Newsletter April 2015 :)

Click here to view our latest newsletterand find out what's been going on at West Cheshire Foodbank over the last few months.

Tracey's Story

"Tracey was made redundant from full time work, just before having her first baby.  Her partner was employed but was also made redundant.  Apart from child and maternity benefit, they aren't claiming other benefits and will now lose working tax credits."

Foodbank would like to thank Tracey for her story.  

Perry's Story

"I have been told that I owe £17 000 in overpaid disability benefits.  I haven't had any money for ten days and I am waiting for an appeal in another ten days.  I just have to tell the truth.

I get quite down thinking about it.  I have been borrowing odd bits of money from my neighbours."

Thank you Perry for sharing your story with Foodbank.

We Urgently Need to Rethink Benefit Sanctions

We should welcome the recent call from the Work and Pensions Committee for a full and independent review of the benefit sanctions regime.

Image: Jonny, Colin, Tony, Patricia, Ann, Mark, Geof, Cath and Pete; volunteers at West Cheshire Foodbank sort public donations of food to distribute to local people in crisis – one in ten people are referred to the foodbank as the direct result of a sanction.

At West Cheshire Foodbank, more than one in ten households are referred as the direct result of a sanction. This is when a person has their social security payments deliberately removed because they are deemed not to have fully met the detailed requirements of Jobcentre Plus. In 2014, over one million people in the UK had their social security payments stopped in this way, usually for four weeks, but in some cases for up to three years.

There is clear evidence that sanctions place significant numbers of individuals and families in a position where they cannot afford foodⁱ. Furthermore, new research by a national coalition of churches shows that the sanctions regime disproportionately affects people who are young, leaving care, homeless, single or who have a long term illness or mental health problem”ⁱⁱ.

The DWP recognises that, with no resources to fall back on, even healthy adults will inevitably “suffer some deterioration in their health”ⁱⁱⁱ. When Phil^iv missed an appointment made by Jobcentre Plus, he had his benefits sanctioned for four weeks throwing him and his family in to a crisis situation. He told us “I have three children to feed and it is very hard to manage”. Research by the Methodist Church shows that the situation Phil and his family were in is common: in 2013/14, around 100,000 children were affected by sanctions^v.

Sean^iv explained that he was also referred to the Foodbank because of a sanction: "I was at CAB sorting out my housing benefit and could not make an appointment for the IT suite. I phoned up as soon as I realised I could not make the IT suite and told them I was at CAB sorting my housing benefit but I was still put on a sanction."

Lily^iv was referred to the foodbank after she was sanctioned. She told us "I have been sanctioned because I had an appointment for a job search. I went to the appointment, I signed in and signed back out because I was told there were no computers free. I was told to go back which I did but there were still no computers free. Then I was told to make another date to come back. I am still waiting for the appointment to go back."

May^iv was sanctioned for four weeks because she did not attend an interview. She had recently moved into a hostel and said “when I didn’t receive an interview letter I was sanctioned”. May continued “The hostel I've recently moved into told me to go to Foodbank.  I am good with money and usually do myself a food shop".

Although the Department for Work and Pensions says there is a system of hardship payments in place, very few of the people who have had to turn to foodbank are aware that these exist, and have been unable to access them in the first 15 days of a sanction period. Chris Mould, Chairman of the Trussell Trust quite rightly points out that: “it is very difficult to feed yourself and your family with no money over that two week period” ^vi.

Removing the means by which a family or individual can eat is not just a violation of the right to food and social security (UDHR 25i), it is also a disproportionate reaction to relatively trivial acts like missing an appointment.

As Dr David Webster of The University of Glasgow identifies in his written submission to the Work and Pensions Committee, a “combination of ‘silo’ thinking by officials in the DWP and its predecessors, and ideological gestures by politicians, has led to the growth of what is a huge secret penal system, rivalling in its severity the mainstream judicial system but without the latter’s safeguards” ^vii.

The final reason we need to rethink sanctions is simple. Despite their punitive nature, there is no evidence that they work. The purpose of sanctions should be to increase employment, but despite the DWP being adamant that ‘active policies work’, research from Oxford University shows there is “no association between the use of sanctions and employment rates” ^viii. If anything, as Major Gill Stacey at our local Salvation Army commented recently, the sanctions regime is counter-productive, creating a climate of fear that can be “all consuming, damaging people’s mental health and driving people further from employment”.

The Work and Pension’s Committee is right to call for a full and independent review of benefit sanctions again – let’s hope the Government listens this time.

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i] 11%. See Section 5.2.2. Spencer, A., Ogden, C. & Battarbee, L. (2015). Cheshire Hunger: Understanding Emergency Food Provision in West Cheshire. Available from: http://westcheshire.foodbank.org.uk/cheshirehunger

ii & iii] See Time To Rethink Benefit Sanctions. Report by Church Action on Poverty, the Baptists Union of Great Britain, the United Reformed Church, the Methodist Church, the Church of Scotland and the Church of Wales available from http://www.jointpublicissues.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/rethink-sanctions-report-0315.pdf

iv] Name changed.

v] Press Release http://www.methodist.org.uk/news-and-events/news-releases/new-report-nearly-100000-children-affected-by-benefit-sanctions-in-201314

vi] Page 51, Benefit Sanctions Policy Beyond The Oakley Review. 

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmselect/cmworpen/814/814.pdf

vii] http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/work-and-pensions-committee/benefit-sanctions-policy-beyond-the-oakley-review/written/16442.html

viii] Loopstra, Reeves, McKee & Stuckler, 2015 in Spencer, A., Ogden, C. & Battarbee, L. (2015). Cheshire Hunger: Understanding Emergency Food Provision in West Cheshire. Available from: http://westcheshire.foodbank.org.uk/cheshirehunger

Robert's Story

"Robert was working full-time and put on to Employment Support Allowance due to a leg injury.  He had an appointment at a work related activity group, but could not go as he collapsed in town as the injury to his leg turned out to be a serious blood clot.  Robert was rushed to hospital, so missed the appointment and had his benefits stopped.

Robert came out of hospital to be told that as his injury is now 'different' he has to make a new claim which they say will take three weeks to sort out.  He had been in town to collect the two weeks money he was owed, which he hasn't had and they now say he won't get, because it is a new claim.  This means that there will be a minimum of 5 weeks that Robert will be without money."

Thank you Robert for sharing your story with Foodbank

May's Story

"I'm on Job Seekers Allowance, but when I didn't receive an interview letter I got sanctioned.  I've been to the Job Centre to sort it out after being sanctioned for four weeks.  The hostel I've recently moved into told me to go to Foodbank.  I am good with money and usually do myself a food shop".

Thank you May for telling us your story.