Monday, May 1, 2023

UNIVERSAL CREDIT `Has the New Benefits System removed the “drama” of the benefits system?

INKWELLS DESPINA FERENTINOU

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A. Giorgio Vasari Marriage at CanaB. Pietro Perugino: 1492

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Portrait of the Marquis and Catholic Church Cardinal Mercurino Gattinara, Grand Chancellor of the Empire,

by Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen (c. 1530), on display at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts, Brussels

Jan Havickszoon Steen (Leiden 1626 – Leiden 1679)

• Supper at Emmaus

Rembrandt

• The supper at Emmaus

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Saint Augustin, 1645–50

Supper at Emmaus Supper at Emmaus• Caravaggio, 1606• (1538)

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In the Mindfulness of Death and the Persona Elder Sophrony insists on the absolute value of every human being!“[With my death] in me, with me, all that had formed part of my consciousness would die:

people close to me, their suffering and love, the whole progress of history, the universe in general, the sun, the stars, endless space; even the Creator of the world Himself-He, too, would die in me. In short all life

would be engulfed in the darkness of oblivion.”The Supper at Emmaus, Diego VELASQUEZ 1620

• Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The Supper at Emmaus

• By Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

Monday, May 1, 2023

House of LordsWednesday 21 December 2016 

Meeting started at 11.05am, ended 3.31pm

• http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/cad029ee-8c7f-4e79-b50e-4ad6afe94318?in=13:35:17

• Lord Farmer (Con)• Universal Credit :...universal credit rolls six means-tested in-work and out-of-

work benefits—child tax credit, housing benefit, income-related employment and support allowance, jobseeker’s allowance, income support and working tax credit—into one.

• Half a century ago, we knew that low-income families could be better off on benefits than in work, and thereby caught in a dispiriting and pernicious poverty trap....

• Inadequately responsive annual assessments led to under and overpayments which could be of significant magnitude. The latter were to reach £9 billion by the time the coalition Government came to power. This did not just mean a huge dent in the public finances but thousands of families with worrying levels of debt that many had not knowingly incurred but were expected to repay.

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House of Lords Lord Farmer (Con) 1.35 pm Universal Credit

• ...the Lords Hansard transcript :..A certain David Freud was asked to review their welfare-to-work programme, and his 2007 report included a chapter floating ideas for a  single working-age benefit. The concept was revisited the following year in a Green Paper from the Work and Pensions Secretary, James Purnell, who was, according to the Institute for Government’s Nick Timmins, a

single benefit advocate.• ... if dampening uncertainty is one of the underlying aims of universal credit,

evaluating its impact on that, even though it is rather harder to measure than actual numbers in employment, is imperative. ..behavioural changes are also very important to track: 86% of people on universal credit are actively looking to increase their hours, compared with just 38% of people on jobseeker’s allowance; and 77% of people on universal credit are actively looking to increase their earnings, compared with just 51% of people on JSA. But how successful are job coaches at ensuring in-work progression actually happens?

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  House of Lords 1.45 pmLord McKenzie of Luton (Lab)

Universal Credit • Universal credit, as we have heard, started life with a great deal of support—certainly ours—as being

a single income replacement benefit for working-age families that would simplify the system, incentivise work and progression in work. The original plan was for claims to legacy benefits and tax credits to cease by April 2014 and for all existing benefit and tax credits to be transferred to universal credit by October 2017. That is now to be 2021. It interests me because, on inquiry over the months, it was always seemingly on time and on budget. It expected to lift 350,000 children and 600,000 adults out of poverty.

• A range of cuts has been imposed on the project since first proposed and changes to the work allowances in particular, according to the IFS, which has shaved—an interesting figure—£5 billion per year off its long-term cost. Overall, universal credit will cut benefit expenditure by £2.7 billion a year in the long run with 3.2 million households seeing a reduction in their means-tested benefits, and 2.2 million an increase. Incentives to work have been substantially watered down. The IFS projects that there will be 1.3 million more children in relative poverty in 2020-21 than in 2014-15. We have not yet had the Government’s assessment over that period.

• As CPAG points out, there is continuing pain still to be inflicted by the two child limit, removal of the first child premium, the continuing freeze on most elements of the benefit and the continuing twist of poverty being inflicted by monthly payments and waiting days—part of the original design, of course—not to mention sanctions.... 7

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House of Lords 1.50 pmLord Kirkwood of Kirkhope (LD)

Universal Credit • ...I too am looking forward to the contribution of the noble Lord, Lord Macpherson of

Earl’s Court. He might tell us where we can find some money in future to deal with some of the problems.

• ..I have been an enthusiastic supporter of the concept of universal credit since the heady days of 2008 and Dynamic Benefits; the noble Lord, Lord Farmer, was right to recommend that because it was a very ambitious policy. At that stage it was a poverty reduction programme.

• ...there is the question of sanctions, which I am sure will be raised by other noble Lords in the course of the debate. Sanctions are essential to the proper prosecution of this policy, but they have to be appropriately applied. A gentle nudge is a work incentive; a sledgehammer sanction is counterproductive and costs the public purse more in the long run.

• ... I would have looked differently at the 2012 Act if I had known that we would be withdrawing from the European Union, which will be detrimental to the poor in this country. We have to find resources to make more generous the thresholds and tapers in future—and I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Macpherson, will show us how to do that in the course of his maiden speech.

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House of Lords 1.52 pmBaroness Jenkin of Kennington (Con)

Universal Credit

• ...front-line advisers in Hammersmith said simplification works in practice, and that UC has helped to remove what they called the “drama” of the benefits system. The existing benefit system is complex, involving multiple agencies, applications, processes  and rules, and affects the relationship between the adviser and the recipient. Rather than spending a lot of time trying to explain different elements of the system, advisors have time to support their customers to find work.

• This led to much more positive relationships and more rewarding work for advisers. They had far more flexibility and job satisfaction than when working on jobseeker’s allowance, and the new claimant commitment is bespoke and customer-led and it allows them to include a range of activities not traditionally classed as job-seeking but which help to remove barriers to work. Examples included attending an appointment with the local authority housing team, co-located in the building, to deal with the problems of rising arrears and avoiding homelessness; it also included watching a YouTube video on interview techniques.

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House of Lords 1.55 pmLord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington (CB)

Universal Credit

• ...In April 2014, it was said that 1 million people were subject to this scheme. It was then discovered that only 14,000 were part of the scheme. Understandably, something as vast as this takes time to introduce and should be gradual, but the problems with the IT system, which is way over budget, and the promises made that have not been kept, do not give total confidence that this can proceed in the way that we wish.

• Surely there need to be face-to-face benefits of consultation at jobcentres, especially in relation to those people who have serious problems—vulnerable people, victims of domestic violence and disabled people. It may well fly in the face of where the provision is directed to, but if we look at the lessons that have been learned, some of them well documented, surely this issue should be considered. 

• The fact is that most vulnerable people are at the mercy of the progress of this new IT system, but I believe—and I hear this from people who know more about this than me by far—that proper consideration of staffing as this programme is rolled out and keeps progressing will minimise the risk to vulnerable people. 10

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House of Lords 1.59 pmLord Shinkwin (Con) Universal Credit

• My Lords, I join in thanking my noble friend Lord Farmer for securing this timely debate. For me, perhaps the two greatest strengths of universal credit are its simplicity and flexibility, which my noble friend Lady Jenkin has already identified. Indeed, I have been struck by how much those two characteristics have been singled out for praise—for example, by the recruitment agency Blue Arrow and by individuals whose testimonies to the Department for Work and Pensions I have read.

• I believe that just as the Disability Discrimination Act was the Conservatives’ greatest social reform of the 20th century, so universal credit will come to be seen as one of the Conservatives’ greatest social reforms of the 21st century.

• We should take pride in both and look to draw on my noble friend the Minister’s example of applying the political will and the drive so essential to implementing and rolling out our political and social reforms, whether that be universal credit, or, indeed, the Disability Discrimination Act—both matter. We should also appreciate that only when we roll them out and they are fully implemented can their benefits be fully realised. Surely that will represent a fitting and lasting tribute to my noble friend the Minister.

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House of Lords 2.04 pmThe Lord Bishop of St Albans Universal Credit • My Lords, I too thank the noble Lord, Lord Farmer, for this important debate. On behalf of these

Benches, I take the opportunity to thank the Minister for his very considerable contribution, drive and service to this House, and wish him well as he leaves the Front Bench.

• I think it is true to say that very few in this House disagree with the stated aims of universal credit—to simplify the benefits system and ensure that work always pays. However, I also suspect that there are quite a few of us in this House and, indeed, on these Benches, who fear that on occasion Her Majesty’s Government may have lost sight of that aim. Indeed, it seems that successive cuts to the welfare budget have been prioritised as an easy way of balancing the Government’s finances.

• ..It is cuts to work allowances that have most seriously undermined universal credit as an effective incentive to increase working hours, and only a restoration of those work allowances will see the credibility of universal credit restored. As the Centre for Social Justice has suggested, slowing or scrapping the Government’s commitment to increase the personal tax allowance would be the most obvious way of paying for an increase in work allowances, and would be a far more effective way of assisting hard-working families most in need of support.

• I want to make a further brief point about the loans made available to claimants in financial difficulties when direct payments are not available. It is crucial that people are made aware of, and are able to access, universal credit advances as soon as they apply for universal credit, given that they could be waiting for up to seven weeks for their claim to be processed. Access and awareness around hardship payments are also vital when an individual is sanctioned, as well as swift processing. Anything else will leave people quite literally going hungry, and that is not something we should be willing to accept in modern-day Britain. 12

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House of Lords  2.06 pmLord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Con)

Universal Credit • ...Many Members of your Lordships’ House will know of my involvement in the

charity and voluntary sector. One of the areas where charities play a major role is in getting people back to work. Work in the charity sector can be an important first step in recovering self-confidence and learning to live with the disciplines of the workplace.

• Charities and voluntary groups used to tell me about the two main drawbacks of the pre-existing system. The first was its complexity and the fact that a multiple range of benefits, some of which overlapped and some of which required quite sophisticated form filling, were a major challenge.

• The second was the way that benefits were withdrawn as the individual began to earn, which led to perverse disincentives to work only so long and no longer, and to earn so much and not more because of the way the system worked.

• For me, the universal credit plan offered a way to tackle these two challenges, and in large measure it appears to be succeeding... But with a wholesale change in approach covering 5 million to 6 million households, it would have been a miracle if the system had proved pitch perfect from the outset. However, overall, the system seems to be working, and working well...

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House of Lords 2.10 pmBaroness Donaghy (Lab)

Universal Credit • ...During the debate on the then Welfare Reform Bill, I tabled an amendment about

exempting industrial injuries benefit from the benefit cap. The noble Lord said in reply:• “My Lords, I will not make any promises on this but I will have another look at it. That is the

weakest of possible promises. In fact, I am trying to say that it is not a promise at all”.—[Official Report, 23/11/11; col. GC 428.]

• However, he delivered on this, and I was eternally grateful.• ..I have to say something about the Mesothelioma Act 2014, which would not have existed

without the noble Lord, Lord Freud. I took part in the debate as a tribute to the trade union movement, which campaigned to get mesothelioma recognised as an identifiable disease. Arising from the Act, an oversight committee was set up and I was invited to chair it. We oversaw the paying of £26 million last year, and the noble Lord should be extremely proud that claimants and their families will at least have some anxieties removed as a direct result of his actions.

• I hope the noble Lord does not object if I conclude with a limerick. For the benefit of Hansard, the second line is “cold-water warrior”—I would not like it to be set down as “Cold-War warrior”:

• “There was a long-termer named Freud,• A cold-water warrior who toyed... 14

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House of Lords 2.13 pmBaroness Thomas of Winchester (LD)

Universal Credit

• My Lords, I well remember the maiden speech of the noble Lord, Lord Freud, on the Autism Bill of 2009. In it, he said:

• “The approach presaged in the Welfare Reform Bill would allow us to find the very considerable resources necessary to transform the lives of those adults with autism. It would do so despite the very difficult times that we are facing, when the economic pressures on spending will inevitably be severe”.—[Official Report, 10/7/09; col. 892.]

• So, is UC beginning to transform the lives of those with autism and other vulnerable adults, particularly those with learning difficulties or disabilities? I asked the National Autistic Society and my colleagues in Sutton, south-west London, who have embraced the full digital rollout of UC, to answer this question. The answer, I fear, is not looking good. Vulnerable adults who have to make a new claim for UC and who have not yet been through the work capability assessment will have an interview at the jobcentre with a work coach. Unfortunately, work coaches are not trained to deal with people with autism or learning difficulties. I am told they work from a script, mostly with no variation from it..

• Would the DWP consider allocating more resources to local authorities for claimant advocates to tide them over this transitional period when full digital rollout takes place, so that thousands of vulnerable adults are not plunged into confusion and debt? The other problems include delays in payment, and alternative payment arrangements for housing costs, which are for a set period, suddenly ending, leaving many claimants confused.

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House of Lords 2.17 pmLord Macpherson of Earl’s Court (CB) (Maiden Speech)

Universal Credit

• My Lords, I feel very fortunate and indeed honoured to be speaking for the first time in your Lordships’ House. .. I would also like to thank my supporters, the noble Lord, Lord Layard, and my noble friend Lord Stern of Brentford. Both are internationally renowned economists. Both have worked on labour market and poverty issues, and I have learned a great deal from them.

• I recently left the Treasury after 31 years. One of my first posts there was on social security at the time of the Fowler reforms, whose eponymous author is now Lord Speaker. I worked on his admirable plan to replace family income supplement with family credit.  Later, I worked for Ken Clarke on seeking to extend family credit, and I had the great privilege of working for Gordon Brown, leading the work on the new tax credits at the turn of the century, when I also worked with the noble Baroness, Lady Sherlock, among others. I was also Permanent Secretary when Mr Duncan Smith announced his plans for universal credit in 2010.

• ... Our country has one of the most dynamic and flexible labour markets in the developed world, and we should celebrate that... For my part, I would advocate spending a bit more on income-related benefits for working-age people, perhaps at the expense of the very large amounts that are now going to pensioners...

• The delivery of universal credit has been a long and expensive journey, and it is not over yet. When the dust has settled, I hope, like my noble friend Lord Stevens, that we can learn some of the lessons. I fear that the original timetable was overly aggressive; that capacity, at least in the early years, was inadequate; and that, with hindsight, the department and the Treasury could have worked better together.

• In the meanwhile, the nation should be hugely grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Freud, who has done a fantastic job. He has devoted six years of his life to the cause, and that is public service indeed. 16

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House of Lords 2.20 pmBaroness Stroud (Con)

Universal Credit

• It is an honour for me to follow the noble Lord, Lord Macpherson. I congratulate him on his maiden speech and welcome him to this House.

• His contribution to the topic we discuss today is huge. As he said, he was PPS to Gordon Brown as he created the tax credit system, and then Permanent Secretary to George Osborne throughout the introduction of universal credit.

• The care that he gave to steering the Treasury through the financial crisis at the same time as undertaking the biggest reform of welfare in a generation is highly commendable, and we look forward to seeing his wisdom and experience, benefiting us all in this Chamber.

• In 2008-09, when we were developing the concept of universal credit at the Centre for Social Justice—I refer to my entry in the Register of Members’ Interests—there were key dynamics that we wanted to be built into a reformed welfare system.

• We wanted to ensure that it encouraged more people into work and made work pay, smoothed the transition into work, making the choice to take work a logical choice, and tackled poverty through increased reward from being in work.

• The rollout of universal credit was not a smooth one, as my noble friends Lord Freud and Lord McPherson can attest to, but we now have a silent revolution taking place.

Universal credit claimants now spend around 50% more time on job searches than comparable JSA claimants, they earn more than similar JSA claimants and they move faster into work.

• Secondly, there is one more step to take with childcare in universal credit. If you are on a higher income outside of UC, you can claim the tax-free childcare offer for as many children as you have. That is not the case for universal credit claimants, although with an investment of about £50 million it could be.

• Thirdly, a strong and continued commitment to universal support, extended beyond financial and digital inclusion to include family, mental health and skills support, could provide the safety net that vulnerable people need.

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House of Lords 2.25 pmBaroness Lister of Burtersett (Lab)

Universal Credit • My Lords, I too am grateful for this opportunity to mark the huge contribution made by the

noble Lord, Lord Freud, to the design and implementation of universal credit.  However, I doubt that the Minister will be surprised that my three minutes will not just be made up of warm words, because reports from the ground are not encouraging.

• One of the biggest problems is the combined effect of a seven-day waiting period and monthly payments in arrears, which, after assessment, means that the first payment is not made for at least six weeks. This is causing considerable hardship and is leading to reliance on food banks. Monthly payments also create unnecessary difficulties for those—especially mothers—who just about get by when budgeting weekly or fortnightly. They are not essential to UC’s architecture and I urge the Government most strongly to look at them again.

• I am particularly concerned about the implications for those granted refugee status, who are given only 28 days to move from asylum support to mainstream benefits. This is already a problem, with too many left destitute because 28 days simply is not long enough, and, by definition, it will not be enough time under UC. Welcome as the Home Office/DWP pilot is, it cannot solve that problem. A related problem is refugees and other vulnerable claimants who are unable to claim because they do not have any form of bank account, despite the assurance given in a recent Written Answer that this does not prevent a UC claim. Again, I urge Ministers to look into this.

Monday, May 1, 2023

House of Lords 2.25 pmBaroness Lister of Burtersett (Lab)

Universal Credit • The evaluation of the trials found that the,• “most significant challenge in delivering personal budgeting support was

that ... participants simply did not have enough money each month”.• Well, that challenge is going to get harder with the lower benefit cap, the

two-child limit and the benefits freeze at a time of rising inflation.• Moreover, the universal credit that the Minister is bequeathing his successor is

not the one that he championed through your Lordships’ House because of the cuts in work allowances, which we have already heard about and which bear the fingerprints of the Treasury.

• Even the Minister’s former boss, Iain Duncan Smith, has made a powerful case against this cut, pointing out that work allowances are a much more cost-effective mechanism for helping the just about managing than are personal tax allowances—a point also made by the right reverend Prelate. Of course, the Minister could not possibly comment but I hope that, once he has stepped down, he might feel freer to do so.

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House of Lords 2.28 pmBaroness Manzoor (Con)

Universal Credit • My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Farmer for securing this timely debate, and I

congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Macpherson, on his excellent maiden speech.• The universal credit system is one of the most radical reforms since the welfare system was set up

100 years ago. Today, as we have heard, is the Minister’s last day on the Front Bench, and I therefore take this opportunity to thank him for his tenacity, drive and commitment in ensuring that UC, despite the many challenges it has faced, has continued to progress and develop and to be rolled out successfully across the country, despite some of the delays. He has played a key part and leaves behind an important welfare reform legacy, and I congratulate him.

• UC is, of course, the integration of six means-tested benefits and tax credits into a single payment. It simplifies and streamlines a complicated benefits system, along with improving its transparency, accessibility and accountability. It is worth remembering how far we have travelled.

• In 2010, the country was spending £4 for every £3 we were earning, the welfare bill had ballooned to unsustainable levels—£9 billion, as we have heard—and in-work poverty had increased to 20%. To address this, the UC system is designed to make it easier for people to move in and out of work, and it removes the benefit trap by tackling the financial disincentives to entering the workforce. This is to be applauded as, unacceptably, two-thirds of children in poverty live in working families. This must change.

UC is rightly designed to lift working adults and their families out of poverty by encouraging more people into work and ensuring that work always pays. 

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House of Lords  2.32 pmBaroness Warwick of Undercliffe (Lab)

Universal Credit

• I declare an interest as chair of the National Housing Federation, the trade body of England’s housing associations. Although I share some of the concerns expressed by other noble Lords, particularly my noble friend Lord McKenzie and the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of St Albans, I want to focus on the role of housing associations in universal credit.

• Thousands of association tenants are eligible for universal credit and, over the past three years, the federation and sector have worked with DWP and the noble Lord, Lord, Freud, on the design and implementation of the pilot and then the rollout.

• We all support its principles of simplifying the benefits system and incentivising work.• Housing associations have worked with the department to ensure that these principles are achieved and

that unintended consequences are, I hope, avoided.• Our joint working has resulted in the setting up of a specialist team to tackle the challenges that housing

claims entail. It has also improved the alternative payment arrangements system whereby the housing element of universal credit is paid directly to the landlord..

Finally, I want to emphasise the role that associations can play in helping to reduce the benefits bill and boost affordable homes.

As I said in the debate on the Autumn Statement, associations could do more if given the freedom to set their own rents.

I believe that both tenants and the Government would benefit from that. It would allow associations to better meet the needs of the communities they serve, improve affordability and therefore prevent upward pressure on housing-related benefits. 21

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House of Lords 2.35 pmBaroness Eaton (Con)

Universal Credit • We have heard from some Members of the remaining challenges that we face with UC. As the 16th

speaker in the debate, I know that much detail has already been given and comments made, so I will not hold the House up by adding and repeating things. However, I would like to say that I was brought up in a household that believed very strongly in a work ethic, equally strongly in supporting those who suffer disadvantage, for whatever reason, and in the value of the welfare state as a safety net. The previous welfare system did not encourage a work ethic and did not work efficiently or effectively as a safety net.

• One of the many aspects of the old system that I thought was dreadful was the fact that savings had to be run down fast if benefit was to be paid in full, as the system assumed that a ludicrous rate of interest was being paid on them. The system encouraged fraud. On some calculations, 200,000 more people were claiming tax credits as lone parents than actually existed. One of the groups most hit was childless adults under the age of 25, who were not entitled to working tax credits. NEETs aged 16 to 25 were included in this group. In my previous roles in local government, I worked with others on the plight of NEETs. The welfare system did little to help this vulnerable group.

Universal credit is revolutionising the welfare system by making work pay. It is already transforming lives, with those on universal credit moving into work significantly faster and working longer than under the old system. For the first time we are not only helping people into work but helping people while at work with personalised support. My noble friend Lord Freud believes passionately in this reform, into which he has personally invested much time and effort.

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House of Lords 2.39 pmBaroness Finn (Con) Universal Credit

• My noble friend Lord Freud’s nearly seven years in government have seen the fruition of the universal credit programme.

• Perhaps my noble friend’s greatest achievement was to help secure cross-party support for the policy of universal credit. Previous Governments ducked the challenge of implementing such an ambitious programme and certainly more than one official told me that it simply could not be done. It would be fair to say that there were issues with, and glitches in, its implementation during the coalition Government.

• However, the fact that the policy itself enjoyed full political support was crucial. The implementation and rollout of universal credit posed enormous challenges for which the Department for Work and Pensions was unprepared and with which it was ill-equipped to deal. It is to the enormous credit of my noble friend the Minister, my right honourable friend the former Secretary of State, Iain Duncan Smith, and my noble friend Lady Stroud that they persevered in the face of such difficulties.

...As all of us who bear the scars of government know, moving the government machine and getting things done are not easy tasks. It is remarkably hard work. To have achieved the successful implementation and rollout to date of universal credit is a tremendous achievement and formidable legacy.

Monday, May 1, 2023

House of Lords  2.42 pmBaroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville (LD)

Universal Credit • The universal credit rollout has been methodical across the country. My home town Yeovil’s

rollout is due in April 2017 and the district council and other agencies have been working together to ensure that the transition runs smoothly. There are, however, problems as DWP is not sharing information in a way that would assist the process.

• The issue of the introduction of the two-child limit was raised by the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie of Luton, and is extremely important. It is vital that safeguards are in place to protect children of rape victims and kinship care where short-term transitional arrangements could make a huge difference. I hope that the Minister will be able to reassure the House.

The availability of discretionary housing payments was a key argument which the Government used to justify extending the benefit cap to vulnerable groups who are unable to work. Restricting their availability in this way substantially undermines this defence.

We have evidence from Citizens Advice that this is leading to increased rent arrears and food bank use. In South Somerset the offices are holding small stocks of food, petty cash and vouchers to assist those in really desperate straits. For low-paid workers struggling to be independent, having frequently to use a food bank is disheartening in the extreme. In modern day Britain it is a disgrace that we all share. While our donations to the food banks are welcome, it should not be necessary in one of the wealthiest nations of the world. 24

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House of Lords  2.46 pmBaroness Sherlock (Lab)

Universal Credit First, on the principles and architecture, we on these Benches have long supported the idea of

universal credit and a combined benefit. It is not in the end a principle, but a delivery mechanism to get money to households based on need and circumstance. Its key advantage should be the ability to smooth transitions in and out of work, while having a single taper can be used to ensure that work pays and that claimants benefit from any increase in pay or hours.

Secondly, the levels of UC payments are a problem. They were cut before it was even implemented and have been repeatedly since. Universal credit was meant to be more generous than the tax credits that it replaced, but it is now a net gain to the Treasury, which may explain its more recent enthusiasm for it. UC was of course designed to lift 350,000 children out of poverty, but it now cannot do that, because if levels simply are not high enough to raise people out of poverty, it cannot do that job.

Crucially, it was meant to make work pay. Instead, the taper-free work allowance has been halved unlike with tax credits. Reducing the taper from 65% to 63% does not begin to compensate. The original taper was meant to be 55%, which really  could have made work pay. Sadly, I am sorry to say that the Treasury axe has so damaged universal credit that at the moment it cannot do the job that it was born to do. Work is no longer the route out of poverty and simply saying it does not make it so.

Universal credit can and should make work pay and tackle poverty, but it will not do so without change.

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House of Lords  2.51 pmThe Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Freud) (Con)

Universal Credit

• My Lords, I start by congratulating my noble friend Lord Farmer on getting  this debate.• Universal credit marks a fundamental change in the relationship between the state and

citizens who are claimants. I think that it is more than a Darwinian process. This is quite a substantial change in approach that puts progression into work at its heart. The original systems were often designed to protect people from work when it was industrial and hard, so that was what we wanted to do. It never proved possible to move the whole system away from that approach, so it is universal credit which is introducing that real dislocation.

We have never had a system of coherent support for vulnerable people. We have put in a system of universal support where we are in partnerships with local authorities for a couple of barriers: the digital barrier and their budgeting barriers. We discovered that that is a system we could expand and put more barriers in, so we can put people who are in debt, people with addictions and people with housing problems into that envelope, the point of which is that we can then share data within it so we start to have a coherent approach. That is a nascent structure that I think spells a way for us as a country, for the first time, to really help the most vulnerable people.

Monday, May 1, 2023

Slovakia, c. 1490

• We Thank Their Lordship for this debate!• Sanctions against those who are struggling to survive do not

open the gates of life. Considering employment opportunities, skills development and improvement of mental health, all candidates for paid work, could be registered and rotated to posts with employers for work placements,connecting people with links that match their aspirations,allowing them to perform their duty to their fellow human beings for at least 16 hours per week,throughout the time they are looking for new and /or better opportunities.

• Similarly, welfare payments should be processed in advance and not in arrears. (Officials- civil servants can balance the accounts accordingly in the time to follow.)

• Benefit caps could be harmful if a remaining amount of a rent payment, for example, does not exceed the daily living thresholds. (Other options such as the renting rooms, for example, making offers in safe ways to cases that are suitable, could be preferable to people who need more cash for their living). Rent increases and the upgrading of price index of consumer products suppress welfare provisions, deteriorating the living of people.

Georges de La Tour c. 1644

• Joachim Patinir, 1510s: The miracle of the corn

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Benefit cap: [Before 7 November 2016:The total amount you could claim in benefits was:£500 per week for single parents and couples (with or without children)£350 per week for single people] https://www.gov.uk/benefit-cap-calculator

Benefit cap in London• Couple (with or without children)

or a single parent:• £442.31 per week  • Single person without children or not

living with your children:• £296.35 per week• The cap applies to the benefits you

get as a household. It includes benefits received by you, your partner and any dependent children who live with you.

These limits apply if you live in a Greater London Borough.

Benefit cap outside London

• Couple (with or without children) or a single parent:

• £384.62 per week  • Single person without children or not

living with your children:• £257.69 per week• The cap applies to the benefits you

get as a household. It includes benefits received by you, your partner and any dependent children who live with you.

These limits apply if you live outside a Greater London Borough.

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Monday, May 1, 2023

Policy-Assistance Welfare reform Welfare Reform Act 2012 The Bill provides for the introduction of a 'Universal Credit'

http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2010-11/welfarereform.html

• https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/welfare-reform#bills-and-legislation• http://www.housing.org.uk/policy/welfare-reform/bedroom-tax/  National Housing Federation.• http://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/housing_benefit/what_is_the_benefit_cap Reference

Benefit cap Help with claiming benefits Turn2us benefit calculator  Gov.uk tax credits calculator to find out if you're eligible for tax credits Help if you can't pay the rent Apply to your local council for a discretionary housing payment to help pay the

rent. Find out about ways to reduce your living costs. If rent arrears mean you could be threatened with homelessness, contact housing

options or the homelessness service at your local council for help and advice. You can also ask an advice centre for help. Use Shelter's directory to find face-

to-face advice services in your area.29

Monday, May 1, 2023 30

Benefits included in the cap

housing benefit (unless you live in supported housing) income support jobseeker's allowance employment and support allowance (unless you are in the

support group) incapacity benefit child benefit and child tax credits maternity benefits and widows benefits paid by the

Department for Work and Pensions severe disablement allowance universal credit

Monday, May 1, 2023 31

Benefits Not included in the cap

• These benefits and payments don't count towards the benefit cap:• discretionary housing payments• council tax support/reduction• budgeting loan/advances• one-off council crisis payments• free school meals• child maintenance payments• winter fuel payments• statutory maternity, paternity or adoption pay• statutory sick pay• Housing benefit for supported accommodation also doesn't count. This usually includes domestic violence refuges and accommodation

where tenants also get care or support.

The Parable of the Rich,Rembrandt,1627

Monday, May 1, 2023

Exemptionsfrom the benefit cap if you, your partner or children receive

Disability living allowance (DLA) or the personal independence payment (PIP)

attendance allowance (AA) support component of employment and support allowance (ESA) industrial injuries benefits war widows' or war widowers' pension From 7 November 2016, you are exempt from the benefit cap if you,

your partner or children receive: carer's allowance carer’s element of universal credit guardian's allowance To find out if you could be eligible for any of these benefits, see 

Gov.uk - benefits.32

Monday, May 1, 2023 33

Public’s response(s)

The Guardian I could live on £53 in benefits a

week, says Iain Duncan Smith ? Duncan Smith earns £1,600 a

week after tax as a cabinet minister and his travel fares would cost £20 or more from his home to Westminster.

• https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/01/iain-duncan-smith-live-benefits

Tuesday 2 April 2013 07.53 BST First published on Tuesday 2 April 2013 07.53 BST

BBC News Disability Living Allowance

replaced by PIP scheme. There are currently 3.3m people

claiming DLA, compared to 1.1m when it was introduced in 1992.

• Charity Scope says the changes have been designed just to save money. 600,000 people will eventually lose their financial support?

8 April 2013  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-220

58059

Monday, May 1, 2023

IPHRP indices, Great Britain, January 2011 to November 2016 Source: Office for National Statistics

Between November 2015 and November 2016, Great Britain private rental prices grew by 2.3%. For example, a property that was rented for £500 a month in November 2015, which saw its rent increase by the Great Britain average rate, would be rented for £511.50 in November 2016. Rental prices for Great Britain excluding London grew by 2.2% in the same period (Figure 2).

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Monday, May 1, 2023

Reports A)Statistical Bulletins:Businesses Circles B)Trust for London: Benefits Circles

Mergers and acquisitions involving UK companies: July to Sept 2016

• There were a total of 140 successful domestic and cross-border mergers, acquisitions and disposals involving UK companies worth £34.0 billion in Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2016, compared with 278 successful transactions valued at £33.1 billion reported in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2016.

• There has been a notable increase in both the number and value of inward and domestic mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity during the first three-quarters of 2016 (Jan to Sep), while outward M&A activity has fallen.

• The large values reported for inward and domestic M&A over this period are largely driven by a few notable high-profile transactions.

• Domestic acquisitions (UK companies acquiring other UK companies) during Quarter 3 2016 saw 72 completed acquisitions worth £3.2 billion.

• This was a decrease compared with the activity reported in the previous quarter (152 acquisitions worth £7.2 billion), and an increase compared to the same quarter last year (60 deals worth £1.2 billion).

• Image (s) : Portrait(s) Pietro Perugino • Milano c. 1446/1452 – 1523)

Families on the Brink: welfare reform in London 11 June 2014

• This report reveals the capital has been hit hard by changes to the benefits system, particularly cuts to housing benefit. London households have lost almost £7 per week more than the average UK household.

•  Sixteen London boroughs already have more households claiming housing benefit than there are affordable properties. Councils are struggling to find local housing for local families and believe it is going to get harder.

• • High childcare costs in London makes it harder for work to pay. A parent with four children working part time and paying average childcare costs in London will be £65 worse off per week than the same families outside of London.

• • Financial work incentives alone have not been enough to enable parents to start work. Only 13% of households hit by the benefit cap have entered work.

•  Councils are struggling to house homeless families in-borough or even in London. There has been 1000% increase in homeless families moved outside London between 2011/12 and 2013/14.

• • Families are relying on short term, discretionary payments from councils to stay in their homes.

• https://www.trustforlondon.org.uk/research/publication/families-on-the-brink-welfare-reform-in-london-2/ 35

Monday, May 1, 2023

Average salaries of 145 jobs in the UK http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/worklife/careers/a33179/average-job-salaries-uk/

By Gem Royston-Claire 3 February 2015

• 1. Brokers - £133,677• 2. Chief executives and senior officials - £107,703• 3. Aircraft pilots and flight engineers - £90,146• 4. Marketing and sales directors - £82,962• 5. Information technology and telecommunications directors - £80,215• 6. Advertising and public relations directors - £77,619• 7. Legal professionals - £73,425• 8. Medical practitioners – 69,463• 9. Senior police officers - £58,533• 10. Human resource managers and directors - £56,315• 11. Sales accounts and business development managers - £51,576• 12. Senior professionals of educational establishments - £49,679• 13. Senior officers in fire, ambulance, prison and related services - £48,228• 14. Business and financial project management professionals – £47,795• 15. Train and tram drivers - £47,101• 16. Solicitors - £46,576• 17. Taxation experts - £46.551• 18. Finance and investment analysts and advisers - £45,490• 19. Property, housing and estate managers - £44,423• 20. Insurance underwriters - £43,487• 21. Barristers and judges - £43,368• 22. Architects - £43,029• 23. Mechanical engineers - £43,029• 24. Financial accounts managers - £41,389• 25. Quantity surveyors - £41,086• 26. Information technology and telecommunications professionals - £40,957• 27. Programmers and software development professionals - £40,748• 28. Construction project managers and related professionals - £40,519• 29. Advertising accounts managers and creative directors - £40,510• 30. Dental practitioners - £40,268• 31. Civil engineers - £40,200• 32. Rail transport operatives - £40,060• 33. Higher education teaching professionals - £40,054• 34. Police officers (sergeant and below) - £38,720• 35. Chartered and certified accountants - £38,692• 36. Veterinarians - £37,763

• 37. Arts officers, producers and directors - £37,519• 38. Pharmacists - £37,439• 39. Paramedics - £36,771• 40. Psychologists - £36,495• 41. Chartered surveyors - £36,470• 42. Rail construction and maintenance operatives - £35,781• 43. Business, research and administrative professionals - £35,545• 44. Crane drivers - £35,458• 45. Journalists, newspaper and periodical editors - £34,639• 46. Engineering technicians - £34,355• 47. Chartered architectural technologists - £33,651• 48. Business sales executives - £33,432• 49. Secondary education teaching professionals - £32,524• 50. Buyers and procurement officers - £32,279• 51. Education advisers and school inspectors - £31,655• 52. Medical radiographers - £31,521• 53. Legal associate professionals - £30,911• 54. Social and humanities scientists - £30,888• 55. Ophthalmic opticians - £30,834• 56. Environmental health professionals - £30,777• 57. Rail travel assistants - £30,698• 58. Electricians and electrical fitters - £30,345• 59. Leisure and sports managers - £30,201• 60. Probation officers - £30,026• 61. Primary and nursery education teaching professionals - £29,908• 62. Web design and development professionals - £29,856• 63. Marketing associate professionals - £29,797• 64. Midwives - £29,529• 65. Public relations professionals - £29,488• 66. Health care practice managers - £29,253• 67. Human resources and industrial relations officers - £29,221• 68. Hotel and accommodation managers - £29,161• 69. Social workers - £28,745• 70. Physiotherapists - £28,560• 71. Further education teaching professionals - £28,486• 72. Customer service managers and supervisors - £28,387• ...................................................................................................

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Monday, May 1, 2023

Working days lost (WDL) by principal cause of dispute, UK, 2006 to 2015

• Source: Office for National Statistics

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Monday, May 1, 2023

National DeficitFor the fiscal year ending in March 2017:

The “current budget deficit is estimated to be £19.1 billion.The difference between spending (including capital expenditure)

and revenue is estimated to be £67.6 billion.The increase in UK “net debt” is estimated to be £47.8 billion.

In 2005 the UK “current budget deficit” was less that £20 billion. But then came the worldwide financial crisis of 2008 and subsequent recession.

The budget deficit skyrocketed to £50 billion in 2009 and £103 billion in 2010.

In the subsequent recovery the deficit has slowly declined, reaching £40 billion in 2016.

http://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/uk_national_deficit_analysis

As of Q1 2015 UK government debt amounted to £1.56 trillion, or 81.58% of total GDP, at which time the annual cost of servicing (paying the interest) the public debt amounted to around £43bn (which is roughly 3% of GDP or 8% of UK government tax income).

(Reference Wikipedia)

A) Recent UK Current Budget Deficits

B) UK Debt as a percentage of GDP 1993-2015

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Monday, May 1, 2023

Figure 1: Number of acquisitions involving UK companies, Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 1990 to Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2016+http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/Annexes/bd_esms_an2.pdfCountry specific notes in Business demography

• Transactions which result in a change of ultimate control of the target company and have a value of £1 million or more.

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Table 4: Survival rates of businesses born between 2010 and 2014, UKhttps://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/bulletins/businessdemography/2015

Business demography, UK: 2015 Statistical Bulletin

Births 2010 Births 2011 Births 2012 Births 2013 Births 2014

1-year survival86.7 93.1 91.2 93.5 92.2

2-year survival72.5 75.6 73.8 75.0

3-year survival57.1 60.5 59.4

4-year survival48.1 51.0

5-year survival41.4

Source: Office for National Statistics

Rate (%)

Monday, May 1, 2023

3.5.2 How do employment, unemployment and economic inactivity relate to personal wellbeing?

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20160105160709/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171766_312125.pdf

• Work is an important aspect of our lives which can provide the obvious tangible benefits of income

and a pension, as well as more psychological benefits such as a sense of purpose, social status, social interaction and giving structure to one’s day. Employment status is generally split into employment, unemployment and economic inactivity and this section compares the well-being of people in these categories. After controlling for all the other factors included in the analysis, people who are unemployed have significantly lower levels of ‘life satisfaction’, ‘happy yesterday’, and feelings that their activities are ‘worthwhile’ than those who are employed or economically inactive.

• The findings here are clear and consistent with those reported elsewhere (Dolan et al., 2008; Clark 2003; Blanchflower & Oswald 1999); unemployment has a strong and negative association with wellbeing.

• There is also an interesting finding about differences in personal well-being related to duration of unemployment. As the duration of unemployment increases, the average ratings for personal well-being decline. The lowest ratings for personal well-being are among those who have been unemployed for between two and four years. Their life satisfaction scores are 1.2 points lower on average than those of people in a permanent job with which they are content. Those who have been unemployed for four years or more have life satisfaction scores that are 1.0 point lower on average than those of people in a permanent job with which they’re content. These findings are illustrated in Figure 3. These findings could suggest that people adapt somewhat to their situation as time goes on, but even among those who have been unemployed for four years or more, well-being ratings are still significantly below those of employed people. Longitudinal analysis following the same people over time would be required to examine the possibility of adaption more fully.#

Office for National Statistics | p.31 30 May 201341

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Youth unemployment

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/3217494/7604195/KS-HA-16-001-EN-N.pdf/76c007e9-6c1d-435a-97f8-e5ea700aa149

• In recent years, young people (aged 15–24) were disproportionately affected by the

downturn in economic fortunes and a shrinking European labour market, with the financial and economic crisis making it harder for young Europeans to find and/or keep a job.

There were 4.6 million young people in the EU‑28 without work in 2015 The overall number of youths (aged 15–24) in the EU-28 who were unemployed rose from 4.2 million in 2008 to peak at 5.6 million in 2013, before falling back to 5.1 million in 2014 and 4.6 million in 2015.

As such, unemployed persons under the age of 25 accounted for approximately one in five (20.3 %) of the total number of unemployed persons in the whole of the EU-28 in 2015.

The youth unemployment rate increased from 15.7 % in 2008 to peak at 23.8 % in 2013, before returning to 22.2 % in 2014 and 20.4 % a year later. The youth unemployment rate therefore fluctuated more than the overall unemployment rate which may be attributed, at least in part, to: a higher number of youths being unemployed; a decrease in the number of economically active persons aged 15–24 due to demographic shifts; a growing proportion of young people remaining in education (or returning to education to study), thereby deferring their entry into or removing themselves from the labour force. 42

Monday, May 1, 2023

The lowest regional youth unemployment rates in the EU were recorded in Germany: Eurostat regional yearbook 2016 and Statistical Atlas link: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistical-atlas/gis/viewer/?mids=2,18,101&o=1,1,0.7&center=38.9817,32.90536,2&ch=17&

• The regional distribution of youth unemployment rates in 2015 (see Map 5.4) closely resembles that for the total unemployment rate (see Map 5.3). Of the 265 NUTS level 2 regions for which data are available, the lowest youth unemployment rates in the EU — all less than 6 % — were recorded in seven German regions: Oberbayern, Schwaben (2013 data), Freiburg, Mittelfranken, Weser-Ems, Karlsruhe and Niederbayern (2012 data). With the exception of Weser-Ems and Karlsruhe, the remaining five German regions also reported very low total unemployment rates (not higher than 3 %).

• The youth unemployment rate was also less than 6 % in Zentralschweiz and Zürich (Switzerland). Youth unemployment rates were less than 10 % (as shown by the lightest shade of orange in Map 5.4) in: 28 out of the 38 German regions (note the latest information for seven of these regions refers to 2012, 2013 or 2014); three Austrian regions (Tirol (2014 data), Oberösterreich and Steiermark); two Dutch regions (Zeeland and Noord-Holland); as well as the Czech region of Jihozápad, the Hungarian region of KözépDunántúl and the Nord-Est region of Romania.

• Youth unemployment rates were also below 10 % in Iceland (a single region at this level of analysis), as well as five out of the seven regions in each of Norway and Switzerland, and the far north-eastern Turkish region of Agri, Kars, Iğdır, Ardahan. (p.106-107) 43

Monday, May 1, 2023 44

Dice-players, ca. 1651. Preston Hall Museum,  Stockton- on Tees, UK

• With Special Thanks to All of You!

The definition of Persona as given by the Elder Sophrony in His Theological Writings “the one who really lives” !

“Every Man in His Humour”