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US department store chain Sears filed for bankruptcy yesterday, as it struggled with debts of more than $5bn. It reportedly could not meet a $134m repayment due on Monday. The company used to dominate America’s shopping malls but has lately suffered from rising online competition, which has had an impact on many other retailers. As of 2017, Sears was the 23rd largest retailer in the United States but has seen years of declining sales. 

Sears employs nearly 9,000 people in the US, down from 246,000 five years ago. The company said it would close 142 unprofitable stores by the end of the year. The number of Sears stores in the country dropped from 1,700 at the end of 2014 to just over 860 in August this year.

Meanwhile, news from the UK High Street are also covered in the news this morning, as Claire’s has announced it is considering closing some of its stores. The chain currently has over 370 stores in the country – the company’s spokesperson said that the action was “part of normal business practice”.

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The ability to take part in decision-making processes that have an impact on your life is a key feature of a democratic society. However for too many people living on low incomes or in communities affected by poverty, they have little power and few opportunities to be part of vital decisions in their communities. 

The Scottish Government is carrying out a wide ranging into how communities could be given more control over the decisions that affect them. This year’s Poverty Alliance annual conference will be an opportunity to contribute to that discussion, to look at a range of experiences where communities have sought to take more control, and to learn lessons for the future.

The event will have a keynote speech from Aileen Campbell MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government. Poverty Alliance  will also be joined by speakers from the Govanhill Baths, FARE in Easterhouse, the Electoral Reform Society and others.

At a time of increasing poverty and with public services under real pressure, the need for greater community control and input has never been greater. Come along and have your voice heard in this important debate!

Full details and registration details are available here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/poverty-participation-and-power-democracy-matters-tickets-50534559227

This event is FREE and open to all say organisers. The event will include lunch and be followed by the Poverty Alliance AGM

Image: Trades Hall, Glasgow.

DATE AND TIME

Fri 26 October 2018

09:30 – 14:00 BST

Add to Calendar

LOCATION

Trades Hall

88 Glassford Street

Glasgow

G1

Scotland

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The latest Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates for the period June-August 2018 indicate that, over the quarter, the employment rate decreased while the unemployment rate increased. There was no change in the economic inactivity rate over the quarter.

The number of people on the Northern Ireland claimant count (experimental) decreased in September 2018.

The LFS indicated that the NI unemployment rate (16+) increased over the quarter and decreased over the year to 4.3% in June-August 2018. Although the quarterly and annual changes were not statistically significant, the decrease from the beginning of 2016 is significant. • The UK unemployment rate (4.0%) decreased over the quarter and over the year to its joint lowest rate on record.

The NI unemployment rate was higher than the UK unemployment rate, but below the European Union (6.8%) and Republic of Ireland (5.9%) rates (July 2018).

The proportion of people aged 16 to 64 in work (the employment rate) decreased over the quarter (0.6pps) and increased over the year (0.8 pps) to 69.2%. Although the quarterly and annual changes were not statistically significant, the increase from 2013 is significant. The UK employment rate was 75.5%.

The NI economic inactivity rate (the proportion of people aged from 16 to 64 who were not working and not seeking or available to work) was unchanged over the quarter and decreased over the year to 27.5%. Although neither the annual nor quarterly changes were statistically significant, the decrease from 2009 is significant. The UK economic inactivity rate was 21.2%.

The number of people on the NI claimant count (experimental) decreased by 100 over the month to 28,100 in September 2018. Please note these figures include Jobseeker’s Allowance Claimants and those claimants of Universal Credit who were claiming it principally for the reason of being unemployed.

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Details on food banks served by The Global Food Banking Network, say that foodbanks operate in 31 countries, serving 7.78 million people, more than half of whom are children.

Food banks are an environmental asset as they procure wholesome, surplus food that might otherwise end up as waste throughout the supply chain and redirect it away from landfills to social service organizations that feed the hungry.

Because food banks’ success relies on the management of local community leaders rather than temporary foreign aid, the concept is positioned for long-term, sustainable success.

Food banks can be adapted and tailored to work within specific countries’ laws and respond to different community needs.

More than 60 million hungry women, children and families have access to food as a result of food banks.

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From the BBC website this morning:

Ministers have bowed to pressure and are planning to further delay the rollout of flagship welfare reform Universal Credit, BBC News has learned.

The system, which will merge six benefits into one payment, has been beset with problems.

Leaked documents now reveal proposals to spend hundreds of millions of pounds to try to prevent claimants suffering hardship when they move onto it.

The government said it always intended to introduce the benefit slowly.

The universal credit system was originally supposed to be up and running by April 2017, but is now not expected to be fully operational until December 2023.

Massive overspends and administrative problems have plagued the reform.

What is Universal Credit?

The policy was first announced under the coalition government in 2010. It's supposed to simplify benefits for working-age people, replacing income support, jobseeker's allowance, employment and support allowance, housing benefit, child tax credit, and working tax credit.

Under the old system, claimants faced a "cliff edge" where people on low incomes would lose all their benefits once they started working more than 16 hours a week.

The new system is supposed to reduce benefits gradually as earnings increase.

BBC Reality Check has broken all this down in more detail.

What is the problem with it?

Pressure has been mounting on the government for weeks to either delay or halt the next stage of the reform.

Much criticism has centred on the time it takes for people applying for Universal Credit to receive their first payment - 35 days - with some claimants left struggling to pay their bills in that period.

On Monday, independent MP Frank Field said the rollout of the system in his constituency had driven some female claimants to sex work.

Media captionEsther McVey on universal credit: Some will be worse off

Anger built further last week when Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey admitted that "some people will be worse off" under the new system, amid claims 3.2 million households will lose more than £2,000 year.

The Times newspaper suggested she had told a cabinet meeting some families could lose up to £200 a month.

Mrs McVey insisted, though, that the most vulnerable would be protected.

What has the BBC now learned?

Well, it appears that big changes are going to be made in an attempt to reduce the negative impact on people being moved to UC.

First off, plans have been drawn up to continue paying income support, employment and support allowance, and job seekers allowance for two weeks after a claim for universal credit has been made.

A similar policy for housing benefit was introduced in last year's Budget, following evidence that some claimants were going into rent arrears.

Second, there are to be changes to how deductions from a recipient's payment can be made.

Claimants can ask for an advance to help them get by while waiting for their first proper UC payment - later the government takes deductions from their regular monthly award to pay that back.

Under the revised plans, the maximum amount that can be deducted will be reduced from 40% to 30% of their total award each month.

Thirdly, more help is set to be given to the self-employed, after warnings they could be left in serious financial trouble because of incorrect assumptions by the Department for Work and Pensions about their earnings.

But the documents seen by the BBC also make clear that these concessions might not actually be achievable.

An extract says: "We can currently offer no assurance that ultimately these proposals will prove to be deliverable, can survive legal challenges where they can be delivered, and do not invite new political criticism by generating new policy issues."

How does all this affect the timescale?

The government was intending to begin moving almost four million people onto UC from January 2019, initially in small batches. Larger scale movements were due to start next July.

Now though, initial testing has been pushed back to next summer, and large-scale movement won't begin until November 2020 at the earliest.

The leaked papers predict that overall, the latest delay will add an additional nine months to the final deadline for full implementation.

What does the government say?

A Department for Work and Pensions statement said it was taking a "a slow and measured approach to managed migration" and wanted "to ensure the system is working well for claimants and to make any necessary adaptations as we go".

"We will publish full plans for the next stage of Universal Credit rollout, including managed migration, in due course. Anything before that point is speculation and we do not comment on leaks."

Courtesey of the BBC

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Recognising and appropriately treating mental health problems among new immigrants and refugees in primary care poses a challenge because of differences in language and culture and because of specific stressors associated with migration and resettlement.

It is estimated that 244 million people (3.3% of the world's population) live outside their country of origin, of whom 65 million were forcibly displaced because of ongoing conflict and persecution—an all-time high for that figure.

This video from the Disabled People Against Cuts gives you some insight about the problem.

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The rollout of universal credit, the government’s flagship welfare reform, is fast emerging as a major political problem. The Observer reports that some 2.8 million homes will see their income cut when the new benefit system goes nationwide next year. 

Former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith says "it's wholly feasible" for universal credit to get £2bn extra funding in the budget.

What’s going on? Universal credit combines several benefits into a single payment and aims to ensure there is always an incentive to work built into the system. As the paper reports, the benefit has already been rolled out in some areas, but “a crunch is due to come next year when millions are moved from the current system to the new programme.” On Marr, Thornberry launched a furious attack on the government. “We must not come out of austerity on the backs of the poor,” she said. “It’s wrong. It’s fundamentally wrong.”

Money, money, money: You can tell the project is in trouble when Iain Duncan Smith — its architect — is on the TV calling for a change of course from the government. On Marr, he called on the government to stop raising the point at which people start paying tax (which does not benefit the poorest who don’t pay tax anyway) and give the money to the poorest through universal credit, ensuring there are no cuts in what people actually receive when they are moved onto the new system. “The structure works, you need to put the money in,” he said. Watch.

Change coming: On Sky, Tory chairman James Cleverly hinted that action would be taken in the budget on October 29. “Universal credit needs to be well resourced,” he told presenter Sophy Ridge. “We need to make it work.

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From Wikipedia: Professor John Seddon, an author and occupational psychologist, began a campaign in January 2011 for an alternative way to deliver Universal Credit, arguing it wasn't possible to deliver high-variety services through "cheaper" transaction channels, and would drive costs up. He wrote an open letter to Iain Duncan Smith and Lord Freud as part of a campaign to call halt to current plans and embark instead on a "systems approach". Seddon also launched a petition calling for Duncan Smith to: "rethink the centralised, IT-dominated service design for the delivery of Universal Credit".

Echoing these concerns, Ronnie Campbell, MP for Blyth Valley, sponsored an Early Day Motion on 13 June 2011 on the delivery of Universal Credit which was signed by thirty MPs: "That this House notes that since only fifteen per cent of people in deprived areas have used a Government website in the last year, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) may find that more Universal Credit customers than expected will turn to face-to-face and telephone help from their local authority, DWP helplines, Government-funded welfare organisations, councillors and their Hon. Member as they find that the automated system is not able to deal with their individual questions, particular concerns and unique set of circumstances".

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High street fashion outlet Coast entered administration last night, leading to the closure of 24 stores, including one on London's Oxford Street.

300 jobs are now at risk - another 600 had worked with the firm, but will be transferred to fellow retailer Karen Millen, which is also owned by the former eventual owners of Coast. The 'High Street' is having one of its worse years on record a combination of competition from the Internet, increased rent an rates and a decline in consumer confidence pre-BREXIT.

Image: Coast, latest retailer to fail. 

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Theresa May has refused to scrap her government’s controversial policy, despite reports almost one in two women taking part in the assessments say they have attempted suicide before or after the process.

Work Capability Assessment. The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is the test used by the British Government's Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to decide whether welfare claimants are entitled to sickness benefits.

Image: Ian Blackford MP, Scottish National Party MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber.  

Ian Blackford MP congratulated the Prime Minister on her appointment of a Minister for Suicide Prevention, but said if the Prime Minister was serious about the issue, she would eradicate polices that lead people to believe suicide is their only option. 

A series of secret internal inquiries into the deaths of people claiming social security revealed that UK government ministers were repeatedly warned of shortcomings of their social security policies.

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