UK Poverty Post

The government must not miss the boat on opportunities like GalGael

All of us are feeling the effects of the current cuts, but particularly vulnerable are voluntary sector groups who often rely on grants such as those from local government.  These groups are, however, often unsung heroes, providing positive and effective community services and subsequently managing to reduce government spending on other social services; one such group is GalGael in the former ship building area of Govan in Glasgow. 

It’s a feast for the eyes walking into GalGael’s workshop, everywhere you [...] Continue Reading…

Stop headline-chasing on benefit fraud – and concentrate on fixing the system

This week, David Cameron returned to one of the favoured themes of politicians looking for easy headlines – benefit fraud. With the welfare bill under pressure like no other area of public spending and with benefits already at historically low levels, of course every penny that’s going to the wrong people counts. But a quick glance at the figures the Prime Minister quoted shows that that’s more about administrative error (£2.1 billion) than fraud (£1 billion from benefits, plus [...] Continue Reading…

Short selling on the optimism of our young people

David Cameron has said that in its spending cuts the ‘first thing’ the government should do is cut fraud and waste in the benefit system.

The first thing?  Really?  Of course fraud anywhere should be stamped out – there is no question about that.  But of all the evasion, waste, self-indulgence of MPs, is targeting some of the poorest people in our society really the first thing that needs to be done?  I find it hard not to be astounded [...] Continue Reading…

A big Swahili welcome for the Big Society

As David Cameron’s idea for the Big Society meets more discussion we look to see the public sector gaps already filled by community groups.  I went to visit one such group, an Oxfam Scotland partner organisation, Karibu. 

Karibu, meaning ‘welcome’ in Swahili, started as a refugee women’s centre for African women and other migrants, run by African women in 2004 in Glasgow.  Starting off [...] Continue Reading…

Let’s crack down on the real welfare cheats: wealthy tax evaders

Let’s crack down on the real welfare cheats: wealthy tax evaders
Benefit cheats are held up as scroungers – with BBC even running a story about a man in a jive-dancing competition who was claiming disability benefits for an arthritic hip.
But for each of these very public cases of benefit fraud  (reported with great vitriol), there are many, many more of fraud and evasion by companies, business owners and wealthy individuals against the tax system.  We just don’t hear about [...] Continue Reading…

Violence against women is still on the rise

When the Home Office published its latest British Crime Survey in July this year, everyone was dazzled by the surprisingly good-looking figures. Crime went down by 43% since 1997, and fell by 9% last year to its lowest level since 1981.

However, no one thought to draw attention to the sexual offences figures, and it’s no wonder why. 54,509 sexual offences were recorded by the police over the past 12 months, a 6% increase compared to the previous year. Of [...] Continue Reading…