https://www.ucpipbill.co.uk/ Joint briefing ahead of Second ReadingOn Tuesday 1st July, MPs will be asked to vote on the UC & PIP Bill, which contains the biggest cuts to social security in a decade. This briefing from ten organisations including Scope, Citizens Advice, Mind, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Trussell sets out the latest evidence on…
New Reports
Pathways to Poverty: How planned cuts to disability benefits will impact the people we support
By refusing to properly consult on its plan to cut billions from disability benefits, the government is choosing not to ask questions it doesn’t want the answers to. The cuts will have a devastating impact on disabled people (and their children), sending hundreds of thousands into poverty, and many more into deeper poverty. This will…
The future of crisis support: a discussion paper
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publications/the-future-of-crisis-support-a-discussion-paper/ The Household Support Fund (HSF) has been the primary source of crisis support in England since it began in 2021. It has provided vital support to households facing hardship with nowhere left to turn, including being used to soften the impact of shortfalls in the wider benefits system. With the HSF’s 7th iteration due…
Saving penalties.
Reforming the capital rules in Universal Credit
https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/saving-penalties/ Means-tested benefits in Britain are built on the principle that individuals with significant financial resources should use those before turning to the state for help. That’s why wealth – as well as income – is assessed when determining eligibility and entitlement levels for means-tested support. But while income means-testing has been widely studied and…
Deeper in Debt: Citizens Advice debt data update
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publications/deeper-in-debt-citizens-advice-debt-data-update/ Debt levels are rising sharply, and cases are becoming more complex and harder to resolve. The road to debt recovery is long, and impossible for many. These insights highlight the challenges facing people with debt and the need for government action.
Understanding the psychological harm of utilities debt collection and disconnection
https://www.moneyandmentalhealth.org/publications/connection-lost/ More than half of those in some form of utilities arrears have a mental health problem (52%). More concerningly, people with severe and enduring mental illnesses (SMI) such as bipolar or schizophrenia are over four times as likely to be in some form of utility debt as those without a mental health problem. Being…
More private renters are now in poverty than social renters.
More private renters are now in poverty than social renters. 4.8 million private renters are in poverty, up almost 300,000 on the previous year. Of these, almost 2 million are only in poverty when we factor in housing costs – around 40% of those in poverty.
Third successive rise in rough sleeping as the homelessness crisis deepens across England
https://www.crisis.org.uk/about-us/crisis-media-centre/third-successive-rise-in-rough-sleeping-as-the-homelessness-crisis-deepens-across-england Today (Thursday 27th February) the government has released two sets of statistics revealing the depths of the homelessness crisis in England as the number of people rough sleeping reaches 4,667 – a staggering 91% increase since 2021. The annual rough sleeping snapshot provides a detailed estimate of the number of people rough sleeping on…
Turning the tide
What it will take to reduce child poverty in the UK
https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/turning-the-tide/ On the Government’s headline measure of relative poverty after housing costs, 4.3 million children (three-in-ten) were living in relative poverty across the UK in 2022-23. On an international measure accounting for both housing and energy costs, the UK’s relative child poverty rate is higher than in any EU or EFTA nation bar Greece. On…
1 in 77 people in Brighton and Hove are homeless.
https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/policy_and_research/policy_library/homelessness_in_england_2024