Foodbank

Patrick Butler reports in the Guardian this week that the government has launched an inquiry into the recent explosion of foodbanks, soup kitchens and school breakfast clubs. The country's finest minds will seek to understand why, with falling wages, cuts in benefits, and rising prices, increasing numbers of people are having problems feeding themselves and their families. It's real puzzle.

Foodbank was the result of my own inquiry, conducted last year. It was prompted by outrage that such widespread charitable giving should be necessary in one of the wealthiest countries in the world – particularly one with a well-established welfare system set up to act as a supposed safety net. The video is a quick snapshot of some of the problems faced by users of three London foodbanks, all run under the franchise of the Christian charity the Trussell Trust, and of the work of the volunteers who run them.

Foodbanks shouldn't be necessary, and many of the volunteers feel the same way. Watching these (mostly church-based) charities giving handouts to the needy seems like a throwback to Dickens, and the horrors of pre-welfare state Britain. It is a glimpse of what the country would look like if the coalition government succeeds in its attempt to dismantle state provision, leaving philanthropists and charities to pick up the pieces. A preview of what they mean by 'The Big Society'.

The very existence of these centres is shocking, and I set out to make a critique. But I found it difficult to say anything other than the totally obvious – much like the inevitable outcome of the forthcoming government inquiry – and cut the project short. For although I have strong reservations about the return to church-based welfare provision, I couldn't fault the generous impulse that lies behind it. The video ended up almost looking like a promo, and has been used as such by those that took part. Make of that what you will.

All Work and No Pay

It's good to see Tesco franticly back-tracking in response to protests over its participation in the government's welfare-to-work programme. The campaign against workfare has widespread support and other high street retailers, fearing similar negative publicity, are under pressure to follow suit. Although the issue hit the headlines this week, it's been going on for years – ever since the previous Labour administration introduced Mandatory Work Related Activity as part of its New Deal. That's what's going on in the WH Smith store pictured below.

According to the Fair Pay Network, the average hourly rate for supermarket workers is £6.83, whilst the 'living wage' outside London is £7.20, and in London, £8.30. Low pay is bad enough. No pay is a step too far.

Benefit Cuts: a case study (Part Two)

Following a trial programme of medical re-assessments begun earlier this month, the Department of Work and Pensions has stated that three-quarters of Incapacity Benefit (IB) claimants are well enough to work. Currently, 2.6 million people claim IB, while unemployment stands at 2.5 million.

In Rochdale’s Spotland and Falinge ward (pictured), 42.9% of working age residents claim IB, the highest rate in the UK. The distribution of IB claimants nationally roughly corresponds to the areas worst affected by 1980s de-industrialisation, and it is often claimed that the benefit, which replaced previous disability payment schemes in 1995, has been used by successive governments to disguise the unemployment figures.

The coalition government aim is to return 500,000 IB claimants to the job-seekers’ register. Where are they all going to work?

Benefit Cuts: a case study (Part One)

The results of the Autumn Spending Review, announced last week, included major cuts to welfare benefits as part of the government’s deficit reduction policy. An estimated 500,000 public sector jobs are also being cut, and a similar number in the private sector are expected to follow. With the inevitable fall in the tax take, how is that going to add up?

I went to Rochdale to find out. A New Labour welfare-to-work programme is still running in the town, staffed by a dedicated team at the national charity Groundwork, funded by the local authority via a sub-contract with Serco. Under the current system, after 72 weeks of unemployment, claimants of Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) must undertake 4 weeks of ‘Mandatory Work Related Activity’. This may take the form of an unpaid work placement, and can also include employability training. On the day I visited, a group was nearing the end of one such course. What was striking was just how employable some of them were: they included an articulate IT support worker with 10 years experience, and a clearly capable shop assistant made redundant when the local branch of M&S closed down.

According to Lisa Brown, who manages Groundwork’s Middleton office, all that is available in the Rochdale and Oldham area are ‘entry level’ (minimum wage) jobs in warehousing, private care and retailing. But in the massive Stakehill Industrial Estate, built close to a major motorway network, half the warehouses stand empty. Many of the national brands (Woolworths, B&Q and others) that had used them as their distribution centres for the north-west have either gone bankrupt or moved elsewhere. Employability isn’t much use if there aren’t any jobs. The only thing this adds up to is a worsening of the living standards of claimants already struggling at or below the poverty line. More pictures here.