Barnardo’s Scotland Briefing for Members Debate on the Welfare Conditionality Study

2nd November2016

Key Points

Introduction

Barnardo’s is the UK and Scotland’s largest children’s charity, and Barnardo’s Scotland works with more than 26,500 children and young people in over 122 specialised services every year. Our services work with children and families who are living in poverty and facing multiple disadvantages as well as specialising in employment support for vulnerable and disadvantaged young people.

Young People

We welcomed the vote in the Scottish Parliament on the 5th of October this year which supported the view that there should be voluntary access to Scottish devolved services that will support people into work, as opposed to mandatory participation and the threat of benefit sanctions. This recognises the damage that sanctions and the threat of sanctions can have.

Our experience is that the vulnerable young people we work with are disproportionately affected by benefit sanctions. Putting strict conditions on welfare payments distances young people from mainstream support often meaning they disengage with services altogether, this can cause hardship and deepen poverty levels. Evidence suggests that this includes young people choosing not to claim out of work benefits at all.

“The proportion of unemployed young people (not counting students) who are not claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance and therefore are not receiving official help with their job search is now 59.7% and has risen by more than 20 percentage points since October 2012.”[1]

The barriers to training and work faced by vulnerable young people can be significant and they can require intensive support over a lengthy period to enable them to sustain work and training. The sanctions process works as a disincentive to young people rather than encouraging them to take up training or employment. We therefore support the report’s conclusion and the text of this motion which states that:

“The common thread linking stories of successful transition to work was the availability of individual support rather than the threat of sanctions”

Women

The impact of cuts in benefits and a punishing sanctions and conditionality regime place a severe strain on the services which support vulnerable women and their children and families.

Our family support services report that in general terms the families they work with who are in receipt of benefits and tax credits find they are having increasing difficulty managing their finances. There is a growing reliance on support from extended family, charitable donations and foodbanks to supplement income. Sanctions, given the fact that they are often unexpected, are a significant issue for parents.

One woman supported by one of our services was 10 minutes late for an appointment due to an unforeseen event with one of her children (a four year old needing the toilet on the way to an appointment), she was sanctioned. The impact of this sanctioning for her wellbeing and the wellbeing of her family was devastating.

She was without money for 4 weeks and as a result she was unable to purchase fuel cards for her gas and electricity meters or feed her children. A number of other household bills went unpaid and she had to borrow money from friends and relatives in order to survive. This had a long term effect of putting this woman further into debt and damaging her relationships with people who were previously supportive. The woman relied for four weeks on food parcels from food banks in order to feed her children resulting in them having no fresh food, fruit or vegetables in that time.

This is not an unusual example from our services perspective. Women are usually the main carer for children and as such are hit the hardest by these sanctions. It is important to recognise that the effects of benefit sanctions go well beyond the period of the sanctions and significantly impact on everyone who lives within the household. Children are particularly negatively affected as it can result in an increase in the pressure on parents which impacts on their ability to meet their children’s social, emotional, physical and educational needs.

Contact

Nicki Wray, Policy and Parliamentary Officer Barnardo’s Scotland –

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