HOW DO WE ALLOCATE WELFARE BENEFITS?

Means Tested and Universal Benefits

Founding principles of the Welfare state

The Beveridge reported advocated collective government assistance to individuals from “cradle to grave” funded by social insurance.

State benefits would be paid to the sick, the old and the unemployed. These would be paid for via taxes and national insurance payments from the working population

Post war reconstruction

Beveridge’s five giant evils

Idleness (unemployment)

Want (poverty)

Disease (lack of health care)

Squalor (poor housing)

Ignorance (lack of education)

21st century challenges

Beveridge’s founding principles were designed in the 1940’s. By the 1990s, British society had changed in many ways.

What about the rich?

Lakshmi Mittal, the UK’s richest “resident”. He is a non domicile.

Ramon Abramowich, owner of Chelsea

Non-doms to pay tax shock!

Political challenge to the welfare state

The Individualist Philosophy

New Labour and the Welfare State

Yvette Cooper, Minister for Work and Pensions, is responsible for the delivery of the Welfare Reform Bill

The New Deals

The Welfare Reform Act seeks to reduce the numbers of people on long term benefit

Universal benefits

Child Benefit (CB) is a tax-free monthly payment to anyone bringing up a child or young person.

It is not affected by income or savings, so most people who are bringing up a child or young person qualify for it.

Even Jordan and Peter!

In July 2009, CB amounted to £20.00 a week for the eldest child and £13.20 a week for each additional child.

Means-Tested Benefits

Means tested benefits include;

•Working Tax Credit•Child Tax Credit•Pensions Credit•Housing Benefit•Council Tax Benefit•Income Support

Too complicated?

"This hard-hitting report is another appalling indictment of the administrative incompetence at the heart of Gordon Brown's tax credit system. We've had personal details of every family in the country lost in the data discs fiasco, the collapse of the online tax filing system only last week, and now this. As always, the victims of Brown's economic incompetence are hard-pressed taxpayers.“

Philip Hammond Conservative Party spokesperson

Tax Credit forms can be very complicated meaning some people do not claim.

Others have been getting too much!

Incapacity Benefit

Unemployment in the UK, July 2009

Official unemployment figures crossed the 2 million mark in March 2009; 6.5% of the labour force.

This does not include the 2.5 million who receive Incapacity Benefit (IB), those who have chosen to stay in full time education or teenagers who are not entitled to Jobseekers Allowance (JSA)

Glasgow Works

“Last week I took my nieces for a day out and gave them some spending money for their holidays, and that felt good. I used to rely on family and friends subsidising me, now I rely on myself.” Stefan Gutowski

Glasgow Works attempts to help the long term unemployed back to work - and stay in work

It works alongside health and welfare professionals to tackle the mental health issues many of the long term unemployed have

SNP’s Collectivist policies

Abolition of prescription charges

Free school meals for S1-S3 will be introduced.

The Graduate tax has been abolished

But not everyone believes this represents good value

“What’s the value in my kids getting a free school meal? None.

Compare that with the value for somebody in the more deprived parts of Scotland getting a free school breakfast, a free lunch and, if necessary, free food after school.

The blanket approach to health is just nonsense, it’s political naivety”

Andy Kerr, Scottish Labour

How to pay for the welfare state

Means test more benefits?Have more universal benefits?How do we fund benefits?Get more lone parents working?Get more NEETs into education/work?Raise retirement age?Raise taxes?