Written evidence from Public and Commercial Services Union (WNS0063)

PCS written evidence to the Work and Pensions Select Committee

Welfare Safety Net Inquiry

Introduction

1. The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) is the largest trade union in the civil service. The union has approximately 190,000 members in the civil service and related agencies, bodies and contractors, including over 48,000 members working in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

2. Our members work in a range of roles across the DWP, including the delivery of all aspects of Universal Credit. They undertake key duties and provide services such as those provided by case managers, work coaches and customer service advisors.

3. Our members are a dedicated workforce committed to delivering a benefits system which supports the most vulnerable and people who find themselves in financial difficulties. However with an ever changing social security landscape, increased workloads and a real term wage cut of over £3000 per annum since 2010, our members and claimants are suffering.

4. PCS therefore welcome the Committee’s inquiry into the welfare safety net and will gladly support this written evidence with an oral submission.

5. Below we set out our responses to five key questions set out by the Committee.

Do Jobcentre Plus procedures and benefit delays play a role (deprivation)?

6. PCS believe that procedures and delays in the system do play a role in creating and increasing deprivation. The huge reduction of home visits by our members is an example of this. Less home visits means that deprivation is more frequently missed and the vulnerable continue to suffer for longer periods. The Out of Hours service has also been abolished ending the provision of emergency financial support when DWP offices were closed.

7. The abolition of the Crisis Loan system has also ended the ability of DWP to make a payment to people with no other form of financial assistance and has ended access to an interest free emergency loan for claimants therefore forcing them to use payday lenders and food banks.

8. The Crisis Loan system was the actual safety net that provided money for people who had none and no immediate access to benefits. Its abolition, we believe, has essentially ended the welfare safety net in this country.

9. Responsibility for this provision was placed with local authorities but they too have limited funding from central government and with no legal requirement to make this provision.

What role does Universal Credit play in relation to deprivation, or could it play in tackling it?

10. PCS believe Universal Credit (UC), in its current form, is exacerbating deprivation across the UK. In areas where UC has been fully rolled out, foodbank use has increased by over 50%. Research from Policy in Practise also suggests that more families stand to lose out (40%) on UC compared to those families who stand to make a minimal gain (30%)

11. Since 2010 over £34 billion has been cut from the welfare state with a further £12 billion expected by 2022. Although changes were announced in the 2018 budget to assist in the roll out of UC, none of this will reverse the cuts already built into it. The budget did not undo the freeze to benefits and this must be set against the rising cost of living.

12. The system has an in-built delay of five weeks from the moment the claim is started although many claimants have been made to wait much longer. The two week ‘run-on’ announced in the budget regarding claimants moving over from JSA, ESA and IS claimants, although welcome, is still too wide a gap for claimants.

13. PCS members working on the front line believe that the waiting period and the advances given to claimants to bridge this gap are a driver of debt and deprivation. We do acknowledge that delays are not the only factor.

14. PCS believe that the scope of transitional protections should be extended to ensure that no one loses out as a result of UC however some claimants who have ‘naturally migrated’ from legacy benefits have already lost money as a result of their transition.

15. PCS believe that in order for the system to function sufficiently an additional 5000 staff would be required to address the imbalances in caseloads and between different service centres. This would reduce the number of phone calls being face by case managers and would allow staff to spend an adequate amount of time ensuring a claimant receives the correct support and assistance. 

16. PCS believe that reductions to the maximum repayment percentage should go further and that the aim should be to eliminate the debt in which some claimants find themselves. PCS believe this can be achieved by ensuring the social security system pays a real living wage to those who rely upon it.

17. During the next phase of UC, the Government should fully engage with trade unions who represent front line workers to ensure their voices and expertise become a key part of the ‘test and learn’ phase. At present, TU’s are not categorized as key stake holders and we believe this will be detrimental to the future roll out and the managed migration process. Our members have first-hand experience of the systems old and new and would be a valuable asset in ensuring those who rely on the social security system are put first.

18. Progressive taxation to ensure the correct funding for a welfare and social security system which supports and protects societies most vulnerable must now be a priority for Government. Punitive sanctions and extreme in work conditionality must be reviewed as both are deterrents.

19. PCS agree with the statements made by the UN Special Rapporteur in which he states ‘Austerity could easily have spared the poor, if the political will had existed to do so (…) the political choice was made to fund tax cuts for the wealthy instead.’[1]

Is our welfare safety net working to prevent people falling into deprivation?

20. Since 2010 the Government has worked to slowly but drastically reduce the UK’s welfare safety net through numerous controversial measures. Benefits have been frozen, access to legal aid has been made almost impossible in certain parts of the UK and measures such as the two child limit for tax credits and the bedroom tax have all impacted on the prosperity of millions across the UK.

21. Cuts to ESA, PIP and the introduction of work capability assessment have led to the most vulnerable suffering financially and mentally with a doubling in the number of suicide attempts by disability benefit claimants.

22. Reductions to Legal Aid within the LASPO Act have resulted in vulnerable and at risk groups entering financial instability just to secure the necessary documentation to prove they should receive free legal assistance. Victims of domestic abuse are one group in which hundreds of pounds are expected to be paid in order to secure documentation which proves they have been a victim of abuse.

23. Legal advice for welfare cases has been cut by 99% following the reforms to legal aid with under 500 people securing support in 2017 compared to 91,000 in 2013.

24. PCS agrees with recent reporting by the BBC Shared Data Unit which has indicated that up to one million people are living in areas with no legal aid provision and a further 15 million in areas with one provider[2].

25. PCS agrees with the concerns of the Law Society in regards to legal advice deserts for housing which means that those on low incomes facing eviction or homelessness are struggling to get the face to face advice needed and that they are entitled to by law. People being made homeless due to Government cut backs is a shocking indictment of ten years of austerity politics and evidence that such attempts to balance the books have contributed to making the poorer worse off.

If not, how could it better so?

26. PCS believe that Universal Credit should be scrapped in favour of a radical universal social security systems which eliminates conditionality, sanctions, the benefit cap and the benefit freeze. Conditionality should be replaced in favour of universalism and addressing the challenges posed by automation.

27. Digitalisation across Government has been seen as a radical and necessary step however we believe that it has gone too far, excluding societies most vulnerable and isolating large swathes of our communities. Not only does this remove face to face interaction and attack our members jobs, it creates an atmosphere of fear and intimidation amongst the most vulnerable. This mirrors the reporting of the UN Special Rapporteur who claimed that ‘ a digital welfare state is emerging. The impact on the human rights of the most vulnerable in the UK will be immense.

28. PCS have called on the Government to stop its office closure programmes across departments for over 8 years. The loss of expertise has been almost immeasurable in areas such as HMRC and DWP. We believe that a community led welfare system through jobcentres and CAB’s is something which will inevitably support and benefit the most vulnerable and help to mend the fragmented safety net.

29. PCS welcomes the commitment of the Labour Party to restore Legal Aid for benefit cases. We believe restoring this aspect of legal aid will ensure some of society’s most vulnerable people will receive the support they require and have been unable to access for several years.

30. PCS believe that the welfare safety net should be a system of support and not one of punishment. It is clear that years of austerity policies have eroded the welfare state to a deplorable level in which poverty has risen to unprecedented levels with an estimated 14million people living in poverty, 4 million of which are children.

31. PCS support the findings within the UN Special Rapporteur Report.

What are the remaining weaknesses, how should these be addressed?

32. Reduction in welfare spending has undoubtedly had the biggest impact on the welfare system and safety net in the past decade. Successive Governments have worked to erode a system which initially had care at its heart instead opting to portray the benefits system as over generous.

33. Since 2010 over £34 billion has been cut from the welfare state whilst corporation tax is lower today than at any time in its history. The Institute for Fiscal Studies currently estimates that company taxes only constitute 12.5% of the tax revenues of the UK with corporation tax only amounting to 7%. This is compared to the people’s taxes which make up for that 60% of taxable income.

34. PCS members delivering benefits have long argued for additional funding, staff and training to ensure those receiving benefits can access the correct support and to enable the benefits system to function to a high standard. Currently staff retention is a major issue due to workloads, pay and conditions. This is across jobcentres and UC service centres. PCS estimates that 5000 additional staff are required in the immediate to ensure service delivery is at an acceptable standard.

35. PCS believe that a properly funded welfare state contributes positively to economic growth. The IPPR think tank has called for an overhaul of the British economy in line with the post war plans of Labour in the 1940’s; a plan to invest in the economy including the welfare state to transform our economy and reverse decades of growing poverty and inequality.

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