Several London boroughs are now actively pursuing plans to transport hundreds of families and homeless people to other parts of the country, because they are surplus to requirement in the capital. According to one report, Hammersmith and Fulham Council want to prioritise “wealth creators” rather than people in housing need in its housing strategy. It apparently considers that the 70% of tenants in social housing who are workless and dependent on benefits are “not making a contribution that could help drive economic growth.”
The message is clear. You who are of no economic value are not welcome here. Don’t be poor, don’t be unemployed, don’t be on benefits, don’t be disabled and don’t be old.
As Christians, we must surely recoil from such attitudes. As we read in John’s Gospel, Christ came that all may have life in all its fullness. Our Christian faith means nothing if we fail to offer a radical welcome to all – regardless of age, ability, wealth or economic productivity.
But before we reach to cast the first stone, how well do our churches stand up to inspection against such lofty ideals? And we should not be judged by our fine words, but by the economic priorities our actions betray. ‘Follow the money’ as the saying goes.
So how well does the Church score when measured in terms of our financial commitment to include the excluded? How do we respond when congregations are deemed to be too poor to be economic viable? And how does the preferential option for the poor reflect in the budget setting of denominations as a whole? These are far from comfortable questions. But throughout the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament the message of God is clear: to ignore those in poverty is to ignore the face of God…
My very first job after leaving University, back in 1986, was as a Community Worker, employed by my local Methodist Church in inner city Manchester – with funding from the national Mission Alongside the Poor programme. In response to the riots and re-emergence of poverty and mass unemployment in the 1980s, the Methodist Church made a decisive commitment to stand alongside those whom wider society considered to be of little worth – and backed this up with £3 million in hard cash. Is it not time to revive programmes of similar ambition?
Ah, I hear you say, ‘that was then, and this is now. Churches don’t have the wherewithall anymore for such things.’ Well, look north. Just over ten years ago, the Church of Scotland General Assembly agreed as a national church that “priority for the poorest and most marginalised is the gospel imperative facing the whole Church.” In 2010, General Assembly reaffirming its commitment to participating in the transformation of the poorest communities in Scotland.
For more than a decade, substantial resources have been made available to these vulnerable church communities with heartening results. From these poorest communities come impressive stories. I spent a fantastic day in Gorbals Parish Church last week, listening to stories of Tricia, Marie and others, local people ‘Bridging the Gap’ between different communities, ages and cultures; singing their hearts out; speaking out and seeking positive solutions to the problems they faced together.
These are not stories about folk who are unproductive . They are stories of true wealth – the richness of faith and the wonderful resilience of communities to bring about life-transforming change. As the latest Priority Areas report concludes “They are not about places to which the Church brings God to the people but rather they are communities in which we recognize that God has always been present.”
For the past six years I have acted as convenor of the Inner Manchester Mission Network: A network of fourteen mostly small, mostly struggling URC and Baptist churches across inner Manchester. Many of their members are at the real sharp end; the kind of folk who, indeed, offer little ‘added value’ to the economy. How many of these churches will still be here in ten years time? They are not ‘wealth creators’ in any sense that an Ernst and Young accountant might understand. I’m sure it would be far more economically viable to let them die, one by one, and retreat to the suburbs.
Does any of this matter to the wider church? Is it a priority for the URC, or any denomination, to retain a presence in the poorest communities across the UK? If, as Christians, we believe that the value of people is not set by the market, but is intrinsic, God-given, these are not questions we can easily put to one side.
]]>Christians Against the Cuts A thousand leaflets were produced, thanks to Margaret Stone, and distributed; some of us joined protest demonstrations in June last year and April this year. Initial enthusiasm from the first meeting was not however matched by later commitment to action.
Disability and the Cuts We organised a meeting on 29th September at which the disproportionately negative effect of Government cuts on people with disability was powerfully expressed by those directly affected and a strong resolution against the cuts approved.
Poverty Pilgrimage On 29th October the pilgrimage proved to be both informative and moving, as we visited Victoria Methodist Church, the Castle Corps of the Salvation Army, St Oswald’s (the Emmaus School), William Temple Church, Manor Park and St Aidan’s, and heard of many community projects successfully pursued in often very challenging circumstances.
Poverty and Homelessness Week We were directly involved in three events in January: services at St Columba’s Crosspool and the Cathedral, and an evening workshop at St Wilfrid’s Centre – the latter two not hugely attended, but all very well planned and informative.
Civic Breakfast The Breakfast was held in March at St Mary’s as usual, with some thirty guests, including those involved with welfare provision in the city and church leaders. Our keynote speaker was the Revd Philip Bee, Policy Officer of the Churches Regional Commission for Yorkshire and the Humber, who outlined the proposals in the Welfare Reform Act, and likened its effect to that of a tsunami, which from a vantage point looks almost sluggish and slow-moving, but which devastates everything in its way. Contributions from Frances Potter, Jane Perry, Nick Waterfield and the Council Leader, Julie Dore, were made.
Occupy Realising that we shared a good deal of common ground with the aims of the Occupy Movement, above all indignation at the continuing and growing inequality in society, members of the committee talked to those encamped in front of the Anglican Cathedral, and we held a meeting with representatives in February, when that common ground was explored.
Social Fund Resolution We were deeply worried by the Government’s plans to abandon most aspects of the present Social Fund and to delegate responsibility to local authorities but without any ring fencing, and approved a resolution indicating this anxiety and calling on the Government to ensure an effective safety net for vulnerable people in desperate situations. As on several occasions, we received strong support from Paul Blomfield MP.
Sheffield Fairness Commission The committee recently made a submission to the city’s new Fairness Commission. Our three priorities were: to maintain strong advice services in the city, to introduce the living wage as widely as possible, and to bridge the gap of understanding and sympathy between the richer and poorer parts of the city.
Visitors We welcomed a number of guests at our meetings: Erica Dunmow, the newly appointed Ecumenical Mission and Development Officer for Churches Together in South Yorkshire, who spoke of the aim to create better communication and links to all Sheffield churches; Amy Whitall, who spoke of her imaginative project, Avanti Microfinance, which helps ex-offenders to become self-employed; Alan Thornton from national Church Action on Poverty who talked about participatory budgeting; Steve Millwood, who told us about Credit Union competition reforms; Peter Verity, who spoke about the campaign for ‘Positive Money’; and Clare MacBeath from national Church Action on Poverty, who outlined the new fundraiser ‘Kindle a Flame’.
We have given some time to thinking how we may build stronger links with our members and with all Sheffield churches, while realising that local churches and Christians already have full agendas of mission and social responsibility (and survival!), and are hopeful that ‘Kindle a Flame’ and encouraging many churches to put on an event for Poverty and Homelessness Week (rather than our planning a ‘main’ service) may be a creative way to engage with more people. We would be very pleased to hear from members of Church Action on Poverty suggestions for imaginative approaches!
We welcomed Rob Furbey on to the committee during the year, and we have welcomed Sam Beatson as our treasurer, succeeding Bernard Greenwood, who had to resign for personal reasons and to whom we expressed our thanks for his work in this capacity. We are grateful to Sarah Baker for acting as our minute secretary, and to all the committee members, each of whom has played an energetic and active part in our plans and projects.
Nick Jowett, Chair
May 2012
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Help build a movement! Bring together churches and local communities across the UK to challenge injustice, tackle inequality and bring about positive change on issues which affect them, locally and nationally.
With at least five years’ experience of programme management, you will be responsible for the delivery of Church Action on Poverty’s programme and advocacy work: coordinating and line managing a team of staff and associates; taking a lead in developing our new People-Powered Change programme in line with our new strategic vision and aims; and ensuring the efficient use of programme-related funding and resources.
Closing date for applications 11am, Monday 21 May 2012.
Interviews in Manchester, Monday 28 May 2012.
The post comes with 25 days’ annual leave and a generous employer’s pension contribution.
Cliuck the links below to download an application pack, or call Janet on 0161 236 9321 extension 1. No CVs please.
]]>The Chancellor is rightly being taken to task for handing out tax cuts to the wealthiest 1% of taxpayers: Cutting the 50p tax rate amounts to a handout of over £40,000 to every millionaire in the country (unless, that is, they are engaged in what Osborne himself described as ‘morally repugant’ tax avoidance).
At a time of increasing austerity, escalating unemployment and a doubling of the numbers turning to food banks, there can be few more morally repugnant things a Chancellor can do than to hand thousands of pounds out to millionaires.
Yet, if you delve into the detail of the Budget statement itself, the Tresury’s own analysis is that the poorest half of households will be losing a greater proportion of their income than four fifths of the wealthiest half of the population. Taking the overall impact of spending, tax, tax credit and benefit changes into account, the poorest fifth of households are hit twice as hard as the majority of people in the top 40%.
The Daily Mail accused George Osborne of ‘picking the pocket of pensioners, as “fury was growing over his decision to hit millions of middle-class pensioners with a £3.5billion ‘granny tax’ to help fund cuts for the wealthy.” And the usually supportive Daily Telegraph has accused the Chancellor of an “outrageous assault” on the over-65s after he used his Budget to announce that he would end a century-old tax break introduced by Winston Churchill. Almost half of the Telegraph’s own on-line readers judge the Budget to be ‘unfair and bad for Britain.’
Previously announced cuts to tax credits worth £2 billion will come into effect in April, hitting poor families – including those in work – hard. As I explained earlier in the week, over 200,000 families in work will lose all entitlement to tax credits – costing each family up to £4,000 a year. And the Government’s wider Welfare Reform programme is expected to lead to hundreds of thousands of people losing entitlement to disability benefits over the next 12 months.
Independent analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has suggesting that child poverty will rise by 400,000 children in the current parliament, and a further 400,000 children in the next parliament, under the government’s current distribution of measures for deficit reduction.
Ominously, the Chancellor indicated that a further £10billion of cuts to the ‘welfare’ budget have been pencilled in for after the next General Election.
The media agenda is yet again leading its Budget analysis with an agenda set by its impact on the middle classes. But the real story is the Government’s failure to honour its pledge in the Coalition Agreement to protect the poorest and most vulnerable from the impact of spending cuts.
Not so much a question of the squeezed middle as of the pinched bottom.
This comment also appeared on Niall's blog.
]]>Click here to read Asylum in the UK free online.
Paper copies of the supplement are available, at the price of 50p plus postage from the subscriptions department at the Church Times. Contact subs@churchtimes.co.uk or phone 01603 785911.
]]>“The amount of tax an individual pays should be based on what they owe rather than the skill of their accountant,” said Paul Morrison, Public Issues Policy Adviser for the Methodist Church in Britain. “It is simply unjust that those with wealth and privilege often have the option of selfishly sidestepping their obligations, while others continue to contribute regardless of the financial pressures they face.”
The Aaronson Report recommends a “narrowly focused” GAAR to prevent “egregious” tax avoidance. Currently, £12 billion in tax is not paid every year due to tax avoidance schemes, which would be covered by a GAAR. The Churches argue that Government should not target only “egregious” tax avoiders, but that it should demand that all taxes are paid fairly to the letter and the spirit of the law. A more comprehensive GAAR would mean that the full £12 billion currently lost to the economy could be collected.
"God hates injustice, and it is our duty to speak out against it in all its forms,” added the Revd Jonathan Edwards, General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain. “The Chancellor has said that he wants come down on tax avoidance like a ton of bricks. Many Christians will welcome that approach as an important way of tackling injustice."
The Churches have also highlighted injustices in the tax system by supporting Christian Aid’s Trace the Tax campaign and Church Action on Poverty's Close the Gap campaign. Over 600 Church Action on Poverty supporters have used a special e-action to contact their MPS and call on them to support a GAAR.
“We have a moral duty to pay tax,” added Simon Loveitt, the United Reformed Church’s spokesperson for public issues. “In times when vulnerable people are suffering because of cuts in public services, the immorality of tax avoidance becomes even more starkly apparent.”
]]>You can use the player below to listen to the programme - or click here to download it.
“All Things Considered”, © BBC Radio Wales
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/atc
We're very proud to launch this new publication. Aimed especially at church leaders who haven't yet made a Pledge to Close the Gap, it explains why tackling inequality is demanded of us by the gospel.
The booklet has been mailed out to church leaders of all denominations across the UK. Excerpts will be printed in many Christian newspapers next week.
Niall Cooper, Church Action on Poverty’s National Coordinator, explains: “By giving, acting and praying together, we know that Christians can help make the UK a more equal society – one that will be happier, healthier, safer and fairer. As a new Budget approaches and our politicians have a chance to make some changes, this new publication lays out some of the things they could do – and explains why Christians should care. We hope that church leaders of all denominations will read it, and be inspired to speak out and take action.”
The publication, includes articles by 11 prominent Christians of different denominations. They explore different ‘gaps’ or examples of inequality, including the Tax Gap, the Pay Gap, the Price Gap, the Power Gap, and others. There is an emphasis on the constructive, positive solutions that are possible to these injustices.
Click here to download the booklet now!
The authors of the content in the publication are: Rt Revd John Packer (Anglican Bishop of Ripon and Leeds); James Hanvey SJ (Catholic director of the Heythrop Institute for Religion); Marijke Hoek (Micah Challenge); Michael Bartlet (Parliamentary Liaison Secretary for the Religious Society of Friends); Alison Gelder (Director of Housing Justice); Michael Taylor (Baptist, former Director of Christian Aid); Paul Morrison (Methodist, Policy Officer for the Free Churches’ Joint Public Issues Team); Tom Sefton (Church Urban Fund); Jane Perry (independent social researcher); Niall Cooper (Church Action on Poverty); and Frank Kantor (Church and Society Officer for the United Reformed Church).
]]>In England, Sheffield is still the only Anglican diocese to have committed to paying its own staff the Living Wage. If you live in one of the other 41 dioceses in England who pay below the Living Wage, please contact your Bishop.
NB As of 20 February 2012, none of the 28 Roman Catholic dioceses of Britain have agreed to pay the Living Wage. You can contact your local Bishop here.
The Church of Scotland General Assembly instructed the Church and Society Council in 2010 “to work with presbyteries to help congregations become Living Wage employers”.
Click here for much more information about the Living Wage.
]]>
They have sent the statement to their local MP, Paul Blomfield, and asked him to pass the resolution on to DWP Ministers.
]]>It finds that Parliament has been given only a partial view of the overwhelming opposition to the Coalition's planned reforms of a key disability benefit, Disability Living Allowance (DLA).
It also finds that this opposition was previously not released to public scrutiny by the Government.
The report is based on the responses to the Government's own consultation on its planned DLA reforms, which were only made public once disabled people requested them under the Freedom of Information Act.
Findings include:
In all three cases, as well as many others, London's Conservative Mayor, Boris Johnson, also objected to the proposed changes. He said in his response to the official consultation:
The Mayor would call for the Government to retain the three-month qualifying period as the increase to six months will mean that people with fluctuating conditions have increased difficulty meeting the qualifying period. People with fluctuating conditions face the same barriers that all disabled face in relation to higher costs of living and DLA is essential to maintain a decent quality of life.
We would recommend that the passporting system remains the same as under DLA, as it has worked well when signposting people to additional benefits to which they may be entitled.
The Mayor does not support this change, as those on the lower rate care component may have additional costs as a result of their impairment but may lose their access to this benefit as part of the proposed removal under the reforms.
The Mayor also objected to the Government's strategy for clamping down on disability benefit fraud, arguing:
The Government proposes imposing penalties if disabled people do not inform the government in changes in their circumstances. However, the Department of Work and Pensions statistics give the overall fraud rate for Disability Living Allowance as being less than 0.5%. For those with fluctuating conditions asking them to report every change to their condition would prove very stressful.
The Mayor's views were representative of the overwhelming majority of responses to the Government's consultation.
Responsible Reform suggests that the government's DLA consultation breached the Government's own code of practice and was "highly misleading".
Researchers have used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain more than 500 responses to the consultation that were submitted by disabled people's organisations, disability charities and other groups - including the response submitted by Boris Johnson - and have carried out the first detailed, independent analysis of those responses.
The analysis showed overwhelming opposition to replacing DLA with a new Personal Independence Payment (PIP). The Government also plans to cut spending on DLA/PIP by 20%.
The new report has been researched, written and funded by sick and disabled people, thousands of whom contributed to the research through their use of social media.
Its authors now hope to use the report to persuade members of the House of Lords to back an adjournment debate calling for a pause of at least six months. In that time, plans for PIP should be reconsidered with the views of disabled people properly taken into account.
The report has already been backed by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and disability experts including Disability Alliance, Mind, Papworth Trust, Scope, and the thinktank Ekklesia, along with Sir Bert Massie CBE.
A Disability Alliance spokseperson said:
The Government's mis-portrayal of the DLA consultation response is truly shocking and could represent a betrayal of the process of consultation and engagement with disabled people. The Government has refused to provide a justification for a 20% cut in DLA expenditure and we fear that the same faulty rationale, misunderstanding of disability and higher costs of living and poor judgement exposed in this report sadly underpin the basis of the entire reform plans.
Paul Farmer, Chief Executive of the mental health charity Mind, said:
The 'Responsible Reform' report is essential reading for everyone with an interest in Disability Living Allowance (DLA) reform including the Government and Department for Work and Pensions Select Committee. It is a vital contribution to the debate on reform and a huge achievement for the volunteers who have produced it.
As well as forensically deconstructing many of the arguments offered by the Government for their proposed reform, the report shows that much of the rise in claimants over recent years has been down to better access to the benefit for people with mental health problems, whose needs are often fluctuating and invisible.
Rather than getting out of control as the Government claims, DLA has been increasingly going to people who really need it. The proposed 20 per cent cut to the budget will have an enormous impact on many people with illnesses and disabilities, and we remain very concerned about the unintended consequences this could lead to.
The Papworth Trust says it...
supports this report's concerns that the decision to reduce DLA by 20% may have been based on incomplete or misleading data about the reasons for growth in DLA. Our recent survey found that almost 9 out of 10 people would have to cut back on essentials such as food or being able to get out and about if their DLA payments were reduced or stopped under PIP. We believe that the proposed 20% cut will push more disabled people into poverty.
"Given that this report was entirely researched, written, funded and supported by the people that these changes will affect, we believe that the questions it raises should be answered by the Government.
Richard Hawkes, Chief Executive of disability charity Scope, said:
This report once again reveals the very real concerns disabled people have about the government's reform of Disability Living Allowance.
We know that this benefit is a lifeline for millions of people and families. It gives them the opportunity to meet the extra living costs they incur as a result of living with a condition or impairment and we know that people are genuinely worried about the impact these reforms will have on their quality of life.
We urge the Government to listen and act on these concerns and to ensure its replacement takes into consideration all the barriers disabled people face in everyday life so they can live independently and play an active role in their local community.
Sir Bert Massie CBE said:
The Government's proposed changes to the system of financial support for disabled people, from Disability Living Allowance to Personal Independence Payment, has caused anxiety to many disabled people. I have always found the explanations offered by the Government to be unconvincing and I therefore welcome this report which analyses the evidence on which the decisions were based. It shows that rather than being broadly welcomed by disabled people and disability organisations the new proposals were subject to widespread criticism and alarm. I hope this report will result in the Government reviewing its proposals so they enhance rather than damage the lives of disabled people.
Simon Barrow, Co-Director of the beliefs and values thinktank Ekklesia, commented:
This is an excellent piece of research. There remains a gaping chasm between the Government's rhetoric about maintaining support for disabled people and the actual evidence about the impact of the changes and cuts it is imposing. The voices of those at the sharp end are not being listened to in a way that shapes policy. The concepts of justice dignity and social solidarity are being eroded and replaced with a piecemeal approach to provision which sees care as essentially voluntary.
Sue Marsh, the disabled blogger and activist who led the research alongside Dr Sarah J Campbell, said:
For some years now, poorly designed Social Security reforms have created a "trust deficit" among disabled people towards Government.
We believe that reform must be measured, responsible and transparent, based on available evidence and designed with disabled people at the very heart of decision-making. Currently, we do not believe this to be the case.
While disabled people welcome reform of DLA where it will simplify the system and better support their needs, they do not want a new benefit. They believe it is a costly irrelevance during a time of austerity.
We urge members of the House of Lords - across party political boundaries - to take note of this research and the strength of opposition to the proposals. It is not too late for them to halt these deeply damaging reforms.
Another contributor to the report, Kaliya Franklin, said:
Cutting spending on DLA will increase the burden on local authorities, the NHS and community services at the very time they are seeking to find savings by reducing eligibility, particularly for social care support.
Sick and disabled people have voluntarily combined our skills, experience and talent to produce this report, demonstrating that if we are able to work in the way our conditions demand we can participate in the world of employment, but only if it is willing to receive us on our terms, with more flexible ways of working and participating.
Among the report's conclusions are that: