Government welfare reforms will hit working poor

The Government's welfare reforms could push struggling working families into hardship and reduce the amount being spent in the local economy.

That's the message Nottingham City Council's Deputy Leader Councillor Graham Chapman took to a Government Select Committee on Welfare Reform on Monday January 7th.

Councillor Chapman was one of a number of council representatives invited to give views to the Select Committee on the implementation and potential effects of the welfare reforms.

He said: "These welfare reforms are the wrong thing to do at the wrong time and for the wrong reasons. The people most likely to be affected are working families who rely on benefits to supplement their low income - the strivers rather than the so-called skivers the Government purportedly intends to capture with these changes.

"The other effect these changes will have is, by putting more people into hardship, there will be less money for the local population to spend in Nottingham. This is the last thing we need at a time of recession, especially in deprived areas that once again are hit hardest by this Government's policies."

Key points Councillor Chapman made at the Select Committee include:

• Cities with disadvantaged communities are disproportionately affected by the welfare changes alongside the Government's cuts to council budgets
• Questioning why Council Tax support could not have been integrated with Universal Credit rather than reducing the budget - by over £6m for Nottingham this year - and handing responsibility to councils at short notice
• Raising concerns that the way the changes are being introduced could leave citizens confused
• There is potential for further confusion with the introduction of Universal Credit, with a need for any Government contingency plans for IT failure to be shared with councils
• The so-called Bedroom tax could affect up to 7,000 people in Nottingham, creating financial problems for them and putting extra pressure on councils to collect extra rent
• Significant reductions in benefit awards including through benefit caps could result in more households falling into rent arrears and increased financial hardship
• The impact of the recession, Government cuts and welfare changes is driving up demand for advisory services on money, debt, welfare rights, housing and homelessness.