‘Fix Universal Credit’ petition sheet and start collecting signatures now!

ABC Note: End Hunger is a campaign by, Church Action on Poverty, 28 Sandpiper Court, Water’s Edge Business Park, Modwen Road, Salford M5 3EZ Twitter: @EndHunger_UK

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Simon Collyer is taking the DWP to Court this Friday over an issue that could have repercussions for all benefit claimants.

We cannot talk about the case in detail, so we are not going to say anything till after it has been heard:

Simon Collyer v Secretary of State for Work & Pensions Case D05YP632, Chelmsford County Court, Priority Place, New London Road, Chelmsford Essex, CM2 0PP. (10:00am)

On Friday we will be explaining more about the issue and how we got on. 

Special thanks to Rodney ‘Rottweiler’ Hylton-Potts for the help and advice and for creating our ‘bundle’.  

Simon Collyer is representing himself in Court and taking on government lawyers is not for the faint hearted. The help we have had we hope will stop us being out manouvered.  

If you need a top-notch lawyer, you can find Rodney in our directory above:

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