UK – Errors in child maintenance figures

It is estimated that the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission made overpayments worth more than 10 million pounds in 2010/11
The error-strewn accounts of the organisation in charge of enforcing child maintenance payments have not been fully signed off by a Government spending watchdog.
Some maintenance payments at the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC) were based [...]

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UK – 500,000 to lose disability benefits

Iain Duncan Smith said there had been a 30 per cent rise in the the number of disability allowance claimants in recent years
Half a million people are set to lose their disability benefits under government plans.
Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said he was determined to introduce radical reforms to disability allowances which could [...]

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ENGLAND – False rape claim victim wins ‘landmark’ compensation ruling

A man falsely accused of rape is believed to have become the first such victim to have won compensation under the criminal injuries scheme.
Photo: BBC   

Mr Bishop said he lost his taxi business as a result of the false rape allegation

Mr Bishop was arrested two years ago on suspicion of raping a drunken 17-year-old girl [...]

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UK – Changes to contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance

Published: Tuesday, 1 May 2012
The government has limited the period for which contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) can be paid in some circumstances. These changes came into effect on 1 May 2012. Claimants who have already received 365 days of contribution-based ESA saw their entitlement end on 30 April 2012.
What are the changes? The [...]

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WALES – Support for parents key for Wales’ adoption system, say campaigners

THE success of the adoption system in Wales will hinge on the support given to parents, a leading charity said a day after the UK Government unveiled plans to accelerate the process.

Welsh Government ministers will be asked if they want Wales to be included in Westminster legislation that would help prospective parents adopt children from [...]

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UK – Errors in child maintenance figuresUK – 500,000 to lose disability benefitsENGLAND – False rape claim victim wins ‘landmark’ compensation rulingUK – Changes to contribution-based Employment and Support AllowanceWALES – Support for parents key for Wales’ adoption system, say campaigners

May
14

UK – Errors in child maintenance figures

Categories:

May 14, 2012

It is estimated that the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission made overpayments worth more than 10 million pounds in 2010/11

The error-strewn accounts of the organisation in charge of enforcing child maintenance payments have not been fully signed off by a Government spending watchdog.

Some maintenance payments at the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC) were based on incorrect assessments and some were paid at the wrong rate, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).

Auditor General Amyas Morse also gave “adverse opinions” on the truth and fairness of outstanding maintenance arrears, which the Commission put at £3.748 billion by March last year. He said the figures do not give an accurate reflection of the true figure because of levels of error in assessments.

But the report did show significant improvements have been made by the Commission, which took over the work of the Child Support Agency in 2008, to the information available on child maintenance arrears.

Although the 2010/11 accounts show the proper amounts received and paid by the agency, Mr Morse qualified his opinions on the regularity of receipts and payments because of the level of error in maintenance assessments.

In 2009/10, there were £10 million in overpayments and £14.4 million in underpayments. For 2010/11 it is estimated there were £10.2 million overpayments and £13.9 million underpayments.

Mr Morse said: “Since the statutory child maintenance schemes were introduced, there have been problems with the accurate calculation of maintenance and with the two underlying IT systems, neither of which was capable of properly reporting arrears. The Commission inherited these problems from the Child Support Agency (CSA).

“Accuracy of maintenance assessments continues to be a challenge. The Commission is continuing to improve the accounting information available, so that the historic problems affecting the accuracy of arrears data are more visible. Nevertheless, the Commission still has a significant challenge in collecting the arrears that have accumulated since the beginning of the maintenance schemes.”

Work and Pensions Minister Maria Miller said: “The NAO has again underlined the need for the radical reforms we are bringing forward. The Child Support Agency has been saddled with defective computer systems and impractical policies.

“We are giving every parent now trapped in the CSA the chance to make their own, family-based, maintenance arrangements. This will allow the new state maintenance service to more effectively chase the irresponsible minority who refuse to support their children.”

(UKPA)

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May
14

UK – 500,000 to lose disability benefits

Categories:

May 14, 2012

Iain Duncan Smith said there had been a 30 per cent rise in the the number of disability allowance claimants in recent years

Half a million people are set to lose their disability benefits under government plans.

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said he was determined to introduce radical reforms to disability allowances which could slash the annual cost by £2.24 billion.

Around 500,000 people in the UK who receive disability living allowance (DLA) could no longer be eligible for the replacement personal independence payment (PIP) under the plans, which are outlined in a report by the Department for Work and Pensions this month.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Mr Duncan Smith said there had been a 30% rise in the the number of claimants in recent years, with the annual cost of the benefits soon to reach £13 billion.

Under the reforms, two million claimants would reassessed in the next four years and only those considered to be in need of support able to qualify.

Mr Duncan Smith told the Daily Telegraph said: “We are creating a new benefit, because the last benefit grew by something like 30% in the past few years. It’s been rising well ahead of any other gauge you might make about illness, sickness, disability or for that matter, general trends in society.

“A lot of that is down to the way the benefit was structured so that it was very loosely defined. Second thing was that in the assessment, lots of people weren’t actually seen. Third problem was lifetime awards. Something like 70% had lifetime awards, (which) meant that once they got it you never looked at them again. They were just allowed to fester.”

Mr Duncan Smith defended the reforms which could see people without limbs, including ex-servicemen and women, no longer entitled to disability benefits as their everyday mobility is not undermined by their prosthetic limbs.

He told the Daily Telegraph: “It’s not like incapacity benefit, it’s not a statement of sickness. It is a gauge of your capability. In other words, ‘Do you need care, do you need support to get around?’. Those are the two things that are measured. Not, ‘You have lost a limb’.”

Ministers are consulting on the new eligibility criteria for the disability benefit system which will be announced in the autumn.

(UKPA)

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May
14

ENGLAND – False rape claim victim wins ‘landmark’ compensation ruling

Categories:

May 14, 2012

A man falsely accused of rape is believed to have become the first such victim to have won compensation under the criminal injuries scheme.

Photo: BBC   

Clive Bishop: False rape claim victim wins 'landmark' compensation ruling

Mr Bishop said he lost his taxi business as a result of the false rape allegation

Mr Bishop was arrested two years ago on suspicion of raping a drunken 17-year-old girl he had picked up in his taxi and took home from a nightclub.

Six weeks later, he was told the case would not proceed as the girl had dropped her claim. The teenage mother of two was later charged with perjury and jailed for 10 months.

Mr Bishop said he lost his taxi business as a result of the false rape allegation.

A tribunal has now ruled that Clive Bishop, 49, a taxi driver, can apply for compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA).

An initial attempt to claim compensation from the CICA was turned down because he was not a victim of violent crime.

However an appeal tribunal of the CICA last week overturned the ruling after his lawyers argued that he had been in fear of physical harm.

His solicitor, Russell Pearce, of the Somerset firm Pardoes, said: “To my knowledge it is the first time a victim of a false rape allegation has been eligible to make a successful claim from the authority.

“It is a very good result because people who have suffered similar false accusations will now have a way of seeking redress.”

Mr Bishop, a married foster carer, from Walton, Somerset, said: “I have been to hell and back.

“I feel the way that I was treated – being arrested in my own living room at 4.30am in front of my wife – I do not think people understand the distress, and the hurt, it caused myself, my wife, my family, and my friends.

“I cannot ever drive a taxi again so this decision will make a huge difference to my life.”

A future hearing will determine the level of compensation.

The CICA said it could not comment on individual cases.

The Telegraph


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May
13

UK – Changes to contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance

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May 13, 2012

Published: Tuesday, 1 May 2012

The government has limited the period for which contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) can be paid in some circumstances. These changes came into effect on 1 May 2012. Claimants who have already received 365 days of contribution-based ESA saw their entitlement end on 30 April 2012.

What are the changes? The changes will:

  • Limit the amount of time people in the Work-Related Activity Group (ie those not in the Support Group) can receive contribution-based Employment Support Allowance to 365 days, and
  • Remove the special contribution condition and prevent any new claims for ESA on grounds of youth.

The 104 week linking rule has now been abolished by separate regulations. The linking rules will still be applied to claims made up to and including 30 April 2012.

How the changes will affect you

People not in the Support Group will still receive contribution-based Employment Support Allowance for 365 days. People whose contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance ends may still be able to get income-related Employment and Support Allowance if they are entitled.

People not in the Support Group who have already received contribution-based Employment Support Allowance for 365 days or more will have their benefit stopped immediately. For these people the last day benefit will have been paid is 30 April 2012. They will be contacted with more information about what will happen to their claim.

The special contribution conditions that allow people aged between 16 and 20 (or under 25 if in education or training at least 3 months immediately before turning 20) to receive contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance without paying National Insurance contributions is no longer available for new claimants. This means that all new claims for contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance will need to satisfy the usual contribution conditions.

Find out about Income-related Employment and Support Allowance

What do I need to do?

If you are receiving contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance and your benefit is time-limited you may be able to get income-related Employment Support Allowance. This will depend on your income and savings. The DWP will tell you how to be assessed for this when it contacts you to tell you that your benefit is ending. If you qualify for this it will be paid as soon as your contribution-based benefit ends.

Depending on your circumstances you may be entitled to other benefits. For benefit advice, please follow the link below to use the online benefits adviser service.
Benefits adviser service

If you cannot get income-related Employment and Support Allowance you will still be credited with National Insurance credits as long as your circumstances do not change.

You may also be able to claim contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance again in the future. This will depend on your National Insurance record when you make a claim, or if you move into the Support Group.

How is the time limit counted?

The 365-day time limit starts from the first day you received contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance, excluding any time in the Support Group, or time in the assessment phase if you moved straight into the Support Group.

If you have been reassessed from Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance to contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance, the time limit will start from the effective date of the conversion decision.

People already entitled to Employment and Support Allowance on grounds of youth and in the Support Group will continue to receive contribution-based Employment Support Allowance unless their circumstances change. People already entitled to Employment and Support Allowance on grounds of youth and in the Work Related Activity Group will have their benefit time limited to 365 days.

Find out about the Support Group and Work Related Activity Group

Changes to the linking rule

Previously, where a claimant left ESA and started work or training within one month, their benefit would be reinstated at the same rate as previously paid if they returned to Employment and Support Allowance within 104 weeks.

To coincide with the changes brought by time-limiting contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance, the 104 week linking rule is abolished.  This means if you want to claim Employment and Support Allowance and it is more than 12 weeks since your award of Employment and Support Allowance ended, your claim will not link to your earlier award.

Claimants living abroad

If you live abroad you are not entitled to income-related Employment and Support Allowance when your contribution-based Employment Support Allowance ends. You are also not entitled to receive National Insurance credits.

Your entitlement to other social security benefits in the country you are living in may also change when your contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance ends.

Links

Welfare Reform Act 2012

Welfare Reform Act 2007

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May
13

WALES – Support for parents key for Wales’ adoption system, say campaigners

Categories:

May 13, 2012

THE success of the adoption system in Wales will hinge on the support given to parents, a leading charity said a day after the UK Government unveiled plans to accelerate the process.

adoption

Welsh Government ministers will be asked if they want Wales to be included in Westminster legislation that would help prospective parents adopt children from ethnic minority backgrounds by stopping councils waiting for the “perfect match”.

The NSPCC warned that the focus should be on the welfare of children and not the speed of the system and Ann Bell of Adoption UK said support for parents is the critical factor in Wales.

Click here to find out more!

She said: “It is fair to say that ethnicity is less of an issue in adoption in Wales than it is in England. In Wales at the moment there is a very serious shortage of any adoptive parents coming forward of any ethnicity whilst the numbers of children – predominantly white – being taken into care continues to rise.

“There are significant delays at each stage of the process due to a range of causes and the Welsh Government is currently consulting on some major proposals to address these problems and has set up an expert group on adoption to work on proposals for a single national adoption service.

“Adoption UK is clear that a national service will only achieve its aim of increasing the number of successful adoptions if post-adoption support is an integral part of the adoption arrangements.”

In 2011 there were 5,415 children in Wales in the care of local authorities but only 250 were adopted, the number as half a decade earlier.

Des Mannion of the NSPCC said: “We welcome the UK Government’s action plan to improve the adoption system… However, we need to ensure that the welfare of the child is central to these reforms. There is a risk that a sole focus on speed means that this critical issue is sometimes overshadowed.

“The Government needs to put in place safeguards to ensure this is not the case… We must remember that adoption is only an option for a small minority of those in care.”

The NSPCC supports measures in the Welsh Government’s Social Services Bill to improve the adoption process.

Wendy Keidan, Welsh director of the British Association for Adoption & Fostering, said: “Most of the children in Wales who need adoptive homes are of white Welsh/white British ethnicity and there is no evidence in Wales of delay in matching children with adoptive families being caused by a search for a perfect racial match. Ethnicity is just one of many matching considerations.

“Adoptive families are selected as a possible match based on their capacity to meet the child’s needs in relation to a wide range of factors as well as taking into account the child’s wishes and feelings.”

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “We have our own distinct agenda in relation to social services and adoption. The adoption service in Wales is set to undergo significant reform.

“Sustainable Social Services, our plan for social services, identified that local authorities and voluntary adoption agencies needed better ways of working together. We believe that establishing a National Adoption Service will help to transform and simplify the adoption service, provide greater equity in after adoption support and provide permanent placements for children who cannot be reunited with their family.”

Plaid Cymru MP Hywel Williams MP called for more foster parents and said the process of adoption must be conducted with “extreme care”.

He said: “While mixed-ethnicity adoption is to be encouraged, it should also be approached with a strong degree of sensitivity as research examining cases of Afro-Carribean children shows that mixed adoption can lead to problems of self-identification.”

A Welsh Conservative spokesman said: “The UK Government has prioritised the speeding up of the adoption process and the Welsh Government should do the same.”

Aled Roberts, Liberal Democrat spokesman for children, said: “In the UK, it is a sad fact that black children take twice as long to be adopted as children from other backgrounds.”

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May
13

UK – Benefit cuts: Atos in the frame to deliver new disability tests

Categories:

May 13, 2012

Ten of the UK’s biggest private outsourcing companies have been shortlisted to deliver controversial Personal Independence Payment health assessments – with one notable exception

Who will deliver a 20% cut to the disability living allowance benefits bill? We now know the contracts will be shared among 10 private companies, including the controversial French firm Atos Origin, which has come under fire over its handling of incapacity benefit tests, known as the Work Capability Assessment (WCA).

The shortlisted companies are effectively in the frame to compete for at least four regional contracts to assess people’s eligibility for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) – a new benefit which will replace Disability Living Allowance (DLA) in April 2013.

The PIP work is the first of a number of government health assessment contracts with a total net value of between £300m and £1bn let over the next four years.

Other providers on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) list include the multinational security company G4S, outsourcing giants Serco and Capita, and Ingeus Deloitte, which holds the lions’ share of the work programme prime contracts.

Interestingly, A4e, the welfare to work company majority-owned by Emma Harrison currently being investigated by the DWP over allegations of fraud, bid for the framework but failed to make the cut.

The DWP confirmed that an unnamed voluntary sector provider was also unsuccessful in its bid to get on the shortlist – although charities are expected to be involved in subcontracting work.

But it is the presence of Atos – which delivers the “flawed” WCA tests under a £100m contract and has been regularly targeted by protestors (see this Guardian video for example) – which will cause most consternation among people affected by the PIP changes.

The shortlist – known as a framework – is subject to a 10 day cooling-off period and will be formally confirmed on 30 April. The DWP says it has “no date” yet for when the successful PIP contract bidders will be announced.

The framework is divided into four regional lots and one national lot. Each company will be able to bid for the PIP contract (or contracts) in each of the four regions for which it has been listed. Here’s the full line up:

• Scotland, North East England, North West England and Isle of Man: Avanta Enterprises Ltd; Ingeus Deloitte Limited; APM UK Ltd; G4S Integrated Services (UK) Ltd; Atos Origin; Vertex Ltd
• Wales, Central England: Avanta Enterprises; Ingeus Deloitte Limited; APM UK Ltd; Capita Group Plc; G4S Integrated Services (UK) Ltd; Atos Origin; Vertex Ltd; MAXIMUS Employment UK
• London, South England: Avanta Enterprises Ltd; Ingeus Deloitte Limited; APM UK Ltd; Capita Group Plc; Reed In Partnership; G4S Integrated Services (UK) Ltd; Atos Origin; Vertex Ltd
• Northern Ireland: Ingeus Deloitte Limited; APM UK Ltd; Capita Group Plc; G4S Integrated Service UK Ltd; Atos Origin; MAXIMUS Employment UK; Serco Limited
• National UK: Avanta Enterprises Ltd; Ingeus Deloitte Limited; Capita Group Plc; G4S Integrated Services (UK) Ltd; Atos Origin; Vertex Ltd; MAXIMUS Employment UK; Serco Limited

The PIP contracts are likely to prove deeply unpopular, not least because ministers have said they want to see the total DLA bill reduced by 20%, and the government’s own figures suggest up to 500,000 people could see their payments axed over the next three years. This will potentially push many individuals who lose eligibility into hardship and poverty.

Around 3.2m people, including children, are in receipt of the non-means tested DLA payments of up to £70 a week (depending on severity of condition). Recipients have a wide range of illnesses and disabilities including cancer, spinal injury, mental health problems and learning disability. The benefit is typically used to pay for equipment and mobility aids, travel costs, and expenses related to specific medical conditions such as special diets. Levels of fraud – less than 0.5% – are negligible.

Campaigners say the payments are vital to enable disabled people to work, and if the criteria are tightened it could lead to tens of thousands of employees being forced to give up their jobs. Critics – including, famously, the mayor of London Boris Johnson – have argued that disability benefit cuts will lead to poverty and social isolation for tens of thousands of disabled and chronically ill people.

The draft assessment criteria for PIP have led many disabled people to fear that they will lose their benefits from next year. Campaigners fear that the PIP changes will simply repeat of the costly chaos caused by the hugely unpopular WCA, which has led to tens of thousands of successful appeals by disabled people wrongly judged to be capable of work, and has brought the system to “the brink of collapse.”

As the Responsible Reform report, compiled by the Spartacus Report’ network of disability activists earlier this year, put it:

“PIP is perceived as impersonal, mechanistic and clearly in the mould of the condemned Employment and Support Allowance which is a cause of fear and misery for sick and disabled people.”

Ministers have argued that DLA is outdated, and that spending is too high, and that PIP will enable more precise targeting of the benefit to people “who need it most”. They successfully overcame attempts to water down the PIP changes in the House of Lords during the passage of the Welfare Reform Bill earlier this year, and say they have learned the lessons of the WCA contract.

The Coalition is yet to feel a public backlash against benefit cuts – which polls suggest remain stubbornly popular among voters. This may continue. As the reforms start to bite it is the companies making profits out of PIP assessments that may, like Atos, feel the lash of public opprobrium.

The Guardian

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May
02

WALES – Yaseen Ali Ege murder trial: Sara Ege ‘beat son to death’

Categories:

May 2, 2012

A seven-year-old Cardiff boy died after repeatedly being beaten “like a dog” by his mother, a court has heard.

Sara Ege beat Yaseen Ali Ege with a blunt instrument in the family’s home in the suburb of Canton in July 2010, Cardiff Crown Court was told.

The jury heard Ege, 31, who denies murder, then set his body alight so that his injuries would not be found.

Yousuf Ali Ege, 38, denies causing his son’s death by failing to protect him. The trial continues.

The jury heard that Yaseen received regular beatings from his mother Sara Ege, of Pontcanna, Cardiff.

On 12 July 2010, she beat him with a blunt instrument, causing severe injuries to his abdomen.

She did not call for any medical assistance and some hours later he died.

The court was told that Sara Ege set light to his body using barbecue lighter fuel in a bedroom before dragging it onto the landing.

Multiple injuries

She then called 999. When the emergency services arrived, they could not revive Yaseen.

Prosecutor Ian Murphy said that post mortem evidence showed that he had died before the fire started.

Mr Murphy said the examination showed “a catalogue of systematic physical abuse” on the boy.

The court heard pathologists found multiple injuries on Yaseen’s body including broken ribs, a fractured arm and a fractured finger.

“At first it appeared to be the tragic accident that Sara claimed it was – an unexplained fire in which Yaseen died,” said Mr Murphy.

“But within days when the smoke had cleared it emerged that Yaseen was dead before the fire had started.”

In police interviews Sara Ege said she had beaten Yaseen “like a dog” regularly with a stick, but she could not remember if she had beaten him that day.

Stick

She told police that she had set the fire to “protect herself” so that the injuries to Yaseen would not be discovered.

In the interview she said that she went to the kitchen cupboard to get gel for lighting the barbecue, that she poured it and lit it.

“I don’t know why I did that,” she said. “I knew he was gone and I was trying to protect myself because he had some injuries.”

In the interview she went on to describe how she had over a period of about three or four months repeatedly hit Yaseen with a stick.

She said that whenever she stopped there were voices in her head asking her why she had stopped and telling her to go back and hit him some more.

She said the stick was making her evil so she put it in the cellar.

‘Beatings’

She later gave a different version of events, saying that she had said what she had said because she had been threatened by her taxi driver husband Yousuf Ali Ege and his family.

Mr Murphy said Yousuf Ali Ege must have known about the beatings Yaseen was receiving, as they shared a room because of renovations that were going on in the house.

“This father knew his son was suffering pain and injury and this father did nothing to protect his son,” said Mr Murphy.

“The mother was cruel and violent the father knew about the violence.

“He saw the evidence of the catalogue of injuries suffered by his son but did not nothing to stop the pain and suffering received at the hands of his wife.”

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May
01

UK – Marriage breakdown a scourge, says High Court judge

Categories:

May 1, 2012

wedding
The Marriage Foundation says marriage is best for couples, children and the wider society

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The breakdown of marriage is one of the “most destructive scourges” in modern UK society, says a High Court Judge.

Sir Paul Coleridge is so concerned about family breakdown, he is launching a campaign to champion marriage as the “gold standard for relationships”.

Sir Paul, who sits in the Family Division, said he felt compelled to speak out because of the “unprecedented scale of the problem”.

The Marriage Foundation charity was launched in London on Tuesday evening.

It has the support of many leading figures, including Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks and the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu.

The foundation will campaign to improve public understanding of the “nature, benefits and importance of marriage and how healthy married relationships provide the most stable environment in which to raise children”.

Figures published by the Office for National Statistics show divorce rates in England and Wales increased by 4.9% between 2009 and 2010, from 113,949 to 119,589.

However, this follows several years of a declining rate.

The Marriage Foundation says cohabitation rose from 2.1 million couples in 2001 to 2.9 million in 2010 and is projected to rise to 3.7 million by 2031.

It says a baby born to cohabiting parents is more than 10 times more likely to see its parents separate than one born to married parents.

‘Destructive’

At the launch of the foundation, Sir Paul drew on his 40 years of experience in the family law system, saying around half a million children and adults are drawn into the family law and justice system every year.

Sir Paul said: “Marriage- and family breakdown is one of the most destructive scourges of our time.

“For that reason, I have, for some years now, been trying to raise the subject whenever I have had the chance to speak publicly on the matter.

“I am now convinced that it is time not only to talk but to act. Waiting for government or others to take action is merely an excuse for moaning and inactivity.”

Sir Paul told the BBC he was not mounting a moral campaign but simply wanted to set out the facts in a “non-preachy, non-didactic way”.

Celebrity magazines

He said celebrity magazines like Hello promoted “unrealistic expectations” about marriage, and people needed to understand the importance of working at relationships to make them work.

“What I criticise – what I call the Hello magazine, Hollywood approach to this whole business – is that there is still, or maybe more than there was, a completely unrealistic expectation about long-term relationships and marriage in particular, that if you find the right ideal partner that’s all that matters and things will just carry on from there on and you will be divinely happy.

“We all know, all of us who have been in relationships – whether married or unmarried – for a long time… that the only way that they are made to work and the only way that they become really qualitatively good is by absolutely grinding away at it.

“That’s when people find that, actually, if they get through the difficulties and do get the help, they will in fact end up with a product that is really worth having.”

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May
01

WALES – Wales leads the way in children’s rights

Categories:

May 1, 2012

Wales leads the way in children's rights

Wales is leading the way in the UK for children’s rights as a duty on Welsh ministers to have due regard to the requirements of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) comes into force on April 30.

The due regard duty means that ministers must consider the rights of children and young people in all the decisions they make about new legislation, policies and changes to existing policy.

This is backed by the Welsh Government’s Children’s Rights Measure which identifies how this will work in practice and provides an easy, accessible way for children and young people to challenge the government if they feel their rights have not been taken into account.

Monitoring, evaluation and reporting will ensure that the focus on children’s rights has an impact.

To coincide with this, Gwenda Thomas, the Deputy Minister for Children visited Big Pit National Coal Museum in Torfaen to meet local school children and talk about how their lives and rights compared to those of previous generations.

The Deputy Minister said: “I am very proud to be involved in this historic occasion in my role as minister on the portfolio for children. Wales is breaking new ground on children’s rights and other countries will be looking at our experiences as they look to implement the convention.

“We’ve come a long way since 2004 when we adopted the UNCRC with our work for children and young people. Now the whole convention will underpin Welsh Government work, improving policy and legislation to help enhance the lives of children, young people and families.

“We have invested in information, advice and advocacy services to ensure children and young people are protected, able to participate in society and receive support when they need it.

“Children in Wales will see that their government supports their needs and their right to be safe, to be heard and to have opportunities and positive experiences that will set them up for the rest of their lives.”

Source: newswales.co.uk

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Apr
07

UK – Young unemployed may be forced to live with mum and dad

Categories:

April 7, 2012

Young unemployed people could be forced to live with their parents and denied housing benefit under plans being considered by the Government.

Young employed people may have to move back home

The radical proposal is being worked on by Downing Street and the Department for Work and Pensions as part of a drive to make sure people are better off working than on benefits.

At the moment, people under the age of 25 can get housing benefit to help pay the rent for bed-sits or rooms in shared accommodation if their wages and savings are below a certain level.

However, they could be forced to live with parents or other relatives, like many other young people in their first jobs.

It comes ahead of a key speech by David Cameron defending his efforts to “get a grip” on Britain’s welfare bill.

The Prime Minister is expected to say he is prepared to “rub people up the wrong way” over his determination to push through radical reforms.

Launching his party’s Welsh local election campaign, the Prime Minister will claim that he is ready for a “flat-out, full-throttle fight” to convince people Conservative values of responsibility and hard graft.

Mr Cameron has endured a week of tough criticism over the Conservative party’s “cash-for-access” scandal and accusations that his ministers sparked a fuel-buying panic.

In a fight-back against his critics, the Prime Minister will say he prepared to “take hits” and look at the “horizon, not at the headlines”.

He will say he is ready ignore the “whispering voices” telling him to “play it safe” if he wants to win a majority.

“For years people said “you can’t reform and cut welfare – the bills are bound to get higher, this is a fact of British life and there’s nothing you can do about it,” he said.

“We said – hang on – it can’t be right that we pay people more to stay at home than go out to work. We’ve been the first government to come in and properly get a grip on this.”

He will tell local party members in Wales that he is ready to “seize the chance” to make fundamental reforms on welfare, pensions and reducing the deficit.

“You can tinker around a bit and put a lick of paint on the old problems,” he will say.

“You can commission reports and reviews to shove problems further down the line.

You can blame inaction on the bad times you’re in – or in the good times, say you don’t need to bother. Or you can take a different path. You can close that Number 10 door behind you and say: this is our chance. Our precious chance to change our country and we’re going to seize it.”

telegraph.co.uk

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