The following Notice of Motion has been submitted by Councillors Beavers, Fail, Shewan and B Stephenson:
“This council expresses its dismay at the manner that Universal Credit has been is being implemented in this country.
This December
Universal Credit will go live in Wyre and any new claims or changes
to claims will automatically take families off the legacy benefits
and place them on Universal Credit.
Universal Credit is
not fit for purpose.
The 4 to 6 week
wait for claimants to receive their benefits is unacceptable and
will impact on the vulnerable and the poor resulting in Wyre
children going hungry and residents homes being put at
risk.
The idea that all
workers are in jobs where they are paid a month in arrears ignores
the reality for the 1.5m workers who struggle on zero hours,
insecure jobs or forced self-employment. Claimants need to be paid
from day one.
'Despite the lip
service paid to this issue in the Autumn Budget, the fundamental
problem remains essentially unresolved.'
• Payments going to one named member of a
household.
Many claimants struggle
to budget and payments should be paid to the separate claimants
within a household and on a fortnightly rather than monthly basis.
With the present policy there is a real danger that if the whole
benefit goes to one named individual there is no guarantee that the
money will be distributed fairly within the household
• Claimants need to
have their rent paid directly to landlords to avoid the
unacceptably high levels of arrears and homelessness that have
occurred in the areas where UC already exists. Pushing claimants
into debt adds to the stress and insecurity for
claimants.
• An end to benefit
sanctions as there is no evidence that sanctioning helps people
into work. In fact taking away claimant’s ability to feed
themselves and their families prevents them from focusing on
finding employment as they are too busy trying to survive. The
evidence of the harm that sanctions cause is growing – they
are an unnecessary cruelty in our benefits system.
• Allow all new
claimants to apply for Universal credit in jobs centres with the
support of trained job centre staff.
By forcing new
claimant to apply on-line causes real problems for many people who
don’t have either access or the IT skills to cope with the
complex online application.
This isn’t
working and is resulting in more sanctions and more
hunger.
• Abandon the
in-work conditionality for part-time or low paid workers –
the idea that there are extra hours or higher paid work for the
large numbers of these affected workers is simply not the case.
This clause of UC places the emphasis on individuals
Who often want
greater number of hours of work- and not on the employers who
benefit from short hours and insecurity.
The overall level
that is funded need to be urgently increased.
The rate at which
some claimants will lose benefit is set at 63p in the pound, which
when compared with the top rate of income tax of 45% on incomes
over £150,000 a year, demonstrates just how unfair UC is for
the lowest income families.
This council notes with concern the impact that the roll-out of universal credit will have on it residents of Wyre and resolves to write to the Secretary of State for Pensions asking her to halt the roll-out of Universal Credit within Wyre until it has resolve the undeniable failures to protect the poorest and most vulnerable members of our district.”
Minutes:
The following motion was submitted, in accordance with paragraph 14.1 of the Council Procedure Rules, by Councillors Beavers, Fail, Shewan and B Stephenson:
“This council expresses its dismay at the manner that Universal Credit has been is being implemented in this country.
This December Universal Credit will go live in Wyre and any new claims or changes to claims will automatically take families off the legacy benefits and place them on Universal Credit.
Universal Credit is not fit for purpose. The 4 to 6 week wait for claimants to receive their benefits is unacceptable and will impact on the vulnerable and the poor resulting in Wyre children going hungry and residents homes being put at risk.
The idea that all workers are in jobs where they are paid a month in arrears ignores the reality for the 1.5m workers who struggle on zero hours, insecure jobs or forced self-employment. Claimants need to be paid from day one.
'Despite the lip service paid to this issue in the Autumn Budget, the fundamental problem remains essentially unresolved.'
• Payments going to one named member of a
household. Many claimants struggle to budget and payments should be paid to the separate claimants within a household and on a fortnightly rather than monthly basis. With the present policy there is a real danger that if the whole benefit goes to one named individual there is no guarantee that the money will be distributed fairly within the household
• Claimants need to have their rent paid directly to landlords to avoid the unacceptably high levels of arrears and homelessness that have occurred in the areas where UC already exists. Pushing claimants into debt adds to the stress and insecurity for claimants.
• An end to benefit sanctions as there is no evidence that sanctioning helps people into work. In fact taking away claimant’s ability to feed themselves and their families prevents them from focusing on finding employment as they are too busy trying to survive. The evidence of the harm that sanctions cause is growing – they are an unnecessary cruelty in our benefits system.
• Allow all new claimants to apply for Universal credit in jobs centres with the support of trained job centre staff.
By forcing new claimant to apply on-line causes real problems for many people who don’t have either access or the IT skills to cope with the complex online application. This isn’t working and is resulting in more sanctions and more hunger.
• Abandon the in-work conditionality for part-time or low paid workers – the idea that there are extra hours or higher paid work for the large numbers of these affected workers is simply not the case. This clause of UC places the emphasis on individuals who often want greater number of hours of work- and not on the employers who benefit from short hours and insecurity.
• The overall level that is funded need to be urgently increased. The rate at which some claimants will lose benefit is set at 63p in the pound, which when compared with the top rate of income tax of 45% on incomes over £150,000 a year, demonstrates just how unfair UC is for the lowest income families.
This council notes with concern the impact that the roll-out of universal credit will have on it residents of Wyre and resolves to write to the Secretary of State for Pensions asking her to halt the roll-out of Universal Credit within Wyre until it has resolve the undeniable failures to protect the poorest and most vulnerable members of our district.”
The motion was proposed by Cllr Beavers and seconded by Cllr B Stephenson.
A recorded vote was requested, in accordance with paragraph 18.4 of the Council Procedure Rules.
The following members voted for the motion:
Councillors Barrowclough, Beavers, Fail, Gibson, Raynor, Shewan, Smith, B Stephenson and E Stephenson.
The following members voted against the motion:
Councillors I Amos, R Amos, Lady Atkins, Ballard, Berry, B Birch, C Birch, Bowen, Cartridge, Catterall, Collinson, Greenhough, Henderson, Hodgkinson, Holden, Ibison, Ingham, Jones, Kay, McKay, Moon, Orme, Pimbley, Robinson, A Turner, S Turner, A Vincent, Matthew Vincent, Michael Vincent, Walmsley and Wilson.
The following members abstained from voting:
The Mayor (Cllr M Anderton), Councillors E Anderton and Ellison.
(Cllrs I Duffy, R Duffy and Murphy had left the meeting the before the vote was taken.)
The motion was therefore LOST, by 31 votes to 9, with 3 abstentions.