'Universal Credit' vs Shared Humanity

(Blog editor's note: I had hoped to use image from

https://www.google.com/search?q=monty+python+images+cartoon&client=firefox-b-d&sxsrf=ALeKk03m1sRSVSf5c2RGYsSktQQweaFQcA:1604485804151&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=j_aAUkR25RqvyM%252CNJFoqwtJ-XavBM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kTlvMYIPkpalIaRLfwl2DdU-AMmWQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjx8Jyz1-jsAhUTHcAKHfcOA_IQ9QF6BAgKECs#imgrc=j_aAUkR25RqvyM

here with caption: "Universal Credit: quasi- or virtual police state," but Blogger is not allowing me to do so. Sorry.)

A Universal Credit claimant has written me in response to the below and yet-to-be-published-in-print letter to Hereford Times:

Subject: Thousands will see five big changes to Universal Credit in November - check now - Birmingham Live

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/big-changes-universal-credit-november-19196317 

In reference to the last letter you posted it should be noted that this month sees changes in UC payments that will benefit those also eligible for PIP,  finally stop the punitive reductions for those who are paid weekly or fortnightly and recognises the problems in transitioning from various legacy benefits by (small) financial awards...

Although the article is just over 24 hours old it also seems that Sunak has also now agreed to extend the Covid-19 payment of an extra £90pcm as part of the revised furlough scheme.

As you are aware, as a UC claimant subject to the Benefit Cap due to my rent being fixed just under the pre-2015 LHA/HB maximum I do not receive any extra monies from the DWP at this time. 

Nor do I get any leeway... unlike other renters in my halfway house who are in receipt of legacy benefits and have had no contact or demands from the DWP since last February I am still required to undergo mandatory, sanctionable, telephone or face-to-face interviews to explain my job searches and failure to gain employment.

Quite why my mental health or wellbeing differs from those in almost identical circumstances but on older forms of benefits has yet to be explained.

Subject: Re: Talking Point by Dr Jonathan Godfrey, and MPs explain opposition to Rashford's meal plan

 

Noting a Resolution Foundation report suggesting that "unemployment among 18 to 29-year-olds could hit 17% by late 2020, and ... the mental health risks linked to lockdown and economic insecurity," Dr Jonathan Godfrey also notes:

"The proportion of adults experiencing poor mental health has increased by 80% among 18 to 29-year-olds compared with a year ago, the biggest increase of any age group." (Talking Point, Oct. 29, 2020, p68)

One 23 year-old apparently not experiencing poor mental health is Marcus Rashford (born 31 Oct. 1997), raised in a very public spirited environment for a life outside football as well as MUFC stardom. Speaking of one of his recent plaudits, Rashford said that he  "had a voice and a platform that could be used to at least ask the questions."(1)

That contrasts heavily with how Universal Credit (UC) claimants are treated. UC’s ‘Claimant Commitment’ and ‘digital by default’ infrastructure micro-manage the lives of claimants and UC functionaries.(2) That makes mutual recognition of a shared humanity extremely difficult: the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) mindset is that the claimant’s low income and not low wages is ‘the problem’. More UC claimants are penalised in the UK and more severely than by Magistrates’ and Sheriff’s courts, with loss of benefit extending to years of what I’d call debt slavery and Law Professor Dr David Webster refers to as ‘Benefit Sanctions: Britain’s secret penal system’.(3)

Then along comes Covid-19 lockdown and greater universality of low income. Tory Government responds by increasing Universal Credit levels but not the levels of the benefits it is designed to replace.(4)

Against this backdrop and Rashford’s campaign to extend free school meals eleigibility to school holidays, Hereford & South Herefordshire MP and First Secretary to the Treasury Jesse Norman says he “has nothing but respect for Marcus Rashord, both as a footballer and as a campaigner. But it is really important to look beyond the headlines.” (Hereford Times, Oct. 29, 2020, p5)

Yes, indeed it is vital to look beyond the headlines, especially those generated by government press releases, and to consider the differences in ‘authority’ between an Old Etonian MP and a top sportsman who delivered food parcels as a youngster!

Alan Raymond Wheatley, BA Interdisciplinary Studies (Major: Sociology)

(Postal Address and telephone number submitted, too)

Note
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Rashford#Recognition
2. https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&ei=5hOgX7rYGqTaxgODoqrgCQ&q=%22universal+credit%22+micro-manage&oq=%22universal+credit%22+micro-manage&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQA1CNgwNYjYMDYKCZA2gAcAB4AIABR4gBhQGSAQEymAEAoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpesABAQ&sclient=psy-ab&ved=0ahUKEwi645u9heTsAhUkrXEKHQORCpwQ4dUDCAw&uact=5
3. https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/resources/benefit-sanctions-britains-secret-penal-system
4. https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2020/september/dwp-response-coronavirus-inquiry-inadequate-says-work-and-pension-committee

 

 

To food labels, and beyond!

 The below is one I posted last night, in response to an Hereford Times reader's letter response to the HT's 'Buy British' campaign.

Hereford Times: It's apple season,
so let's buy British!

Dear Letters Editor

Writing regarding the importance of buying locally sourced food, Elizabeth Gwynne points out that packaging of th supposedly ‘farm fresh’ produce for a cauliflower she bought in a country shop was labelled ‘Country of Origin: Poland’ and notes, “Presumably the wages of those working on the land there, producing mushrooms, are so low that despite the costs of flight etc, the UK business people can still retail at a profit.” (Letters, October 15.)

Julian Day Rose’s book ‘In Deference of Life’ gives a detailed analysis of such trading practices with a special focus on Poland. Before Poland exited the Warsaw Pact, Polish farming served local communities, yet Poland’s debt crisis on exiting the Soviet empire led to a restructuring of the Polish economy. 'Structural adjustment’ directives of the International Monetary Fund, and the ‘bail out’ terms of the World Bank and European Central Bank and their economic principles were culpable. A reviewer writes: “Rose is critical of Europe’s subsidy system and the way it pays per hectare regardless of farm size, favouring big farms. He goes to the heart of what it means for farmers on Europe’s new industrial frontier – Poland – describing his personal battles to stop small farmers there being driven out of business...

"Whilst no fan of Europe, he is equally critical of the UK which 'thinks it clever to copy the United States' he says, and 'apply Ford motor company principles to the management of sentient livestock.'"(1)

A reason there are so many Polish workers in the UK, as a Social Researcher and ‘critical friend’ of the EU told me, is basically because of what the West did to the Polish economy as it leapt to the West.

Yet there is or was more hope for a small-scale and local future for farming in the UK by remaining in the EU than by the vulnerability associated with Brexit, a nonproportional electoral system and ‘"whatever next?" terms and conditions’ — especially post Covid-19 lockdown! The Head of the World Bank now says, “[P]eople, even the world’s poorest and most destitute, are required to pay their government’s debts as long as creditors pursue claims.. In the worst cases, it’s the modern equivalent of debtor’s prison.” As Nick Dearden of Global Justice Now writes: "If the head of the World Bank can call the global financial system a ‘debtors’ prison’ anything is possible."(2)

I believe international co-operation and democratic transformation from within trading blocs is key.

Alan Raymond Wheatley
Notes
(1) https://www.ciwf.org.uk/philip-lymbery/blog/2015/05/book-review-in-defence-of-life-by-julian-day-rose
(2)  https://newint.org/features/2020/10/14/official-global-economy-debtors-prison

Transparency in law enforcement

Hereford Times October 15 comment ‘Enforcement should be transparent’ informs us of police procedure and guidelines while a take-away outlet subjected to Covid-19 rules infringement fine of £1000 remains anonymous. Comment concludes, “Such secrecy risks undermining faith in a system that effectively imposes punishments without the public oversight that is part of the justice system.”

Hereford takeaway breaks 10pm hospitality curfew

There are potential dangers in ‘naming and shaming’, but identifying targeted ‘culprits’ can help highlight prejudices on the part of those doing the targeting.

At start of secondary schooling in Birmingham in 1965 I was subjected to 'shaming' by some peers after Year 1 class teacher informed those new little fish in a big pool who had shifted from being big fish in smaller ponds, that I had a disability. “Spas,” "The Handicap" and “Mongol Spastic” I was subsequently called in the parlance of the time. The 'shaming' in a predominantly White school took a new twist when I mentioned that I had been born in West Africa: I was then called ‘The White Wog’ and told that my father was “still swinging through the trees in Africa.” (My White UK national parents had just separated and I was an outsider or ‘immigrant’ upon moving from primary schooling in Staffordshire.)

We live in more enlightened times, both in terms of racial equality and the understandings brought about by the Social Model of Disability, which states that disability arises from social structures and prejudices rather than from culpable failings on the part of the person with an impairment.

But how enlightened are our police? In August, Liberty — formerly the National Council for Civil Liberties — revealed with the aid of Crime Prosecution Service data — that no police detentions of potentially infectious people under the Coronavirus Act were correct, while police were up to seven times more likely to fine people of colour than white people.(1)

Alan Wheatley

"[Ignored] by authorities," heard by the HT

Writing in the context of Covid-19 pandemic, Henry Faure Walker as CEO of Hereford Times owners Newsquest and Chairman of News Media Association writes: “We know that our journalism is making a difference, as audiences for trusted news and information have soared” (Opinion, October 8, 2020 and online at http://www.newsmediauk.org/News/nma-chairman-trusted-journalism-is-a-crucial-part-of-our-response-to-the-coronavirus-crisis/262515).

Outside the context of Covid-19 pandemic content, October 8 issue p3 features headline, ‘Poverty-stricken areas are revealed in report’ and online version includes photo-caption, "Golden Post-Newton Farm in Hereford is the most deprived area in the county and is the only one to be in the 10% most deprived nationally." https://www.herefordtimes.com/news/18768278.least-deprived-neighbourhoods-hereford-revealed/
while the print edition photo-caption quotes Newton Farm Cllr Hunt as saying, “local people feel overlooked by authorities.” (Print edition also notes the sad death of Cllr Hunt since original writing of that article.) 

Map 1 from Indices of Deprivation 2019

 “Overlooked by authorities,” but not by Hereford Times

Golden Post (arrowed) Hunderton and Brampton Road
that are featured in Herefordshire deprivation report

I know from having attended gruelling public inquiry into Southern Link Road and regular readership of Hereford Times, that Golden Post featured in the route of the Southern Link Road planned by Tories, and runs closely parallel to Beattie Avenue. https://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=349716&y=238825&z=110&sv=Golden+Post&st=6&tl=Map+of+Golden+Post,+Hereford,+HR2&searchp=ids.srf&mapp=map.srf
In May, July, and October 2019 the HT reported on the awful saga of problems caused by vacant ‘social housing’ prefabs in Beattie Avenue, HR2 against a backdrop of UK Tory government favouring property developers via ‘Help to Buy’ sponsorship of unaffordable housing juxtaposed with slashing funding for local councils and Herefordshire Housing Ltd.

http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/17652485.hereford-times-opinion-on-treatment-of-prefab-residents/
http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/17745291.go-ahead-to-demolish-prefab-bungalows/
http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/17965358.empty-homes-street-crawling-rats/

Hereford Times and Local Government reporter Carmelo Garcia, keep up the excellent work of listening to poor folk!

Alan Wheatley

Scandal of disabled and ill people denied benefits

I thank Hereford Times for Peter John’s special investigation ‘Scandal of disabled and ill people denied benefits’ (December 12 print edition, p4).

I believe it will be helpful for me to add from my experience as a successful disability benefit tribunal appellant, former Green Party spokesperson on such matters, and former activist with Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group (KUWG) before moving to Hereford, and regular reader of specialist Disability News Service.

A vital issue regarding assessments for eligibility for the disability benefits Employment & Support Allowance and Personal Independence Payment is captured in the golden motto of KUWG: “Never attend anywhere official alone.” The presence of a ‘McKenzie Friend’ at the face-to-face assessments provides the claimant with a potential witness as well as moral support. Unpaid case workers from KUWG had an excellent record of supporting claimants all the way, and attending with case worker often stopped the need for tribunal in the first place.

It is also essential with regard to the ‘Work Capability Assessment’ (WCA) for Employment & Support Allowance eligibility, that the claimant and/or their form filler understands the ‘descriptors’ of both the ‘Work Capability Assessment’ itself and the related ‘Low Capacity for Work Related Activity’ (lcwra) and how these relate to the claimant’s condition. Descriptors for the latter define whether the claimant enter the sanctions-free-zone of ‘Support Group’ entitlement that also comes with more income. KUWG subscribed to specialist guide papers regarding ESA and PIP assessments.

The matter of claimants being routinely re-tested as Disability United spokesperson points out is inappropriate. My ESA tribunal in December 2009 put me into the Support Group; the £1200 back money was not processed into my a/c till end of February 2010, and the issue of re-assessment papers that August left me bent double with shock after being a decades long disabled jobseeker. I eventually managed to make my 2012 WCA my last bout of ‘Russian Roulette’ procedures before 2018 retirement via appeal to DWP copying in my MP.

In closing I add that Tory Government’s response to the cost of the tribunal system [and appellant’s DWP-shaming success rate] has not been to reduce the pressures on the assessor companies to rule claimants ineligible,(1) but to attempt to remove the tribunal panel’s live access to the claimant. Specialist lawyer Steve Donnison has said of making the assessment entirely on the basis of ‘the papers presented’: “Appeal panels have to make a decision about the honesty and credibility of an appellant. It’s far easier for them to make this judgement if the claimant is in front of them answering their questions.”

This disadvantage is exacerbated by the fact, which advocates stress, that many claimants appealing a decision aren’t actually aware of the criteria for being eligible for benefits. “And when the appeal is by paper, the tribunal has no way of filling in the gaps in the evidence,” Donnison adds. “So they can’t make an award.”(2)

Alan Wheatley

Notes

    1. https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/wca-death-doctor-dwp-put-immense-pressure-on-atos-to-find-claimants-fit-for-work/
    2. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/12/online-benefits-appeals-tribunals-disabled

How would UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson 'fix' social care?

Photo of Liz Truss from Disability News Service

Recent reports in Hereford Times (1) (2) (3) flag up quality deficits in social care provision in the County that I recognise as borne largely of cuts in public spending that actually predate the 2010 General Election and the 2008 banks collapse. And those deficits  –  relating to residential homes and social worker working conditions – are likely to be exacerbated by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’ vow to “get Brexit done” (4) while Government Minister Liz Truss has stated that the Social Care Green Paper [public consultation document] that Johnson claimed would ‘fix’ social care’ does not exist!(5)

I was born with an invisible disability and that helped me connect with adults with learning difficulties when I was a Basic Education Learning Support Volunteer in 2004 and latterly domiciliary care worker to learning disabled adults in 2005/06 on 3 hour contact sessions with inadequate in-service training due to cuts in central government funding of local authorities. My metaphor for the latter role was ‘an all-terrain vehicle’: the term ‘learning difficulties’ covers a very broad constituency.

Nowadays, many care sessions are just 15 minutes long, and the workers are still not paid for travel between care sessions and/or preparation time. Low quality, negligent care arising from this has been identified in a Kings Fund charity report “consistently identified by service users, carers and families, policy-makers and people working in the sector. ”(6)

Like the NHS, UK social care is largely dependent upon skilled staff trained abroad, including EU migrant workers without whom social care in the UK would be the poorer.

Boris Johnson said in Downing Street in July after becoming prime minister: “… and so I am announcing now – on the steps of Downing Street – that we will fix the crisis in social care once and for all with a clear plan we have prepared.” (7) With prospective post-Brexit trade deal terms and conditions  yet to be determined, I am reminded that as Green Party Spokesperson on Disability in 2008 confronted by a ‘No-one written off: Reforming welfare to reward responsibility’ Green Paper in which the consultation questions related more to ‘rewarding’ work-for-your-benefits global corporations than even recognising the existence of disabled jobseekers of which I was one.(8)

Alan Wheatley

Notes

1. http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/18011020.damning-cqc-report-herefordshire-nursing-home/
2. http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/18011020.damning-cqc-report-herefordshire-nursing-home/
3. http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/18084096.social-workers-in-tears-huge-workload/
4. https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=%22boris+johnson%22+%22get+brexit+done%22
5. https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/election-2019-minister-thinks-social-care-green-paper-does-not-exist/
6. https://www.maturetimes.co.uk/social-care-a-new-view/
7. https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/election-2019-minister-thinks-social-care-green-paper-does-not-exist/
8. http://www.greenparty.org.uk/assets/files/GPEW_writing_off-workfare_final.doc

Hereford Times updates, Thursday 15 August 2019

(Hereford Times is the main local newspaper for my home county since 2017, Herefordshire)

A-Level results day in Herefordshire 2019

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Late letters spark road confusion

Independent Italian restaurant coming to Hereford city centre

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3 hrs ago 2 comments

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