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ENERGY - Industry experts have warned that millions of UK homes face a winter energy bill hike of over £110 a year due to soaring costs of buying gas and electricity from the global energy markets.

A standard gas and electricity bill is expected to rise to an average of over £1,250 a year this winter, owing to rocketing wholesale prices not seen since 2008.

Earlier this year Ofgem increased the level of the price cap for domestic customers on standard variable rate, or default energy tariffs.

For the coming winter the regulator is expected to lift the cap again which could see the average dual-fuel energy bill rise from £1,138 a year to £1,250 a year.

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HOUSING - Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) is the biggest landlord in Scotland, housing an estimated 85,000 people.

Tenants are angry at its plans to raise rents – even though services have been drastically cut through the pandemic. Corporate Watch looked at the finances of GHA’s parent company, Wheatley Group, to ask – do they really need to put up rents? The simple answer is: no. Read more here: https://corporatewatch.org/glasgow-housing-association-gha-wheatley-group-rent-rises/

ABC NOTE: Rents are being driven up. A lot of trouble is coming in the autumn especially if benefits are slashed and the £20 uplift removed.  

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FOOD DONATION - Following the G7 Summit left over food has been donated to the Camborne, Pool and Redruth (CPR) Foodbank

3,000 breakfasts were unused by police and security catering, and handed to Camborne, Pool and Redruth (CPR) Foodbank.

It said most of the food has been distributed to local school breakfast clubs, including yoghurt and fruit.

The rest has been put in cold storage at the foodbank's Camborne headquarters for distribution later.

ABC Note: The CHAOS Group office hours are Monday – Friday between 8.30AM and 5PM. You’ll find them in heart of Cafe CHAOS (at the top of Tregolls Road, opposite Waitrose) with ample parking and wheelchair access into the building.

3 St Clements Vean

Truro, Cornwall, TR1 1RN

+44 1872 277600

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

www.chaosgroupcornwall.co.uk

Image, US President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who is the 46th and current president of the United States. 

A few facts about Joe Biden

KEY FACTS

• Was consistently one of the poorest members of the Senate
• Reported a net worth of $1.5 million when he left the White House in 2016
• Earned $11 million mainly from book advances in 2017
• Earned $4.6 million in 2017
• Jill Biden earns $100,000 per year as a college professor
• Joe earns $100-200,000 per paid speach

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SINGLE PARENTS - Benefits loss for young single parents claiming Universal Credit slammed by MPs

Campaigners want Tory ministers to reverse a benefits rule which they claim is pushing some young parents into poverty

MPs have hit out at "ludicrous" Universal Credit rules which mean young single parents are entitled to less financial support.

The One Parent Families charity claims that those under the age of 25 are being pushed into poverty and face a drop of around 20 per cent in income thanks to benefit reforms pushed through by Tories at Westminster.

Under the old system parents under-25 were paid the adult rate but that exemption was removed under Universal Credit - meaning they are paid a standard rate regardless of whether they have children.

A cross-party group of politicians is now calling on the UK Government to reverse the change.

A letter on the issue, sent today to secretary of state for work and pensions Therese Coffey, has been signed by 60 MPs from nine political parties across the four nations, alongside over 100 signatories representing leading charities and academic experts in poverty.

The signatories argue that “there is no reason to treat single parent families differently based on age” and that “the current welfare system makes it harder for younger single parents to access the appropriate level of support”.

The letter adds: “Whether under or over 25, single parents have a high percentage of their household income taken up by caring for a child as they are both the sole breadwinner and carer for their family.

"The Government’s decision not to extend this support can only therefore be seen as a Young Parent Penalty.”

Chamberlain said: “Being a young parent is incredibly challenging, even more so if you are single.

"This was historically recognised through the provision of additional welfare support for single parents under the age of 25.

“It seems ludicrous that this hasn’t been maintained under Universal Credit and that the UK Government has failed to give satisfactory answers about why.”

that young parents are treated the same as any other single parent family.

“I am supporting the One Parent Families Scotland campaign to end the Young Parent Penalty and ensure that the 175,000 single parents under the age of 25 are able to access the support they need.

ABC Note: One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) is a payment for men and women under 66 who are bringing children up without the support of a partner. To get this payment you must meet certain conditions and you must satisfy a means test.

One-Parent Family Payment is a taxable source of income.

A Back to Work Family Dividend is available for lone parents and long-term jobseeker families with children who find or return to work.

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UNIVERSAL CREDIT - Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, has today published new analysis, entitled Benefit to all? Financial experience of Universal Credit claimants during the pandemic. It reveals the troubling extent of the financial difficulties faced by existing and new Universal Credit claimants relative to the rest of the public during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The original analysis compares both the actual and perceived financial situations of those who do not claim Universal Credit (‘non-UC’), those who were claiming Universal Credit in February 2020 (‘existing UC’), and those who began to claim Universal Credit in March 2020 or later (‘new UC’), at five points: before the pandemic in 2018-19, May 2020, July 2020, November 2020 and March 2021. 

This is done using data from the Understanding Society Covid-19 Study and the 2018-19 UK Household Longitudinal Study. This enables an assessment of the extent of change in the actual and perceived financial situations during the pandemic. The months during the pandemic used in the analysis were chosen on the basis of availability of data on answers to financial questions.

The main findings from this analysis are:

A significant minority of both existing UC and new UC households reported not being up to date with household bill payments throughout the pandemic. Among existing UC claimants, this rose from 25% in 2018-19 to up to 38% in March 2021, peaking at 46% in November 2020. Similarly, 32% of new UC claimants reported not being up to date with at least some household bills near the start of the pandemic in May 2020, before declining to a low of 17% in March 2021, indicating that new UC claimants were less likely to face this specific financial challenge as the pandemic continued. These compare to just 5% of non-UC respondents in 2018-19, 6% in May 2020 and 4% in March 2021.The difference between existing UC claimants and non-UC respondents reporting not being up to date with at least some household bill payment rose by 14 percentage points between before the pandemic (2018-19) and March 2021.

A significant minority of both existing UC and new UC households also reported not being up to date on housing payments, such as rent or mortgage payments, during the pandemic. For existing UC claimants, between 26% reported facing this financial challenge in November 2020, before falling to 18% in March 2021. Similarly, 16% of new UC claimants in May 2020 and 23% in July 2020 report not being up to date with housing payments, falling to 11% in March 2021. In contrast, only 7% of non-UC respondents in 2018-19 reported falling behind on housing payments, with no increase beyond that during the pandemic. 

Existing UC claimants were more likely to face a worsening than an improving level of personal debt in the initial part of the pandemic. 30% of existing UC claimants reported increasing the size of their debts compared to 13% decreasing it in July 2020. However, this fell to 12% by March 2021, by which time 21% reported decreasing their debt. Both non-UC respondents and new UC claimants were more likely to be decreasing the size of their debt than increasing it at different points of the pandemic. Aside from this, among all population groups and during all time periods, the majority of people’s debt levels have stayed the same.

A significant minority of UC claimants reported finding it ‘quite’ or ‘very’ difficult to manage financially during the pandemic. 34% of existing UC claimants reported this in 2018-19 which declined to 22% in July 2020, before rising back to 34% in November 2020, and falling down to 19% in March 2021. Similarly, 35% of new UC claimants reported this in May 2020, but this largely fell to 18% in July 2020, 19% in November 2020 and 15% in March 2021. Overall, the difference between existing UC claimants and non-UC respondents actually declined by 11 percentage points between 2018-19 and March 2021.

Both existing and new UC claimants are much more likely than the rest of the population to think there is a major chance they will have difficulty paying for bills and expenses in the next three months, despite a decline in such fears since the start of the pandemic. There was a decline from 54% to 32% among existing UC claimants worried about their financial future between May 2020 and March 2021 and a decline from 51% to 22% among new UC claimants in the same time period. The difference between the number of existing UC claimants and non-UC respondents reporting this financial anxiety actually declined by 14 percentage points between May 2020 and March 2021 and the difference between new UC claimants and non-UC respondents declined by 21 percentage points in the same period. 

Reported life satisfaction of non-UC respondents has remained significantly above that of existing UC claimants throughout the pandemic. The reported gap was biggest between non-UC and new UC claimants at the start of the pandemic in May 2020, with a 30 percentage point difference. The reported gap was biggest between non-UC and existing UC claimants in November 2020, with a 35 percentage point difference. While new UC claimants reported lower life satisfaction than existing UC claimants in May 2020, this reversed by November 2020, before the two largely aligned by March 2021. By the later stage of the pandemic in March 2021, 46% of existing and 48% of new UC claimants reported being satisfied with their life, compared to 67% of the rest of the population.

Anvar Sarygulov, Senior Research Fellow at Bright Blue and analysis author, commented:

“Even with the Government increasing financial support provided through Universal Credit in March 2020, many claimants have continued to face significant financial difficulties as the pandemic progressed. However, the financial situation for existing and new UC claimants has shifted throughout the pandemic, with some evidence for improvement as the pandemic progressed, especially by March 2021.

Fully withdrawing the Universal Credit uplift in September 2021 will put an even greater number of claimants at risk of financial problems at a point when the economic recovery is only gathering pace.” 

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WORKERS RIGHTS - New workers’ watchdog will be created to protect the rights of UK workers.

A powerful new workers’ watchdog will be created to protect the rights of UK workers, the government has confirmed today.

Responsibility for tackling modern slavery, enforcing the minimum wage and protecting agency workers – currently spread across 3 different bodies – will be brought under one roof, creating a comprehensive new authority, which will ensure businesses that break the rules have nowhere to hide.

This ‘one-stop shop’ approach will help improve enforcement through better co-ordination and pooling intelligence.

The new watchdog will also enhance workers’ rights by providing a single, recognisable port of call for workers so they know their rights and can blow the whistle on bad behaviour.

The body will support businesses to do the right thing by their employees by providing guidance on their obligations to staff. Meanwhile, increased enforcement will make sure good businesses aren’t undercut by unscrupulous rival employers who aren’t paying or treating their workers correctly.

As well as enforcing all existing powers belonging to the 3 agencies, the new body will have a new ability to ensure vulnerable workers get the holiday pay and statutory sick pay they are entitled to – without having to go through a lengthy employment tribunal process.

• New workers’ watchdog to take over responsibility for tackling modern slavery, enforcing minimum wage, and more
• one-stop shop will improve enforcement and ensure employees and businesses know where to go for help on workers’ rights
• Business Minister Paul Scully: We will take action against big brands that turn a blind eye to abuses

Image: Business Minister Paul Scully. 

Business Minister Paul Scully said:

This government has been absolutely clear that we will do whatever we can to protect and enhance workers’ rights.

The vast majority of businesses want to do right by their staff, but there are a minority who seem to think the law doesn’t apply to them. Exploitative practices like modern slavery have no place in society.

This new workers’ watchdog will help us crack down on any abuses of workers’ rights and take action against companies that turn a blind eye to abuses in their supply chains, while providing a one-stop shop for employees and businesses wanting to understand their rights and obligations.

The plans, confirmed in a consultation response to be published today (Tuesday), come as part of the government’s wider efforts to protect workers’ rights. Since last year alone, the government has boosted the minimum wage for around 2 million employees, protected furloughed workers’ parental pay, brought Jack’s Law into force to support bereaved parents, and more.

The government’s plans will see the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate and HMRC’s National Minimum Wage Enforcement combined to create a single enforcement body.

The new body will continue the successful Naming and Shaming scheme, which calls out companies who fail to pay workers what they are owed and can hit rogue employers with fines of up to £20,000 per worker. This enforcement activity will be extended to cover other regulations protecting the pay of workers employed through agencies or by gangmasters in the agricultural sector.

To help businesses understand the rules, the new body will provide guidance on best practice, complementing the work already carried out by existing authorities such as the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas). It will seek to build strong links with community and worker groups to spread awareness and support engagement with at-risk groups, including the low-paid and those in sectors like construction and agriculture that could be at higher risk of abuse.

The government will also explore further measures to target abuses in the garment sector specifically, following reports of serious problems in the industry. Options being examined include creating a Garment Trade Adjudicator to investigate companies’ supply chains or extending the licencing scheme that currently covers employers in the agricultural sector. Under the scheme, businesses who provide workers for agriculture and the fresh produce supply chain must apply for a license to operate in the sectors and are subject to inspections to ensure they meet employment standards required by law.

If brands’ behaviour does not improve, the government warned it could introduce harsher measures, including bans on goods made in factories where workers have been underpaid.

ABC Note:

The new enforcement body will be established through primary legislation when parliamentary time allows.

The publication of the government’s consultation response comes as part of a range of action taken since last year to protect workers’ rights, including:

• providing a well-earned pay rise to around 2 million of the UK’s lowest-paid workers through a higher minimum wage, backed up by a full communications campaign to make sure people check their pay
• the National Living Wage, which we extended to 23 and 24 year olds, is now 33% higher than the minimum wage in 2015. This means that the average annual earnings of a full-time worker on the NLW have increased around £4,000
• young people and apprentices also saw above-inflation increases to their minimum wage rates
• enabling workers to carry over more annual leave, due to the pandemic
• increasing the reference period employers use to calculate holiday pay to improve seasonal workers’ wages
• setting out plans to crackdown on restrictive employment contracts to ensure up to 1.8 million low paid workers across the UK can pick up extra work if they want to
• protecting the earnings of furloughed workers who take Maternity Pay and other forms of Parental or Adoption Pay
• bringing into force ‘Jack’s Law’, a world-first, which gives statutory leave for parents who suffer the devastating loss of a child
• conducting a review into how victims of domestic abuse can be supported in the workplace, setting out the impact that domestic abuse has on victims, the challenges that it brings for employers and what best practice looks like
• introducing Key Information Documents to ensure that temporary work-seekers have all the facts they need to know upfront

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THE MOTABILITY SCHEME - currently serves a large number of customers with disabilities. The number could be much higher. The data shows that only one-third of eligible disabled people are making the most of the everyday freedom offered by the Motability Scheme, and there are 1.2 million eligible people who aren’t currently Scheme customers.

These statistics are the driving force behind the first ever national campaign for the Motability Scheme, entitled ‘Everyday Freedom’, which aims to raise greater awareness and increased understanding of what the Scheme offers. The campaign celebrates the freedom and independence customers say that the Scheme opens up for them.

Running throughout May, June and July this year, the national campaign includes a television advert, radio, digital and print ads, a supporting PR campaign and engaging social media activity. We’d love for you to add your voice to the campaign, either by interacting with our Facebook and Twitter content, or by sharing your own content.

To that end, we have shared the background detail, campaign press release and some suggested social media posts below. If you have any questions at all, please get in touch with the Motability Scheme press office on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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The High Court have granted two legacy benefit claimants permission to challenge the Government’s decision to not increase their legacy benefits in line with the £20 per week provided to those on Universal Credit.

The hearing will be taking place during the summer and will provide another moment to highlight the issue and the impact it is having on so many people.

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SEARCHLIGHT SYSTEM - Digital team plans to move system to Amazon hybrid cloud and deploy to 100,000 users across Whitehall departments

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is rolling out a new customer information system to support its staff in dealing with claims around benefit payments, allowances and credits.

Named Searchlight, a prototype version is now being used by 20,000 DWP employees and will be deployed to a further 80,000 users from inside the department, HM Revenue & Customs, HM Courts and Tribunals Service, the Ministry of Defence, Scottish Government and local authorities.

Its development has been outlined by the scrum master for the project, Stephen Hedley, in a DWP Digital blogpost that celebrates it picking up the award for Best Public Sector Project at last week’s National Technology Awards.

He says it has been created using agile methodology to replace an ageing interface for customer information that involved the use of multiple screens, bringing it together onto a single page.

It was designed using the Java Node JS open source scripting platform with adherence to industry-level security and accessibility standards, and to provide a consistent experience on PCs, tablets and smartphones. Infrastructure components include an API gateway to authenticate and authorise users to access specific data.

New features

There are now plans move Searchlight onto the Amazon Web Services hybrid cloud platform used by DWP and to add extra features. These will include the ability for authorised users to update and view historical customer data, and to allocate national insurance numbers to new customers.

Hedley adds: “We’re constantly iterating the application design to address user feedback and to take account of stakeholder inputs, such as accessibility and GDS standards.

“The outcome is a product that not only seeks to achieve the latest industry security standards as per the original business case, but also delivers significant business benefits to the department as a whole, due to the vast input from users informing what is really needed for their business processing. And we’re also GDPR compliant.”

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BROADBAND - 2.5 million people are behind on their broadband bills, with 700,000 of these falling into the red during Covid, says Citizens Advice. 

• 700,000 people have fallen into the red on broadband bills during Covid.
• 18 to 34-year-olds are three times as likely to be behind on their broadband bill than older groups. 
• Those with children under 18 are three times as likely to be behind as those in households without children.
• Broadband connection can give people a huge head start on those who don’t.

The new research from the charity has also found some groups are particularly struggling. Young people and those with children under 18 are three times more likely to be behind on their broadband bills, than older groups or those without children. Households on Universal Credit are nine times as likely to be behind on their broadband bill compared to those not on the benefit. 

This comes at a time when people are more reliant on broadband to work and help their children with schoolwork, with UK adults spending an average of 22 hours online each week. 

The charity is warning that broadband is an essential utility, and that mobile data is not a substitute. This is particularly true when it comes to things like filling in job applications or where families are using multiple devices to work from home and do schoolwork. 

Ultimately, falling behind on bills can lead to broadband being disconnected. But the charity’s frontline advisers also see people who simply cannot afford broadband in the first place, or are cutting back elsewhere to keep their connection. 

In December, the regulator Ofcom “strongly urged” all providers to consider offering cheaper broadband tariffs for those on a low income or who are struggling financially. Only two nationwide and two local providers currently offer these tariffs - usually for people on Universal Credit.

Ofcom is expected to release a report this month into whether further action is needed. 

Citizens Advice is calling on Ofcom and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to urgently ensure all providers offer low-cost broadband to people on low incomes. 

James’s story - “I have to go to the local shops or library to apply for jobs”

In the past few months James*, who’s in his 50s and from Norwich, lost his job and had to claim Universal Credit. He said: “I’m looking for work but because I can’t afford broadband I have to go to the local shops or the library to use their free Wifi. It's very hard applying for jobs because they only give you a period of time to access the internet.

“I miss messages from my Universal Credit account. It's really stressful as I have to look for work as part of Universal Credit, but not having broadband makes this so much harder.”

Lisa’s story - “if I cut my broadband I wouldn't have been able to apply for jobs”

Lisa, 43, from Surrey, had always worked in the travel industry but was told to shield in March last year. In October, her team was cut from 50 to five members of staff. She was made redundant and had to apply for Universal Credit and New Style Jobseekers’ Allowance. 

She said: “There was always something that I wasn’t able to pay in full. I couldn’t always afford my food - I was really worried about how I was going to survive.

“There was nothing else I could cut back on, as if I cut my broadband I wouldn't be able to apply for jobs and to keep updated with my Universal Credit.

She now has a job working as a receptionist on a zero-hours contract but still struggles to afford broadband. 

Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said: “Broadband is not a luxury, it’s an essential, like gas and electricity. 

“Lack of broadband creates yet another hurdle in the hunt for jobs, helping children with their schoolwork, and being able to access help, information and fill in forms online. Those with a broadband connection can have a huge head start on those who don’t. 

“Ofcom and the government must ensure everyone can afford their broadband, no matter which provider they are with. People shouldn't be penalised simply because their provider isn't one of the few firms that offers a cheaper tariff.”

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