Manchester evidence session to quiz Burnham on Jobcentre reforms
- Westminster MPs to hold session in Manchester
- Representatives from Northern cities to give evidence on pensioner poverty and support
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham will be among the witnesses when the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee holds a public evidence session in Manchester Town Hall as it continues its inquiry into reforming Jobcentres.
Meeting details
Representatives from pensioner advocacy groups from Greater Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds will also lay out the experiences of the elderly in their regions for the Committee’s pensioner poverty inquiry. They will also be asked about their work to alleviate deprivation in retirement and how Government policy changes could help.
Greater Manchester has nearly half a million people out of work. More than 75,000 are searching for employment, and 80,000 want to work but have long-term sickness that provides additional challenges. Many of them would have to deal with Jobcentres and will be impacted by any reform.
Mr Burnham will be questioned on how proposed reforms to Jobcentres, which will be merged with the National Careers Service, can work with local government initiatives to improve employment outcomes. Greater Manchester’s Live Well is one such initiative that takes a more integrated approach between different organisations involved in finding people work.
In written evidence, Greater Manchester Combined Authority wrote that deprivation amongst 66 year-olds and older was “particularly high” in the area. The Government’s own impact analysis stated its decision to restrict Winter Fuel Payments last winter will put 50,000 more UK pensioners in poverty. Local authorities and charities have since stepped in to give retirees more support.