Coincidentally, while we have been debating representation of poverty in the media on the blog this week, staff from a TV production company turned up unannounced at our building in Canning Town yesterday seeking “poor people” for a new series of a reality TV programme. Whilst people are waiting to see advisers about their debts and benefits, or picking up youngsters from after-school clubs, researchers handed round flyers asking if people were “struggling to make ends meet” – and inviting them to participate in a reality TV show. It’s not the first time we have been approached to put people up for this type of “Poverty Game Show”.
Community Links blog
Posts Tagged ‘Add new tag’
Reality Bites – TV’s Poverty Game Shows
Friday, January 29th, 2010Why aren’t the child poverty and welfare reform bills better aligned?
Friday, November 6th, 2009A couple of days ago shadow work and pensions minister Andrew Selous mentioned both our work on the informal economy and the community allowance campaign during the committee stage of the Child Poverty bill. It’s always nice to see a bit of lobbying reflected in what politicians say, but it also reveals something of the debate around poverty and welfare reform.
At this stage of the bill’s passage, a small group of MPs is considering every sentence in incredible detail. Yesterday they’d reached the section of the child poverty bill that will make it compulsory for every local authority to assess the needs of children living in poverty in their region. And Andrew Selous’ contribution was about the extent of that assessment.
He was arguing for it to be compulsory to assess not only the family income of the poorest children, and their takeup of benefits and tax credits, but also the extent to which jobs were available and being created in their area, and their ‘family resilience.’
He believes that to beat child poverty we need, above all, ‘more and better jobs’ – ie that getting people off benefits and into work is the best (only?) way to tackle poverty. A focus on the transition off benefits and into works sounds like the kind of thing that should be in the Welfare Reform Bill – slightly more advanced through parliament, with a focus on coercing people into work that seems far removed from the child poverty bill, with its focus on income level.
It’s good that Selous is trying to force the issue of that transition into the child poverty bill, but seems a missed opportunity that the bills aren’t just better aligned in the first place. He recognises, as we’ve been saying, that “the challenge of getting into work from being out of work is huge. The move from not working and being on benefits into full-time work is an enormous step – sometimes almost a step too far that many people are not able to make in one leap.” Why hasn’t this recognition, particularly during a recession and with rising unemployment, been included in the welfare reform bill?
How to really Get Britain Working
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
The Conservatives are talking about their plans to Get Britain Working at conference this week, and they’re focusing on welfare reform. I’m glad they’re concentrating on the issue, but they’ve failed to look at the real reasons why people struggle to get off benefits into work. If only they’d listened to the experts, people trying to do just that.
David Cameron’s high-profile proposals to retest everyone on incapacity benefit, weed out the 600,000 who ’should be working’, and further involve the private sector in getting people back to work, are really nothing new. The Government are doing very similar things already, and there’s no evidence it has been particularly successful.
However, it’s significant that he’s still pandering to the view that people idly scrounge off benefits (more about that next week), and it’s a shame that he hasn’t recognised – in the way that Iain Duncan Smith did a few weeks ago – the huge barriers that people face when trying to get off benefits and into a good job.
In fact, the Get Britain Working report doesn’t really contain any analysis of why people aren’t already moving into work. There’s little evidence that the Conservatives really understand the lives of those they’re claiming they will help.
People who come through the doors of Community Links want to work (would anyone really want to live in poverty?) But plenty of things stand in their way. Some – like a lack of skills and confidence – might be addressed by Conservative plans for support. But the much larger ones – the sudden loss of housing benefit, the insecurity of the job, the fact that after 16 hours work you’ll be no better off, the discrimination against and lack of facilities for disabled workers – aren’t mentioned at all. And it’s these that really matter.
Luckily, we’re in Manchester this week to tell the Conservatives what will work – how they could enable people to progress off benefits into employment. We’ll outline some of our proposals later in the week, but for now have a look at the Need NOT Greed website and try following @neednotgreed on twitter to join us there.
Welfare: fit for purpose? Benefits and employment
Friday, August 21st, 2009
Image Credit: The Guardian
Benefit Busters was shown last night on Channel 4, questioning how to get lone parents off benefits when they are financially better off not working. It was the job of Hayley Taylor to find the answer, and she did this through her A4E Elevate course aiming to build single mothers’ confidence to get them back into the labour market. Or, was she bullying a group of slightly vulnerable mums, some of which had serious issues of debt and possible drink addictions, and neither of which Hayley had any professional qualifications in what so ever? I haven’t quite figured out what A4E stands for yet but it could be something to do with Accident and Emergency.
On the whole there were a number of job successes, and possibly one career success - that belonging to Hayley herself. I am still trying to figure out who benefited from this programme. It was apparent that the mothers were eager but profoundly lacking in confidence, it was apparent that the system was completely flawed but no Goverment Minister was interviewed as to why the current welfare reform bill hasn’t addressed the existing disincentives. It was also apparent that what the most vulnerable really need is intensive support, professional advice and guidance but instead they got ‘tough love.’
With the latest unemployment figures at a shocking 2.44 million, an increase of 220,000 in the past three months to June 2009 and talk of the real figure being 6 million getting the reform of the welfare system right is more important now than ever. The Jobcentre Plus is possibly the most popular venue in town right now; with a noticeable increase in the range of customers, and therefore an increase in the range of skills and capacity required by the staff, placing a heavy burden on Jobcentre Plus staff.
Current reforms mean government are employing large private organisations like A4E to deal with the long-term unemployed whilst they get to grips with the latest recession wave of white collar workers. The BBC Radio 4 programme “Face the Facts, the JCP isn’t working“, aired last Sunday interviewed people recently made redundant, people with impressive CVs and keen to find employment yet they were completely let down by the JCP service. The same frustrations voiced in this programme were echoed by the long term unemployed in our report Working Alongside.
Welfare must be a first class service for all: capable of responding to the needs of a varying population before it can justify imposing threats like benefit sanctions or sending people to boot camps.
We spoke to Guardian journalist Jenni Russell and yesterday in her article in the Guardian she eloquently and accurately pointed out that errors in the current, outdated and rigid system and poor quality, low paid, erratic employment is the problem, ‘the solution is nothing less that a rethinking of the welfare system fit for the 21st Century’, because, as Hayley concluded ‘the systems not right; it just seems backwards really’
Building Stronger Communities through business collaboration
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
It seems like every day brings fresh news stories of economic gloom and financial difficulty. There is frequently an underlying cynicism with news coverage and comment citing the greed of businesses and individuals whose only motivation is personal gain. This one dimensional view however is is not the full story that we experience at Community Links. We are located in east London close to Canary Wharf and the City of London; many of our most needed projects wouldn’t operate at all if it wasn’t for the support of some of “our friends in the city”.
Over the last few weeks our building has been full of children having fun at Easter holiday play schemes – several projects like these rely on the generous input of our corporate supporters to survive.
This news of support and goodwill from business is rarely shared so it was good to complete a project recently with Heart Of The City an organisation set up to help businesses in the City learn from one another how to develop voluntary and socially responsible programmes in community settings. We worked with Heart of the City to produce a report: Building Stronger Communities through Business Collaboration which identifies the successes of the Heart of the City Newcomers’ programme. Fiona Rawes, director of Heart of the City explains the Newcomers’ programme in a short video. The approach is to encourage experienced businesses to get involved in guidance, support and mentoring schemes to assist businesss new to CSR quickly and effectively offer support to community projects.
In the video below Gill Parker, MD of BDGworkfutures, and one of the case studies in the report, talks to Fiona Rawes about the mentoring process and their work supporting an east London community project.
It’s clear that recriminations and groundless complaint will not resolve the damaged economy – but the current situation could be an opportunity for us to look again at how we want to re-structure and learn from what works well as we develop new collaborations between communities and businesses to build stronger communities and a stronger economy in a way that benefits us all.
The full report detailing the work of Heart of the City Newcomers’ programme can be downloaded here. More information from the Heart of the City Website - the video above is one of a sequence of short films by Social Reporter David Wilcox which gives more detail of this work.
Community Inspired Regeneration: BURA awards.
Friday, March 20th, 2009
Today I attended the British Urban Regeneration Association (BURA) Awards for Community Inspired Regeneration which were presented in the impressive setting of the House of Lords. I was delighted to have been asked to be on the judging panel and in the process visited some truly inspiring projects.
Regeneration, along with many sections of the UK economy, is struggling through the recession – so much gloomy talk of a shrinking sector preceded the event. However once we got to the presentation of the awards the work of the individuals and organisations we were celebrating shone as bright as the spring sunshine across the Thames.
Throughout the presentations a theme emerged of creative and innovative ideas which had come directly from local people wanting to make a positive difference to their neigbourhoods. People doing the best they could with the resouces they have: whether a small patch of land in inner city London like the Butterfield Community Orchard or a breathtakingly beautiful island off Scotland’s west coast, where the Garrison House has been skillfully restored as a significant local asset – or the former quarrys of the island of Portland, now run by the Living Quarry Trust as an extensive scuplture park.
The Chair of the Judging Panel Dan Sequerra was clear that “real regeneration comes through people living in communities” and that “people, not buildings, should be recognised”. Whilst there is no guarantee that any specific community project will succeed in the long term, supporting innovative community projects is what will make a difference; “…we should risk investing in our communities,” he said.
This point was reiterated by DCLG minister Baroness Andrews in her presentation “you will only get the change you want” she said “if you trust people to do it for themselves”. People like those in the former Welsh coalfields who set up the Creation Development Trust with its visionary approach to developing a community, damaged by industrial decline and neglect, but now a model of success. Or the people living around the Quaggy River in south London who built up enormous technical expertise about flood alleviation and river management to propose a local solution to longstanding problems. Matthew Blumler of the Quaggy Waterways Action Group said their breakthrough came when the local authority allowed the community group to “redefine the problem”.
The key to all of these successes is that people know what the local issues are and have developed projects which directly tackle them. Knowledge, rooted in first-hand local experience, has been put to use providing sustainable solutions. Catherine Powell chairperson of Parkview4U the UK’s first ”3G” park providing for all three generations succinctly described their success as “People Power and Partnerships”
But of all the inspiring winning projects the two that I found most heartening were those initiated by young people.
As part of the assesment process I visited Skegness on a particularly “bracing” day in December and was inspired by the fantastic X-Site Skatepark. The UK’s only indoor and outdoor purpose built wheeled sports facility is an excellent well-used asset which is contributing to the regeneration of the town by attracting visitors outside the traditional resort summer season. This impressive project is all the more remarkable given its origins. The project began with local young skaters and BMXers meeting in the back room of a fish and chip shop – wanting to set up somewhere to follow their sport. Because of their resiliance and knowlege of what would work locally (and a bit of support they won along the way) the young skaters have persevered to realise the impressive and self sustaning project that now exists.
Similarly, a couple of years ago small group of seven teenagers (part of the Canal Boat Adventure Project in Runcorn) formed the Nessie Club – a club for young people based on a canal boat. Young people have developed the project and manage its operation. Their ideas are based on the needs of local young people and they work to compensate for lack of opportunities that their members experience. Whilst they have contributed significantly to regeneration for the whole community they have also been supportive of others beyond their own area with ongoing volunteer work in Ghana.
Both X-site skatepark and the Nessie club are run by keen and enthusiastic young teams whose bright ideas and energy are not only benefiting their peers - but making a real and lasting impact regenerating their communities.
Despite the talk of economic gloom the judging process has shown me that there is no shortage of people, and particularly young people, who feel empowered to take an active interest in their neighbourhoods, getting together with others to share local knowledge and a desire to make a positive difference. I for one feel confident in the continued progress in all of our communities… and truly inspired.
It’s this belief, that those who experience an issue are best placed to offer a solution, that has in part informed the linksUK decision to run a series of discussions across the country about the impact of a changing economy on our communities the Stronger Communities, Stronger Economy events are being held next week as part of our Chain Reaction project, visit the website and get involved.
Downing Street listen up! Keep the Promise petition and End Child Poverty
Monday, March 16th, 2009
We at Community Links, are members of the End Child Poverty coalition. Tomorrow we are are putting forward three of our finest to meet with government at 10 Downing Street. The coalition is calling government to step up the pace and keep to their promise to end child poverty. Three children from Community Links’ Arc in the Park open access childcare will be delivering many thousands of signatures on a petition in the shape of a birthday cake to mark the tenth anniversary of the government’s commitment to eradicate child poverty here in the UK. Free open access play schemes reach the children who need it most - it’s appropriate they play an important part in this campaign.
UNICEF and End Child Poverty have asked children from Community Links to do the handover - we have a strong belief that those who experience a problem understand it best. Tomorrow three local children - regularly users of our young people’s services - will be taking the issues that come through our doors here in Newham to the doorstep of No.10 Downing Street.
Here in Newham 55% of children live in poverty, unemployment is double the average of the rest of England and almost a quarter of the population have no qualifications. Community Links has over 60 community projects which empower individuals and communities to build their own ladders out of poverty – and towards a brighter future.
At Community Links we have researched the impact of poverty on local children and published our recomendations for change … we’ll continue to address child poverty by both providing direct services locally and campaigning for change nationally.
We wish the kids the best of luck for tomorrow and a big well done for being so brave and inspiring to us all! Look out for news and updates later this week.
I asked local Community links staff what they think is needed to end child poverty here in Newham and this is what some of them said:
“I think to reduce poverty in Newham Government needs to…..
- change the way means tested benefits are calculated to enable people to work a few hours and keep the money because taking any income away from means tested benefit prohibits people from getting back into the work place a couple of hours per week, increasing child poverty….
- ensure access to really affordable and decent housing because that is the basis that individuals and families need if they are to work towards building a more secure life that isn’t blighted by or threatened by poverty. …..
- change the benefit rules because short term work is available but it’s too difficult and too much of a risk to come off benefits….
- For me it’s “the housing and unemployment benefit system” because “it traps people out of work….
- Changes in local flexible, affordable childcare because this can stop parents from going to work if they wish to…..
- change our attitudes and behaviour towards people claiming welfare benefits because we currently stigmatise, harass and blame them for not being employed and for being poor…
- change the way those in poverty perceive themselves, because without the belief to change, contribute and achieve they will forever believe that poverty is all there is…..
- stop the temporary rents being over £300 a week because it is stopping people going to work because they cannot afford to spend all there wages in rent….
- raise the levels of child benefit because it is the most efficient way of getting well needed resources directly into people’s pockets…..”
What do you think would make a difference to families experiencing poverty? Leave a comment below with your thoughts.
Pre Budget Report: spend or save?
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
I attended the briefing on the Pre Budget Report, given this afternoon by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Two major factors arose from the cut in VAT from 17.5% to 15%, which will cost £12.4 billion. Firstly this cut will give people immediate money, but there is a question mark over what to do with this money – save it for future tax rises? If the future tax rises will even affect those who choose to save? Will government combine tax rises with a cut in public spending?
Secondly the price drop in 2009 is aimed at increasing spending. VAT is an expenditure tax and will only benefit those who spend. This begs the question of who will spend and who will save? Is it better to spend when prices are cheaper or to save for the future when taxes will rise? All complicated and full of question marks and assumptions.
Speaking to a journalist from The Times as we entered we got talking about the unknown and in these uncertain times neither party could produce a pre budget report without any question marks. Goverment has been radical in its borrowing and is pinning a lot of hope on public spending to get the economy growing again. In a Conservative blog entry pre the Pre Budget Report ‘This is how to cut VAT’ Richard Hyslop calls for a more targeted but larger percentage cut in the VAT that is imposed on building repair and maintenance work. He highlights examples from other countries indicating that we should be learning lessons from what works around us:
Los Angles’ approach to the informal economy is about providing help for the vulnerable worker and a greater crackdown on rogue employers. The director of economic recovery talks of better education and support to track the informal economy and reverse the trend.
A chief economist Jack Kyser said “We’d estimate the underground economy would be very, very significant, it represents a huge entrepreneurial (economy), but lots of tax revenue is being lost by local government at a time when they need all they can get.”
Yesterday Lord Myners, The Parliamentary Secretary, HM Treasury gave a written answer about reviewing taxes highlighting “the current size of the informal economy and its potential for reduction.”
Following the successes of other countries a package of benefits and tax changes could help to harness the informal economy which is estimated to be worth 12.3% of the UK GDP. With greater collaboration between different departments government could also be spending to generate a growth in the economy.
That’s what we are camapigning for at www.neednotgreed.org.uk.
TUC: challenging poverty – the media and politicians
Thursday, November 6th, 2008
The TUC conference Challenge Povertyism on the 17th October included a workshop from our Need NOT Greed campaign: challenging perceptions of people working cash-in-hand. Povertyism has been defined as discrimination against people experiencing poverty, negative attitudes to people experiencing poverty and as Professor Ruth Lister describes ‘Othering’ In all these interpretations the media and politicians have a responsibility and a role to play in eradicating poverty in the UK.
Poverty in the UK does not gain substantial coverage in the news, on documentaries or in the press. Yet there are numerous anti-poverty organisations campaigning to eradicate poverty, over 130 turned up for the End Child Poverty Rally on the 4th October. There is increasing dialogue between such organisations and government around how we can eradicate poverty in the UK. There is a lot less dialogue between politicians and people actually living in poverty, families trapped in the benefits system or the most vulnerable who are completely cut-off from any support from the state.
This absent dialogue is so important for two reasons. Firstly to make sure to make sure government is on the right track and has a sound understanding of the complexity of poverty. Secondly and most importantly so that people living poverty are participating in the process of eradicating poverty and can be actively involve in creating change. For any policy changes to work and be effective we must break down the barriers between society, government and people living in poverty. For a participatory approach read Voices for a Change and Communicating Poverty Report.
There is an increasing interest in a partnership between the media and people living in poverty in the UK: watch this video. We will be attending similar events over the coming months to form better relations with the media and establish a more informed understanding of working cash-in-hand. We will also be working more closely with politicians and influencing policy makers. At the conference we launched our report on MPs understanding of working cash-in-hand.
The Need NOT Greed campaign seeks to involve people working cash-in-hand in the decision making process and work with the media to create better understanding in society.
To find out more … or to get involved:
contact maeve.mcgoldrick@community-links.org
Latest from Chain Reaction- Inspiring Ideas: Ecomodo – sharing skills and services within communities August 31, 2010 Laura Hyde
- Boulogne to Biarritz in 8 days for ColaLife August 18, 2010 Laura Hyde