To consider the following Motion submitted by Councillor Lappin and seconded by Councillor Hardy:
The Government’s Welfare Reforms and the impact on the lives of people in Sefton
“Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council faces unprecedented levels of cuts to its budget due to the Government’s austerity measures.
Since 2010, the Council has reduced the amount of money it has to spend in real terms by £115 million. Out of every pound available to the Council to spend, 52pence is spent on delivering social care services to vulnerable adults and children in support of its core purpose of protecting the most vulnerable members of our community. This accounts for 52% of the budget available to spend, £116m out of a total budget of £224m. In 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 the Council needs to further reduce its budget by a further £55m.
Sefton Council is extremely concerned that the impact of these cuts, added to the impact of the Government’s welfare reforms, will cause long term and irreversible damage to our adults, to our children, to our families, to our very communities.
Today in Sefton:
· 4 Trussell Trust food banks had been established since May 2013 – one each in Southport, South Sefton, Crosby and Maghull – which to date have helped 4,162 adults and 2,760 children to eat with demand increasing for the services week on week;
· There has been over 8,000 applications for our Emergency Limited Assistance Support Fund since it came into place in 2013. The rate of applications has now risen to over 1,000 applications per month;
· 402 referrals have been made to the Sefton Helping Hand Service for emergency provision of equipment, bedding and cooking facilities;
· Sefton Citizens Advice Bureau has seen a 28% increase in demand for welfare benefits advice since 2011 and a 54% rise in debt relief orders since 2011 – and in terms of clients seeking debt advice, the levels of debt of those clients has increased by 108% in the last year;
· 3,140 people, between October 2012 and June 2013, have had their Job Seekers Allowance or Employment Support Allowance sanctioned due to the changes in conditions as part of the Government’s welfare reform measures;
· Unemployment and youth unemployment rates remain higher than the UK average, with youth unemployment 3% higher than the national rate. The overall International Labour Organisation (ILO) unemployment rate continues to climb and the gap between Sefton and UK continues to widen;
· Seftons largest registered social landlord, One Vision Housing, has seen a 23% increase in void properties as a result of welfare reform changes, which has led to 4,963 people on the waiting list for its stock of 2,783 one bedroom properties, and been left with over supply of 2/3/4 bedroom properties due to the introduction of the Bedroom Tax;
· There has been a 489% increase in Discretionary Housing Payments, compared to 2012/13;
· The number of homelessness cases dealt with, and the number of interventions made to prevent homelessness, has increased from 493 cases in 2010-11 to 575 cases in 2012-13, a 16.5% increase, with an anticipation of a similar number in 2013-14; and
· According to a recent study by Joseph Rowntree Foundation, there are now more children in poverty from “working families” than families where no one has paid work and some areas of the Borough, predominantly in the South, have more than half of children living in poverty.
Sefton Metropolitan Council believes that our communities deserve better. It believes that unless action is taken to mitigate these and other issues which affect the quality of lives of its people, Sefton’s service infrastructure will be unable to cope.
Therefore it requests that the Chief Executive writes to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions requesting:
(1) that a cumulative impact assessment is carried out by the Government on the impact of its welfare reforms on the residents of Sefton (those in paid work, those out of paid work and the children and young people aged 0-19) as a matter of extreme urgency;
(2) that the Department of Works and Pensions work in partnership with the Council to reduce the numbers of “benefit sanctions” and their impact on the quality of life for our families and communities; and
(3) the quality of the benefit entitlement and work capability assessments be significantly improved.
And that the Chief Executive also writes to the United Nations asking them to investigate whether the UK Government is now at risk of breaking the United Nations International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, that sets out minimum standards of access to food, clothing and housing.
Upon receipt, the responses be formally submitted to the Cabinet for consideration.”
Minutes:
It was moved by Councillor Lappin, seconded by Councillor Hardy:
The Government’s Welfare Reforms and the impact on the lives of people in Sefton
“Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council faces unprecedented levels of cuts to its budget due to the Government’s austerity measures.
Since 2010, the Council has reduced the amount of money it has to spend in real terms by £115 million. Out of every pound available to the Council to spend, 52 pence is spent on delivering social care services to vulnerable adults and children in support of its core purpose of protecting the most vulnerable members of our community. This accounts for 52% of the budget available to spend, £116m out of a total budget of £224m. In 2015/16 and 2016/17 the Council needs to further reduce its budget by a further £55m.
Sefton Council is extremely concerned that the impact of these cuts, added to the impact of the Government’s welfare reforms, will cause long term and irreversible damage to our adults, to our children, to our families, to our very communities.
Today in Sefton:
· 4 Trussell Trust food banks had been established since May 2013 – one each in Southport, South Sefton, Crosby and Maghull – which to date have helped 4,162 adults and 2,760 children to eat with demand increasing for the services week on week;
· There has been over 8,000 applications for our Emergency Limited Assistance Support Fund since it came into place in 2013. The rate of applications has now risen to over 1,000 applications per month;
· 402 referrals have been made to the Sefton Helping Hand Service for emergency provision of equipment, bedding and cooking facilities;
· Sefton Citizens Advice Bureau has seen a 28% increase in demand for welfare benefits advice since 2011 and a 54% rise in debt relief orders since 2011 – and in terms of clients seeking debt advice, the levels of debt of those clients has increased by 108% in the last year;
· 3,140 people, between October 2012 and June 2013, have had their Job Seekers Allowance or Employment Support Allowance sanctioned due to the changes in conditions as part of the Government’s welfare reform measures;
· Unemployment and youth unemployment rates remain higher than the UK average, with youth unemployment 3% higher than the national rate. The overall International Labour Organisation (ILO) unemployment rate continues to climb and the gap between Sefton and UK continues to widen;
· Sefton’s largest registered social landlord, One Vision Housing, has seen a 23% increase in void properties as a result of welfare reform changes, which has led to 4,963 people on the waiting list for its stock of 2,783 one bedroom properties, and been left with over supply of 2/3/4 bedroom properties due to the introduction of the Bedroom Tax;
· There has been a 489% increase in Discretionary Housing Payments, compared to 2012/13;
· The number of homelessness cases dealt with, and the number of interventions made to prevent homelessness, has increased from 493 cases in 2010-11 to 575 cases in 2012-13, a 16.5% increase, with an anticipation of a similar number in 2013-14; and
· According to a recent study by Joseph Rowntree Foundation, there are now more children in poverty from “working families” than families where no one has paid work and some areas of the Borough, predominantly in the South, have more than half of children living in poverty.
Sefton Metropolitan Council believes that our communities deserve better. It believes that unless action is taken to mitigate these and other issues which affect the quality of lives of its people, Sefton’s service infrastructure will be unable to cope.
Therefore it requests that the Chief Executive writes to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions requesting:
(1) that a cumulative impact assessment is carried out by the Government on the impact of its welfare reforms on the residents of Sefton (those in paid work, those out of paid work and the children and young people aged 0-19) as a matter of extreme urgency;
(2) that the Department of Works and Pensions work in partnership with the Council to reduce the numbers of “benefit sanctions” and their impact on the quality of life for our families and communities; and
(3) the quality of the benefit entitlement and work capability assessments be significantly improved.
And that the Chief Executive also writes to the United Nations asking them to investigate whether the UK Government is now at risk of breaking the United Nations International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, that sets out minimum standards of access to food, clothing and housing.
Upon receipt, the responses be formally submitted to the Cabinet for consideration.”
An amendment was moved by Councillor Brodie - Browne, seconded by Councillor Robertson that the Motion be amended by the addition of the following text at the end of the first paragraph of the Motion:
“brought in following the economic collapse of 2008 to deal with the deficit and the need to bail-out the insufficiently regulated banks.
Notes the commitment of the Shadow Chancellor to introduce tough and binding fiscal rules to achieve a budget surplus by 2020 with further spending cuts and no more borrowing for current spending and the Shadow Works and Pensions Secretary’s statement that “Labour will be tougher than the Tories when it comes to slashing the benefits bill”.
Following debate thereon, on a show of hands, the Mayor declared that the amendment was lost by 35 votes to 25 with 1 abstention.
Thereafter, on a show of hands, the Mayor declared that the original Motion was carried by 35 votes to 25 with 1 abstention and it was
RESOLVED:
The Government’s Welfare Reforms and the impact on the lives of people in Sefton
“Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council faces unprecedented levels of cuts to its budget due to the Government’s austerity measures.
Since 2010, the Council has reduced the amount of money it has to spend in real terms by £115 million. Out of every pound available to the Council to spend, 52 pence is spent on delivering social care services to vulnerable adults and children in support of its core purpose of protecting the most vulnerable members of our community. This accounts for 52% of the budget available to spend, £116m out of a total budget of £224m. In 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 the Council needs to further reduce its budget by a further £55m.
Sefton Council is extremely concerned that the impact of these cuts, added to the impact of the Government’s welfare reforms, will cause long term and irreversible damage to our adults, to our children, to our families, to our very communities.
Today in Sefton:
· 4 Trussell Trust food banks had been established since May 2013 – one each in Southport, South Sefton, Crosby and Maghull – which to date have helped 4,162 adults and 2,760 children to eat with demand increasing for the services week on week;
· There has been over 8,000 applications for our Emergency Limited Assistance Support Fund since it came into place in 2013. The rate of applications has now risen to over 1,000 applications per month;
· 402 referrals have been made to the Sefton Helping Hand Service for emergency provision of equipment, bedding and cooking facilities;
· Sefton Citizens Advice Bureau has seen a 28% increase in demand for welfare benefits advice since 2011 and a 54% rise in debt relief orders since 2011 – and in terms of clients seeking debt advice, the levels of debt of those clients has increased by 108% in the last year;
· 3,140 people, between October 2012 and June 2013, have had their Job Seekers Allowance or Employment Support Allowance sanctioned due to the changes in conditions as part of the Government’s welfare reform measures;
· Unemployment and youth unemployment rates remain higher than the UK average, with youth unemployment 3% higher than the national rate. The overall International Labour Organisation (ILO) unemployment rate continues to climb and the gap between Sefton and UK continues to widen;
· Sefton’s largest registered social landlord, One Vision Housing, has seen a 23% increase in void properties as a result of welfare reform changes, which has led to 4,963 people on the waiting list for its stock of 2,783 one bedroom properties, and been left with over supply of 2/3/4 bedroom properties due to the introduction of the Bedroom Tax;
· There has been a 489% increase in Discretionary Housing Payments, compared to 2012/13;
· The number of homelessness cases dealt with, and the number of interventions made to prevent homelessness, has increased from 493 cases in 2010-11 to 575 cases in 2012-13, a 16.5% increase, with an anticipation of a similar number in 2013-14; and
· According to a recent study by Joseph Rowntree Foundation, there are now more children in poverty from “working families” than families where no one has paid work and some areas of the Borough, predominantly in the South, have more than half of children living in poverty.
Sefton Metropolitan Council believes that our communities deserve better. It believes that unless action is taken to mitigate these and other issues which affect the quality of lives of its people, Sefton’s service infrastructure will be unable to cope.
Therefore it requests that the Chief Executive writes to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions requesting:
(1) that a cumulative impact assessment is carried out by the Government on the impact of its welfare reforms on the residents of Sefton (those in paid work, those out of paid work and the children and young people aged 0-19) as a matter of extreme urgency;
(2) that the Department of Works and Pensions work in partnership with the Council to reduce the numbers of “benefit sanctions” and their impact on the quality of life for our families and communities; and
(3) the quality of the benefit entitlement and work capability assessments be significantly improved.
And that the Chief Executive also writes to the United Nations asking them to investigate whether the UK Government is now at risk of breaking the United Nations International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, that sets out minimum standards of access to food, clothing and housing.
Upon receipt, the responses be formally submitted to the Cabinet for consideration.