Welfare reform: hardship payments could be axed
Hardship payment grants to people on benefits could be replaced by loans under welfare reform plans being considered by the Government.
Some welfare charities have condemned the proposals – included in the small print of yesterday’s White Paper – but the Government says it will protect vulnerable claimants.
Hardship payments are given to benefit recipients who are appealing against sanctions on the amount of Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) they receive.
It is difficult and stressful enough as it is to have to go through an appeal and now there is added to that the anxiety of having to pay back the hardship payment out of benefits. Joanna Kennedy, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust
Zacchaeus 2000 Trust helps those on low incomes deal with debt and claims from statutory authorities.
Its Chief Executive, Joanna Kennedy, told Channel 4 News the move would punish the vulnerable: “Hardship payments are a vital safety net to ensure that those who suffer sanctions do not literally starve.
“The sanctions regime is as crudely inefficient as many other aspects of the delivery of benefits so that many who suffer sanctions are successful in overturning them on appeal.
“It is difficult and stressful enough as it is to have to go through an appeal and now there is added to that the anxiety of having to pay back the hardship payment out of benefits.”
We are committed to protecting the vulnerable. DWP
No final decision
A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions told Channel 4 News that no final decision has been taken: “In the White Paper we indicate we are considering amending the hardship system so that payments do not undermine the deterrent effect of sanctions.
“We are committed to protecting vulnerable claimants including those who are pregnant, or who have a pregnant member of their family, lone parents and couples responsible for children.”
New welfare sanctions unveiled - Channel 4 News investigates the changes being made to penalties for those on Jobseeker's Allowance who fail to take up a job or training offer or attend a job interview.
Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith yesterday outlined plans for a new Universal Credit to replace out-of-work benefits and tax credits as part of major welfare reform.
The proposals mean benefit claimants could lose their Jobseeker’s Allowance for up to three years if they persistently refuse to go to interviews or take a job.
A survey for Channel 4 News shows more than half of the British public support changes to the benefit system.
Our poll showed that 66 per cent of respondents supported this change. Just 21 per cent of people said they opposed the plan to automatically withdraw JSA if claimants turned down the offer of a job or job interview.
Of Conservative voters in the survey, 82 per cent backed the move on Jobseeker’s Allowance, with 71 per cent of Liberal Democrat voters supporting the change and even 57 per cent of Labour voters – still more than half of those surveyed.
Seventy-three per cent overall also supported plans to make the unemployed spend four weeks doing unpaid work in order to keep receiving their full benefits.