Taking on welfare reform | Conference report

1. The challenge for the third sector From advice providers and housing associations to homelessness services, carers’ organisations, and many more, a large slice of Scotland’s third sector works towards anti-poverty and pro-equality missions. With people and families across the country facing unprecedented worry and uncertainty as Westminster’s welfare cuts kick in, and an endless cycle of appeals, bureaucracy and misinformation, they are turning to third sector organisations in record high numbers. The conundrum for the third sector is how it can continue to pick up the pieces with dwindling resources. This catch-22 was vividly highlighted in interventions by key sector representatives throughout the afternoon (see Appendix 1 of this report, particularly interventions by Moira Tasker, Citizens’ Advice Edinburgh, and Linda Allan, Greater Pollok Carers’ Centre). In a keynote speech to delegates, the Deputy First Minister acknowledged the daunting task being confronted by the sector in responding to the “reforms”. She also delivered a clear message about where she believes the sector can make a difference as Scotland responds to the cuts at local and national levels. “I want to offer you the opportunity to work in partnership to face up to the harsh realities and help to take a long hard look at what we can do together to mitigate the changes. Despite the pressures on money, the sector has so much that you can bring to the table. …You are uniquely placed close to the communities and close to the people who will need our support. You understand the complexities that people face when engaging with the welfare system. You have talent, diversity, a track record of innovation and responding at the coal face. You can also access resources out-with the reach of governments, you can tap into the assets already in the communities that you serve.” Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon The conference highlighted an abundance of good practice which is already underway to tackle welfare reform, and a clear consensus from attendees that the sector could do much more in the right environment.  Whether it is practically supporting people in crisis situations or helping build the capacity of families and helping communities to find a way through the impact of the cuts, the sector has much to offer. Key areas of policy and delivery where the third sector can help shape an individual and collective response to welfare reform given sufficient support include:

• Shaping crisis responses: combined with rising fuel, housing and other living costs, welfare reform could tip many individuals and families over the edge into abject poverty
• Budgeting support: helping families cope in tight times by providing peer support etc.
• Increasing digital capacity/online support for families: As the Coalition pushes more and more people to apply for benefits online they need practical assistance to do this
• Information, advice and practical support for individuals, families and communities
• Training for frontline workers/advice workers who are dealing with families affected by welfare changes
• Providing access to/signposting to affordable credit/access to financial services

2.    Obstacles to overcome

The interventions, and panel and group discussions, focused on mobilising communities and third sector capacity, and mobilising support for people and communities. The challenges identified by the sector representatives can be grouped into several themes:

• Capacity: How third sector organisations can increase capacity in terms of staff skills and knowledge (both of the processes involved in welfare reform and other organisations that might help), the availability of training, the ability/willingness of organisations to collaborate and volunteer capacity
• Policy-making: Third sector representatives highlighted challenges caused by contradictory policies, cuts in statutory services/ benefits and constant changes
• Funding: Issues include short-termism, cuts to services/umbrella organisations, silo-mentality of funders, procurement encouraging competition, capacity of small/community organisations to apply for funding
• Public awareness/engagement: The main challenges here are around trust, mental health issues, ability to manage money and fear of doing things online
• Increased demand/complexity of cases: Attendees highlighted the pressures of coping with simultaneous growing quantity and complexity of issues faced by clients.

 2.1   What the sector had to say about each of the main challenges

Capacity: “The sector is good at collaboration and innovation.  But the response needs to be wider - communities, public, private and third sector will need to work together to combat impact.” Iain Gordon, Bethany Christian Trust Policy-making: “Tackling this needs information, signposting and collaboration. Lobbying and influencing are crucial. The sector needs to stand with the most vulnerable – it needs to be a voice for those affected, and continue to campaign for better.” Satwat Rehman, One Parent Families Scotland Funding: “People will look to the third sector for help. We need to be ready and – funded – to help them. Thousands of families will face stark choices - choosing to pay the rent, heat their home or buy food - the basics of life. What practical support can we offer to help families prepare for the cuts and budget on potentially very limited incomes? How can we work together to ensure our services provide holistic, timely and effective budgeting support which reaches those hardest hit by the cuts?” Moira Tasker, Citizens’ Advice Edinburgh Public awareness/engagement: “Independent forecasts predict tens of thousands of children will be pushed into poverty – the emotional and social impact will be extensive and long lasting. It is vital we continue to campaign and promote a positive view of welfare – it is what civilised societies do. We still need to shift perceptions of “welfare” and promote a more positive view.” John Dickie, Child Poverty Action Group Increased demand/complexity: “Disabled people and their families are facing the worst of the welfare cuts. Of the £2.5 billion in benefit cuts in Scotland, disabled people and their families face over half (i.e. well over £1 billion). Cuts are occurring to social care and other services relied on by disabled people. Over 60,000 disabled people and their families face the loss of rent and possible eviction as from next April.” Bill Scott , Inclusion Scotland There was also strong support for more leadership to help the sector overcome the obstacles it’s facing owing to the welfare cuts. One attendee commented: “I think leadership is needed to take forward the actions identified. I think SCVO or other well placed organisations/key leaders should take forward progressing actions that were identified today."

3.    Solutions

In the second part of the session, groups were asked to identify practical ideas which could be taken forward to tackle welfare reform. The output of discussions from each of the 18 tables has been analysed to identify the most frequently suggested solutions. The most popular were (on a sliding scale):

• Campaigning and lobbying
• Partnership and collaboration
• Mapping (local services, thematic, cross sector)
• Advocacy/one-to-one support/mentoring
• Co-ordination/brokering
• Community-based approaches
• Media strategy
• Collaboration with statutory sector
• Understand people’s needs/ engage on their terms/ take info to them
• Staff/ volunteer training
• Resource/skills sharing
• Financial education/support
• Improved signposting

Campaigning and lobbying

An urgent need was outlined to create a campaign to improve the public image of people on benefits. This will be integral to mitigating the detrimental impact of the scandalisation of benefits claimants by the Daily Mail and some other news outlets. The campaign would debunk some of the myths being spread about fraudulent benefits claims etc. encourage people speak up more about the injustices they are experiencing. Third sector organisations should come together more regularly to lobby the UK and Scottish Governments to make sure that the people most adversely affected by the cuts have a voice and that sufficient investment is made in the third sector to enable it to support people being affected by the cuts.

Partnership and collaboration

Strong consensus exists that it’s by working together, particularly around areas of specific interest, that the sector can make the biggest impact in tackling welfare reform. The development of themed round table events to explore opportunities for joint working across charities and the creation (where they don’t exist) of local welfare ‘networks’/partnerships should be prioritised. A healthy appetite also emerged to invest in the capacity of Third Sector Interfaces to link them with community planning and help them to investigate local delivery. This could build on (and link into) work taking place around Reshaping Care as many third sector organisations involved in these partnerships are likely to have a strong interest in welfare reform.  The sector is also keen to explore the role the business sector might play in tackling the impact of welfare reform. This could include a re-focus of existing pots/trusts to tackle welfare reform and developing a programme to bring in companies to offer a bank of work experience places to help with job readiness and people who are unable to find work immediately. The impact of the changes on landlords, including registered social landlords (RSLs), was acknowledged. Examples of joint working between RSLs and credit unions were cited and it was discussed that scope exists for credit unions to play a bigger role in local partnerships.

Mapping and signposting

There is an urgent need to develop a central or local directory which provides information on organisations supporting people through welfare reform changes which can provide practical advice and support, and specialist support. Attendees were also enthusiastic about the value in developing a third sector hub which brings together all available information on training, sources of information on welfare reform, research, impact studies, case studies and projects/activities which are working well. It’s also vitally important to develop referral pathways and a ‘signposting gold standard’ and effective information sharing, to ensure that no individuals or families are left without support struggling to fend on their own. A starting point could be working around the Scottish Welfare Fund to ensure that anyone accessing it is aware of and effectively signposted to other support they might benefit from.

Co-ordination/brokering

While there was agreement across the board that third sector organisations must work together more, many attendees highlighted the fact that they do not have the capacity or funding to play a co-ordinator/broker role. One solution would be for umbrella and national organisations to take the lead with support from third sector interfaces to co-ordinate action and share knowledge. For example, this could take the shape of a “hub” which brings together information of welfare reform, its impact, case studies and directories of organisations/resources offering support.

Community-based approaches

To be effective community engagement must be meaningful rather than tokenistic. It’s important to invest in communities with a long-term view, not simply directing funding at pilot projects. It was agreed that people should not feel like they are being ‘talked at’. Instead they should be asked what they need rather than being told what to do. Tenants’ associations and other community-led associations will play an important role in making sure all community members know how to access advice and have a say.

Media strategy

A carefully planned media campaign could go a long way towards combatting stigma and ensuring that messages around the impact of the cuts reach a wide audience. Key targets would include Scotsman, Herald, Daily Record, BBC, STV and local media outlets. Bringing together a collection of poignant case studies would help to convey the severity of the situation to the media. A social media campaign could also be an effective vehicle via which to encourage people to share their experiences and ideas on how to meet growing demand.

Collaboration with statutory sector

Ideas on how to improve joint working with the statutory sector included expanding the work carried out by Poverty Alliance and Inclusion Scotland which involves partnerships with local authorities around preparing for welfare reform and working with community activists who can ‘prepare the way’. Another suggestion was to work with CoSLA to develop a local directory of organisations which can contribute to local planning for welfare reform. How the sector links with health boards was also mentioned.

Understand people’s needs/engage on their terms/take information to them

By the time some people reach a crisis point, they are unlikely to “trust” the support provided because they have been confronted with so many knock-backs. One solution could be ‘buddy’ schemes where people are accompanied to meetings and assessments by someone who knows their situation well and fully understands how the systems work. Reaching people through informal networks for example post offices, local shops, pharmacies etc. could help people to better understand the changes that are coming and how to seek advice and support.

Staff/volunteer training

A central point which brings together all training materials available on welfare reform available to the sector (and partners in the public sector) is in high demand. There is also appetite for much more training and peer support to improve the emotional resilience of front line workers/volunteers at the coalface of providing support to those affected by welfare reform. Differentiated training for frontline advisers/workers depending on the nature of their role in supporting families and individuals and how ‘involved’ they are in dealing with the direct impact of welfare reform, should also be a key priority, alongside developing the IT literacy of staff and volunteers and their understanding of the online application system  for benefits. Another key ask from attendees was to draft some very clear, basic guidance for all staff in the sector to make sure that they either provide the best advice or signpost people so that everyone gets what they are entitled to. More investment should be directed at building the capacity of front line organisations to expand support from volunteers. More pilot schemes such as Shelter’s proposed online access points/volunteer support in its charity shops to help people who need to access the internet and who may need some “on-line buddying” in terms of applying for benefits on line. 

Advocacy/one-to-one support/mentoring

The need for additional investment in advocacy services was a recurring theme, particularly as individuals deal with new application processes and appeals. One-to-one support and mentoring for individuals and families affected by welfare reform was mentioned frequently but, linked to this, delegates also discussed the increasing complexity of individual cases. This makes the need for ongoing, tailored training all the more pressing. For example, some organisations have been forced to rebalance their priorities to meet the demand for complicated requests for one-to-one support. 

Resource/skills sharing

The sector will aim to become better at sharing knowledge more intelligently and pooling what resources it does have. A wide range of options include sharing skills, training resources, premises, staff and staff knowledge, as appropriate. 

Financial education/support

A lot of activities to help families cope with a tight budget are already underway. It’s important that investment is made to share the good practice already happening. There is also significant benefit to be gleaned from building on partnerships between businesses and the third sector which focus on budget management e.g. Carers Trust/Pollok Carers’ Centre and Sainsbury’s financial management scheme.

4.    Next steps

As announced at the Taking on Welfare Reform event, SCVO will be taking forward a mapping exercise which will look at the impact of welfare reform on the third sector across Scotland along with a sector-wide survey and more in-depth interviews (to be conducted in January 2013). The aim of this mapping work is to:

• Build an overall picture of contribution of the sector in responding to the current and future impact of welfare reform in Scotland
• Develop a picture of the type, range and, where possible, reach of interventions, projects and activities provided which can help mitigate or reduce impact of welfare reform
• Create a fuller picture of the knowledge and expertise held by the sector relating to welfare reform including training, information held etc.
• Identify scope for collaborative working, joint projects and pilots
• Understand where and how statutory partners are engaging with the sector in developing local plans
• Identify gaps, where potentially additional investment from Scottish Government/other sources (if it became available) might be directed with best impact.

SCVO will build on the feedback and suggestions made at the conference through a regular bulletin bringing together updates, training and reports related to welfare reform and the sector from January 2013 onwards. SCVO has also convened a third sector reference group from across the sector to ensure that the sector’s work is connected up and the ideas and outputs are fed back directly back to Ministers, MSPs and the Scottish Government.  It will work with MSPs to ensure they are kept up to date with what welfare reform means for the third sector and the people it works with every day. Changing and influencing the public perception of what welfare reform means will continue to be a top priority. SCVO will share case studies, campaigns and stories with the media and work to make sure that welfare reform remains high in the media agenda. From mitigating the effects of welfare cuts to creating visions about how to do things differently, the sector has a critical role to play in tackling welfare reform. Through the Taking on Welfare Reform event, and the input and ideas listed in this report, a modest start has been made but there is much more to do. The scale of the challenge is daunting, and is too big for any one organisation to tackle. But by working together, and with local authority partners, and building on the momentum created so far, the third sector can take things to the next stage and make a difference to the hundreds of thousands of people across Scotland facing uncertainty, worry and poverty as a result of Westminster’s welfare cuts agenda. The event served as a reminder that the third sector has a loud voice. But more importantly, it also has the expertise and drive to take on the welfare reforms and fight for the right of families and communities across Scotland to be treated with respect and live their life with dignity.

Appendix 1

This section summarises some of the key points made by third sector representatives at the Taking on Welfare Reform event. Iain Gordon, Bethany Christian Trust We need to consider the combined impact of the full range of welfare reforms. Benefits cuts for vulnerable people who have difficulties with transitions can in turn lead to sanctions, delays, debt, rent arrears, homelessness. The Under 25’s are particularly vulnerable. The Bedroom Tax will lead to displacement and impact on the resilience of communities. We need to respond with more support, advocacy and crisis interventions. The third sector is good at collaboration and innovation, but the response needs to be wider and also include communities, and the public and private sectors. Satwat Rehman, One Parent Families Scotland There are 163,000 one parent families in Scotland and many children living in poverty. Many lone parents are already facing increased conditionality and sanctions, unreasonably so in some cases. This is putting so much pressure on them that some are removing themselves from the benefits system altogether. People are facing more extreme circumstances with both well-being and material impacts. Any safeguards in system to protect the most vulnerable have been weakened, so we need to measure the impact of interventions and share cumulative learning. In tackling welfare reform no one part of the sector or any one organisation can ‘do it alone’. Collaboration is critical. John Dickie, Child Poverty Action Group Independent forecasts predict that tens of thousands of children will be pushed into poverty and the emotional and social impact of this will be extensive and long lasting. It is vital we all continue to campaign for and promote a positive view of welfare – it is what civilised societies do. We need to ensure that families receive what they are entitled to and that staff and volunteers understand the changes. It’s important to build local knowledge for signposting people to support. Bill Scott , Inclusion Scotland Only 44% of disabled people personally have access to and use the internet. This compares to 79% internet access and usage amongst those without a disability. People with visual impairments are amongst those disabled people with the greatest practical difficulties in using the internet with particular problems in reading, navigating and form completion. People with physical impairments often have problems with forms timing out or internet connections being lost. This is likely to be a big issue given that the average completion time for a Universal Credit form is said to be 90 minutes. Disabled people will need:

• Access to computers – how can the public and voluntary sector work in partnership to best deliver this?
• Assistance to complete forms – need to tap into communities for volunteer assistance.  Could the sector help train Local Authority staff to assist with this?
• Advocates to assist them in taking their problems to Citizens Advice and DWP – again this will require a large number of volunteers.

Ewan Gurr, Trussell Trust Responding to people in need is not just the role/responsibility of Government. There is a substantial role for communities and for grassroots responses to meeting the needs of those affected by welfare reform. Looking back at history there has been a lot of intervention from both the third sector and agencies to alleviate need. The substantial increase in food banks in Scotland (over 20) is a huge concern. Lots of answers lie in communities and the Trussell Trust is keen to see more local responses. Moira Tasker, Citizens’ Advice Edinburgh (CAE) Two key changes which we believe will impact on family and individual budgets are direct payments to landlords and the move to household payments, and the move from fortnightly to monthly benefit payments. CAE has seen a 25% increase in demand for its services since the start of the recession. It’s estimated that demand for welfare benefits advice from the CAB service will increase by at least 50% with the coming cuts. People will look to the third sector for help. We need to be ready and funded to help them. Thousands of families will face stark choices - choosing to pay the rent, heat their home or buy food. The basics of life. What practical support can we offer to help families prepare for the cuts and budget on potentially very limited incomes? How can we work together to ensure our services provide holistic, timely and effective budgeting support which reaches those hardest hit by the cuts? Linda Allan, Greater Pollok Carers Centre We have seen an 87% increase in enquiries relating to welfare benefits (and rising). This includes form filling and specialist advice. There has also been a 31% increase in carers needing assistance with appeals. GPs are now looking to be paid for providing evidence in support of a benefit claim (this was free until recently). We are in the process of developing a new volunteer framework to help free up staff resource We’re also pursuing collaborative working with partners whenever possible - including private sector such as local supermarkets (online shopping/shopping with a budget). Robert Kelly, Glasgow Credit Union Strategy Group Credit Unions are viewed by the DWP as potentially part of the solution in administering budget/jam-jar accounts to deal with the implementation of Universal Credit/Welfare Reform. Credit unions across Scotland are actively involved in pilot projects in terms of tenant engagement, tenancy sustainability and delivery of products and services that will provide financial education and budgeting. However, credit unions alone cannot fill the service provision required to effectively deal with Universal Credit/welfare reform. Credit unions are keen to be involved in a more streamlined and effective cross referral system with stakeholder groups such as Money Advice, Citizens Advice, housing providers and DWP. Penny Brodie – LEAD Scotland The domino effect of the impact on individuals affecting staff and agencies, leads to closures, leads to more pressure on other organisations and their staff, which leads to reduced support for individuals. This creates a vicious circle. We need effective and efficient referral pathways between organisations and we should seek to empower people before the changes take effect. Henry Simmons – Alzheimer Scotland Everything is predicated on family and community support/capacity, but this is close to collapse. The third sector must be the absolute protector of human rights. The welfare cuts are effectively  mass-discrimination – we need to use a human rights platform to counter propaganda re. welfare. Margaret Lynch – CAS The advice sector needs to know what practical support is available e.g. food/ home kits, representation, form-filling. We need to map all of this. Existing and separate funding streams mitigate against collaboration and the third sector needs to take the lead. We need to see clearer reporting on the impact of welfare reform at individual, organisation and sector level. 

Appendix 2

This section outlines some of the clear messages on what the third sector and Scottish Government should do next which emerged from the conference evaluation. “The views should be fed back to the UK Government on how they are destroying people’s lives; the Scottish Government needs to back the voluntary organisations doing this.” “This can only be the start, we should go back to our local areas and organise ourselves using our local knowledge and expertise and engage, mobilise and activise within our communities via the single interface as the local focal point, then come together under a national umbrella to co-ordinate and organize how we go forward.” “Better joint working between partner organisations, possibly facilitated by SCVO? There seemed to be a lot of expertise in the room, but a lack of knowledge of how to harness this so we can work together.” “There needs to be urgent follow up to establish effective action in taking forward work that will foster collaborations and other necessary responses to mitigate the impact of these reforms.” “Planning and undertaking of cross agency initiatives.” “There should be more community based events held to inform local community and voluntary organisations of the impending welfare reform”. “I really hope that all organisations go back and either tailor their services to meet the needs of the people who will be affected or join up in partnership with others who can support their members”