welfare
Fighting for the UK’s Hidden Hungry: Job Centre Plus Policy Repeal Directive
Following on from Phillip Blond's blog on foodbanks, the Trussell Trust Director Chris Mould continues the debate and discusses the Early Day Motion launched by MP Robert Halfon
"...Mr Halfon said many families struggling to feed themselves and their families are not able to be referred directly to a foodbank by Jobcentre Plus. His Early Day Motion calls on the House to recognise that the current system is "broken" and that delays in receiving benefits can cause serious problems for families on the breadline, if referral to charities such as foodbanks is not allowed..."
The Government must do more to support Food Banks
The threat of hunger is real in the UK today. Phillip Blond examines the welfare arrangements that fail to prevent this tragedy
"... In those areas where food banks operate, front line professional carers give vouchers for those they assess in real need to access their food banks. Social workers, health visitors, citizens advice staff and housing support and youth offending teams all can refer, but one of the most crucial referrers who assess and identify genuine and crisis need is the job centre. Yet here staff have been forbidden by the previous government from giving out food vouchers..."
Tax, Benefits and the Case for a Citizens' Income
Some thought experiments
"...A citizens income ... would remove unfair anomalies and make abuse much harder to commit, but it would also produce a clear and simple progress from overall benefit recipient to overall tax payer..."
Fighting Fit
ResPublica's Sandra Gruescu on just how we deal with a problem like obesity
"...It won’t be enough to introduce fitness tests in schools and to simply send letters to parents berating them for doing a bad job because their children have failed..."
On Ineptitude in Public Services
Management Thinker and ResPublica Fellow, Simon Caulkin, on the critical path to better government illuminated by John Seddon's new book
"...Instead of standardising demand through dumb computers, you put knowledgeable, concerned people on the front line as the first port of call where they can absorb the myriad variety of human need and allow it to ‘pull’ the appropriate solution. Initial transaction costs go up – sharp intake of breath from factory managers at HMRC – but overall costs go sharply down as time and rework are reduced. Processing times fall from weeks to days; customers send cake and flowers instead of brickbats..."
