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HISTORY OF UNEMPLOYMENT Reuters newsreel report on the marchers’ reception by ‘the most humane force in the world’! (This is the 1932 Hunger March, which has been wrongly labeled on Youtube) The authorities responded to the rising protests by banning demonstrations in central areas and also by attempting to encourage non-political organisations for the unemployed so as to cut across the NUWM.UNIVERSAL CREDIT
Universal Credit (UC) is a means-tested benefit for everyone of working age – those who are unemployed, those who are unable to work, and those who are in work but not earning much. It is replacing means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit andChild Tax Credit.
FOR A UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME For people such as Milton Friedman, UBI provides an alternative to social services – to the social provision of education, health, housing, transport and the rest of the welfare state. For them, this is a way of getting rid of socialisation and making everyone individual consumers. For the Left, UBI is an addition to these socialised services. FIT NOTES AFTER BEING FOUND ‘FIT FOR WORK’ RULES FOR ‘FIT NOTES’ AND ‘EXTENDED PERIOD OF SICKNESS’ Someone who has signed onto JSA after being found ‘fit for work’ has to be treated like anyone else on JSA. This includes rules around fit notes. The rules for giving an Extended Period of Sickness are set out in Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996. Point 55ZA UNPAID WORK FOR THE JOBCENTRE, ANYONE? Once upon a time work experience was something school pupils did for a few days to give them a sense of what the future held in store for them. And basic training was provided by your job. Today, unemployment is portrayed as a personal failing rather than a TRIAL BY TORTURE AT DUNDEE ESA ASSESSMENT CENTRE Linda works as a cleaner for Angela, who is 58 years old, and suffers from a badly damaged back, comprising three fractured vertebrae and five bulging disks. In addition, Angela has also been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a hiatus hernia and depression (these are only her main conditions - she has many more). Back in GETTING THE RIGHT BIT OF PAPER Getting the right bit of paper. October 29, 2017. October 29, 2017. suwn. A report from this weeks stall: Jen had come to the jobcentre to find out what was happening with her Work Capability Assessment – but of course that is the last place that might be able to help. She has numerous health problems, including two sorts of epilepsy, but she IT MAY BE THE DWP’S MISTAKE, BUT IT’S YOUR PROBLEM Even as we did our bit for the national protest against Universal Credit on Wednesday, we encountered yet more problems with the ‘benefit’. Kylie, who has a young child, had just discovered that she had been wrongly moved onto Universal Credit. People on Income Support have to start looking for work when their youngest child SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been on ABOUT US | SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK About Us. The Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (SUWN) is an independent organisation, founded in 2011, that combines campaigning with practical welfare work. We organise activity ourselves and also co-ordinate with other groups across Scotland and beyond. The unemployed are in the front line of the current attack on the poorthat
HISTORY OF UNEMPLOYMENT Reuters newsreel report on the marchers’ reception by ‘the most humane force in the world’! (This is the 1932 Hunger March, which has been wrongly labeled on Youtube) The authorities responded to the rising protests by banning demonstrations in central areas and also by attempting to encourage non-political organisations for the unemployed so as to cut across the NUWM. FOR A UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME For people such as Milton Friedman, UBI provides an alternative to social services – to the social provision of education, health, housing, transport and the rest of the welfare state. For them, this is a way of getting rid of socialisation and making everyone individual consumers. For the Left, UBI is an addition to these socialised services. FIT NOTES AFTER BEING FOUND ‘FIT FOR WORK’ RULES FOR ‘FIT NOTES’ AND ‘EXTENDED PERIOD OF SICKNESS’ Someone who has signed onto JSA after being found ‘fit for work’ has to be treated like anyone else on JSA. This includes rules around fit notes. The rules for giving an Extended Period of Sickness are set out in Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996. Point 55ZA LESS THAN EVERYTHING YOU (DIDN’T) WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE Editorial Health Warnings: This is a very brief, unstructured, synopsis of the key points relating to Social Security The budget is a draft budget, subject to approval by Holyrood Committees & Parliament The full document is 283 pages (very) long. Spending plans may be included in different “portfolios” (e.g. voluntary organisations that are funded centrally UNPAID WORK FOR THE JOBCENTRE, ANYONE? Once upon a time work experience was something school pupils did for a few days to give them a sense of what the future held in store for them. And basic training was provided by your job. Today, unemployment is portrayed as a personal failing rather than a GETTING THE RIGHT BIT OF PAPER Getting the right bit of paper. October 29, 2017. October 29, 2017. suwn. A report from this weeks stall: Jen had come to the jobcentre to find out what was happening with her Work Capability Assessment – but of course that is the last place that might be able to help. She has numerous health problems, including two sorts of epilepsy, but she TRIAL BY TORTURE AT DUNDEE ESA ASSESSMENT CENTRE Linda works as a cleaner for Angela, who is 58 years old, and suffers from a badly damaged back, comprising three fractured vertebrae and five bulging disks. In addition, Angela has also been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a hiatus hernia and depression (these are only her main conditions - she has many more). Back in IT MAY BE THE DWP’S MISTAKE, BUT IT’S YOUR PROBLEM Even as we did our bit for the national protest against Universal Credit on Wednesday, we encountered yet more problems with the ‘benefit’. Kylie, who has a young child, had just discovered that she had been wrongly moved onto Universal Credit. People on Income Support have to start looking for work when their youngest child SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been onUNIVERSAL CREDIT
Universal Credit (UC) is a means-tested benefit for everyone of working age – those who are unemployed, those who are unable to work, and those who are in work but not earning much. It is replacing means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit andChild Tax Credit.
DOCUMENT LIBRARY
Document Library. A leaflet to give to Jobcentre workers, drawn up by Salford Unemployed Community Resource Centre – Law on Social Security for DWP workers. DWP Guidance Documents – these are the rules that the private companies working for the DWP (such as Working Links, Learndirect and Triage) are expected to follow. FOR A UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME For people such as Milton Friedman, UBI provides an alternative to social services – to the social provision of education, health, housing, transport and the rest of the welfare state. For them, this is a way of getting rid of socialisation and making everyone individual consumers. For the Left, UBI is an addition to these socialised services. LESS THAN EVERYTHING YOU (DIDN’T) WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE Editorial Health Warnings: This is a very brief, unstructured, synopsis of the key points relating to Social Security The budget is a draft budget, subject to approval by Holyrood Committees & Parliament The full document is 283 pages (very) long. Spending plans may be included in different “portfolios” (e.g. voluntary organisations that are funded centrally SCOTLAND FREE OR A DESERT During the ‘Scottish Insurrection’ of 1820, Hardie, Baird and Wilson believed that revolution was necessary because Scotland was either ‘free’ or it was ‘a desert’, and this battle cry was taken up by John MacLean during the political upsurges that accompanied the end of World War One. Another century on, it remainsas true as before.
WHY UNPAID LABOUR IS BAD FOR EVERYONE Why unpaid labour is bad for everyone. December 1, 2017 suwn. The announcement that Edinburgh’s Hogmanay party – £26 a ticket and estimated to bring in business worth £40 Million – is advertising for 300 unpaid volunteers, is yet another indictment on our society, and on our local government who could stop this from happening. IF YOU ARE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT YOU’D BETTER NOT GET ILL If you are on Universal Credit you’d better not get ill. July 22, 2017 suwn. A recent phone query revealed yet another serious problem with Universal Credit. Frank rang us on behalf of his daughter, Jen, who suffers from anxiety and panic attacks. Jen is on Universal Credit and was caught by the last throws of the Work Programme, so she can SANCTIONED FOR SIGNING OFF Sanctioned for signing off. September 17, 2017 suwn. Jamie came to the stall just as we were packing up. He had been told to find us because he had no money and didn’t know what to do. The problem began a year ago, just when he thought he was getting his life back together again – only he wasn’t aware of it at the time.TRIAL BY TRIAGE
This week's report is dominated by cases generated by the private firm, Triage, which advertises its services on its website in the following glowing terms: 'Founded by Kate Carnegie MBE in 1998, the company has grown to become one of the most successful Scottish private sector welfare-to-work companies in the UK. Its mission is to SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been on ABOUT US | SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK About Us. The Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (SUWN) is an independent organisation, founded in 2011, that combines campaigning with practical welfare work. We organise activity ourselves and also co-ordinate with other groups across Scotland and beyond. The unemployed are in the front line of the current attack on the poorthat
HISTORY OF UNEMPLOYMENT Reuters newsreel report on the marchers’ reception by ‘the most humane force in the world’! (This is the 1932 Hunger March, which has been wrongly labeled on Youtube) The authorities responded to the rising protests by banning demonstrations in central areas and also by attempting to encourage non-political organisations for the unemployed so as to cut across the NUWM.UNIVERSAL CREDIT
Universal Credit (UC) is a means-tested benefit for everyone of working age – those who are unemployed, those who are unable to work, and those who are in work but not earning much. It is replacing means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit andChild Tax Credit.
FOR A UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME For people such as Milton Friedman, UBI provides an alternative to social services – to the social provision of education, health, housing, transport and the rest of the welfare state. For them, this is a way of getting rid of socialisation and making everyone individual consumers. For the Left, UBI is an addition to these socialised services. FIT NOTES AFTER BEING FOUND ‘FIT FOR WORK’ RULES FOR ‘FIT NOTES’ AND ‘EXTENDED PERIOD OF SICKNESS’ Someone who has signed onto JSA after being found ‘fit for work’ has to be treated like anyone else on JSA. This includes rules around fit notes. The rules for giving an Extended Period of Sickness are set out in Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996. Point 55ZA UNPAID WORK FOR THE JOBCENTRE, ANYONE? Once upon a time work experience was something school pupils did for a few days to give them a sense of what the future held in store for them. And basic training was provided by your job. Today, unemployment is portrayed as a personal failing rather than a TRIAL BY TORTURE AT DUNDEE ESA ASSESSMENT CENTRE Linda works as a cleaner for Angela, who is 58 years old, and suffers from a badly damaged back, comprising three fractured vertebrae and five bulging disks. In addition, Angela has also been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a hiatus hernia and depression (these are only her main conditions - she has many more). Back in GETTING THE RIGHT BIT OF PAPER Getting the right bit of paper. October 29, 2017. October 29, 2017. suwn. A report from this weeks stall: Jen had come to the jobcentre to find out what was happening with her Work Capability Assessment – but of course that is the last place that might be able to help. She has numerous health problems, including two sorts of epilepsy, but she IT MAY BE THE DWP’S MISTAKE, BUT IT’S YOUR PROBLEM Even as we did our bit for the national protest against Universal Credit on Wednesday, we encountered yet more problems with the ‘benefit’. Kylie, who has a young child, had just discovered that she had been wrongly moved onto Universal Credit. People on Income Support have to start looking for work when their youngest child SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been on ABOUT US | SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK About Us. The Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (SUWN) is an independent organisation, founded in 2011, that combines campaigning with practical welfare work. We organise activity ourselves and also co-ordinate with other groups across Scotland and beyond. The unemployed are in the front line of the current attack on the poorthat
HISTORY OF UNEMPLOYMENT Reuters newsreel report on the marchers’ reception by ‘the most humane force in the world’! (This is the 1932 Hunger March, which has been wrongly labeled on Youtube) The authorities responded to the rising protests by banning demonstrations in central areas and also by attempting to encourage non-political organisations for the unemployed so as to cut across the NUWM.UNIVERSAL CREDIT
Universal Credit (UC) is a means-tested benefit for everyone of working age – those who are unemployed, those who are unable to work, and those who are in work but not earning much. It is replacing means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit andChild Tax Credit.
FOR A UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME For people such as Milton Friedman, UBI provides an alternative to social services – to the social provision of education, health, housing, transport and the rest of the welfare state. For them, this is a way of getting rid of socialisation and making everyone individual consumers. For the Left, UBI is an addition to these socialised services. FIT NOTES AFTER BEING FOUND ‘FIT FOR WORK’ RULES FOR ‘FIT NOTES’ AND ‘EXTENDED PERIOD OF SICKNESS’ Someone who has signed onto JSA after being found ‘fit for work’ has to be treated like anyone else on JSA. This includes rules around fit notes. The rules for giving an Extended Period of Sickness are set out in Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996. Point 55ZA UNPAID WORK FOR THE JOBCENTRE, ANYONE? Once upon a time work experience was something school pupils did for a few days to give them a sense of what the future held in store for them. And basic training was provided by your job. Today, unemployment is portrayed as a personal failing rather than a TRIAL BY TORTURE AT DUNDEE ESA ASSESSMENT CENTRE Linda works as a cleaner for Angela, who is 58 years old, and suffers from a badly damaged back, comprising three fractured vertebrae and five bulging disks. In addition, Angela has also been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a hiatus hernia and depression (these are only her main conditions - she has many more). Back in GETTING THE RIGHT BIT OF PAPER Getting the right bit of paper. October 29, 2017. October 29, 2017. suwn. A report from this weeks stall: Jen had come to the jobcentre to find out what was happening with her Work Capability Assessment – but of course that is the last place that might be able to help. She has numerous health problems, including two sorts of epilepsy, but she IT MAY BE THE DWP’S MISTAKE, BUT IT’S YOUR PROBLEM Even as we did our bit for the national protest against Universal Credit on Wednesday, we encountered yet more problems with the ‘benefit’. Kylie, who has a young child, had just discovered that she had been wrongly moved onto Universal Credit. People on Income Support have to start looking for work when their youngest child SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been onUNIVERSAL CREDIT
Universal Credit (UC) is a means-tested benefit for everyone of working age – those who are unemployed, those who are unable to work, and those who are in work but not earning much. It is replacing means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit andChild Tax Credit.
DOCUMENT LIBRARY
Document Library. A leaflet to give to Jobcentre workers, drawn up by Salford Unemployed Community Resource Centre – Law on Social Security for DWP workers. DWP Guidance Documents – these are the rules that the private companies working for the DWP (such as Working Links, Learndirect and Triage) are expected to follow. FOR A UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME For people such as Milton Friedman, UBI provides an alternative to social services – to the social provision of education, health, housing, transport and the rest of the welfare state. For them, this is a way of getting rid of socialisation and making everyone individual consumers. For the Left, UBI is an addition to these socialised services. LESS THAN EVERYTHING YOU (DIDN’T) WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE Editorial Health Warnings: This is a very brief, unstructured, synopsis of the key points relating to Social Security The budget is a draft budget, subject to approval by Holyrood Committees & Parliament The full document is 283 pages (very) long. Spending plans may be included in different “portfolios” (e.g. voluntary organisations that are funded centrally SCOTLAND FREE OR A DESERT Today the world is an even more hostile place. The UK election has dealt another blow to the planet and corroded truth. It is a gift to the warmongers and the bloodsuckers. It is an attack on all the hard-won gains of the post-war welfare state. It will make life harder for the vast majority NOT (YET) THE END OF AN ERA As we end a decade of Tory rule with a prime minister who is more right wing than any in recent memory, the fightback is far from over. The SUWN was set up in response to the first year of Tory ‘Austerity’ and attacks on the unemployed, and although the situation today looks frightening on so many levels, we mustn’t forget the gains that welfare activists have won. WHY UNPAID LABOUR IS BAD FOR EVERYONE Why unpaid labour is bad for everyone. December 1, 2017 suwn. The announcement that Edinburgh’s Hogmanay party – £26 a ticket and estimated to bring in business worth £40 Million – is advertising for 300 unpaid volunteers, is yet another indictment on our society, and on our local government who could stop this from happening. SANCTIONED FOR SIGNING OFF Sanctioned for signing off. September 17, 2017 suwn. Jamie came to the stall just as we were packing up. He had been told to find us because he had no money and didn’t know what to do. The problem began a year ago, just when he thought he was getting his life back together again – only he wasn’t aware of it at the time. IF YOU ARE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT YOU’D BETTER NOT GET ILL If you are on Universal Credit you’d better not get ill. July 22, 2017 suwn. A recent phone query revealed yet another serious problem with Universal Credit. Frank rang us on behalf of his daughter, Jen, who suffers from anxiety and panic attacks. Jen is on Universal Credit and was caught by the last throws of the Work Programme, so she can SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been on COVID-19 ESSENTIAL ADVICE This has dictated their funding priorities, including the establishment of a Job Retention Scheme. If your employer is short of work due to COVID-19, the government will fund them to keep you on the books, and not working, but receiving 80% of your wages (up to a 2,500 a month). This arrangement has to be agreed between employeeand employer.
HISTORY OF UNEMPLOYMENT Reuters newsreel report on the marchers’ reception by ‘the most humane force in the world’! (This is the 1932 Hunger March, which has been wrongly labeled on Youtube) The authorities responded to the rising protests by banning demonstrations in central areas and also by attempting to encourage non-political organisations for the unemployed so as to cut across the NUWM.UNIVERSAL CREDIT
Universal Credit (UC) is a means-tested benefit for everyone of working age – those who are unemployed, those who are unable to work, and those who are in work but not earning much. It is replacing means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit andChild Tax Credit.
SUWN PUBLICATIONS
SANCTIONED VOICES: A report on the impact of the DWP sanctions regime as implemented in Dundee Job Centre, compiled by volunteers for the Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (December 2014) pdf: Sanctioned_Voices HOW WELFARE WAS WON: A history starring the unemployed pdf: How Welfare was Won Youtube NEWSLETTERS 19 - June 2015: SUWN Newsletter 19 18 - February 2015: SUWN FIT NOTES AFTER BEING FOUND ‘FIT FOR WORK’ RULES FOR ‘FIT NOTES’ AND ‘EXTENDED PERIOD OF SICKNESS’ Someone who has signed onto JSA after being found ‘fit for work’ has to be treated like anyone else on JSA. This includes rules around fit notes. The rules for giving an Extended Period of Sickness are set out in Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996. Point 55ZA SCOTLAND FREE OR A DESERT During the ‘Scottish Insurrection’ of 1820, Hardie, Baird and Wilson believed that revolution was necessary because Scotland was either ‘free’ or it was ‘a desert’, and this battle cry was taken up by John MacLean during the political upsurges that accompanied the end of World War One. Another century on, it remainsas true as before.
NOT (YET) THE END OF AN ERA Not (yet) the end of an era – and a poem from Sir IDS. As we end a decade of Tory rule with a prime minister who is more right wing than any in recent memory, the fightback is far from over. The SUWN was set up in response to the first year of Tory ‘Austerity’ and attacks on the unemployed, and although the situation today looks UNPAID WORK FOR THE JOBCENTRE, ANYONE? Once upon a time work experience was something school pupils did for a few days to give them a sense of what the future held in store for them. And basic training was provided by your job. Today, unemployment is portrayed as a personal failing rather than a TRIAL BY TORTURE AT DUNDEE ESA ASSESSMENT CENTRE Linda works as a cleaner for Angela, who is 58 years old, and suffers from a badly damaged back, comprising three fractured vertebrae and five bulging disks. In addition, Angela has also been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a hiatus hernia and depression (these are only her main conditions - she has many more). Back in SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been on COVID-19 ESSENTIAL ADVICE This has dictated their funding priorities, including the establishment of a Job Retention Scheme. If your employer is short of work due to COVID-19, the government will fund them to keep you on the books, and not working, but receiving 80% of your wages (up to a 2,500 a month). This arrangement has to be agreed between employeeand employer.
HISTORY OF UNEMPLOYMENT Reuters newsreel report on the marchers’ reception by ‘the most humane force in the world’! (This is the 1932 Hunger March, which has been wrongly labeled on Youtube) The authorities responded to the rising protests by banning demonstrations in central areas and also by attempting to encourage non-political organisations for the unemployed so as to cut across the NUWM.UNIVERSAL CREDIT
Universal Credit (UC) is a means-tested benefit for everyone of working age – those who are unemployed, those who are unable to work, and those who are in work but not earning much. It is replacing means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit andChild Tax Credit.
SUWN PUBLICATIONS
SANCTIONED VOICES: A report on the impact of the DWP sanctions regime as implemented in Dundee Job Centre, compiled by volunteers for the Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (December 2014) pdf: Sanctioned_Voices HOW WELFARE WAS WON: A history starring the unemployed pdf: How Welfare was Won Youtube NEWSLETTERS 19 - June 2015: SUWN Newsletter 19 18 - February 2015: SUWN FIT NOTES AFTER BEING FOUND ‘FIT FOR WORK’ RULES FOR ‘FIT NOTES’ AND ‘EXTENDED PERIOD OF SICKNESS’ Someone who has signed onto JSA after being found ‘fit for work’ has to be treated like anyone else on JSA. This includes rules around fit notes. The rules for giving an Extended Period of Sickness are set out in Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996. Point 55ZA SCOTLAND FREE OR A DESERT During the ‘Scottish Insurrection’ of 1820, Hardie, Baird and Wilson believed that revolution was necessary because Scotland was either ‘free’ or it was ‘a desert’, and this battle cry was taken up by John MacLean during the political upsurges that accompanied the end of World War One. Another century on, it remainsas true as before.
NOT (YET) THE END OF AN ERA Not (yet) the end of an era – and a poem from Sir IDS. As we end a decade of Tory rule with a prime minister who is more right wing than any in recent memory, the fightback is far from over. The SUWN was set up in response to the first year of Tory ‘Austerity’ and attacks on the unemployed, and although the situation today looks UNPAID WORK FOR THE JOBCENTRE, ANYONE? Once upon a time work experience was something school pupils did for a few days to give them a sense of what the future held in store for them. And basic training was provided by your job. Today, unemployment is portrayed as a personal failing rather than a TRIAL BY TORTURE AT DUNDEE ESA ASSESSMENT CENTRE Linda works as a cleaner for Angela, who is 58 years old, and suffers from a badly damaged back, comprising three fractured vertebrae and five bulging disks. In addition, Angela has also been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a hiatus hernia and depression (these are only her main conditions - she has many more). Back in ABOUT US | SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK (For more information see our BOOK) The Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (SUWN) is an independent organisation, founded in 2011, that combines campaigning with practical welfare work. We organise activity ourselves and also co-ordinate with other groups across Scotland and beyond. The unemployed are in the front line of the current attack onthe poor that
COVID-19 ESSENTIAL ADVICE This has dictated their funding priorities, including the establishment of a Job Retention Scheme. If your employer is short of work due to COVID-19, the government will fund them to keep you on the books, and not working, but receiving 80% of your wages (up to a 2,500 a month). This arrangement has to be agreed between employeeand employer.
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
Printable booklets: colour 18-08-20 Know Your Rights booklet ; black and white 18-08-20 Know Your Rights b and w booklet; colour for areas without UC Full Service 18-08-22 Know Your Rights (not UC Full Service) booklet; black and white for areas without UC Full Service 18-08-22 Know Your Rights (not UC Full Service) b and w booklet.. These are designed to be printed on two sides of A4, APRIL | 2020 | SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK As a result, Scotland now has one of the largest death tolls of any of the small nations on a worldwide basis. With a population of 5.4 million, Scotland’s deaths now number 1,120 (as at 24/04/20), compared with Greece, 10.8 million, 130 deaths; New Zealand, 4,8 million, 17 deaths; Denmark, 5.8 million, 403 deaths; Norway, 5.4million, 199
SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK The Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network has, always been in favour of an independent Scotland. And not passively either. During and since the 2014 referendum we were out on the streets actively pushing for that goal. We still are. In two days’ time, there will be SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK Frankie told me that it had taken two whiskies for him to be able to leave the house in order to get to the jobcentre. His mental health problems include severe anxiety and agoraphobia, and, although he has been off drugs and clean for three years, he was worried that the stress of compulsory appointments was going to push him back to relying on the drugs again.RINSE AND REPEAT
This handful of cases from a recent stall perfectly illustrates once again the horrors of the UK benefit system, and why we need to keep pushing. We are determined to keep going until real change is made. Ernie is a young man who has, for some time, FROM A TRICKLE TO A STREAM From a trickle to a stream. March 7, 2020 suwn. Bob emerged from a routine appointment in the Jobcentre looking shaken. He explained that had been stopped by security personnel when entering the office, who had “closed in like automatic doors from each side”. He obviously felt intimidated and had asked his advisor what they weredoing.
BRINGING IN THE NEW YEAR, DWP STYLE Bringing in the New Year, DWP Style. January 11, 2020 suwn. The first stall of 2020 took place against the backdrop of Baltic weather conditions and the recent disastrous re-election of the Tories, which means that groups like our own will find ourselves, yet again, back on the active front line of the ruthless and never ending class war being NOT (YET) THE END OF AN ERA As we end a decade of Tory rule with a prime minister who is more right wing than any in recent memory, the fightback is far from over. The SUWN was set up in response to the first year of Tory ‘Austerity’ and attacks on the unemployed, and although the situation today looks frightening on so many levels, we mustn’t forget the gains that welfare activists have won. SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been on ABOUT US | SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK About Us. The Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (SUWN) is an independent organisation, founded in 2011, that combines campaigning with practical welfare work. We organise activity ourselves and also co-ordinate with other groups across Scotland and beyond. The unemployed are in the front line of the current attack on the poorthat
HISTORY OF UNEMPLOYMENT Reuters newsreel report on the marchers’ reception by ‘the most humane force in the world’! (This is the 1932 Hunger March, which has been wrongly labeled on Youtube) The authorities responded to the rising protests by banning demonstrations in central areas and also by attempting to encourage non-political organisations for the unemployed so as to cut across the NUWM.SUWN PUBLICATIONS
SANCTIONED VOICES: A report on the impact of the DWP sanctions regime as implemented in Dundee Job Centre, compiled by volunteers for the Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (December 2014) pdf: Sanctioned_Voices HOW WELFARE WAS WON: A history starring the unemployed pdf: How Welfare was Won Youtube NEWSLETTERS 19 - June 2015: SUWN Newsletter 19 18 - February 2015: SUWN FIT NOTES AFTER BEING FOUND ‘FIT FOR WORK’ RULES FOR ‘FIT NOTES’ AND ‘EXTENDED PERIOD OF SICKNESS’ Someone who has signed onto JSA after being found ‘fit for work’ has to be treated like anyone else on JSA. This includes rules around fit notes. The rules for giving an Extended Period of Sickness are set out in Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996. Point 55ZARINSE AND REPEAT
This handful of cases from a recent stall perfectly illustrates once again the horrors of the UK benefit system, and why we need to keep pushing. We are determined to keep going until real change is made. Ernie is a young man who has, for some time, SCOTLAND FREE OR A DESERT During the ‘Scottish Insurrection’ of 1820, Hardie, Baird and Wilson believed that revolution was necessary because Scotland was either ‘free’ or it was ‘a desert’, and this battle cry was taken up by John MacLean during the political upsurges that accompanied the end of World War One. Another century on, it remainsas true as before.
NOT (YET) THE END OF AN ERA Not (yet) the end of an era – and a poem from Sir IDS. As we end a decade of Tory rule with a prime minister who is more right wing than any in recent memory, the fightback is far from over. The SUWN was set up in response to the first year of Tory ‘Austerity’ and attacks on the unemployed, and although the situation today looks UNPAID WORK FOR THE JOBCENTRE, ANYONE? Once upon a time work experience was something school pupils did for a few days to give them a sense of what the future held in store for them. And basic training was provided by your job. Today, unemployment is portrayed as a personal failing rather than a TRIAL BY TORTURE AT DUNDEE ESA ASSESSMENT CENTRE Linda works as a cleaner for Angela, who is 58 years old, and suffers from a badly damaged back, comprising three fractured vertebrae and five bulging disks. In addition, Angela has also been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a hiatus hernia and depression (these are only her main conditions - she has many more). Back in SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been on ABOUT US | SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK About Us. The Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (SUWN) is an independent organisation, founded in 2011, that combines campaigning with practical welfare work. We organise activity ourselves and also co-ordinate with other groups across Scotland and beyond. The unemployed are in the front line of the current attack on the poorthat
HISTORY OF UNEMPLOYMENT Reuters newsreel report on the marchers’ reception by ‘the most humane force in the world’! (This is the 1932 Hunger March, which has been wrongly labeled on Youtube) The authorities responded to the rising protests by banning demonstrations in central areas and also by attempting to encourage non-political organisations for the unemployed so as to cut across the NUWM.SUWN PUBLICATIONS
SANCTIONED VOICES: A report on the impact of the DWP sanctions regime as implemented in Dundee Job Centre, compiled by volunteers for the Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (December 2014) pdf: Sanctioned_Voices HOW WELFARE WAS WON: A history starring the unemployed pdf: How Welfare was Won Youtube NEWSLETTERS 19 - June 2015: SUWN Newsletter 19 18 - February 2015: SUWN FIT NOTES AFTER BEING FOUND ‘FIT FOR WORK’ RULES FOR ‘FIT NOTES’ AND ‘EXTENDED PERIOD OF SICKNESS’ Someone who has signed onto JSA after being found ‘fit for work’ has to be treated like anyone else on JSA. This includes rules around fit notes. The rules for giving an Extended Period of Sickness are set out in Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996. Point 55ZARINSE AND REPEAT
This handful of cases from a recent stall perfectly illustrates once again the horrors of the UK benefit system, and why we need to keep pushing. We are determined to keep going until real change is made. Ernie is a young man who has, for some time, SCOTLAND FREE OR A DESERT During the ‘Scottish Insurrection’ of 1820, Hardie, Baird and Wilson believed that revolution was necessary because Scotland was either ‘free’ or it was ‘a desert’, and this battle cry was taken up by John MacLean during the political upsurges that accompanied the end of World War One. Another century on, it remainsas true as before.
NOT (YET) THE END OF AN ERA Not (yet) the end of an era – and a poem from Sir IDS. As we end a decade of Tory rule with a prime minister who is more right wing than any in recent memory, the fightback is far from over. The SUWN was set up in response to the first year of Tory ‘Austerity’ and attacks on the unemployed, and although the situation today looks UNPAID WORK FOR THE JOBCENTRE, ANYONE? Once upon a time work experience was something school pupils did for a few days to give them a sense of what the future held in store for them. And basic training was provided by your job. Today, unemployment is portrayed as a personal failing rather than a TRIAL BY TORTURE AT DUNDEE ESA ASSESSMENT CENTRE Linda works as a cleaner for Angela, who is 58 years old, and suffers from a badly damaged back, comprising three fractured vertebrae and five bulging disks. In addition, Angela has also been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a hiatus hernia and depression (these are only her main conditions - she has many more). Back in COVID-19 ESSENTIAL ADVICE This has dictated their funding priorities, including the establishment of a Job Retention Scheme. If your employer is short of work due to COVID-19, the government will fund them to keep you on the books, and not working, but receiving 80% of your wages (up to a 2,500 a month). This arrangement has to be agreed between employeeand employer.
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
The DWP wants to make everyone manage their benefits on line. If you are in the UC Full Service, you are expected to do this even if it means relying on help from family and friends. Councils are providing computer rooms and training. If this is impossible, ring the UC helpline (0800 328 5644) – but they aren’t much help.UNIVERSAL CREDIT
Universal Credit (UC) is a means-tested benefit for everyone of working age – those who are unemployed, those who are unable to work, and those who are in work but not earning much. It is replacing means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit andChild Tax Credit.
CONTACT US | SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK Facebook Page Facebook Group email: admin@scottishunemployedworkers.net mobile: 07803 052239 or 07899798979
SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK Frankie told me that it had taken two whiskies for him to be able to leave the house in order to get to the jobcentre. His mental health problems include severe anxiety and agoraphobia, and, although he has been off drugs and clean for three years, he was worried that the stress of compulsory appointments was going to push him back to relying on the drugs again. FOR A UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME For people such as Milton Friedman, UBI provides an alternative to social services – to the social provision of education, health, housing, transport and the rest of the welfare state. For them, this is a way of getting rid of socialisation and making everyone individual consumers. For the Left, UBI is an addition to these socialised services.A LOAD O’ SHITE
A load o’ shite. October 19, 2019 suwn. At our advice stalls we always try to ask people leaving the jobcentre if they need any help. “Any bother?” we asked one guy. “Nah. It’s a load o’ shite!” he said, rapidly retreating. The interaction was brief. The man’s comment illustrates the general level of frustration at thesystem.
NOT (YET) THE END OF AN ERA As we end a decade of Tory rule with a prime minister who is more right wing than any in recent memory, the fightback is far from over. The SUWN was set up in response to the first year of Tory ‘Austerity’ and attacks on the unemployed, and although the situation today looks frightening on so many levels, we mustn’t forget the gains that welfare activists have won. COMPUTERS AND WASHING MACHINES: A STALL REPORT Computers and Washing Machines: A Stall Report. It’s impossible to know how busy an SUWN stall will be. Recently they have been either very quiet or very busy. There has been no middle ground. This week we debated holding the stall somewhere else in the city. In the end we chose to set up shop outside the Jobcentre once again. UNIVERSAL CREDIT PROBLEM NUMBER A MILLION AND ONE A few grassroots activists can only directly help a tiny proportion of those who need assistance, but we hope by writing about what we do we can reach a few more people with similar problems, and also make a wider public a bit more aware of the realities of life relying on theDWP. The
SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been on ABOUT US | SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK About Us. The Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (SUWN) is an independent organisation, founded in 2011, that combines campaigning with practical welfare work. We organise activity ourselves and also co-ordinate with other groups across Scotland and beyond. The unemployed are in the front line of the current attack on the poorthat
HISTORY OF UNEMPLOYMENT Reuters newsreel report on the marchers’ reception by ‘the most humane force in the world’! (This is the 1932 Hunger March, which has been wrongly labeled on Youtube) The authorities responded to the rising protests by banning demonstrations in central areas and also by attempting to encourage non-political organisations for the unemployed so as to cut across the NUWM.SUWN PUBLICATIONS
SANCTIONED VOICES: A report on the impact of the DWP sanctions regime as implemented in Dundee Job Centre, compiled by volunteers for the Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (December 2014) pdf: Sanctioned_Voices HOW WELFARE WAS WON: A history starring the unemployed pdf: How Welfare was Won Youtube NEWSLETTERS 19 - June 2015: SUWN Newsletter 19 18 - February 2015: SUWN FIT NOTES AFTER BEING FOUND ‘FIT FOR WORK’ RULES FOR ‘FIT NOTES’ AND ‘EXTENDED PERIOD OF SICKNESS’ Someone who has signed onto JSA after being found ‘fit for work’ has to be treated like anyone else on JSA. This includes rules around fit notes. The rules for giving an Extended Period of Sickness are set out in Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996. Point 55ZARINSE AND REPEAT
This handful of cases from a recent stall perfectly illustrates once again the horrors of the UK benefit system, and why we need to keep pushing. We are determined to keep going until real change is made. Ernie is a young man who has, for some time, SCOTLAND FREE OR A DESERT During the ‘Scottish Insurrection’ of 1820, Hardie, Baird and Wilson believed that revolution was necessary because Scotland was either ‘free’ or it was ‘a desert’, and this battle cry was taken up by John MacLean during the political upsurges that accompanied the end of World War One. Another century on, it remainsas true as before.
NOT (YET) THE END OF AN ERA Not (yet) the end of an era – and a poem from Sir IDS. As we end a decade of Tory rule with a prime minister who is more right wing than any in recent memory, the fightback is far from over. The SUWN was set up in response to the first year of Tory ‘Austerity’ and attacks on the unemployed, and although the situation today looks UNPAID WORK FOR THE JOBCENTRE, ANYONE? Once upon a time work experience was something school pupils did for a few days to give them a sense of what the future held in store for them. And basic training was provided by your job. Today, unemployment is portrayed as a personal failing rather than a TRIAL BY TORTURE AT DUNDEE ESA ASSESSMENT CENTRE Linda works as a cleaner for Angela, who is 58 years old, and suffers from a badly damaged back, comprising three fractured vertebrae and five bulging disks. In addition, Angela has also been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a hiatus hernia and depression (these are only her main conditions - she has many more). Back in SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been on ABOUT US | SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK About Us. The Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (SUWN) is an independent organisation, founded in 2011, that combines campaigning with practical welfare work. We organise activity ourselves and also co-ordinate with other groups across Scotland and beyond. The unemployed are in the front line of the current attack on the poorthat
HISTORY OF UNEMPLOYMENT Reuters newsreel report on the marchers’ reception by ‘the most humane force in the world’! (This is the 1932 Hunger March, which has been wrongly labeled on Youtube) The authorities responded to the rising protests by banning demonstrations in central areas and also by attempting to encourage non-political organisations for the unemployed so as to cut across the NUWM.SUWN PUBLICATIONS
SANCTIONED VOICES: A report on the impact of the DWP sanctions regime as implemented in Dundee Job Centre, compiled by volunteers for the Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (December 2014) pdf: Sanctioned_Voices HOW WELFARE WAS WON: A history starring the unemployed pdf: How Welfare was Won Youtube NEWSLETTERS 19 - June 2015: SUWN Newsletter 19 18 - February 2015: SUWN FIT NOTES AFTER BEING FOUND ‘FIT FOR WORK’ RULES FOR ‘FIT NOTES’ AND ‘EXTENDED PERIOD OF SICKNESS’ Someone who has signed onto JSA after being found ‘fit for work’ has to be treated like anyone else on JSA. This includes rules around fit notes. The rules for giving an Extended Period of Sickness are set out in Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996. Point 55ZARINSE AND REPEAT
This handful of cases from a recent stall perfectly illustrates once again the horrors of the UK benefit system, and why we need to keep pushing. We are determined to keep going until real change is made. Ernie is a young man who has, for some time, SCOTLAND FREE OR A DESERT During the ‘Scottish Insurrection’ of 1820, Hardie, Baird and Wilson believed that revolution was necessary because Scotland was either ‘free’ or it was ‘a desert’, and this battle cry was taken up by John MacLean during the political upsurges that accompanied the end of World War One. Another century on, it remainsas true as before.
NOT (YET) THE END OF AN ERA Not (yet) the end of an era – and a poem from Sir IDS. As we end a decade of Tory rule with a prime minister who is more right wing than any in recent memory, the fightback is far from over. The SUWN was set up in response to the first year of Tory ‘Austerity’ and attacks on the unemployed, and although the situation today looks UNPAID WORK FOR THE JOBCENTRE, ANYONE? Once upon a time work experience was something school pupils did for a few days to give them a sense of what the future held in store for them. And basic training was provided by your job. Today, unemployment is portrayed as a personal failing rather than a TRIAL BY TORTURE AT DUNDEE ESA ASSESSMENT CENTRE Linda works as a cleaner for Angela, who is 58 years old, and suffers from a badly damaged back, comprising three fractured vertebrae and five bulging disks. In addition, Angela has also been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a hiatus hernia and depression (these are only her main conditions - she has many more). Back in COVID-19 ESSENTIAL ADVICE This has dictated their funding priorities, including the establishment of a Job Retention Scheme. If your employer is short of work due to COVID-19, the government will fund them to keep you on the books, and not working, but receiving 80% of your wages (up to a 2,500 a month). This arrangement has to be agreed between employeeand employer.
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
The DWP wants to make everyone manage their benefits on line. If you are in the UC Full Service, you are expected to do this even if it means relying on help from family and friends. Councils are providing computer rooms and training. If this is impossible, ring the UC helpline (0800 328 5644) – but they aren’t much help.UNIVERSAL CREDIT
Universal Credit (UC) is a means-tested benefit for everyone of working age – those who are unemployed, those who are unable to work, and those who are in work but not earning much. It is replacing means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit andChild Tax Credit.
CONTACT US | SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK Facebook Page Facebook Group email: admin@scottishunemployedworkers.net mobile: 07803 052239 or 07899798979
SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK Frankie told me that it had taken two whiskies for him to be able to leave the house in order to get to the jobcentre. His mental health problems include severe anxiety and agoraphobia, and, although he has been off drugs and clean for three years, he was worried that the stress of compulsory appointments was going to push him back to relying on the drugs again. FOR A UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME For people such as Milton Friedman, UBI provides an alternative to social services – to the social provision of education, health, housing, transport and the rest of the welfare state. For them, this is a way of getting rid of socialisation and making everyone individual consumers. For the Left, UBI is an addition to these socialised services.A LOAD O’ SHITE
A load o’ shite. October 19, 2019 suwn. At our advice stalls we always try to ask people leaving the jobcentre if they need any help. “Any bother?” we asked one guy. “Nah. It’s a load o’ shite!” he said, rapidly retreating. The interaction was brief. The man’s comment illustrates the general level of frustration at thesystem.
NOT (YET) THE END OF AN ERA As we end a decade of Tory rule with a prime minister who is more right wing than any in recent memory, the fightback is far from over. The SUWN was set up in response to the first year of Tory ‘Austerity’ and attacks on the unemployed, and although the situation today looks frightening on so many levels, we mustn’t forget the gains that welfare activists have won. COMPUTERS AND WASHING MACHINES: A STALL REPORT Computers and Washing Machines: A Stall Report. It’s impossible to know how busy an SUWN stall will be. Recently they have been either very quiet or very busy. There has been no middle ground. This week we debated holding the stall somewhere else in the city. In the end we chose to set up shop outside the Jobcentre once again. UNIVERSAL CREDIT PROBLEM NUMBER A MILLION AND ONE A few grassroots activists can only directly help a tiny proportion of those who need assistance, but we hope by writing about what we do we can reach a few more people with similar problems, and also make a wider public a bit more aware of the realities of life relying on theDWP. The
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COVID-19 PRACTICALITIES AND POLITICS March 28, 2020March 29, 2020suwn
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If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been on preserving the economic system. Otherwise, they apparently consider it enough that hundreds of thousands of households will be kept just above subsistence level, though even this has only been achieved throughpublic pressure
The government seems determined to do nothing that might reverse social inequality, but there are questions being asked about what will happen when the immediate threat is over: should we return to the old ways? As a society, we have seen that capitalism couldn’t provide a solution and that we needed massive public intervention. We have discovered that, when they are pushed, governments can find money. We have learnt who are the really vital people in keeping our society running – and that, apart from doctors, they are generally on the lowest wages. We have found that huge numbers of people are ready and willing to self-organise and play an active part in supporting others in their community. And many people are being jolted into reflecting on what really matters in life. We should be able to build on all this to create a very different society, but that won’t happen automatically, especially with progressive organisations in their current state of disarray. We need to resist those well-meaning voices who tell us to put politics aside while we focus on immediate needs. In the SUWN we have always argued that practical mutual support must go hand in hand with political activism to change the system that is creating the problems in thefirst place.
Of course, there were viruses before capitalism – though the relentless exploitation of the natural world makes their emergence more likely. But the prioritisation of commerce, and the running down of public health services has allowed the disease to spread more virulently and destructively, both in its immediate impact, and in the effect it could have in strengthening inequalities and snuffing out those things not backed by big money. And if _we_ don’t make the case for a better world, then the momentum could move, instead, to those who have responded to the failures of economic liberalism by promoting a new authoritarianism. Already, COVID-19 has been used as an excuse for bringing in draconian legislation and giving new powers to governments. These could be used for much more than containing the spread of a virus. We will continue to play our part in raising the bigger political questions – but we also need to make sure that as many of us as possible are fit and able to fight for that better world. So here is our guide to the current situation. If you can’t find the answer to your questions here, please get in touch and we will do our best to find out for you – though many of the new rules have yet to befleshed out.
You can contact us on admin@scottishunemployedworkers.net or throughFacebook ,
or ring 07803 052239 or 0131 467 4488. IF YOU’RE STILL IN WORK Collective action is more important than ever, so, if you’re not already in a trade union, please join one! This is not just an insurance against individual ill-treatment. It also enables more effective action if employers are not providing necessary protection or are exploiting the situation for their own gain. IF, BECAUSE OF COVID-19, YOUR EMPLOYER NO LONGER HAS WORK FOR YOU TODO
The UK government is supremely concerned about the survival of the capitalist economy and the UK’s ability to restart the system once the pandemic is over. This has dictated their funding priorities, including the establishment of a Job Retention Scheme. If your employer is short of work due to COVID-19, the government will fund them to keep you on the books, and not working, but receiving 80% of your wages (up to a £2,500 a month). This arrangement has to be agreed between employee and employer. It will also take a bit of time to get up and running Employers won’t get the money back until the end of April, which is making some reluctant to sign up to the scheme, or encouraging them to try and pass on the delay to their employees (Google ‘Wetherspoons’). If your employer is trying to make people redundant because of lack of work, then they might be persuaded to agree to this scheme instead. Trade unions can help make the case for this. You can only be part of this scheme if you are doing no work for your employer. There is no scope for part time working. Your employer can choose to make your wages up to the full amount themselves, but they don’t have to. If your employer doesn’t agree to keeping you on under this scheme, you will be left to the mercies of Universal Credit or Jobseekers Allowance. IF YOU’RE SELF-EMPLOYED AND CAN NO LONGER WORK The government has finally been shamed into including the self employed in their 80% earnings compensation scheme – but with no payments expected until June, which demonstrates how little they understand or empathise with the real lives of most of the people whose future depends on them. There is also nothing here for those who have only recently become self-employed. To qualify, earnings from self-employment must make up more than half of your taxable income for the year 2018-19. This and the previous two tax years (if you were self-employed then too) will be used to calculate what you will be paid. If you haven’t put in a tax return for 2018-19 you can still do so. The details – such as they are – are set out here.
Other than checking you’ve put in that tax return, there’s nothing more that you can do to claim this now, except wait for future emails from HMRC. It’s, basically, don’t ring us, we’ll ring you. Meanwhile, though, you could apply for Universal Credit to tide you over, provided you are otherwise eligible. As always, you may not want to apply for Universal Credit if you are getting other benefits under the old rules (such as housing benefit or tax credits) as once you are in the Universal Credit system there is no going back. IF YOU LOSE YOUR JOB If you lose your job, then you may have to rely on out-of-work benefits. Already, half a million people have been trying to apply, and the system can’t cope. Now that a whole new cohort of vocal people will be forced to rely on Universal Credit, the Government has had to acknowledge what benefit claimants and campaigners have been telling them for a long time: it is not enough to survive on. To try and pre-empt the inevitable outcry, Universal Credit will be raised by 20 a week from 6 April (on top of the planned small increase) which will make it equivalent to Statutory Sick Pay. This increase will also be applied to Working Tax Credits (for those still on these). Couples have to share the increase between them, and there appears to be nothing extra for those claiming JSA or ESA. Despite many demands for change, there is still a five week wait between signing onto Universal Credit (provided you can actually get through the overburdened system) and getting your first benefit payment. You are expected to get an advance loan which will be subtracted from your future payments. The timing of your application can make a big difference to your first Universal Credit payment. You need to put in your claim almost as soon as you are eligible, as you can only backdate a month, however it’s usually best to wait until after you have received any final payment from your last job in order for that payment not to be included in the first month’s benefit calculation. This doesn’t apply to redundancy pay, which is counted as capital. (If you are returning to Universal Credit after less than six months, you can sometimes lose money if you delay signing back on for more than a week after you endwork.)
If you have paid enough National Insurance in the relevant recent period (it’s complicated) you can apply for ‘New Style’ Job Seekers’ Allowance (JSA) instead of Universal Credit. You should then get your first payment within two weeks, and some of the other rules are better too. However, you may have to apply for Universal Credit on top of this if you need further help, such as housing benefit – and perhaps for that extra £20? You are not currently expected to go to the Jobcentre. Everything is done online or via an incredibly busy phone line . _ALL WORK SEARCH REQUIREMENTS HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED FOR AT LEAST 3 MONTHS_. You should still inform the DWP via your online journal if you need to self-isolate, but, if you do have Covid-19 or have to self-isolate or care for others who are self-isolating, this won’t be counted against your allowed periods of sickness. IF YOU ARE SELF-EMPLOYED AND ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT As a temporary concession, the DWP has dropped the rule that prevented you from getting extra benefit payments if your income dropped below a set minimum (the minimum income floor). IF YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE PAYING YOUR HOUSING COSTS One of the first things the government did was bring in payment breaks for people with mortgages. Renters had to wait until the pressure for change was impossible to ignore. Local Housing Allowance (the benefit to help pay private-sector rents) will be increased in April, but there are no rent breaks, just a promise to bring in a stay on evictions, which has yet to be legislated. Housing Associations have already announced that they will not evict. The Tribunal is already closed for new eviction hearings, but it is unclear what will happen if an eviction order has already been granted. Check Shelter Scotlandfor
up-to-date information. The stay on evictions is a start, but it only defers problems till later. If you are worried for yourself or your friends and neighbours, here is the link to Living Rent , the tenants’ union. You can also find them on Facebook. IF YOUR EMPLOYER IS PUTTING YOUR HEALTH AT RISK The government has been dangerously vague and there are no previous cases to refer to, but employers should follow government advice on social distancing and provide facilities for hand cleaning. Acas comments ‘An employer should listen to any concerns staff may have and should take steps to protect everyone.’ Again, you may need help from a trade union to try and get your employer to ‘listen’ and toact!
IF YOU ARE CONSIDERED TO BE AT VERY HIGH RISK OF SEVERE ILLNESS IF YOUCATCH CORONAVIRUS
If you are classified as at very high risk, you will be advised to isolate at home for twelve weeks. You should be contacted by the NHS(see here
).
IF YOU HAVE TO STOP WORK BECAUSE YOU HAVE COVID-19, OR HAVE TO SELF-ISOLATE, OR TO CARE FOR OTHERS IN THE HOUSEHOLD WHO ARESELF-ISOLATING
_IF YOU ARE AN EMPLOYEE EARNING AN AVERAGE OF £118 A WEEK OR MORE, _you can apply for Statutory Sick Pay (£94.25 a week), which is now (temporarily) available from day one. Instead of a doctor’s line, you need an ‘Isolation Note’, which you can get online from the NHS website (it’s the same link for Scotland). The GovernmentGuidance is here
.
_IF YOU’RE SELF EMPLOYED, _you will need to apply for Universal Credit or, if you have paid enough National Insurance in the relevant recent period, ‘New Style’ Employment and Support Allowance. IF YOU ARE EXPECTING A HEALTH ASSESSMENT FOR PIP, ESA OR UC Face to face assessments have been suspended. Decisions will be based on the paperwork that they have or on a telephone interview. You will be contacted about this. If you are interviewed by phone, we would still recommend that you have someone with you as a witness to the discussion and for moral support. (You could put your phone onloudspeaker.)
If your PIP or DLA is about to run out it will be automaticallyextended
(See here
.)
IF YOU ARE WAITING FOR AN APPEAL TRIBUNAL Tribunals are being postponed or being done by telephone IF YOU’RE ANGRY WITH THE SITUATION WE FIND OURSELVES IN Don’t forget the politics: educate agitate organise! FROM A TRICKLE TO A STREAMMarch 7, 2020
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Bob emerged from a routine appointment in the Jobcentre looking shaken. He explained that had been stopped by security personnel when entering the office, who had “closed in like automatic doors from each side”. He obviously felt intimidated and had asked his advisor what they were doing. He was told that security were there for “staff protection”. He was also told they were able to “frisk” people. If this is illustrative of a wider policy, it is a worrying development. Of course, we have been here before. Back in 2014-15, we had many confrontations with the security staff in Dundee Jobcentre, who were very fond of laying their hands on SUWN volunteers as well as unsuspecting claimants, who often found themselves in a half Nelson when all they’d done was perhaps question an advisor’s ruling or contemptuous attitude towards them. We will keep an eye on this situation, but, in the meantime, if you’ve had experience of over-bearing or confrontational security guards at Dundee (or any other) Jobcentre we’d like to hear from you. After two to three months of fairly quiet stalls, when we were dealing with perhaps two to three cases, this week proved to be very different, with around ten folk requiring assistance or help of some kind. Doreen emerged from the Jobcentre looking perplexed. She had been sent a letter from the DWP. Until recently she had been claiming Carers Allowance (CA), as she had been raising her two disabled children. But she was now no longer responsible for one of the children, and the DWP had sent her a letter claiming this represented a change of circumstances, meaning she would now have to apply for Universal Credit (UC). We offered to accompany Doreen into her appointment, but she felt confident enough to deal with the issue herself, and when she re-appeared shortly afterwards, her beaming smile indicated that she had resolved the problem and would continue to be paid CA. Doreen was only too well aware of the problems with UC, and was determined to avoid being transferred into its loving embrace for as long as possible. Fergus had been detained overnight in police custody. He had consequently missed a Jobcentre appointment. Obviously, he had had no way of accessing his online journal, or any other way to contact the Jobcentre. He feared a sanction, but emerged looking very relieved. The Police had been helpful and had confirmed his story to the Jobcentre. He remembered the SUWN from the past, and thanked us forour ongoing work.
Adam had also just been released from a short jail sentence, during which time his medical ‘fit note’ had run out. He had been unable to renew it, and was now worried about the ‘gap’ and whether his GP was going to be difficult about continuing the fit note from the end date of the old one. He took a leaflet and said he would be in touch if he had any further difficulties. Emma had come to the Jobcentre to ask about the process of applying for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) on behalf of a friend. We explained that the initial application for PIP was done over the phone, and provided her with the number. We also urged her to get help with the application process from a welfare rights organisation. It is always worth applying for PIP if you think you might be eligible, but we always advise folk to get help with the paper form, preferably from a welfare rights advisor. Ian told us that he is getting £80 taken off his payments every fortnight due to paying off a loan. This leaves him living on only 50 a week. We advised him to apply to the Scottish Welfare Fund to help with immediate difficulties, and to register with Welfare Rights, who should be able to negotiate a less crippling repayment rate. Gill, who has COPD and who works part time in a discount store, had been on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) for some years, but now gets Universal Credit, and the Jobcentre is pressurising her into applying for full time work. This is placing her under severe stress and exacerbating her condition. The matter was not helped by her advisor, who she felt had been openly contemptuous of her and who had threatened her with a sanction if she didn’t comply with demands to up her working hours, despite Gill’s repeated explanation of her medical condition. Gill had recently changed to a new advisor, which had resulted in a slight improvement in tone, but she said she might want someone to go in with her next time. We have advised her to apply for the Limited Capacity for Work element of Universal Credit. Hamish is a part-time taxi driver. His UC payments are not coming through, and his hours are up and down. The SUWN has highlighted the problems of UC for those on uneven hours, or who are self-employed.
We advised him to seek a full benefit check from welfare rights, which would clarify whether he has been short changed, or whether this is another case that demonstrates just how unfit for purpose this ridiculous excuse for a welfare system actually is – particularly when it comes to protecting the low paid. Jack has had previous dealings with the SUWN. He is doing everything he can to look for work. He told us that the Jobcentre, are sending him on a two-week employability course. He was not exactly sure of the details of it, but suspected that it will be tutorials on CV Writing. Jack already has an excellent CV, and has several different versions tailored to different sectors. He will be taking copies of his various CVs to the course and asking what they could possibly tell him that he isn’t already doing. He has also promised to keep the SUWN informed as to what the course entails. We warned him to be careful about anypaperwork he signs.
Duncan, Garry, Jock, Jonathan, Norma and Tony were at this week’sstall.
‘SCOTTISH SOCIAL SECURITY: TOO LITTLE TOO LATE’ – SUWN AT THE HOLYROOD MAGAZINE CONFERENCE February 29, 2020February 29, 2020suwn
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We were both surprised and pleased, not only to be invited to speak at last week’s conference on poverty organised by the Holyrood Magazine, but also to find that the feeling that the Scottish Government could be doing more was widely shared – and we weren’t even the only people raising the issue of more progressive taxation. Of course, everyone acknowledged that the root of the problem lay in Westminster, but the focus of the event was on what could still be done here in Scotland. (The Greens had made their budget deal with the Scottish Government the day before, and while the concessions they have secured are good, we are still waiting for them to choose the vital issue of welfare as one of their red lines.) Sarah’s presentation to the conference is below: SCOTTISH SOCIAL SECURITY – TOO LITTLE TOO LATE? First, a bit about the SUWN. We set up in 2011 in response to the demonising of the unemployed. We aim to combine the practical grassroots work of solidarity and mutual help, with campaigning for change. We hold regular stalls outside the buroo handing out Know Your Rights leaflet and asking everyone who comes out if they have problems. We campaign against cuts and the increasingly punitive and oppressive system coming from Westminster, and for progressive reforms. And we also highlight the need and possibilities for more fundamental change – for a new approach to the economy and to work, including a Universal Basic Income. Progressive change only happens in response to movement from below. That movement must be built on solid foundations. It gains support by showing relevance – by combining practical help with analysis of the bigger picture. It’s hard work, but there is no short cut. We’re a small organisation and don’t claim detailed knowledge of the technicalities of Scottish Social Security reform, but I want to talk about our experience of trying to persuade the Scottish Government to make the system a bit better for those hardest hit byausterity.
We are well aware from talking to people south of the border that the Scottish Government has made the situation here not quite so bad as it is down south. But there is lots more that can be done. I have no truck with people who say that it’s not Scotland’s job to mitigate UK welfare cuts. We hear this all the time: notably from Jeanne Freedman, but also in numerous comments on our Facebook posts. We know they can’t do everything, but it is absolutely their job to do the most they can in the circumstances. If our parliament can’t protect Scotland’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens, then ofwhat use is it?
Which is why, two budgets ago, we presented a petition to the Petitions Committee calling on the Scottish Parliament to make more money available to mitigate the impact of UK Government welfare cuts through reassessing spending priorities and bringing in more progressive taxation. We are well aware of the danger that calling for more spending in one vital area can lead to cuts in another – which is why we pared our call for more spending with a call to raise more money from those who can afford it. We were also careful to acknowledge the limits of what is possible under devolution and the need to target spending were mostneeded.
The petition process is thorough, with time to follow up with detailed evidence as well as present to the committee. But although we arguedthat
* the need was urgent – indeed for some a matter of life and death * that there were practical and affordable ways of making a realdifference
* and that if these weren’t done the consequences would be measured in both human misery and much greater financial costs in picking up the pieces of devastated households and a broken societynothing happened
Not quite nothing. The Social Security Committee mentioned our petition a few times – sometimes, it seemed, just to kick it further into the long grass, but they did use it to support a call for an increase in the Scottish Welfare Fund – which itself got kicked back by the Scottish government, who claimed it wasn’t need because some excessively cautious councils had not advertised the fund and sounder-spent.
Now, of course, 2 years on, we are finally getting a small increase in the Scottish Welfare fund – though not enough to catch up with inflation let alone cover the extra costs resulting from Universal Credit and all the other attacks on benefits. And we are also seeing a small increase in the money for Discretionary Housing Payments, which we campaigned for too. We are going to claim a small part in making this happen, but these increases don’t begin to reflect real need. It is a case of too little too late – and my fear is that this is characteristic of a government, which, while seeing itself as careful and prudent, actually manages to be uncaring towards those suffering now, and also careless of long term social and economic consequences. I remember this time a year ago, at the last budget, saying I never again wanted to hear the phrase ‘dignity, fairness and respect’. There is no ‘dignity’ when society doesn’t allow people enough to put food on the table, let alone pay for ‘luxuries’ like a holiday, and where people are being weighed down with the worries ofinescapable debt.
We will reserve judgement on whether the Scottish Social Security system will treat people in a more civilised manner. The DWP has set the bar pretty low, so that shouldn’t be difficult, but it is worrying how little has been done to address the immediate plight of people waiting and waiting for that more dignified service to getorganised.
The Scottish Government is fully aware of the total size of the benefit cuts , which amounts to billions each year – and they are also aware of the accompanying change in attitude towards the unemployed who are blamed for their own misfortune. But I don’t think they fully appreciate the impact on people’s lives and onwider society.
The devastation caused to families will still be being felt decades on, as children brought up in homes riven with stress and lacking basic amenities, struggle to establish their own lives. Poor areas are doubly hit. People living there are hit directly, and there is also much less money in the local economy. This legacy will last, like the legacy of Thatcherism. This deliberately punitive system impacts huge numbers of workers too. It is a deliberate method of social control. When unemployment is such hell, then you can’t risk your job by protesting against bad conditions. And Universal Credit is forcing people into the gig economy. There is no option to refuse part time work and short contracts, even though the system is so badly designed you may loseout financially.
One of the impacts of all this, and of the political failure to address financial, physical and mental stresses in so many people’s lives, is a growing sense of loss of hope and of expectations, and a distrust of government – which has been exploited by the populist far right, though not so much here in Scotland. The stakes are huge, and the options for action are limited by devolution, but, as we argued in our petition, there is still scope for the Scottish Government to do more, and I will end by outlining some practical solutions. First, it is possible for the Scottish Government to raise more money. They have made income tax a tiny bit more progressive, but they could go a lot further. The difference with rest of the UK has been accepted. Now they need to argue the case for more substantialredistribution.
We have long been promised a replacement for Council Tax. Council Tax is recognised as very unprogressive and is itself a source of severe poverty and distress, but it is currently being raised across the board. Instead we could have a Land Value Tax, as proposed by Andy Wightman for the Scottish Greens. This is a wealth tax on wealth that cannot be moved out of the country. It also limits land speculationand land banking.
And the Scottish Government could make some positive cuts. They could stop subsidising first time buyers, which only pushes up house prices for all. And they could stop giving grants to arms manufacturers suchas Leonardos.
The money raised and saved could then be invested in some carefullytargeted spending.
First, the SUWN backed the widely-supported campaign for targeting child poverty with an increase in Child Benefit. This is a Universal Benefit, but targeted at families, and has been calculated to have a big impact on child poverty. Universal benefits don’t suffer from lack of take up, or from stigma. (Yes, richer people get them too, but you can more than balance this with more progressive taxation). The extra child payments that are being given are very welcome of course, but this is another example of government caution, preventing them from doing enough to be really effective. Then the Scottish Government could mitigate the benefit cap. This is a cap on the maximum amount of benefits any one household can receive. Benefits are calculated to reflect need, so a cap doesn’t make sense. If a family has high benefits, it is because they are calculated to need them. In fact, after all the other cuts, they probably don’t even meet household needs before being capped. The Benefit cap is leaving some people unable to pay their rent and facing eviction. Many people have been given discretionary housing payments to help, but not all, and this isn’t automatic. Similarly, the two child policy ignores actual needs and should be mitigated. The SNP have done a good job arguing against the policy, but for those currently suffering, practical help is also needed. And they must stop forcing councils to make cuts in services and community facilities. The budget deal with the Greens has helped (again), but there are still pressures . (And was the initial figure announced just a bargaining position, made with the knowledge that they would up it in response to the Greens’ demands?) We need real increases in the Scottish Welfare Fund to meet growing needs. This is a discretionary fund so should have the potential to respond to the different crises caused by the wait for Universal Credit payments, the loss of mobility payments, PIP refusals, and the many other things that can go wrong when families are stretched beyond the limit. As I’ve said, the current increase doesn’t evenmatch inflation.
A government that claims to dare about dignity and the living wage, should also increase the Carers’ Allowance to a proper full time wage, as this is full time work. The small increase that has been made is another example of excessive caution. And despite criticising punitive sanctions, the Scottish Government seems content to say that they are not allowed to mitigate these. But, if they were minded, they could test this in court using the argument that they were addressing exceptional circumstances – as Paul Spicker has suggested. It would also make a huge difference to have more money for Welfare Advice for UK benefits, and not just for the new Scottish benefits. People need help to get the benefits that they are due, and getting in that money helps them and everyone around them. Currently a lot of people are missing out, even on the hard-won bedroom tax mitigation. The need for help is compounded by a criminal level of negligence by the DWP. The difference made by the help that has been provided is palpable, but we need much more, so that no one is turned away and advisors have time to address issues properly. This could include providing advice support for families and friends of people claiming benefits, so they can check that they are giving reliable help. And there’s a lot of other areas where a bit of intervention could make a huge difference – such as ensuring that everyone applying for PIP or ESA can get supportive evidence from their GP, and that assessment centres are accessible and can’t force people to walk long distances in a sneaky additional test of their fitness, as happens in Dundee. (If you don’t show readably visible distress going down that corridor, then you have disproved your need formobility help.)
Of course, one of the big disappointments has been how long it is taking for the Scottish PIP replacement to get up and running. I don’t know the reasons why it is so complicated, and it is too late to argue that they should have been able to arrange some intermediate improvements to the existing system meanwhile – such as changing the threshold for full mobility payments back from not being able to walk 20 metres to not being able to walk 50 metres. Clearly there are lessons here for the future, but there is also a lesson for the here and now. There are people suffering as a result of this delay, which has pushed them into the PIP system, and often caused loss of mobility payments, on top of a lot of worry. Future ‘dignity, fairness and respect’ is no good for these people, who need help now, beforeits too late.
I think there is a theme here: too little too late. Good intentions, smothered by excessive and misplaced caution. As we pointed out when presenting our petition to the committee: help now can prevent family and social breakdown, which brings much greater financial costs, as well as personal tragedies. And more help for those with least, puts money into deprived areas where it can have the greatest positive impact on the economy. The approach currently being followed by the Scottish government may seem to be cautious and pragmatic, but if it does nothing more to help those at the sharp end of Welfare reform, then it can be accused of being both callous andpoor economics.
LESS THAN EVERYTHING YOU (DIDN’T) WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE SCOTTISHBUDGET 20-21
February 10, 2020
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_EDITORIAL_ HEALTH WARNINGS: * This is a very brief, unstructured, synopsis of the key points relating to Social Security * The budget is a _draft _budget, subject to approval by Holyrood Committees & Parliament * The full document is 283 pages (very) long. Spending plans may be included in different “portfolios” (e.g. voluntary organisations that are funded centrally or via local government) * The writer is _not_ an accountant, economist or any other kind offiscal expert!
_OFFICIAL _HEALTH WARNINGS: * Unusually, the UK Budget will be announced _after _this draft budget, on 11 March. Due to the complex “grant sharing formula” for UK/Scotland (“Barnett”), the Scottish budget _may_ change * Brexit can impact the economy and public spending; * The “fiscal risk” (uncertainty) of _actual _Scot Gov spending & _actual_ Scot Gov income via taxation and grant adjustments is higher this year than previously (see below).BRIEF OVERVIEW:
_Note: £1b = 1,000,000,000 (a thousand million); £1m = 1,000,000 (amere million)_
Within a total budget of £50b: Health & Social Care = £15b Local Government = £11.3b plus maximum 3% increase in local CouncilTax
Social Security = £3.7b (most of which is still paid via the UK DWP,see below);
Scottish Taxation: no change in rates and “higher earners allowances” frozen, meaning that 56% pay less than in rUK and the wealthier 44% pay more. (There is some uncertainty re _actual _income from Scottish taxation) SOCIAL SECURITY (COMPLEX & CONFUSING): 3.7b Scottish social security budget will be mostly still paid to claimants via DWP in 2020-21 First “big” benefit transfer to Scottish control is new claims for child DLA in Summer 2020, estimated at 16,000 awards totalling £3m Extra £10 p.w. per child under 6 in low income families will be introduced in Xmas 2020, estimated total £21m The “Demand led” nature of transferred DWP benefits brings greater financial risk/uncertainty; The Welfare Fund is (finally)being increased from 2013-14 levels, rising by £2.5m to £35.5m (a small nod to our SUWN campaign…) Money for Discretionary Housing Payments is being increased from 63.2m to £71.8m, plus a further £2m for “care leavers”. (We campaigned for an increase in these payments too.) Further details of the many Social Security developments (and a link to the Scottish Budget) can be found here _Thanks to Ian Davidson for this analysis_ BRINGING IN THE NEW YEAR, DWP STYLEJanuary 11, 2020
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The first stall of 2020 took place against the backdrop of Baltic weather conditions and the recent disastrous re-election of the Tories, which means that groups like our own will find ourselves, yet again, back on the active front line of the ruthless and never ending class war being waged against the poor and disabled in the name of ‘welfare reforms’. Whilst this very real prospect did not exactly fill us full of joy, particularly when we started to lose the feelings in our fingers, we are also aware that the situation we face at Dundee buroo is not nearly so desperate as it is at many other job centres. After nearly six years of advice stalls and constant pressure we have succeeded in reducing the number of cases we deal with from a torrent to a trickle, as local DWP managers have introduced a whole series of measures in order to ‘dry the well’ of issues that we can take upand campaign on.
We now regularly hear unemployed folk remarking on the change for the better in the atmosphere at the buroo and in the way that they are dealt with by the job centre staff. Indeed, some of the recently unemployed now take this new less confrontational approach by Dundee DWP for granted and can’t seem to understand that it was not always thus, and that change only came about through, sometimes, bitter conflict with DWP management, staff and security personnel. Of course, despite these changes for the better, there are still issues and cases for us to take up, and we are also aware that the situation could change for the worst in the blink of an eye, if, or rather when, the Tories launch their new class war offensive. Jim approached us even before we’d finished setting up the stall. In his mid-fifties and on UC, he had been on the wrong side of a DWP clerical error, which had resulted in a stoppage of his UC payments. He had been given a slip of paper with a phone number on it, but had been advised that it could take a good while for the situation to be sorted. In the meantime he had nothing, not a single penny, to his name, whilst his electricity and gas was running low and his rent and council tax was overdue. We quickly arranged for a food parcel delivery through Taught by Mohamed and put him in contact with DEEAAP, which gives advice and financial assistance to those who are struggling to afford heating and lighting in the Dundee area (for further details see here). We also urged
him to visit the Shelter office to seek help and advice with the housing issues he has and to request a full benefit check in order to ensure that he is receiving what he is entitled to. He left us in a far better frame of mind than when we’d met him, which made the cauld and weet fade into the background, at least for a wee while. We also met Davey, who is on UC and, as a result of paying back DWP loans etc, was now seriously struggling to keep body and soul together on the princely sum of £94 per month. He explained that he has been in constant employment for most of his working life, but had been suddenly hit by illness, which he hoped and believed he would recover from sooner rather than later, thus allowing him to return to work. He was dismayed and angry that, for the first time in his life, he now found himself penniless, and was appalled at the way that he was regularly being spoken to by his advisor – particularly given the fact that she was young enough to be his daughter. It quickly became clear to us that Davey was eligible for Contribution based (now called New Style) JSA, as his NI contributions were up-to-date, which begs the question as to why he was not made aware of this. As with so much else concerning Universal Credit, the devil is in the detail. Many people whose NI contributions are up-to-date may benefit from going on UC as well as contribution-based JSA. The JSA payments don’t have the 5-plus weeks wait and are not means-tested, but you can no longer apply for housing benefit and child tax credits on top of JSA as these benefits are now part of the Universal Credit system, so if you would be eligible for help in these areas you’ll need to apply for UC too. (Don’t rely on the DWP systems to point you to the correct benefit – they often seem to assume that everyone should just apply for Universal Credit. Ask about JSA and get independent welfare advice if you can.) It was clear that in Davey’s case, going onto UC had plunged him into a financial crisis, chiefly through the disastrous impact of the five to six week wait that all folk have to endure before receiving their first UC payment. This meant that he had to take out a loan, and is now subsisting on a pittance. The DWP can only deduct a maximum amount equivalent to 30% of the claimant’s Universal Credit standard allowance , so deductions should be no more than £95.35 a month for a single person over 25 (For further details see here).
However, they can make an exception to this rule when a claimant owes back rent and is in arrears with gas, electricity and water bills, which was the situation that Davey found himself in. We advised Davey to raise this whole issue with a welfare rights organisation in order to get a full benefit check and to see what would have been the most appropriate benefit for him to apply for, and whether he is due any back payments. They should be able to negotiate a more manageable debt repayment programme too. Shortly after Davey took leave of us, we packed up the stall and made our way to the Counting House to warm ourselves with a coffee and a crack. However, we had not even taken our seats when we were approached by a well turned out elderly gent, in his early sixties, who asked us if were the SUWN and then informed us that he had just been sanctioned for two weeks for failing to attend a scheduled interview. He explained that his phone is not the best, that it had a cracked screen, and that, as a result, he had missed the text message. He also informed us that he was a volunteer with a cancer charity, which appeared to be frowned upon by his advisor who was of the opinion that he should be spending more time being out in all weathers looking for work that was not there. We advised him about the procedure for appealing, and explained that he should first contact the DWP on line with a mandatory reconsideration. We explained that whilst the mandatory reconsideration was likely to fail, as it is judged by an internal DWP ‘referee’, it is necessary to go through with it in order to get to the appeal tribunal stage, which is made up of public figures who are not connected with the DWP. We also provided him with our advice leaflet and phone numbers so that he could contact us when his mandatory reconsideration is, inevitably, rejected. The elderly gent, whose name we did not catch, took his leave of us with a smile on his face, and with our best wishes for a speedy and successful resolution of his case – whilst we returned to our very welcome cups of coffee. Duncan, Norma, Gary and Tony were at this week’s stall. NOT (YET) THE END OF AN ERA – AND A POEM FROM SIR IDS January 1, 2020January 1, 2020suwn
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As we end a decade of Tory rule with a prime minister who is more right wing than any in recent memory, the fightback is far from over. The SUWN was set up in response to the first year of Tory ‘Austerity’ and attacks on the unemployed, and although the situation today looks frightening on so many levels, we mustn’t forget the gains that welfare activists have won. It’s not just the immediate changes, such as embarrassing companies to withdraw from workfare programmes, or the very notable change of attitude shown by many of the staff at the Dundee Jobcentre. We have won the public argument. Despite an election result in the rest of the UK that was skewed by Brexit and a right-wing media, people are aware of the attacks on benefits, even when they are not themselves affected, and they don’t like what they see. And, while we shudder at the actions of the right-wing and fascist regimes now dominating so much of the world, we have to take heart from the scale of the protests against them. Whether we are marching with thousands, or standing in the rain outside Dundee Buroo, we are all fighting that same neoliberal system, which is quite literally destroying people’s lives and destroying humanity’s future. So, see you at the stalls, or at the protests against the next inevitable attacks, and at the climate protests and the Indy marches. We are fighting for a better world – but just in case you need a reminder of what we are fighting against, here is a short message fromSir IDS:
Iain Duncan Smith’s my name A bold knight of the realm Slaying welfare is my game The weak to overwhelm My Easterhouse epiphany Taught me about the poor Now bow the knee in front of me You vagabond outlaw! Oh, welcome me _Sir_ IDS All righteous lures I’ve spurned To make you live on less and less My title is well-earned To tax the rich would count as theft So just restrain your tears The legacy that I have left Will last a hundred years And if you died in my crusade A piece of glory’s yours Your death has seen _my_ future made You’ve helped a noble cause BEST WISHES FOR 2020 AND THE NEW DECADE OF STRUGGLE! SCOTLAND FREE OR A DESERT December 13, 2019December 14, 2019suwn
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Today the world is an even more hostile place. The UK election has dealt another blow to the planet and corroded truth. It is a gift to the warmongers and the bloodsuckers. It is an attack on all the hard-won gains of the post-war welfare state. It will make life harder for the vast majority of the population, and if you’re on low wages, or from an immigrant family or unemployed or disabled, then heavenhelp you.
So why did so many people, especially in the old Labour heartlands, vote against their own interests? Over the course of the last four decades, many places in the north of England have, as in Scotland, been transformed from vibrant local communities based on heavy industry, into windblown wastelands. However, the Brexit issue and how it was taken up by the working class of the English industrial heartlands points up the very real political differences that now exist between Scotland and England. Many areas such as Blythe Valley and Bassett law have been strangers to hope for many years, but voted in huge numbers for Brexit, which, for many, appeared as a way out of an oppressive system. In 2017 they largely remained loyal to Labour, even when the party’s left reformist program was being attacked every bit as viciously as has occurred over the last few weeks. The difference between then and now is that Labour has effectively moved away from honouring the result of the 2016 EU referendum, towards a fudged policy that faces in two directions simultaneously. Instead, many Brexit voters chose to support the man and the party whose only coherent message was, quite deliberately, ‘get Brexit done’. It is a dark and burning irony that Jeremy Corbyn has been, like many others on the socialist left, a long-time opponent of the EU, which he, correctly, viewed as, essentially, an anti-socialist and business dominated bosses club, which would block any attempt to bring services such as rail, energy and water into public ownership. (The problem with Boris’s Brexit is not Brexit per se, but the way in which it is being done and the new trade deals that are being planned in its stead.) Corbyn’s move away from this radical, and socialist based, Euro-scepticism represents a triumph for the party’s EU-supporting right wing, and has cost the Labour Party dear. However, the drive for a second referendum on the EU came not only from the Blairites, but also from the left of the party, and particularly from within Momentum. This group, which played such a key role in Corbyn’s historic Labour leadership victory, have transformed themselves into Labour’s very own gravediggers, under the leadership and influence of John Lansman, a ‘useful idiot’ of the first rank, who, on the antisemitism witch hunt well as the EU issue, could not have been a more effective recruiting sergeant for Tory reaction. It must, however, be acknowledged that whilst John Lansman’s complicity in leading the Labour left to the hell it has now found itself in was founded on good intentions, this is not the case with the Blairite and virulently anti-left elements within the parliamentary Labour Party. These are the people who are saying that the reason for Labour’s defeat was Corbyn and what he stood for, and that now Corbyn has said he will step down, his more socialist (though by no means radical) policies should go with him. In reality, the only sense in which these policies damaged Labour’s electoral chances is that they ensured that the whole British establishment lined up against them, including a deeply compromised BBC. It wasn’t just the incessant lies and smears, and the endless monstering of Corbyn himself, but the deliberate diversion away from discussing the essential bread and butter issues that Labour was highlighting and which threatened to make the UK a more equal society where they would no longer be so powerful. They did this precisely because they knew that if these ideas were properly heard and discussed they would be vote winners. You could describe this as political gaslighting. But, in the final analysis, it is important to underline that it was not the popular social-democratic manifesto that lost the Labour Party votes, but their confusing position on Brexit, along with relentless attacks from the right both within and outwiththe party.
Even then, the result for Labour in England is not the collapse that the MSN and the labour right have widely trumpeting it as, and does not begin to compare with the catastrophic melt down of the party in Scotland: English Labour actually polled more votes (10.3 million) than they managed in 2005 (9.5 million), 2010 (8.6 million) and 2015 (9.35 million), and even in terms of percentage, Labour’s result on Thursday was 32.2%, compared with 29% in 2010 and 30.4% in 2015. It is also clear that this Tory government will be almost immediately beset with crises on an ever widening front, from Ireland, where the Unionist parliamentary majority has disappeared like snow from a dyke, to the potential consequences of a ‘hard Brexit’, and the very real possibility that a further economic recession is on the horizon. Under these circumstances, it is crucial that English Labour remains a viable force, thus enabling the SNP to form an effective anti-austerity alliance that can withstand the inevitable Tory offensive that is coming our way, whilst a collapse in the party south of the border would also strengthen Tory reaction, and allow them to focus their _full _attention on the ‘Scottish problem’. There is now a stark political contrast between Scotland and England that is probably unequalled in modern times. Scotland has spoken, and the message is clear – a fundamental rejection of Tory Austerity and of dog-whistle reaction, and a resounding call for a second Independence referendum. Here in Scotland people do not have to pin their hopes on Brexit because a way out of the current system is clear. The Scottish working class voted SNP in droves, and Independence represents their settled will, despite increasingly desperate pleas from an albeit dwindling band of Labour activists that the ‘constitutional issue’ is a deflection from the classstruggle.
The looming confrontation between the Scottish Indy movement and Westminster will be played out on the terrain of class conflict, as it always has been. During the ‘Scottish Insurrection’ of 1820, Hardie, Baird and Wilson believed that revolution was necessary because Scotland was either ‘free’ or it was ‘a desert’, and this battle cry was taken up by John MacLean during the political upsurges that accompanied the end of World War One. Another century on, it remains as true as before. It now falls to a new generation of Scottish socialists and the wider progressive left to carry this tradition forward. Despite some pockets of socialist campaigning, Labour is almost dead in Scotland, but they could still become relevant again, if they were to embrace the spirit of their late nineteenth-century origins, when they became the Scottish party of ‘Home Rule’. Gordon Brown and others may well attempt to resurrect their dismal demands for some kind of Federal agreement, but that ship has sailed, and today hope lies _only_ in Independence. With the possibility of a Labour government now off the table, Scottish Labour should, as a matter of urgency, drop their opposition to Independence – a position that has no relation to socialist values – so that we can work together in the fight for a better Scotland founded on social justice and economic equality. On the other hand, if Scottish Labour continue to set their face against independence they will quickly become _completely_ irrelevant as a meaningful vehicle of Scottish working-class interests, and will yet again be used as a cat’s paw by the forces of reaction in the looming Independence struggle. The only realistic possibility of a better future, and even of basic relief for those Scots who are unemployed, disabled or elderly, now firmly rests with Independence. Indeed, so many lives depend on it that the issue of welfare and class should be at the very heart of the independence campaign. Our message should be that another Scotland is not only possible, but absolutely essential in order to ensure a future for the coming generations – a welfare system and a wider social and economic system that truly reflects the aspirations and desires of embattled working-class communities across our nation. With Boris in Downing Street, working-class communities will increasingly have to draw on their own resources merely to help each other survive. We will find ourselves continually involved in defensive struggles, but these can be transformed into the struggle for something better: for the independent ecosocialist Scotland we look to as _the_ alternative to the neoliberal gulag that the dis-United Kingdom has become. SOCIAL SECURITY AND THE ELECTIONNovember 28, 2019
suwn
1 Comment
While no-one would, or should, base their vote only on social security policies, it is good to know what the different parties are promising – and a useful indication of their general approach to society. So thank you Ian Davidson for ploughing through those pages for us and drawing up the summary below. For their approach to social security, as well as their prioritisation of addressing climate change, the Greens should win hands down, but we know they haven’t got a chance of getting an MP elected in Scotland, so when it comes to voting, many of us will need to think tactically. If there is a chance that the Tories might get in in your constituency, there are websites that can tell you the best tactical vote to keep them out– which in almost every case in Scotland will be a vote for the SNP. From the point of view of defeating the Tories, we must hope for a Labour government propped up by the SNP, which can be achieved whether we elect SNP or Labour MPs. (As the Liberals have said they will not work with Corbyn, a Liberal vote is a Tory vote.) We recognise and welcome the promise of Labour’s manifesto, and the international significance of its determined move away from the politics of New Labour (and from the SNP’s Growth Commission!), but their reluctance to support Scotland’s right to self-determination is inexcusable. Those of us who believe that Scotland’s future should be decided by the people who live here, and not in Westminster, will hope to see a large contingent of SNP MPs to reinforce the mandate for another Independence referendum – which could be especially important if we get landed with another 5 years of Torygovernment.
BRIEF UK GENERAL ELECTION MANIFESTO/SOCIAL SECURITY ANALYSIS Ian Davidson 27.11.19SNP:
https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/www.snp.org/uploads/2019/11/11_22e-SNP-Manifesto-2019-for-download.pdf(52 pages)
A whole range of benefit reforms: Scrapping Universal Credit, the 2 child limit, the Bedroom Tax and the punitive sanctions regime; ending the benefit freeze; reversing Universal Credit pensioner cuts; Full compensation for WASPI women. NB: This is a statement of UK-wide policies which the SNP would seek to persuade the Westminster Parliament/government to implement & fund; it is _not _a statement of what the SNP propose to do currently within a devolved Scottish context. However any commitment to spend more money UK-wide on a devolved service (e.g. the NHS) will result in increased block grant from the UK government to Scotland. To make matters more confusing, currently 15% of the UK social security budget spent in Scotland (consisting of DLA, AA, PIP etc.) is being transferred from the DWP to the Scottish Government. This programme is in its early stages (referred to below in the Scottish Labourmanifesto).
LABOUR (UK):
https://labour.org.uk/manifesto/(103 pages)
Universal Credit to be scrapped, with an interim scheme to end the 5 week waiting period pending replacement. Also goodbye to the benefit cap, the 2 child limit, and the Bedroom Tax. Increases to Local Authority Housing Allowance/Housing Benefit rent levels. Top-up to ESA . End to the current disability assessments. Pension age increases capped at 66. _After publication of the manifesto, the commitment was made to fully compensate WASPI’s. _SCOTTISH LABOUR:
https://scottishlabour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Scottish-Labour-Manifesto-2019.pdf All of above, plus: Improving Scottish benefit reforms; increasing the Scottish Welfare Fund, topping-up Child Benefit. (Though as this is an election for Westminster these are just political markers.)TORIES (UK):
https://vote.conservatives.com/our-plan Very brief reference to benefits – continued roll out of Universal Credit; end benefit freeze; reduce number of disability re-assessments for people with long-term conditions.SCOTTISH TORIES:
http://www.scottishconservatives.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/GE-Manifesto_Scotland.pdf Nothing significant to add to UK manifesto.GREEN PARTY (UK):
https://www.greenparty.org.uk/assets/files/Elections/Green%20Party%20Manifesto%202019.pdf(92 pages)
Main statement (pp.26-27; 49-50): introduction of Universal Basic Income (UBI), an unconditional payment to all adults. This would gradually replace existing social security benefits, but requires more detail (e.g. on future housing costs); It is linked to Living Wageproposals.
SCOTTISH GREENS:
https://greens.scot/sites/default/files/Scottish%20Greens%202019%20Manifesto.pdf The Scottish manifesto (28 pages) pulls together key poverty issues (p18-19) from the UK manifesto.LIBERAL DEMOCRATS:
https://www.libdems.org.uk/liberal-democrats-2019-manifesto(100 pages)
Main commitments (pp 62-66): Scrap: the Bedroom Tax, and the two child limit. Reduce the waiting time for the first Universal Credit payment to 5 days. Various changes to work capability assessments, sanctions, local housing allowances. Implement Ombudsman’s WASPI report. SCOTTISH LIBERAL DEMOCRATS: Unable to locate Scottish LD manifesto.GENERAL:
* The manifestos are statements of intent by each party in the event of winning an overall majority. Otherwise, the “commitments” may form part of any trade-offs between parties. * WASPI: women born after 1950 affected by increase in state pension age from 60/65, (66/67). * Each party has used different styles and terminology. “Social security” is just one policy heading; you need to look at broader issues such as housing, employment, equalities, funding of essential services etc. to make an informed judgement on each party’s approachto welfare.
Perhaps the most appropriate way to finish is to refer to: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/the-shifting-shape-of-social-security/ Analysis by Resolution Foundation of the three main UK party manifestos (excluding Greens and SNP): CLEAR CONCLUSION THAT THE CONSERVATIVES’ POLICIES WILL _INCREASE_ CHILD POVERTY. Also, general lack of vision amongst ALL three parties as to the future shape ofsocial security.
RINSE AND REPEAT
November 17, 2019
suwn
1 Comment
This handful of cases from a recent stall perfectly illustrates once again the horrors of the UK benefit system, and why we need to keep pushing. We are determined to keep going until real change is made. Ernie is a young man who has, for some time, been claiming the Limited Capability for Work element of Universal Credit. He approached us in a state of some anxiety. An administrative cock-up had left him facing a loss of his Universal Credit income. His case was undergoing reassessment. He had duly turned up for his medical assessment, but they were running behind and could not see him on the day of his appointment. An alternative date and time were arranged. When Ernie turned up for the rearranged appointment, he was told he had missed it. He went straight to the Jobcentre and explained the situation. He was told to put a note on his Universal Credit journal explaining. He had also sent a letter to the DWP explaining. We suggested he re-send the letter recorded delivery, and keep a copy for his records, so that the DWP could not claim it was ‘lost in thepost’.
We offered to go into the Jobcentre with him, but he declined. He emerged twenty minutes later looking relieved. A new advisor had been unusually helpful. A date for an assessment will be re-arranged. In the meantime, he will remain on his full benefit. Bertha had also been claiming the Limited Capability for Work element of Universal Credit. But hers is a classic case of being found ‘fit to work’ when she is clearly unable to do so. She has appealed the decision and was waiting on the result. The Citizens’ Advice Bureau are helping her with her case, so there was little else we could say. We reiterated advice she had previously been given that it was worth applying for Personal Independence Payment in addition to UniversalCredit.
Fred’s wife Fiona is at college full time. This means Fred is the full-time carer for a young child and a baby (what we used to call a Dad). He is being pressured by the Jobcentre into looking for full-time work. But Universal Credit makes no allowance for people to study. If Fred is the carer, then the DWP would expect Fiona to look for work. If she isn’t looking for work, then they would expect her to be caring for the children so Fred could work. Despite all the rhetoric, and the pushing of training schemes of dubious usefulness, you will get no support if you want to do a full time course that might really improve your prospects of future work. Charlie talked to us about his son Chris. Chris is on a zero-hour contract stocktaking at a supermarket. He is working twelve hour shifts, often at night, and often at short notice. This hectic schedule means that he has missed a number of Universal Credit appointments. Chris has not been sanctioned yet, but his father is worried that he might be. We are so resigned to the system being awful, that we can lose sight of the bigger picture. It is a picture that would be farcical if it was not so horrifying. Chris is working hard in a difficult job. He is doing everything that is demanded of him, yet he is still in need of state support. Not only that: the state is constantly threatening to turn that support off through the threat of sanctions. Fiona is trying to improve her life through education, and yet her husband is at risk of being sanctioned for taking care of the children. Ernie and Bertha are both clearly ill, and yet instead of compassion, they are faced with being forced to look for work they have little chance of being able to do, even if, by some miracle, they were hired. These are not the actions of a welfare system designed to support people in their time of need. We continue to call for change. NO TO HOMELESSNESS IN FREEDOM SQUARENovember 11, 2019
suwn
2 Comments
On the 2 November, there was another rally in Glasgow’s George Square for Scottish Independence. However, in the same place two days prior, there was a smaller, but no less important, protest against Glasgow City Council’s housing policy. Shelter Scotland are currently taking legal action against Glasgow City Council. Shelter Scotland claim Glasgow City Council have illegally denied temporary accommodation to thousands of homeless applicants over the last two years. Shelter are seeking a review of the situation. The Guardian has a good article explaining the situation in more depth.
The SUWN were invited to speak at this event which took place on the 31 October. The text of the speech is reproduced below. > Article 25 of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights states: > ‘Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the > health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, > clothing, housing and medical care.’>
> Psychologists have long asked a simple question: What are the > essential needs for human well-being? Food is pretty crucial, as is > clean water, and a safe environment. A place to live, a shelter from > the weather, is also pretty fundamental.>
> This is why the United Nations Declaration is so important. In one > short document, it defines our needs as human beings and lays them > out as human rights for each and every one of us. Human Rights are > not a gift from on high, they are a collective responsibility. I > cannot just look out for myself and think that is enough. Where we > see other people’s rights abused or attacked, we must act.>
> This is why we can support the legal case Shelter Scotland has > recently bought against Glasgow City Council. In denying the > homeless that crucial first step of temporary accommodation, Glasgow > council have failed in their duty to help the most vulnerable.>
> The legal case is not a decision that Shelter Scotland will have > taken lightly. They are a widely respected professional > organisation, not given to political or legal stunts. The Scottish > Unemployed Workers’ Network have often referred clients with > housing issues onto them. I would like to put on public record my > thanks for Shelter’s help during my own housing-related > difficulties eighteen months ago. I will be following the case with> great interest.
>
> The Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network has, always been in > favour of an independent Scotland. And not passively either. During > and since the 2014 referendum we were out on the streets actively > pushing for that goal. We still are.>
> In two days’ time, there will be a rally for Independence in this > very Square. Rumour has it that Nichola Sturgeon will be speaking. > We will no doubt hear the call for another referendum. But, what > good is a referendum on independence, if we do not address the > failings in the system using the powers that we have now? It pains > us that we have to criticize an SNP-led council, but we are fond of > quoting Alasdair Gray / Dennis Lee: ‘Work as if you live in the > early days of a better nation.’ It is no good just saying that > independence will solve all our problems, if we fail to look at the > problems we can address now.>
> These are issues that run much deeper. The SUWN’s main work > continues to be working with benefit claimants. During our stalls > outside Jobcentres we have seen the direct impact on the most > vulnerable of UK Tory welfare ‘reforms’. In particular, the > introduction of Universal Credit has been a disaster.>
> Under the old system Housing Benefit was paid separately. It was > also paid direct to the landlord. Tenants could be sure that > whatever happened, at least the rent was being paid. It gave tenants > security of accommodation, and landlords security of income.>
> Under the new system claiming Housing Benefit means doing so under > the Universal Credit system. Payments are made not to the landlord, > but to the claimant’s bank account. Claimants are forced to budget> for rent.
>
> Shockingly, because it falls under Universal Credit Housing Benefit > is sanctionable. And then, what next? Being forced to choose between > feeding yourself or paying the rent? What happens if another crisis > emerges? If the washing machine or boiler breaks down – what then? > The temptation is to dip into to the rent money. This is why both > landlords AND tenants have criticized Universal Credit. It takes > away the security of knowing the rent will be paid. Another concern > is that tenants may be forced to take out high interest loans in > order to pay the rent.>
> These are not ‘just’ the views of some easily dismissible > radical leftist organisations, but they have been repeatedly raised > by establishment politicians in both the Scottish and Westminster > parliaments. These issues have been raised by housing associations, > and even Shelter themselves.>
> The system needs changed. Universal Credit needs fighting, not just > because it is flawed, but because it is actively working against the > wellbeing of claimants. In both the welfare system and the > accommodation system, housing policy must be looked at again. That > is what we are demanding. Fairer treatment of the most vulnerable, > means a better society for all.POSTS NAVIGATION
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