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Living Wage Scotland currently have vacancies for Living Wage Accreditation Officers. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to a high profile national project that engages with employers of all sizes and sectors within Scotland.

Working within a small team, the successful candidates will play a crucial role in ensuring that more employers and workers benefit from the Living Wage. The Accreditation Officers will be responsible for engaging with employers and contributing to the development and updating of materials relevant to the projects aims (case studies, web materials, articles, promotional resources, etc.)

The Living Wage Accreditation Officer post is 35 hours per week.

The contract duration would be fixed term until March 2021.

The post of Living Wage Accreditation Officer will suit an individual who not only has excellent verbal and written communication skills, but also a strong commitment to the struggle for social justice and a desire to tackle in-work poverty.  For more information on the role, please contact Julie McGahan or Jack Evans on 0141 353 0440 or click below:

Sainsbury’s confirmed plans to merge with Asda this morning. The merger is being led by Sainsbury.

The two companies have a combined workforce of 360,000 people and the £12bn merger between the two companies has raised fears that suppliers would have to be forced to cut prices further, which is very damaging for smaller businesses.

 The merger, which will have to be approved by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), would create a supermarket giant in the UK. Tesco is currently top in regard to grocery market share, owning 25% of the market. Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s has 13.8% and Asda has 12.9%.
 
The combined group would represent 31.4% of UK’s grocery market and would comprise 2,800 stores.

The merger is being driven by the possibility of Amazon entering the UK groceries market, as well as the growth of discounter supermarkets such as Lidl and Aldi which are challenging the traditional chains.

High rent and rates plus internet competition is decimating the high streets. 

Austerity Fight is a 90 min documentary by Liverpool based filmmakers, Phil Maxwell & Hazuan Hashim.

The austerity policies of the Tories have targeted young and old. The NHS is chronically under funded and is being privatised. Students are leaving college with huge debts. Children, pensioners and the disabled are living in poverty and millions live precarious lives on ‘zero hour contracts’. Austerity Fight challenges the notion that we have to live in a world where public services are cut, worker’s rights removed and poverty is a daily reality for millions. Austerity Fight champions equality, practical alternatives to Austerity and a vision of a world based on co-operation rather than the greed of a global super elite. This is the first screening since the film was premiered recently at the East End film festival when it received the following critical acclaim:

“Such an astonishing achievement. A rousing, current, passionate document of ordinary people fighting back. This important film needs widespread screening”.
Rachel Lichtenstein (Author).

“A wonderful film pulling off such an alternative voice to what we see on the mainstream media. Linking the devastating cuts going on in all services”.
Amanda Richardson (Award winning documentary maker - BAFTA/Grierson)

“Exposes what Austerity means in so many spheres, and documents the movements fighting back through the voices of ordinary people of all generations. Beautifully filmed, it is a must see not just for you, but for the unions, community groups, workplaces you are part of. A great film. What an indictment of Tory Britain through the articulate voices of working class campaigners. And what exquisite timing as our movement is rising in hope and confidence".
David Rosenberg (Author)

“Fabulous. An incredible screening and an amazing and well deserved reaction”.
Alison Poltock (Director, East End Film Festival 2017)

“An excellent and inspiring film”.
Glyn Robbins (Author)

Image: Liverpool 2016

“A brilliant film”.
Guy Shennan (‘Boot Out Austerity”)

"Unmissable film. Marking history".
Prof. David Whyte (Co-author, The Violence of Austerity)

Child Poverty Action Group welcomes today’s announcement from the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions that all children who are adopted will not be taken into account for the purposes of the two-child limit in tax credits and universal credit.  But the charity urged the Secretary of State to go further and ensure that all children born as a result of non-consensual sex are also not taken into account for the purposes of the two-child limit. 

Today’s announcement  follows the charity’s legal case which led to  last week’s High Court finding which held that all kinship care children should be exempt from the limit.   Before the ruling only third or subsequent kinship care children were exempted from the limit.     

 Today’s announcement means families claiming tax credits or universal credit who adopt children or take in children on a kinship care basis will be able to claim the child elements of those benefits for adopted  children and kinship care children as well as two of their biological children.  

Commenting on today’s announcement Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group Alison Garnham said:

“This is a welcome move which follows on from our legal case on kinship care.  It is the right thing to do for families who take on care of some very vulnerable children.   We hope it will be followed by a decision to exempt all children conceived as a result of non-consensual sex.  We argue that the overall two-child limit breaches fundamental human rights and we will continue to  challenge its lawfulness.”

The economy grew at an annual rate of 2.3 percent in the first quarter, the government reported Friday, offering a preliminary glance at how last year’s sweeping package of tax cuts is affecting consumers and businesses this year.

The free government recruitment service – now operated by Adzuna – will continue to connect jobseekers with thousands of employers across the UK.

The change will come into effect on 14 May, and access to existing ‘Universal Jobmatch’ accounts will be available up until 17 June 2018.

The Minister for Employment, Alok Sharma, said:

With the employment rate the highest it has been since records began, I want those still looking for work around the country to have the very best opportunity to find a role that suits their needs.

Our new Find a Job service offers one of the largest free job search functions out there – and with a near record number of vacancies, there are plenty to choose from.

The service will offer jobseekers and employers a simpler and more streamlined way to log in and access their information. The site will continue to allow jobseekers to search for work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Through the creation of an account, they will be able to track their activity, create tailored job alerts and store multiple CVs, to ensure their applications are the best they can be when applying for roles.

Following a competitive procurement process, Adzuna has been providing the new service from early 2018. The site will offer a faster, more efficient experience. A more powerful search using Adzuna’s technology will match jobseekers to employers’ available roles quickly and effectively.

The ‘Don’t be a Bystander’ campaign aims to show how powerful a positive intervention can be for someone who is experiencing or who has experienced violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence.

The aim is to create a culture across Wales where people are empowered to actively help prevent violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence.

This campaign aims to encourage everyone in Wales to act; to do something when they are worried someone they know may be experiencing violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence.

Wales will not stand by or accept violence against women, domestic abuse or sexual violence.

ABC Note: A great campaign the ABC fully supports. No one should have to live in fear in their own home.

Monthly data which covers topics such as employment, indices, exports and earnings.

The Labour Force Survey estimates for the 3 months to February 2018

Employment rate

Wales: The employment rate in Wales was 73.0 per cent. This is 0.3 percentage points up on the quarter and 0.1 percentage points down on the year.

UK: The UK employment rate was 75.4 per cent. This is 0.1 percentage points up on the quarter and 0.8 percentage points up on the year.

Unemployment rate

Wales: The unemployment rate in Wales was 4.6 per cent. This is 0.3 percentage points down on the quarter and 0.3 percentage points down on the year.

UK: The UK unemployment rate was 4.2 per cent. This is 0.1 percentage points down on the quarter and 0.4 percentage points down on the year.

Inactivity rate

Wales: The economic inactivity rate in Wales was 23.4 per cent. This is 0.2 percentage points down on the quarter and 0.3 percentage points up on the year.

UK: The UK economic inactivity rate was 21.2 per cent. This is unchanged on the quarter and 0.4 percentage points down on the year.

Loan sharks face a fresh crackdown today (25 April), with more funding to tackle unlawful lending, and an increase in the amount of money seized from loan sharks to support those most vulnerable to their nasty tactics.   

• For the first time in Northern Ireland a new education project will be created to raise awareness of the dangers of loan sharks and to support vulnerable communities. 
• Over £5.5 million will be spent to fund the fight against loan sharks across the United Kingdom, helping to investigate and prosecute illegal lenders, and support their victims.

Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, said:

 “Loan sharks are a blight on society and prey on vulnerable people who struggle to make ends meet and their callous methods will not be tolerated. Northern Ireland is at the forefront of fighting back against their criminal activity with the Consumer Council educating potential victims on the dangers and the PSNI ensuring those responsible will be brought to justice.

 “More money than ever before is being spent to fund the fight against loan sharks as this Government continues to build a United Kingdom fit for the future.”

In Northern Ireland, the Consumer Council will lead its first ever education and awareness campaign to help prevent the most vulnerable from being bitten by loan sharks, and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) will get funding for a specialised officer who will lead on illegal lending within the Paramilitary Crime Task Force.

In total, £5.67 million of funding will be provided to Britain’s Illegal Money Lending Teams (IMLT) and bodies in Northern Ireland to tackle illegal lending - a 16% increase compared to the previous year. The money will be used to investigate and prosecute illegal lenders, and to support those who have been the victim of a loan shark.

Since the Illegal Money Lending Team was established in England in 2004, they’ve made over 380 prosecutions, leading to 328 years’ worth of sentences, and have written off over £73 million of illegal debt, helping over 28,000 people to escape the jaws of the loan sharks. Similar teams operate in Scotland and Wales.

John Glen, Economic Secretary to the Treasury said:

 “These nasty lenders are nothing more than lowlife crooks taking hard-earned cash from the pockets of the most vulnerable. Over 300,000 people are in debt to illegal money lenders in the United Kingdom and they need to know that we’re on their side. That’s why we’re taking the fight to the loan sharks and spending more than ever to support their victims.”

 Further Information 

• People who lend money without the correct permissions are breaking the law. Often known as loan sharks, these illegal lenders typically charge unfair high rates of interest and use intimidation or violence to go about their business.
• The Illegal Money Lending Teams in England, Scotland and Wales work alongside the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to enforce the consumer credit market, but unlike the FCA they have broader powers to tackle the wider criminality associated with loan sharks, such as violence and blackmail.
• The Government committed at Autumn Statement 2016 to expand the scheme that uses funds recovered from convicted loan sharks under the Proceeds of Crime Act to incentivise consumers to join credit unions in communities at risk of being targeted by illegal lenders. The more money seized, the more that can be spent.
• In 2018/19, the England IMLT will spend up to £100,000 in funds seized from loan sharks to incentivise consumers in communities at risk of being targeted by illegal lenders to join and save at a credit union. Four times more funding is available compared to in 2016/17, helping more consumers access alternative sources of credit and avoid the misery caused by loan sharks.
• In 2016 the Government legislated to introduce a ringfenced FCA levy on consumer credit firms, and since April 2017 this levy has been used by HM Treasury to fund crucial action against illegal lending.
• You can find your nearest credit union online: https://www.findyourcreditunion.co.uk
• Citizens Advice can also help those in debt or who are thinking about borrowing from a loan shark. Their advisors are available in-person, over the phone or on their online web chat.

A grandmother from Teesside has recently been told that she will not face a custodial sentence, as a court case that has been hanging over her for years finally ended on 14 March.

Gillian Edwards is 62-year-old mother of three, who had been claiming a widowed mother’s allowance since her husband passed away. All seemed in order, and she continued to receive the benefit till 2014 when she dutifully informed the DWP that she and her new partner were buying a house together, and as they were entering a formal relationship with one another, she wished to end her claim.

The information she provided prompted an investigation by the DWP into her domestic arrangements over the previous years, which revealed she had been living with her new partner since 2002 and had therefore been fraudulently claiming the benefit for 12 years.

£80,000 paid back

In total, the DWP assessed that Mrs. Edwards had “defrauded the public purse” to the tune of £80,000. As someone who had spent a life working with disadvantaged people and had never been in any trouble with the law, Mrs. Edwards was understandably shocked. She was unaware that even though the relationship between herself and her new partner was “informal” it was still something she should have disclosed.

When the fraud was revealed, she explained to DWP investigators that she assumed her relationship was not something that would be of relevance to the DWP until she and her partner took the step of purchasing a house together.

Remarkably, she managed to repay the enormous sum almost instantly, thanks to the help of family and friends. Nevertheless, the DWP commenced a lengthy legal action, and the threat of a custodial sentence was very real.

A terribly sad thing

Image: Judge Euan Duff

Judge Euan Duff described the sight of this 62-year-old woman, with an impeccable record, standing in the dock as “a terribly sad thing.” Even though there had clearly been a misunderstanding, and Mrs. Edwards had repaid the money promptly, she was nevertheless found guilty of committing fraud.

The offense carries a possible sentence of two and a half years imprisonment, but in sentencing, the judge said: “I tell you straight away you are not going immediately to prison today.” He described the fact that she had repaid the monies as “hugely significant” and took her creditable character and unblemished reputation into account.

Ultimately, he imposed an eight-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, and sent Mrs. Edwards on her way, with the words: “I’m perfectly sure that you will resume the creditable life which you’ve led, and you’ll not be back again.”

Always report changes

Mrs. Edwards is not the first person who has failed to report a change in circumstances and will certainly not be the last. The vast majority of cases do not involve deliberate fraud or concealment, but simple oversight or the failure to understand how complex rules can be.

Perhaps the most sobering thought of all, though is this: What if Mrs Edwards had been unable to repay the money so quickly? Or what if she had a less than perfect record and had been in trouble with the police in her past for some unrelated minor offense? The chances are, she would be sitting in a prison cell today.

The moral of the story is that if you find yourself under investigation by the DWP, do not face it alone.

Advice from lawyers Hylton-Potts in case such as this, is, - that when dealing with government agencies, always take expert legal advice and let a lawyer represent you.

ABC Note: 'A man who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client'? This proverb is based on the opinion, probably first expressed by a lawyer, that self-representation in court is likely to end badly. The proverb was first used back in the eighteenth century. An early example comes in The flowers of wit, or a choice collection of bon mots, by Henry Kett, 1814.

Many thanks to lawyers Hylton-Potts for bringing us this story. You can contact  Hylton-Potts on: Tel: 020 7381 8111  Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or click on the link below: