Brent urged to adopt 'No Eviction' policy on Universal Credit rent arrears

At yesterday's Chalkill Community Centre meeting on Universal Credit there was a strong call for Brent Council to follow neighbouring Camden LINK in adopting a policy of not evicting any of its tenants who fall into rent arrears because of problems with the roll-out in Brent.  There is a minimum five week wait for payment.There was an additional call for the Council to persuade housing associations in the borough to adopt the same policy. It was pointed out that it would be more costly to the Council in the medium-term if it had to provide temporary accommodation for families who had been made homeless.

There are currently 2,000 Brent residents on Universal Credit who are mainly job seekers and not claiming housings costs. However 45,000 are due to move over to universal Credit of whom about half will have housing benefit.

Brent Central MP, Dawn Butler, addressing the meeting, said the she feared a big rise in evictions from private rented accommodation and an increased demand for food banks.  Butler asked the audience  to send in stories of the impact of the introduction of Universal Credit on individuals and families to inform and reinforce the campaign on the issue.  However, she did not favour the 'stop and scrap' demand saying that the Labour Party had been advised that this would cause even more harm to claimants. Instead there should be a 'pause and fix' approach.

There was particular concern that people, particularly those with disabilities or learning difficulties, or the poor without broadband and computers, would be 'digitally excluded.' 40% of people in Brent do mnot have access to their own wifi. Claiming Universal Credit does not only involve an initial on-line application, itself not an easy process, but regular access to the on-line account day to day or week to week, to correspond with the DWP regularly. If accessed through a library or cyber cafe there would be no claimant advice available. Butler said that she was seeking information from Brent Council on how it was using a government grant to help claimants with advice and access.  Butler favoured direct payment of the housing portion of Universal Credit to landlords.

There is a 'claimant commitment' in order to access benefit for those without employment to be actively seeking work for the equivalent of 35 hours a week. Those working part-time are expected  to top those hours up to 35 by seeking work.  After one year of trading the self-employed will; be assumed to be earning the minimum wage for a 35 hour week.

Unite Community will be holding a follow up meeting to organise campaigning. Check out Wembley Matters for an update.

Brent activists join nationwide demonstrations against ATOS

 

In the 8am chill this morning activists from Brent demonstrated outside the offices of ATOS in Neasden Lane as part of a nationwide protest against the impact of ATOS assessments on disabled and unwell claimants. Individuals came from Kilburn Boycott Workfare, Kilburn Unemployed Workers, Unite the Community, Brent Green Party and Brent Fightback.

Motorists and pedestrians passing by were generally sympathetic and warmed our hearts if not our fingers.

This is from the organisers' website:

Statement of Intent – We oppose the reported ill-treatment by ATOS of those receiving sickness benefits. We are calling for the abolition of the Work Capability Assessment which is not fit for purpose. We believe that a qualified medical doctor, ideally the GP who regularly sees and treats the sick or disabled individual in question, is the only person able to decide if an individual is fit for work. These peaceful demonstrations will include a minutes silence at 1pm to honour the victims of Iain Duncan Smiths callous reforms.

On February 19th protesters will gather peacefully at the locations used by ATOS to carry out the discredited Work Capability Assessments. Many will provide a live stream which can be viewed on the campaigns webpage http://ukrebellion.com/atosdemo/. The event has attracted a wide range of high profile speakers from politicians to celebrities. The largest demonstration is taking place in the ATOS Head Office, 4 Triton Square, Regent’s Place, London, NW1 3HG London, United Kingdom from 10:00 to 16:00and included the following speakers

Ian Jones – WOW Petition
Paula Peters – DPAC (Disabled People Against Cuts)
Theresa Coles – Atos Miracles
Natalie Bennett – Leader – Green Party
Sonia Poulton – Journalist
 
Natalie Bennett said:

ATOS activities in the UK are a further, dreadful, example of the government’s failed outsourcing experiment. They have inflicted misery and fear on millions of people, and this must end. The medical professionals who treat them are the people who should decide on individuals’ capacity to work. We shouldn’t be pumping public money into the private profits of this health multinational. And we should remember: behind ATOS is the callous government policy of cutting social security payments to vulnerable people. We must ensure everybody who needs social security payments receives enough for a decent quality of life.

Caroline Lucas Green MP for Brighton was speaking at the demonstration planned in her constituency. She said:

Outsourcing the assessment of sick, disabled and vulnerable people to a private corporation, and especially one with such a disgraceful track record as Atos is disgusting…. Ministers have so far refused to take action to get rid of ATOS and their thoroughly discredited Work Capability Assessments. The day of action on February 19th is a chance to stand strong together against companies like ATOS until they are a thing of the past. I’ll be there and will do what I can to keep the issue alive in Parliament.

In Hull Labour MP Karl Turner MP and Green party Chair Martin Deane will attend and speak.

ATOS are clearly worried about the impact the demonstrations will have on their already tarnished reputation. One central claim they make is that

“We have no targets in relation to the outcome of benefit claims either at an individual or overall level.”
http://blog.atoshealthcare.com/2014/02/protests-targeted-at-atos-healthcare-assessment-centres-on-19th-february/

This clearly flies in the face of the revelations made by whistle-blower Greg Wood who lifted the lid on the toxic culture in the organisation and the recent report published by the centre for welfare reform “How Norms Become Targets: Investigating the real reason for the misery of ‘fit for work’ assessments” by Kaliya Franklin which demonstrates how targets to find people fit for work regardless of their individual circumstances have taken root in the organisation.

The Counihan Campaign: Housing and Social Justice

Oppose the Work Capability Assessment - meeting next week

People who used to receive disability benefits are reassessed by the infamous multinational company ATOS Health to see whether they can continues to receive these benefits or whether they are deemed 'fit to work'. The assessments are carried out by 'Health professionals' who may or may not be doctors but who are not required to have any specialised knowledge about the claimant's condition or disability. They ignore letters or other evidence from the claimant's GP, Hospital Consultant or other specialist. They use computer generated checklists and their aim appears to be to get as many claimants as possible off Employment Support Allowance and on to the lower Job Seekers Allowance, which can in turn be taken away from people who are not considered to be trying hard enough to find a job.

Understandably there is a high level of anxiety about these assessments. Ellenor Hutson is a specialist benefits adviser and will be running a workshop next week to provide people with an opportunity to meet others  in a similar situation to themselves, gain advice and support and feel empowered. 

 

The workshop is on Thursrday October 20th at  Foresters Hall (adjoining Tricycle Theatre)

269 Kilburn High Rd NW6 7JH

 

More information from kilburnunemployedworkers@gmail.com ; Telephone 07709 932 267; web http://kilburnunemployed.blogspot.com ; Facebook: Kilburn Unemployed Workers