BBC reporting is letting vulnerable people down
BBC reporting is letting vulnerable people down: aren’t you sick of media outlets like the BBC playing down the dangers posed by the Tory government?
Today (April 26, 2024), a story on the BBC website is telling us that the switch from six legacy benefits could mean “misery for thousands of people” who will fall through the social security safety net that the Tories have riddled with holes.
But it isn’t “thousands of people”, is it? It isn’t even tens of thousands. If you look down the story, it says
The DWP estimates about 4%, or 40,000 claimants, would have particular difficulty switching, but a National Audit Office report in February warned that 21% of households had not been able to switch and had their benefits stopped.
If four per cent is 40,000, then 21 per cent is 210,000 claimants – but notice that the NAO figure refers to “households” and a household has multiple occupants, therefore the true figure could be many thousands more.
So wouldn’t a more accurate headline be, “Benefit switch plunges up to a quarter of a million people into poverty“?
People on six old (or “legacy”) benefits – Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Housing Benefit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, and income-related Employment and Support Allowance – are having their payments changed to Universal Credit.
The report states that a little less than a million people will be affected. If just 21 per cent of these claimants – let alone households – are denied payments by the change, that will be another 210,000 rendered penniless by an insensitive and unaccountable Department for Work and Pensions.
So now the number of people losing all their money rises to around half a million.
The House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee chair Dame Meg Hillier (Labour) is quoted even further down the story, making the situation clear:
“We must not forget how massive a change it is to how benefits are delivered, impacting millions of people,” she said.
“The DWP must make sure that people are not cast into financial hardship due to a bureaucratic change, and that robust support is in place for those vulnerable claimants who need it most.”
But Alison Garnham, chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, is reported to have said she found the DWP’s “lack of concern” around people being left without money “chilling”:
“Warnings like the PAC’s are coming thick and fast as the DWP steamrolls on with managed migration, leaving vulnerable claimants in its wake – without the benefits they are entitled to and need.
“The DWP must put its spreadsheet targets aside, slow the roll-out of UC right down.”
Why should the DWP be concerned, though? The clue is in its title: it’s the department for “Work” and “Pensions”, not the department for social security.
You can see its priorities clearly in the comment a spokesperson provided for the article:
“Universal Credit is having a sustained positive impact on the jobs market, with people on Universal Credit more likely to be in work within three, six and nine months of their claim.”
It’s all about making people work – never about getting them the right work or a decent standard of living.
The benefit system is an annoyance to DWP bosses. That’s why the focus is always on getting people off-benefit, and that’s why nobody at the DWP cares if people are dumped off the system and left with nothing.
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As an ex employee of the Civil Service I can tell you that the uncomfortable truth is that most claims for sickness and unemployment last a matter of weeks. 90% approx. Of the remaining 10% 90% of those are for less than 6 months. When you remove those who are disabled then there are very few long term claimants.
I know from speaking to a family member that one of the ways of reducing claims is by making the system so difficult to navigate that only those most desperate will attempt it. My family member was entitled to ESA after their work’s sick pay had ended but took one look at it and gave up NB this is an educated person who spent their working life dealing with difficult issues in their place of work. Instead they relied on the income of their partner, ultimately retiring early having no other option.
Successive governments have made benefit systems increasingly difficult to navigate. When the Tax Credit system was new I heard from an accountant who had a client ask for help on it who stated he’d never seen anything like it and struggled to get through it. This is an accountant who dealt with company accounts, Corporation Tax, VAT, PAYE etc.
Sunak’s latest speech seems to be in annoyance that people are, eventually, getting their heads around the scheme with the assistance of voluntary groups who help the disabled. It’s one of the most difficult systems in Europe and fails those it should protect. This is more victim blaming from the Tories.
“Why should the DWP be concerned, though? The clue is in its title: it’s the department for “Work” and “Pensions”, not the department for social security.”
When did that happen, and underr whose government?
2001. The bliarite government.
Correct.