Changes to the benefit system including the roll out of Universal Credit are driving claimants into poverty as they wait five weeks for their first payment.
Research carried out by the Trussell Trust shows that in 2018 there was a 52% increase in food bank use in those areas where Universal Credit has been rolled out compared to 13% in those areas where it is yet to be introduced.
On their website the Trussell Trust describe the benefits system as an 'anchor' that prevents people being 'swept into poverty', going on to say that since the election of the coalition government in 2010 that is no longer the case.
Despite government promises that it would significantly reduce poverty Universal Credit has led to a rise in the number of people living below the poverty line, many of whom are in full time work.
The process of claiming Universal Credit has been problematic for many claimants, even when things go smoothly, they are obliged to wait five weeks for their first payment. Government attempts to alleviate the problems caused, by allowing claimants to apply for a 'loan' to see them through have proved inadequate.
On their website the Trussell Trust say, ' we're a country that prides itself on making g sure proper support is in place when help is needed, our benefits system was created to do exactly that, but universal credit is not the poverty fighting reform that was promised'.
North Staffs Green Party Campaigns Coordinator Adam Colclough said, ' as a volunteer for local charities I have seen numerous cases of people being driven into penury by Universal Credit'.
In their political program published in 2018 the Green Party pledged to replace the current unfair and complex benefits system with a Universal Basic Income and to tackle wage inequality.
Mr. Colclough said, ' as a party we are commuted to taking a stand on issues of social justice and for that reason we fully support the Trussell Trust in launching this campaign'.
The Trussell Trust have launched a campaign against the five-week wait under the hash tag #5WeeksTooLong and will be staging events throughout the coming year.
Monday, 18 February 2019
Wednesday, 13 February 2019
North Staffs Greens back pensioners fight against community bed closures.
North Staffs Green Party have given their support to a campaign led by the North Staffs Pensioners Convention to mount a legal challenge to plans to close beds in local community hospitals.
As part of its transformation plans the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) for Staffordshire wants to reduce the number of beds at community hospitals across the region from 264 to 132.
Amongst the reasons cited by the CCG for overhauling how health and social care is delivered are changing health needs as people live longer, difficulty hiring and retaining staff and balancing its budget.
As part of the proposed new care model the CCG wants to deliver care services in the community that currently operate from hospitals through integrated care hubs across the region.
This will mean fewer beds are needed in community hospitals including those at Leek, Bradwell and the Heywood. Instead more patients will be cared for in their own homes.
There will also be an overhaul of consultant led out-patient clinics currently operating from Leek hospital and the Royal Staffordshire University Hospital.
The CCG is partway through a public consultation on its plans, this will run until 17th March.
The Pensioners Convention are part of the NHS Care for All group which brings together the campaigns to protect Leek and Bradwell hospitals, local political campaigners and other community organisations.
North Staffs Green Party Campaigns Coordinator Adam Colclough said, ‘it is vital that we protect beds at community hospitals because they provide a valuable resource in times of high demand and the staff at the sites affected deliver high quality care all year round’.
He added that ‘as a party we have questioned whether there will be enough staff available to care for patients in their own homes and have not received a convincing guarantee from the CCG leadership’.
A solicitor instructed by the Pensioners Convention has written to the CCG informing them of their intention to seek a judicial review. The group have launched a crowd funding campaign to raise the £4300 necessary to begin proceedings.
As part of its transformation plans the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) for Staffordshire wants to reduce the number of beds at community hospitals across the region from 264 to 132.
Amongst the reasons cited by the CCG for overhauling how health and social care is delivered are changing health needs as people live longer, difficulty hiring and retaining staff and balancing its budget.
As part of the proposed new care model the CCG wants to deliver care services in the community that currently operate from hospitals through integrated care hubs across the region.
This will mean fewer beds are needed in community hospitals including those at Leek, Bradwell and the Heywood. Instead more patients will be cared for in their own homes.
There will also be an overhaul of consultant led out-patient clinics currently operating from Leek hospital and the Royal Staffordshire University Hospital.
The CCG is partway through a public consultation on its plans, this will run until 17th March.
The Pensioners Convention are part of the NHS Care for All group which brings together the campaigns to protect Leek and Bradwell hospitals, local political campaigners and other community organisations.
North Staffs Green Party Campaigns Coordinator Adam Colclough said, ‘it is vital that we protect beds at community hospitals because they provide a valuable resource in times of high demand and the staff at the sites affected deliver high quality care all year round’.
He added that ‘as a party we have questioned whether there will be enough staff available to care for patients in their own homes and have not received a convincing guarantee from the CCG leadership’.
A solicitor instructed by the Pensioners Convention has written to the CCG informing them of their intention to seek a judicial review. The group have launched a crowd funding campaign to raise the £4300 necessary to begin proceedings.
Friday, 25 January 2019
We need to build more social housing of face having a generation trapped in private rental into old age.
Following the Grenfell House fire in the Summer of 2017 housing charity SHELTER put together a commission set out a better future for social housing.
North Staffs Green Party have endorsed the report published by the commission, Campaign Coordinator Adam Colclough said, ‘providing decent housing for all is one of the defining issues of our time and needs urgent action’.
The housing crisis in the UK is getting worse with the lowest amount of social housing being built for 70 years. As a result, 1.2million households are on local authority waiting lists and are often trapped in expensive private rented accommodation.
The SHELTER report warns that ‘unless we act now, we face a future in which a generation will be trapped renting privately’, adding that as a result ‘more people will grow old in private rentals and billions more in welfare costs will be paid to private landlords’.
At the 2017 general election the Green Party stood on a manifesto commitment to build 100,000 environmentally friendly homes for social rent by 2020. The party also pledged to end the sale of council housing, abolish the bedroom tax and to give tenants stronger rights.
This aligns with many of the points made in the SHELTER report, which calls for a twenty-year programme to build 3.1million homes for social rent by 2020 and for the government to use its upcoming comprehensive spending review to increase funding for social housing.
Campaign Coordinator Adam Colclough said, ‘as a party we have supported the building of more social housing since the eighties’, adding ‘we fully support SHELTER in their call on the government om use the comprehensive spending review to fund the quality housing so many families are struggling to find’.
To find out more about the SHELTER campaign and to sign their petition click on this link: https://england.shelter.org.uk/support_us/campaigns
North Staffs Green Party have endorsed the report published by the commission, Campaign Coordinator Adam Colclough said, ‘providing decent housing for all is one of the defining issues of our time and needs urgent action’.
The housing crisis in the UK is getting worse with the lowest amount of social housing being built for 70 years. As a result, 1.2million households are on local authority waiting lists and are often trapped in expensive private rented accommodation.
The SHELTER report warns that ‘unless we act now, we face a future in which a generation will be trapped renting privately’, adding that as a result ‘more people will grow old in private rentals and billions more in welfare costs will be paid to private landlords’.
At the 2017 general election the Green Party stood on a manifesto commitment to build 100,000 environmentally friendly homes for social rent by 2020. The party also pledged to end the sale of council housing, abolish the bedroom tax and to give tenants stronger rights.
This aligns with many of the points made in the SHELTER report, which calls for a twenty-year programme to build 3.1million homes for social rent by 2020 and for the government to use its upcoming comprehensive spending review to increase funding for social housing.
Campaign Coordinator Adam Colclough said, ‘as a party we have supported the building of more social housing since the eighties’, adding ‘we fully support SHELTER in their call on the government om use the comprehensive spending review to fund the quality housing so many families are struggling to find’.
To find out more about the SHELTER campaign and to sign their petition click on this link: https://england.shelter.org.uk/support_us/campaigns
Tuesday, 22 January 2019
Greens call for fair play on credit.
Debt is a growing problem with the OBR predicting that by 2022 personal debt will account for £2.258trillion, equivalent to £83,041 for every household in the country (Source: The Money Charity).
North Staffs Green Party have written to Stoke-on-Trent City Council calling on them to sign up to the Fair Credit for All campaign launched by the End High Cost Credit Alliance.
Campaign Coordinator Adam Colclough said, ' debt represents a huge burden on individuals and households that are struggling to get by'.
Debt charity Step Change found in a survey of the 326,897 new clients taken on in the first half of 2018 that a third were behind with their council tax payments, 13.1% with utility bills and that 18.3% had taken out high cost payday loans.
Personal debt in the UK stands at £1.623trillion, equivalent to £59,288 per family or £30,965 for every adult, accounting for 113% of average earnings.
Mr Colclough said, ' we need to make it easier for people to access fair credit and to get advice on how to manage their money'.
In their 2017 general election manifesto the Green Party pledged to create a network of local people's banks and to close the wealth gap by raising the minimum wage to £10 per hour.
The End High Cost Credit Alliance campaigns for responsible credit providers to be available on every high street and for access to debt counselling.
Detail about the campaign can be accessed via this link:https://the-alliance.org.uk/contact-us/
North Staffs Green Party have written to Stoke-on-Trent City Council calling on them to sign up to the Fair Credit for All campaign launched by the End High Cost Credit Alliance.
Campaign Coordinator Adam Colclough said, ' debt represents a huge burden on individuals and households that are struggling to get by'.
Debt charity Step Change found in a survey of the 326,897 new clients taken on in the first half of 2018 that a third were behind with their council tax payments, 13.1% with utility bills and that 18.3% had taken out high cost payday loans.
Personal debt in the UK stands at £1.623trillion, equivalent to £59,288 per family or £30,965 for every adult, accounting for 113% of average earnings.
Mr Colclough said, ' we need to make it easier for people to access fair credit and to get advice on how to manage their money'.
In their 2017 general election manifesto the Green Party pledged to create a network of local people's banks and to close the wealth gap by raising the minimum wage to £10 per hour.
The End High Cost Credit Alliance campaigns for responsible credit providers to be available on every high street and for access to debt counselling.
Detail about the campaign can be accessed via this link:https://the-alliance.org.uk/contact-us/
Thursday, 17 January 2019
A decent home is a basic human right.
This is the message behind the 'Everyone in' campaign launched by homelessness charity CRISIS. The campaign has been supported by several high-profile figures including actors, Tom Hardy, Emma Thompson and Richard Gere.
More than twenty thousand people from every part of the UK have UK have also shown their support on social media using the hashtag #everybodyin.
Homelessness in the UK has risen by 132% since 2010 with the highest increase in London and the South of England. In 2015/16 local authorities accepted 58,000 families as being homeless, a rise of 34% since 2009/10.
Factors including high private rents, family breakdown and changes to the benefits system have been cited as causing the I crease in homelessness. At the same time the costs incurred by the NHS, councils and public services as they try to deal with the increase have grown massively.
The plan to end homelessness put forward by CRISIS to end homelessness addresses issues including helping at risk stay in their homes, improving tenant's rights and ensuring local authorities have enough funding to offer support.
A statement on the CRISIS website says, ‘ending homelessness doesn't mean no one will ever lose their home again,' but with the right support in place the document impact can be greatly reduced.
North Staffs t Party has given its support to the 'Everyone in' campaign, spokesperson Adam Colclough said:' having access to decent affordable housing is a basic human right, that people are forced to sleep on the streets of a wealthy country is inexcusable. We fully support CRISIS in taking action on this important issue'.
At the 2017 general election the Green Party stood on a manifesto pledging to build more social housing, strengthening tenant's rights and improving funding for council homelessness services.
The CRISIS statement concludes that with the right legislation and funding in place it is possible to stop most people at risk from losing their homes and to bring them in from the cold as quickly as possible if they do.
Details of the CRISIS campaign can be found at: https://www.crisis.org.uk/get-involved/everybody-in/
Friday, 28 December 2018
Hope amongst difficulty at a food bank this Christmas.
It is a few days before Christmas and I am with one of the small army of volunteers who run the centre watching a seemingly endless stream of donations arrive. Almost every inch of space is crammed with bags and boxes of food, the whole thing looks like total confusion fuelled by coffee and good will.
The centre is located in a former Methodist church on the sort of estate that film makers and journalists who arrive in town with preconceived opinions to confirm are drawn to magnetically. All the better to portray urban decay and, of the mood takes them, stroke their beards whilst musing about how people have abandoned the community the church used to represent in favour of football on a big screen TV at the pub down the road.
The reality is, as always, more complicated and rather more hopeful.
The problems the city faces are undeniably large, over the past forty years Stoke-on-Trent has seen the industries that put it on the map collapse on after another. First to go was the steelworks, closed in the late seventies, the eighties and nineties saw the coal mines shut one after another; last to go was the pottery industry done to death by cheap imports.
Call centres and warehousing provided a lifeline for many people, despite this whole communities were left without jobs or purpose. This is reflected in the rise of food bank use in the city, in 2916/17 10,330 three-day parcels were provided to struggling families.
Across the UK according to the Trussell Trust, the charity which runs 428 food banks across the country, December 2017 was their busiest month ever, showing a 49% rise in the number of users. The charity provided 159,388 three-day parcels, 65,622 of which went to children and need is expected to continue rising.
Data from Oxfam and Church Action on Poverty shows that half a million people in the UK are reliant on food parcels, one in six parents regularly go hungry to feed their children and more than a quarter of the people the charities interviewed were one unexpected bill away from hardship.
According to the Office for National Statistics the UK has the thirteenth highest poverty rate in Europe with 7.3% of the population (4.6 million people) are living in poverty with 35% reporting high levels of anxiety and ill health as a result.
The Trussell Trust cite cold weather, high living costs and benefit sanctions as driving people to use food banks. shortly after my visit to the Blurton centre a spokesperson for the local branch told the media he feared that usage would rise further with the roll out of Universal Credit.
Emma Revie, chief executive of the Trussell Trust said in a press statement earlier this year that the benefits system was ' supposed to protect us all from being swept into poverty, but what we are seeing is people struggling to heat homes and put food on the table because they simply cannot afford the basics'.
She added that the charity was 'urging' the government to ' ensure benefit payments reflect the cost of living to help ensure we are all anchored from poverty'.
Statistics tell only part of the story, the part that has little hope of an easy solution. There is another story that is more hopeful, if the solution is still achingly distant.
It is the one where people from all works of live come together to help other. On the day I volunteered there were people helping out from a major bank, one of the local evangelical churches and a logistics company.
There are, of course, food banks and similar charities run by other faiths and there is no hint of seeking to 'convert' anyone who volunteers for or uses a food bank; but faith is very much in the room. This is a surprise in a Britain that often gives a convincing impression of having abandoned such communitarian values in favour of endless shopping.
This perhaps holds the answer to reversing four decades of growing poverty and inequality and the political thinking that brought us to this place. People want to help others, through physically doing so or, maybe not getting a tax sweetener in every budget.
Maybe those thoughts are prompted more by a flash of the Christmas spirit that practical political understanding. Then again, the endless stream of donations flooding through the doors of the Blurton centre were real, so is the generosity they represent.
At a time when we give in too often to excess another, older and more powerful one is getting through too.
Thursday, 13 December 2018
Public transport is the missing piece in the regeneration puzzle.
First Potteries, a bus company with an approach to PR that leaves almost everything to be desired, have announced that ticket prices are to rise.
Fares are set to go up by between 10p and £1 on 9th December, passengers using the mTickets phone app will not be affected. The fare paid by holders of concessionary passes using the bus before 9:30 will also rise from £1.60 to £2.00.
Speaking to the Sentinel Sarah East, director of operations for First said that although some dates have been ' revised' the day ticket offered by the company was still value for money and that there were improved discounts for travellers under 16.
She was at pains to extol the virtues of the ticket app, saying that it is ' easy to download, fill in a few details and away you go'.
Adding that buying tickets in this way ' makes using the bus not only cost effective, but also more convenient and helps quicken up journey tines'.
There is a case for saying that whatever end of the stick bus passengers are given it tends to turn out to be the dirty one. Every so often, just to break the monotony, it gets used to cash them over the head too.
If you look past the bright talk about apps and promises of a discount here and an allowance, there this looks like another instance of an all too familiar story.
Public transport in this city has been stuck in a time warp for decades, with often third hand buses rattling around the six towns following routes that get cut in an annual sacrifice to the cruel god of efficiency.
It doesn't have to be like this; if we want regeneration to be a reality instead of a pipe dream something has got to change.
Since 2015 the City Independent led coalition has talked a good game about changing the city's image and with it our fortunes too. Bidding to be the UK City of Culture or home and the new home of Channel 4 have, though both were unsuccessful, paid a dividend in positive PR.
That Stoke-on-Trent hasn't got an integrated public transport system as the twenty first century trundles into its second decade is the missing piece in the regeneration puzzle.
Other cities, Nottingham for example, manage the trick of getting busses and trains to link up and have revived team systems that vanished years ago. Why can't we do the same?
Part of the problem is a lack of leadership, Labour took the city's voters for granted for too long, meaning they had no incentive to do anything other than what they'd always done. Since 2015 the City Independents have consistently put the cart before the horse, getting distracted by projects like building luxury hotels and apartments for young professionals that won't work without a decent transport network bring in place first.
Nationally things have been no better, public transport hazardous never had a minister with the vision and strength of character necessary to drive through modernisation. The current incumbent, Chris Grayling, is a politician so shockingly inept it is a wonder his antics aren't accompanied by a laughter track.
North Staffs Green Party has consistently spoken about the need to build an interconnected transport system for Stoke-on-Trent. We have worked with partners including the Pensioners Convention to put forward a workable plan for building one
Recently other parties have expressed similar aspirations, there is truly more rejoicing over one MP who repents than a dozen candidates who believed all along, so we welcome their joining the fight. This is an issue too important to be bound up in partisan infighting.
The difference is we will continue talking about how we need trains, busses and trams that work together; safer cycling routes and more opportunities to walk instead of drive long after the political agenda has moved on.
We know that it is more important to do what is right and necessary than what gets you a headline in tomorrow's papers. That is why we will stick with the fight to improve local transport infrastructure until Stoke has the quality network it deserves.
Fares are set to go up by between 10p and £1 on 9th December, passengers using the mTickets phone app will not be affected. The fare paid by holders of concessionary passes using the bus before 9:30 will also rise from £1.60 to £2.00.
Speaking to the Sentinel Sarah East, director of operations for First said that although some dates have been ' revised' the day ticket offered by the company was still value for money and that there were improved discounts for travellers under 16.
She was at pains to extol the virtues of the ticket app, saying that it is ' easy to download, fill in a few details and away you go'.
Adding that buying tickets in this way ' makes using the bus not only cost effective, but also more convenient and helps quicken up journey tines'.
There is a case for saying that whatever end of the stick bus passengers are given it tends to turn out to be the dirty one. Every so often, just to break the monotony, it gets used to cash them over the head too.
If you look past the bright talk about apps and promises of a discount here and an allowance, there this looks like another instance of an all too familiar story.
Public transport in this city has been stuck in a time warp for decades, with often third hand buses rattling around the six towns following routes that get cut in an annual sacrifice to the cruel god of efficiency.
It doesn't have to be like this; if we want regeneration to be a reality instead of a pipe dream something has got to change.
Since 2015 the City Independent led coalition has talked a good game about changing the city's image and with it our fortunes too. Bidding to be the UK City of Culture or home and the new home of Channel 4 have, though both were unsuccessful, paid a dividend in positive PR.
That Stoke-on-Trent hasn't got an integrated public transport system as the twenty first century trundles into its second decade is the missing piece in the regeneration puzzle.
Other cities, Nottingham for example, manage the trick of getting busses and trains to link up and have revived team systems that vanished years ago. Why can't we do the same?
Part of the problem is a lack of leadership, Labour took the city's voters for granted for too long, meaning they had no incentive to do anything other than what they'd always done. Since 2015 the City Independents have consistently put the cart before the horse, getting distracted by projects like building luxury hotels and apartments for young professionals that won't work without a decent transport network bring in place first.
Nationally things have been no better, public transport hazardous never had a minister with the vision and strength of character necessary to drive through modernisation. The current incumbent, Chris Grayling, is a politician so shockingly inept it is a wonder his antics aren't accompanied by a laughter track.
North Staffs Green Party has consistently spoken about the need to build an interconnected transport system for Stoke-on-Trent. We have worked with partners including the Pensioners Convention to put forward a workable plan for building one
Recently other parties have expressed similar aspirations, there is truly more rejoicing over one MP who repents than a dozen candidates who believed all along, so we welcome their joining the fight. This is an issue too important to be bound up in partisan infighting.
The difference is we will continue talking about how we need trains, busses and trams that work together; safer cycling routes and more opportunities to walk instead of drive long after the political agenda has moved on.
We know that it is more important to do what is right and necessary than what gets you a headline in tomorrow's papers. That is why we will stick with the fight to improve local transport infrastructure until Stoke has the quality network it deserves.
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