[Radical_childcare] [Fwd: Welfare Reform Bill - URGENT - please take action by Wednesday]

butterflea at riseup.net butterflea at riseup.net
Tue Nov 10 23:26:04 GMT 2009 

Dear friends,

 

URGENT -- please take action by the end of Wednesday

 

Welfare Reform Bill-- protection for children under five overturned by MPs

 

MPs supporting the government tonight brutally overturned the
amendment won in the Lords, which protected single parents of children
under five from losing benefit for not doing work-related
activity.
  Single parent families could have their benefit cut by 40%.
  This is an outrageous attack on single mothers who are looking after
children full-time.
  236 MPs voted against the government, and some made clear that mothers
caring work is a vital contribution to society.
 It should be recognised not penalised.



Please write to the Lords who backed the amendment to urge them to keep
this important protection for children, and let them know the strength of
feeling in the community on this issue.  Personal
statements from mothers, fathers and carers are most convincing.



Lord Freud, the Conservative Lord who led on this amendment, will
raise it again when the Bill goes back to the Lords on Thursday at
11.30am.  We have another chance of defeating the government on their
uncaring policy.

 

Fax number for the Lords: 020 7219 5979 (mark for the attention of the
Peer you are writing to.)



(As time is short, please send your letters direct, don’t rely on us to
forward them, but do send us a copy at
womenstrike8m at server101.com  Fax 020 7209 4761)



Please write to:


Conservatives


· Chris Scott
scottcg at parliament.uk Conservative Office, House of Lords – has
undertaken to pass on emails received
by end of Wednesday.
 

·  Lord Freud
 freudd at parliament.uk
 Fax: 020 7219 5979 – mark attention Lord Freud
 Tel: 020 7219 4907
 

·  Lord Taylor of Holbeach CBE
Tel: 020 7219 4051
taylorjl at parliament.uk
 

·  Baroness Morris of Bolton OBE
Tel: 020 7219 5353
whitbycollins at parliament.uk

 

Liberal Democrats


·   Baroness Celia Thomas
 Tel: 020 7219 3586       
  thomascm at parliament.uk


·  Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope
 Fax: 020 7219 5979 – mark Attention Lord Kirkwood  (no email)

 

Crossbench


· Lord Northbourne
Tel: 020 7219 3884       
Fax: 020 7219 5933
northbournec at parliament.uk

 

 

____________________________

Sent: 09 November 2009 12:59
Subject: Welfare Reform Bill: Urgent - today: contact your MP and
Minister Yvette Cooper

 

Welfare Reform Bill:

Mothers, carers, people with disabilities,
victims of domestic violence …

win important changes in the Lords.

But some may be overturned on Tuesday

when the Bill returns to the Commons.
Join us to press MPs to keep them.

 

Many important concessions have been won. Testimonies from those
affected, among a wealth of letters and evidence from organisations,
including ours which campaigned for months and lobbied in person and in
writing, were taken up by Peers and journalists, forcing the
government to shift.  The government has publicly agreed to some of the
changes, but some remain under threat. 

 

The Bill is coming back to the Commons on Tuesday 10 November. 

ACTION YOU CAN TAKE:
Phone and/or email your MP and Yvette Cooper, the Minister for Work and
Pensions, to urge them to keep the changes below

and to condemn the worst measures in the Bill.

House of Commons tel: 020 7219 3000   Find your MP (
http://www.parliament.uk/mpslordsandoffices/mps_and_lords/alms.cfm )

Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
House of Commons London SW1A 0AA

coopery at parliament.uk

Please copy your email to us at womenstrike8m at server101.com

 

 

Most under threat:

 

·     Single parents of children under five are entitled to
care for our children full-time without losing benefit for not
doing“work-related activity”.  We need to press MPs not to
overturn this. No mother should be forced to go out to work if she feels
her pre-school age children need her.

 

 

Changes likely to be approved:

 

·       Single mothers/parents of children aged three to
six. Single parents on Income Support will be able to keep £50
earnings, up from £20.  No “work-related activity” will be
compulsory outside school hours, childcare or term-time.  Mothers won’t
have their benefit cut for missing “job seekers”
appointments due to family responsibilities.  The government
reaffirmed that under current rules, parents with school-age children
claiming Job Seekers Allowance can reject jobs that do not fit within
school hours, they do not have to work full-time. 

 

·       Parents. Jobcentre advisers and “back to work” staff
must have regard for the welfare of the child in what they tell parents to
do. 

 

·       Carers. Single parents will be exempt from job
seeking if their disabled child under 16 receives any rate of
Disability Living Allowance for care.  Previously, the government said
the parent must work if a child is on the low rate for care.

 

·       Women fleeing domestic violence. A three-month
exemptionfrom job seeking. Though not enough for recovery and settling
distressed children, it is an improvement over the previous
discretionary decision by Jobcentre staff.

 

·       It is illegal for anyone to be pressured into medical
treatment.  Jobcentre or “back to work” staff will not be able to
tell disabled people claiming Employment and Support
Allowance(including people with mental health problems) that they have to
take their prescription or undergo surgery.  The government
previously claimed that some people are “wilfully keeping themselves
unfit for work”.  People with drug and alcohol problems can be
required to attend assessments and “motivation” sessions, but
cannot lose benefit for refusing rehabilitation or treatment. 

 

Despite these changes, the Bill takes away many of our rights: 

 

It abolishes Income Support.  This is the main benefit which
acknowledges unwaged caring work by single mothers and other carers. 


 

It wipes out entitlement based on need and brings in US-style
workfare.  Couples with young children must both seek work.  Almost all
claimants of working age must look for a job or engage in a
“work-related activity”.  Those who cannot find a job will have to
“work for their benefits”, i.e. for £1.60 an hour.  Forcing more
people to chase scarce jobs, while allowing employers to bypass the
minimum wage, lowers everyone’s wages.  Councils looking to cut costs
are already preparing for workfare staff.  Those of us who do not or
cannot comply are threatened with destitution.  Asylum seekers were the
first to be made destitute, and this inhuman standard is
being extended to others. 

 

It introduces compulsory joint birth registration even wherethe
father is violent.  If the mother has no official proof of his
violence (a common situation) she will be forced to give his name. 
Mothers of newborns should not have to worry about going to court to stop
the father abusing his parental rights to persecute her and the child.

 

It expands charging for disability services. Some disability groups
welcome “the right to control” budgets for services, in the
Welfare Reform Bill.  However, the new percentage charging system is
discriminatory.  People with more severe disabilities have greater needs
and so are allocated a bigger budget.  For them, the fixed
percentage is a larger amount of money.  Local authorities are
allowed to set their own (higher) percentage.  They will deduct
charges at source before funds are paid out, leaving people to make up the
missing cash.  This is instead of charging separately, which
allows older and disabled people not to pay charges they can’t
afford, or to query when their income or disability expenses are
wrongly calculated. 

 

We are determined to defend our entitlement to benefits and free
high-quality services.  Many people have signed up to a letter
condemning the abolition of Income Support.  Add your name. LINK (
http://www.globalwomenstrike.net/England/SignWRBOct09.htm )

 

Contact us for more info:

 

Single Mothers’Self-Defencecentre at crossroadswomen.net

WinVisible(women with visible and invisible
disabilities)winvisible at allwomencount.net

Global Women’s Strikewomenstrike8m at server101.com

Legal Action for Womenlaw at allwomencount.net

 

Tel: 020 7482 2496 www.allwomencount.net www.globalwomenstrike.net

 

 

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