Chaos in parliament condemned by anti-poverty leaders

Published by Professional Social Work magazine, 20 October, 2022

In a turbulent week for British politics, culminating in the resignation of the Prime Minister, anti-poverty campaigners accused the government of making "the poorest kids and families in our society" pay for their mistakes.

The current Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced emergency measures - designed to appease the financial markets - on Monday, which was also International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

By the middle of the week inflation had jumped to 10.1 per cent, driven by higher food prices which were reported to have risen by 14.6 per cent in the year ending September 2022.

The Chancellor's statement led to widespread calls from third sector and social work anti-poverty campaigners to do more to support families on low incomes who are facing even more hardship in the wake of Liz Truss’s disastrous policies.

Condemning the damage done during her short premiership and calling for urgent action, Alison Garnham, chief executive of the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), said: “Families up and down the country are terrified about how they will get through the tough times ahead.

“It’s frankly unthinkable that the poorest kids and families in our society will be forced to pay for the economic mistakes of this government.”

U-turns

The Chancellor has now reversed nearly all of the mini-Budget’s tax cuts and, significantly, announced he will scale back energy bill support next year in a move that has led to heightened fears for Britain’s most vulnerable households.

Liz Truss's much-trumpeted Energy Price Guarantee will now end in April 2023, 18 months earlier than originally thought, in favour of identifying a more targeted – and cheaper – replacement.

And there will also be a delay in the implementation of the government's original pledge to cap care costs in England.

This would have seen lifetime care payments capped at £86,000 from October 2023 to avoid people having to sell their homes to pay for care, and nobody with savings below £20,000 would have had to pay at all.

The recently scrapped National Insurance hike and Health and Social Care Levy were going to fund the cap, which is now on hold.

BASW UK chair Julia Ross described the move as "yet another roadblock on the way to delivering the 21st century social care service that this country desperately needs”.

She condemned recent political events as “a crisis made in Whitehall and Westminster," adding "it is those barely getting by that will pay the price”.

Describing a legacy of cuts to budgets and a scattergun, reactive approach to funding, she added: “It is not enough. It has never been enough.

"The Chancellor is well aware of the crisis in social care and has previously spoken about his regret not tackling the crisis when he was Secretary of State. But now he is the Chancellor, and he can turn those regrets into the delivery of a social care system that works for all. He can end the cost of living crisis which will exacerbate the strain on social care services.”

Strain on families

Resolution Foundation analysis shows that the typical household will see income fall by £1,000 annually as a result of personal tax and benefit changes.

Having at first promised to reduce taxes, the government is now on course to raise taxes to their highest level since 1950.

Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, said: “The price of shielding the public finances from wholesale gas markets next year is more pressure on households, with the energy price cap now on course to hit £4,000 next April – almost double its effective level today."

New polling by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) shows 61 per cent of people support raising benefits in line with inflation. The current suggested increase of 5.4 per cent in line with earnings amounts to the biggest permanent real-terms cut to the basic rate of benefits ever made in a single year, according to JRF analysis.

Rebecca McDonald, chief economist for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation urged Jeremy Hunt to increase benefits in line with inflation to avoid "historic levels of hardship". She added: “This government surely cannot wish to be remembered for withholding hundreds of pounds from millions of families when the basic rate of benefits is already at its lowest in real terms for 40 years and prices are rocketing.”

BASW has written to the Chancellor, along with more than 30 charities representing children and families, also calling for uprating benefits in line with inflation. The letter states: "Already, 3.9 million children in the UK are growing up in poverty. Uprating benefits in line with earnings instead of inflation would plunge another 200,000 children into poverty."

Responding to the resignation of Prime Minister Liz Truss, BASW chief executive Ruth Allen said: "While the Government scrambles to get its act together, the problems facing the country continue to grow, with no solution in sight.

"What this country needs is for the cost-of-living crisis to be resolved, for the day-to-day needs of individuals and families to be met, and for everyone to have the means to live a fulfilled and safe life."

Food banks call to be put out of business

The Independent Food Aid Network along with the Trussell Trust and Feeding Britain this week delivered a 3,000-strong petition to Downing Street demanding an end to food aid.

In a joint statement, the charities said: “Since the cut to universal credit in October 2021 and the deepening cost of living crisis, the need for charitable food aid has steadily increased, reaching unprecedented levels.

“Every day we meet people who are skipping meals so they can feed their children and turning off their cooker or fridge so they can cover other essential costs.

“Many of our teams are struggling to cope and our organisations are at breaking point. No-one should have to turn to charity to feed themselves and their families.

“You have the power to reduce the need for our services.”