Universal Credit Toolkit Launched, DWP Request Feedback

The DWP have released a ‘Toolkit’ for organisations to help explain the upcoming train crash which is Universal Credit to people in receipt of benefits..

Universal Credit is the all encompassing change to the benefits system that Iain Duncan Smith scribbled down on the back of an envelope one night after watching an episode of Shameless.  The new benefit is being trialled in a small area of Manchester and is threatened to be rolled out by October.

Far from being digital by default, it seems that currently Universal Credit is a telephone based service with claimants advised to report any changes in circumstances over the phone.  Around 5 million people are set to be transferred to the new benefit and despite pleas from the DWP that Universal Credit is on target, it increasingly appears that the IT behind the project doesn’t work.

The toolkit also feature the new Universal Credit branding, which looks like something Iain Duncan Smith knocked up in Microsoft Word Art after his posh wife Betty let him have a go on her laptop.

Along with information on how the new benefit will affect claimants there is also a series of promotional youtube videos for the new benefit.  These include a short film from Gary from Bolton, believed to be the only person ever to find a job through the bodged government spam site Universal Jobmatch.  Gary describes the support offered by the Jobcentre as ‘truly great’ and ‘excellent’, a sentiment no doubt shared by all those who have been lucky enough to sign on at some point.

The DWP have requested feedback on the Universal Credit toolkit, so why not express your gratitude for the wonderful services they offer by emailing: uc.partnertoolkit@dwp.gsi.gov.uk

Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid

More People Poor Than Ever Before As Numbers Claiming Housing Benefit Hit Record Levels

The number of people claiming some form of Housing Benefit has hit record levels giving a true indicator of plummeting living standards and high unemployment.

Housing Benefit (now called Local Housing Allowance) is paid to those in and out of work alike, as well as low income pensioners, those on sickness or disability benefits and lone parents.  In London it has recently been estimated that 44% of housing benefit claimants are in work but on wages which leave them unable to afford to pay the rent .  The only factor taken into account when assessing claims are income and savings, meaning that the number of people on housing benefit gives a good indication of how many people are poor in the UK.

And despite Tory lies about a million new jobs being created, the sad truth is that more people are poor than ever before.  Recently released statistics (PDF)  show that in February 2013 there were 5.08 million recipients of Housing Benefit, up from 4.74 million in May 2010 when this Government weren’t elected.  This is the highest figure since Housing Benefit was introduced in 1983.

The truth is that any job creation which might have taken place has been workfare, low income self-employment, zero hours contracts or part time work, leaving unprecedented numbers of people dependent on some benefits to survive.

The figures also reveal that despite endless propaganda about benefit claimants living in tax payer funded mansions, the average housing benefit entitlement is just £89.30 a week.

Around a quarter of housing benefit recipients are pensioners, a figure which has stayed fairly stable over recent years.  Pensioners are exempt from the recent vicious cuts to housing benefit, however 4 million claimants under pensionable age now face this vital benefit being cut due to the bedroom tax, benefit tax, benefit uprating bill and other measures.

Some of those people will be left with just a few pounds a week after paying the rent, whilst others will be driven from their homes completely.  Almost every working age Housing Benefit claimant has been affected by the cuts.  This means that not only are there more poor people than ever before, but that 4 million of them are now at very real risk of homelessness as incomes shrink and rent rises.  A recent DWP report revealed how many landlords are in the process of evicting housing benefit claimants due to the cuts.

Iain Duncan Smith  boasted over the weekend that he is prepared to make even further cuts to housing benefits, once again raising the spectre of ending the benefit completely for those under 25.  Homelessness is already soaring and the Secretary of State is determined to make the problem even worse.  The UK could look like a very different place in just a few years time as vast numbers of people lose their homes.  The responsibility for that will not just lie with George Osborne and his fucked economy, but with Iain Duncan Smith’s reckless, bodged and brutal attempts at social security reform.

Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid

DWP Hides Behind Disability Charities In Fake Youtube Campaign

The DWP’s crude attempt at inspiration porn has disappeared from facebook after several people were critical of the “Role models: Inspire a generation” campaign.

This campaign appears to be a cheap way to provide soft cover for the the vicious cuts to disability and housing benefits currently taking place and features youtube videos of high profile disabled people with good jobs. At a time when many disabled people’s incomes – and even homes – are coming under savage attack, the Government’s inspirational message seems to be that those forced into poverty by the cuts only have themselves to blame for not being Paralympians or entrepreneurs.

Perhaps the most insidious aspect of this campaign however, is that anyone visiting the youtube page – which still exists – would have no idea this was a government run campaign. In fact the page even claims to be “By young disabled people; *for* young disabled people”.

This is a lie. The truth is revealed on the website for the Office For Disability Issues where the announcement for the launch of the campaign says:

“DWP has been working with a group of young disabled people who have provided advice and direction to the campaign. They were nominated by organisations such as National Children’s Bureau, Whizz-Kidz, Apasenth, Essex Unite, Include Me Too and Disability Rights UK.

“With the help of these young people, DWP has produced short, subtitled video clips of a wide range of role models, who talk about their aspirations and achievements, and any barriers they have had to overcome.”

In other words, this campaign is by the DWP themselves and only exists to serve their grubby aims. This is why the youtube channel and facebook page were launched with an accompanying statement from a DWP Minister.

There is no information given at all on the youtube page to suggest that this is a DWP run campaign. The only clue to government involvement comes from scrolling through the youtube feed, where the only other channel the Role Models page has subscribed to is the DWP themselves.

This blatant and bungled dishonesty by the DWP could bring the entire charitable sector into disrepute.  The next time you see a campaign which appears to be run by a charity such as Whizz-kidz or Disability Rights UK then look very closely to check that Iain Duncan Smith isn’t lurking somewhere behind the scenes.

Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid

Rise In Unemployment Down To Fall In Numbers On Workfare Admits DWP

In an encouraging statement for anti-workfare campaigners, the DWP are claiming that today’s rise in unemployment is partly down to a fall in the numbers of people on Government-supported training schemes – otherwise known as workfare.

According to the Department, the number of people in work fell by over 47,000 over the last three months – which they say ‘reflects’ amongst other things a drop of 16,000  in the numbers on Government employment schemes.

For two years now thousands of people have been involved in taking action to bring an end to unpaid work.  High profile companies and charities alike have abandoned the scheme after storms of protest both online and in the streets.

The number of people working unpaid has now fallen every month since February showing just how effective these protests have been.  This is no time for complacency however.  There are still 147,000 people on some form of government training scheme*.  Those still quite happily using workfare workers such as @salvationarmyuk, @TCVtweets and @Poundland should expect to come under unprecedented pressure from customers over the next few months as resistance to forced unpaid work is not going anywhere.

With the Government unable to use workfare to hide the true state of the labour market, unemployment overall has risen by 15,000 people – the third monthly rise. This has been accompanied by small falls in the Claimant Count, the number of people actually claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance.  One possible explanation for this is that these smalls drops are simply due to benefit eligibility being toughened, meaning more people are unemployed, but less are receiving benefits.

One thing is clear, which is that despite two years of benefit reforms along with ever increased conditionality for those receiving benefits and rocketing use of benefit sanctions, the unemployment rate is barely changed from the depth of the first recession in 2009.

The Work Programme, aimed at bringing down long term unemployment, has also once again revealed to be a complete disaster by today’s figures.  The number of people out of work over one year rose by 23,000 over the last three months, and the number unemployed for over two years soared by 21,000 – a rise of just under five percent.

Iain Duncan Smith has based his welfare reforms on claims that unemployment is caused by unemployed people -  placing the scroungers narrative at the heart of everything he does.  If this is true, then the huge numbers of people still out of work for long periods suggests that his welfare reforms are simply making people lazy and workshy on a massive scale.

If the alternative is true, that unemployment is not caused by unemployed people but is a structural part of capitalism which is made worse by poor economic growth,  then his current brutal dismantling of social security is based on nothing more than lies and contempt for the poor.

Attempting to blame the public rather than the government for high unemployment has been a neat trick, for a while.  Acres of space in the gutter press has been devoted to pursuing this myth, with the aim of stigmatising and finally impoverishing claimants. But you can’t fool all of the people all of the time, and if unemployment continues to stay this high, then Iain Duncan Smith’s benefit bullshitting could start to unravel just in time for the next election.

*not all of these people will be on workfare, some may be taking part in the subsidised-employment Youth Contract racket or other schemes.  It is equally true that not everyone on workfare will be included in this number.

This months Labour Market Statistics are at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/may-2013/index.html

Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid

Iain Duncan Smith Not A Lying Bastard Claims DWP

The DWP have taken to twitter in a crude attempt to defend themselves from the accusation that Iain Duncan Smith has been misusing statistics.

Showing their utter contempt for the comments made by Andrew Dilnot, the head of the UK Statistics Authority, they are clearly attempting to show that Iain Duncan Smith was right in his conclusions about the impact of the Benefit Cap, despite the evidence saying the exact opposite.

Astonishingly the DWP then go on to re-iterate Mark Hoban’s claim that  “DWP staff & claimants (are) telling us cap is impacting behaviour & leading to those affected getting work”.

They also point out that everyone affected by the cap has been contacted by the Department.  The implication is that the DWP has some information on reports from claimants and DWP staff about the impact of the benefit cap.  These statistics, or reports, have not been published.

This is a shocking snub from the DWP which shows just how far they are prepared to manipulate the truth to defend the brutal welfare reforms.  The UK Statistics Authority has accused them of making claims about people finding jobs due to the benefit caps which are not supported by evidence.  The Authority has even warned they are breaching the official Code of Practice on for Official Statistics.

The DWP have responded that they have information, not yet published, which proves Iain Duncan Smith’s claims are true, despite the official statistics showing otherwise. This makes a mockery of independent regulation of government statistics. Even when they’ve been caught fibbing the DWP cannot bring themselves to back down and have instead launched a petulant attempt to defend Iain Duncan Smith’s lies.

There’s a petition about this, for those that do petitions, at: https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/work-pensions-committee-hold-ids-to-account-for-his-use-of-statistics-2

Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid

Iain Duncan Smith Is A Lying Bastard – It’s Official Says UK Statistics Boss

A post on the Guardian Politics blog reveals that the UK Statistics Authority have accused Iain Duncan Smith of misusing statistics.

In response to a letter from the TUC, the head of body which oversees official statistics, claims :

“We have concluded that the statement attributed to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions that ‘Already we’ve seen 8,000 people who would have been affected by the cap move into jobs. This clearly demonstrates that the cap is having the desired impact’ is unsupported by the official statistics published by the Department on 15 April.”

The letter can be read in full on the Guardian website.

UPDATE:  The Chair of the Statistics Authority has also written to Iain Duncan Smith directly claiming that the statistics to not comply with the Code of Practice:

In the manner and form published, the statistics do not comply fully with the principles of the Code of Practice, particularly in respect of accessibility to the sources of the data, information about the methodology and quality of the statistics, and the suggestion that the statistics were shared with the media in advance of their publication.

In March, when considering a complaint about the handling of statistics on child support, I was told that senior DWP officials had reiterated to their staff the seriousness of their obligations under the Code of Practice and that departmental procedures would be reviewed.2 The Board of the Statistics Authority would welcome further assurance that the working arrangements within the department give sufficient weight to the professional role and public responsibilities of statisticians.

The letter can be downloaded at (PDF): http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/reports—correspondence/correspondence/letter-from-andrew-dilnot-to-nicola-smith-09052013.pdf

Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid

Doctors Warn of The Hidden Costs of Welfare Reform

A letter written by Scottish Ministers to Iain Duncan Smith reveals one of the often overlooked consequences of the savage cuts to social security.

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Health Secretary Alex Neil claim that the brutally flawed Work Capability Assessment used to determine eligibility for sickness and disability benefits is creating a “workload problem” for GPs.  This follows a recent letter signed by over 25 doctors and health professionals warning that the process is not only “cruel” but has also led to “significant adverse events such as self-harm and suicides which many of us have witnessed”.

It will not just be the NHS which begins to creak under the strain of welfare reforms, as millions of people are driven into destitution and a benefits regime which is increasingly designed to punish the poor.  As pointed out yesterday, when Universal Credit is fully introduced, parents of teenagers may find themselves expected to work, or attend workfare for many of the hours their children are not in school.  Leaving possibly hundreds of thousands of teenagers to wander the streets could create an explosion of anti-social behaviour, bullying and crime.  Benefit sanctions, as one leading homelessness charity has already warned, could lead to people being forced to beg and steal to survive.

The impact on policing, courts and prisons could be astronomical as parents are no longer permitted to care for their children and are sent on workfare instead.  The cost to the communities we live in, and to those children themselves, can not even begin to be measured.

Street homelessness is rising sharply, and the bedroom tax, benefit cap and housing benefit cuts can only add to that.  A think tank recently warned that one in four children will be living in poverty by 2020 as a direct result of changes to benefits.  Iain Duncan Smith’s crass attempts to redefine poverty as a personal failing rather than an economic disaster will not change the consequences of creating a society in which a quarter of young people are near destitute.

One of architects of welfare reform, Chris Grayling, once alleged that an area of Manchester was akin to the fictional representation of Baltimore in the television series The Wire.  Baltimore has a horrifically high murder rate and the show depicts a  flourishing drugs trade which all to often fills the vacuum in the absence of socialised protection for the poorest.  Grayling couldn’t have been more wrong about Manchester, yet this Government seem intent on making that absurd comparison come true.

The UK did not have an overly generous welfare system despite the claims made by all three political parties.  The main reason the social security system became so complicated is years of thinly designed cuts, bodges, anti-fraud initiatives and endless schemes aimed at trying to cure people of unemployment.  The reason the social security is so expensive is largely down to the astronomical costs involved simply in keeping a roof over your head in the UK.

The last Tory Government launched an all out assault on social housing – with the end result being soaring private sector rents and a rocketing housing benefit bill.  Iain Duncan Smith’s reckless experiment with welfare goes far beyond what even Thatcher would have dared suggest.

Those on benefits, whether in or out of work are now seeing their incomes decimated, and it’s only going to get worse.  No-one can truly know the social consequences of the changes that are taking place, which are all too often hidden under the cover of relentless propaganda claiming that the poorest people in the country are secretly living it up at the tax payers expense.

In truth this country already had poverty that should shame any nation as rich as the UK even before these changes to social security.  But even that may pail into insignificance compared to what is to come.  One thing is surely beyond doubt however.  Whatever is left of society after these reforms are fully implemented, it will be expensive for all of us.

Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid

60% Of Claimants To Be Worse Off Under Universal Credit Says Child Poverty Charity

A report released this week shows that Iain Duncan Smith’s bodged attempts at welfare reform will see the incomes of the working poor, disabled people and parents savaged.

Universal Credit is to be gradually introduced over the next four years and will replace most of the main in and out of work benefits.  DWP Ministers have long claimed that the new benefit will make work pay, yet as details start to emerge about the endlessly complex new system, it seems that for most people this will be anything but the case.

The report produced by the Child Poverty Action Group, along with the TUC,  shows that 60% of households will be worse off under Universal Credit when other changes to benefits and tax credits are taken into account.  Disabled workers will be one of the hardest hit, taking a possible annual loss of almost £3000 a year.

Even those claimants who find themselves slightly better off when the new benefit is finally launched have already been hit by the Bedroom Tax, Council Tax Benefit reforms and the decisions to cap benefit increases – including housing benefits – at below both inflation and rent rises.  This week’s report also points out that despite Universal Credit having officially been launched, admittedly at just one Jobcentre, there is still no clear indication of how ‘passported’ benefits such as free school meals will be managed.

So even a claimant who is able to find work may still find themselves worse off as they are suddenly eligible to pay for school meals, prescriptions and other NHS costs such as dentists.  And this could be on top of any losses from the great Council Tax lottery under which some local authorities are demanding that people with virtually nothing be required to pay the same rate of tax as millionaires.

Perversely about the only people who may see a slight increase in income are low paid part time workers in a household where just one adult works.  Yet it is precisely this group that Universal Credit also seeks to attack with the ludicrous ‘conditionality’ element of the new benefit.  Part time workers will now be required to justify to Jobcentres that they are continually looking for more or better paid work or face vicious benefit sanctions.  Non-working parents will be expected to start work, looking for work, or even workfare, when their youngest child turns 5.  As soon as children turn 13 parents could be sent on workfare for 35 hours a week, with a possible 90 minute journey there and back.  A new generation of latchkey teenagers, abandoned to their own devices from dawn to dusk, will be one very visible result of this Government’s welfare reforms.

Far from ended poverty, one of the most laughable claims made about the introduction of Universal Credit, it will make life far harder for those with least, whether they are in or out of work.   And astonishingly the reforms will not even save any money – £2 billion a year in extra spending has been budgeted to manage the new system.  Only a true fucking idiot like Iain Duncan Smith could introduce a social security system that makes everyone poorer, including the tax payer.

And only a cynical piece of shit like George Osborne could sanction such huge sums of money being spent on a what is little more than a deluded vanity project for a failed Tory ex-leader.  As far as the Treasury is concerned, when it comes to harassing and punishing people just for being poor, then there is an open chequebook.  No expense is too great in the attempt to turn working class people into alienated wage or even workfare slaves – constantly fucking each other over for an ever decreasing slice of the pie.

The report can be read at: http://www.tuc.org.uk/tucfiles/586/TUCcpag-report.pdf

Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid

How Universal Credit Will Incentivise Rent Debt

A perverse incentive in the Universal Credit pilot scheme has already emerged which will mean that social housing tenants who go into rent arrears will be able to have the housing element of the new benefit sent direct to their landlord.

Universal Credit will feature Direct Payments, meaning that council or housing association tenants will receive a monthly cash payment towards their rent.  At present Housing Benefits for social tenants go directly to social landlords in most cases.

This senseless move is based on yet another of Iain Duncan Smith’s pet obsessions, which is that housing benefits going direct to tenants will teach claimants to manage their money.

Housing Associations have been horrified by the changes, issuing warnings that they expect rent arrears to soar.  The DWP’s panicky response to this has been to decide that claimants who fall two months in arrears will automatically have payments switched back to landlords.

This means that tenants concerned about the impact of Direct Payments can simply avoid paying their rent for a couple of months.  This will automatically trigger their benefits to be directed back to their landlords, removing a stressful and senseless burden for already struggling claimants.

To be extra sure that their tenancy is not affected, claimants can keep hold of the cash and as soon as the two months are up then simply pay off the arrears.  Alternatively they could arrange to pay back the money owed in installments and use the two month’s housing benefit as an interest free loan.

It is not clear if tenants will be switched back to Direct Payments once rent arrears are paid off.  If they are then they will just have to stop paying their rent for a couple of months again.  As long as there is a continuous willingness to pay, and arrears stay around the two month mark, then few social landlords will launch formal eviction proceedings.  And just in case they do, the canniest tenants will make sure the rent is safely in the bank to be handed over any time the situation gets a little too hot for comfort.

In fact with Housing Associations also set to take a hit due to the new payments system, it would even in be their interest to support tenants to go into short term arrears. Social landlords are likely to ignore rent arrears once they hit five to six weeks, knowing that the trigger point, which will  clear up any future rent problems, is just a fortnight away.

This is exactly the kind of perverse incentive that the Government promised would be brought to an end due to welfare reforms.  In truth it will be the first of many as 50 year’s of steady development in the Welfare State is thrown away overnight in favour of Iain Duncan Smith’s endless back of the envelope crazy schemes.

The DWP have made clear that this arrangement may not stay in place as Universal Credit is fully rolled out.  The alternative however could leave some social housing providers on the brink of bankruptcy as the most marginalised tenants – who may have well documented drug, alcohol, gambling or debt problems, are given a huge monthly cash sum intended to pay their rent.  The reality is for some this will be a temptation they are unable to resist and lead to huge rent arrears.

Ultimately this will mean more evictions, which will be devastating for those tenants most in need of help, and hugely expensive for both social landlords and the tax payer alike.  Those evicted are likely to be shunted into the far more costly private sector or even face the extortionate rents charged by temporary accommodation and hostels.

Iain Duncan Smith and Lord Fraud are about to learn a stark lesson which will no doubt teach them exactly why the welfare system was quite complicated.  Unfortunately by the time that happens it will be too late for all of us, as the Daily Mail inspired delusions of two desperately out of touch rich men plunge millions of claimant’s lives into chaos.

Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid

Universal Credit Begins With A Fraudster’s Free For All

Today marks the launch of Universal Credit, the all encompassing change to the welfare system that was furiously scribbled down on the back on an envelope after Iain Duncan Smith watched an episode of Shameless.

The changes, which will prove devastating for many of the lowest income families, are as inept as they are callous and likely to lead to unprecedented chaos.  The decision to restrict the roll out of Universal Credit to just a handful of claimants from one Manchester Jobcentre shows how even DWP Ministers are running scared of the new digital by default system.

A gushing press release from the DWP already reveals one major flaw even in this small trial.  Addressing concerns that many, if not most, claimants do not have internet access at home, the DWP boast:  “Eight computers will be available at Ashton-Under-Lyne Jobcentre Plus to help people who do not have access to the internet, and over 130 computers will also be available at certain libraries and council offices in Tameside.”

Making a claim for Universal Credit will involve providing huge amounts of personal information to the DWP via the internet.  Many claimants will have never used a computer before and have little understanding of online security.

It is unlikely Iain Duncan Smith, or Lord Fraud, have ever used an internet cafe or library to access the web.  If they did, they might have noticed that it is not uncommon to visit a site such as facebook or yahoo and find the person who used the computer before you is still logged in.

This is one of the reasons that banks warn:  “As you cannot be certain about the security of public wireless networks or computers in public places (like a library or internet café) you should be cautious about using internet banking services in these situations. Never change your security details while using a public wireless network or a public computer.”

Far from just changing your security details, such as your password, the DWP seem to be actively encouraging people to make their entire initial claim from public computers.  In some cases this could mean the next person to sit down at that machine could have complete access to a previous user’s Universal Credit account.  Even if the library or internet cafe uses software to clear caches and remove passwords after each session (and not all do), anyone looking over someone’s shoulder will be able to steal their log in details and gain access to their account.

This is not the first time Iain Duncan Smith has played fast and loose with claimant’s online safety.  The government job search website Universal Jobmatch has already been plagued by spam, scams and spoof vacancies.  This hasn’t stopped IDS throwing caution to the wind and not just recommending people use libraries to access Universal Credit, but leaving many claimants no other choice.

For all the DWP’s talk about getting tough on benefit fraud, they don’t appear to have a clue about protection from online fraud.  Whilst there is no secure way for people to access their Universal Credit accounts then Iain Duncan Smith has created an identity fraudster’s free for all that could turn into a living nightmare for some of the most marginalised people in the UK.

Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid