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Assessing the impact of Welfare Reform

This study aims to assess the cumulative and real impacts of welfare reform on households in Fife, providing evidence of the changes' effects on service demand and developing preventative solutions. The research will involve collaboration between various agencies, gathering information from affected individuals through surveys and interviews.

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Assessing the impact of Welfare Reform

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  1. Assessing the impact of Welfare Reform Robert McGregor, January 2014

  2. What is Welfare Reform? • “[The UK Government] are proposing to change forever how the [welfare] system works. Not tinkering around the edges but a fundamental change from top to bottom. Making it easier to help people into work, fairer to those who pay for the welfare state and continuing to provide unconditional support to those who need it” Iain Duncan Smith, Secretary of State for Work & Pensions • Expected savings of £18 billion per year (UK) • Some changes introduced in 2012 or before, significant measures introduced in 2013 and major reforms ahead (Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payments). • Some household and service demand impacts, but will become more evident 2014 – 2018.

  3. Some of the main features of WR • Benefit increases pegged at 1% per annum (rather than inflation linked) • Revised Work Capability Assessment • Lone parents available for work as youngest child turns 5 • The Benefit Cap • Housing Benefit squeeze through the ‘bedroom tax’ and new measures for claimants in private rented accommodation • Changed benefits for disabled people • Most benefits drawn together within a new single ‘Universal Credit’ household payment, paid in arrears • Main way to apply for benefits will be on-line • Tougher sanctions regime for those not complying with benefit conditions • A mandatory UK ‘Work Programme’ for job seekers.

  4. Some of the impacts • Reducing income for some of those on benefits (many already in income poverty or on its margins) • Housing churn and homelessness • Reforms challenging the capabilities of benefit claimants (e.g. on line job search and benefit claims, household budgeting, direct rent payments) • Impacts on health and well being • Greater demands on Council, NHS, third sector services

  5. Who is most adversely affected? • Households without jobs • Lone parents • Disabled people and those in poor health • Large families • Those with chaotic lifestyles • Most significant economic / social impacts in poorest communities with greatest benefit dependency

  6. A question How do we better assess the cumulative and ‘real’ impacts on households in Fife to inform demand / need for service, and to help us develop preventative responses?

  7. Next steps: a partnership approach Collaboration over 3 – 4 years between a range of agencies in Fife to: • Get more from administrative data not presently mined (e.g. applications for crisis grants and DHP; demand for food banks, money advice enquiries) • Share experiences of supporting people affecting by the changes and draw from pilot activity across the UK • Provide evidence of the impacts of change on the demand for services • Longitudinal research: commission professional researchers to manage a study to gather information from people affected by the changes

  8. Research approach • Secure ownership from senior Fife Welfare Reform group • Multi-agency steering group • Focus on specific geographies where there are good workers’ forums already established • Led by commissioned professional researchers with role for small numbers of local workers from Council, NHS, third sector trained to support clients to participate • Find effective methods to capture findings and channel through to resource allocation decision making and local service development

  9. Participatory research activity • Target perhaps 30 households in each of two geographies, to cover those most vulnerable to the changes • Baseline survey to cover household circumstances, benefit dependency and awareness of changes supported by local workers • Regular survey of participants on changing circumstances and impacts supported by local workers • Consider use of social media to promote more frequent sharing of benefit circumstances, anxieties and material impacts • Regular local worker focus groups (supported by professional researchers) to discuss and draw out emerging themes • In-depth qualitative interviews by researchers with a sample of participants

  10. Research question areas • People’s experiences of the welfare changes • What the personal impacts have been and in what areas of their lives (e.g. income / debt, housing, health, child welfare, quality of life) • Resilience and actions in the face of those impacts • Consideration of future challenges (e.g. on-line claims) and ability to cope • Experiences of advice and support services, and to ask about the services actually needed to help them navigate through the changes and to mitigate impacts

  11. For more about welfare reform: go online fifedirect.org.uk/welfarereform Call 0345 1400031 or visityour local office

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