'Pay benefits faster' to reduce hunger, MPs urge

[Northerner]

An income squeeze, benefit delays and excessive utility bills are blamed by a cross-party group of MPs for a huge rise in the use of food banks.

The inquiry, by Conservative and Labour MPs and church leaders, says many families are one unexpected bill away from financial crisis.

They urge quicker benefit payments, the extension of free school meals and a living wage to reduce hunger.

Ministers called the report a serious contribution to an important debate.

The all-party parliamentary inquiry into hunger in the UK was set up to understand the extent and spread of hunger, food poverty and to investigate its underlying causes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-30346060

 

[KookyCat]

Most people are very close to a financial crisis, if it hadn't been for my Mum I'd have been in a right mess earlier in the year, no house, no job and not able to work through illness with a paltry redundancy payment because statutory amounts to very little in the scheme of things. When I put my benefit claim in I was told I won't get any money till mid January which is six weeks, how would someone with kids and no savings at all manage that. The whole thing needs fixing properly before we actually have people starving to death 😡

 

[Northerner]

Most people are very close to a financial crisis, if it hadn't been for my Mum I'd have been in a right mess earlier in the year, no house, no job and not able to work through illness with a paltry redundancy payment because statutory amounts to very little in the scheme of things. When I put my benefit claim in I was told I won't get any money till mid January which is six weeks, how would someone with kids and no savings at all manage that. The whole thing needs fixing properly before we actually have people starving to death 😡

Things have always been bad regarding benefits payments, but I think they've got a whole lot worse under the current regime. The 'sanctions' do not appear to have any regard to people's welfare and immediate needs - this is not 'spending money', but something that, for most people who find themselves needing it, is essential. So many stories of sanctions applied immediately, without proper investigation of the reasons behind it - people missing 'interviews' because they were attending job interviews, for goodness' sake! 😱

When I left Uni it was under the last 'new' Tory government of Margaret Thatcher. Their slogan 'Labour isn't working' became laughable when unemployment doubled in the first couple of years, and there were literally no jobs for people without 'experience'. I was caught in the trap of being newly-qualified, so no experience, with an Arts degree in what was not a mainstream subject (Russian, which was also out of favour due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan), and considered 'over-qualified' for non-graduate jobs. I spent 3.5 years unemployed. On one occasion my fortnightly benefits cheque did not turn up. There was a postal strike at the time so I was told to wait a week, and had to borrow money from a friend so I could afford to eat. After a week I went back and they told me that, as I had managed for a week they would only pay me a week's money! I stood my ground and got the full payment eventually so I could pay back my debt, but I can imagine that today things would be very different

The public have been fooled into believing that 'benefits' equates to 'handouts', but most people have paid their taxes and NI to secure those benefits, and it is totally wrong for the government to withhold them

 

[Abi]

Very nasty situation and nasty government
I had to laugh reading ( someone elses) Daily Mail implying that the impact of benefit cuts are being exaggerated ( the same paper accusing the bbc of being an extremely left wing organisation and also recently wailing and gnashing teeth at the suggestion of controlling rents so that ordinary people can afford to have a roof over their heads)
If there was enough secure non zero hour contract employment and renting/ buying plus cost of transport to and from work were more reasonable the benefit bill would be a fraction of current

 

[Northerner]

If there was enough secure non zero hour contract employment and renting/ buying plus cost of transport to and from work were more reasonable the benefit bill would be a fraction of current

Precisely. We are subsidising employers and private landlords through in-work benefits and housing benefits. Meanwhile, the government praise rises in house prices as a sign of 'growth', when really it's just making the whole market unsustainable and threatening a new crash When I bought my first house in 1989 the limit for borrowing on a mortgage was 3.5 x annual income (and had been for years). Average house prices and incomes these days suggest that a multiple of at least 6 x income is required, if not more. Up until buying that house I had lived in several different but very decent properties (bedsits/flats) for a rent that was well below monthly mortgage costs, so I could save for a deposit - almost impossible for young people to do that these days, so they end up living with their parents instead of gaining their independence

 

[HOBIE]

A good few years ago I was ILL in hospital so I thought all I had to do was try & claim something. A wife & Two kids to keep & me proper ILL. I have never been on the dole in my life & TONEY BLA BLA wanted to give me & family £22 a week. Would not pay the milk bill. Guess what I think 🙂

 

[Northerner]

A good few years ago I was ILL in hospital so I thought all I had to do was try & claim something. A wife & Two kids to keep & me proper ILL. I have never been on the dole in my life & TONEY BLA BLA wanted to give me & family £22 a week. Would not pay the milk bill. Guess what I think 🙂

And things have got worse...

 

[HOBIE]

Well the "Labour boys " spent all the money. I was talking to a bloke who is helping Mr Scargill in his political trail now. He was the fella that did NOT give the miners any of there money back when they were on strike & spent it on flash offices for years after. & a lot of years 😱

 

[ypauly]

Precisely. We are subsidising employers and private landlords through in-work benefits and housing benefits. Meanwhile, the government praise rises in house prices as a sign of 'growth', when really it's just making the whole market unsustainable and threatening a new crash When I bought my first house in 1989 the limit for borrowing on a mortgage was 3.5 x annual income (and had been for years). Average house prices and incomes these days suggest that a multiple of at least 6 x income is required, if not more. Up until buying that house I had lived in several different but very decent properties (bedsits/flats) for a rent that was well below monthly mortgage costs, so I could save for a deposit - almost impossible for young people to do that these days, so they end up living with their parents instead of gaining their independence

It's 10x average now alan and 23x minimum.


For some reason I have yet to work out every government for the last thirty years has been more frightened by the two little words "negative equity" than "homeless family"

The first party that promises a house building boom like the one we had post war will get a landslide majority. It will create not only homes but jobs and other economic benefits.