Welfare reform - finding hope in crisis

The upheaval caused by UK welfare reform has been dramatic. 85% of the cuts have affected women, 9,000 lone parents in Scotland were sanctioned over a 12 month period, and delays mean that disabled people are waiting an average 107 days to have their cases decided. But the real problem is that many of the changes to welfare are insidious. They have many complex, often unanticipated indirect consequences for both people in crisis and the organisations that support them.

One positive thing to come from the welfare reform agenda - it's got us talking about the type of welfare system we want to see.

I spoke at a seminar SCVO co-hosted with NHS Health Scotland this week. We were taking stock of the devastating impact of UK welfare reform on the people our sector and the NHS work with on the frontline. In fact, one really positive thing to come from the welfare reform agenda is that it's got us talking about the type of welfare system we would really like to see in the future. It's reassuring that both the NHS and third sector are both appalled at increasing benefits sanctions. We seem to all agree now that sanctions just don’t work. But local authorities are moving to make substantial cuts to services. Eligibility for support is being reduced, our hospitals are stretched and we are seeing more charging for social care. Many of us are concerned that flagship initiatives to empower people such as 'self-directed support' are being used as an opportunity to make budget cuts. But as we near the elections, the rhetoric is getting increasingly nasty, including even more punitive sanctions proposed by the Prime Minister last week for addicts, people with obesity and unemployed youth. Mainstream parties are trying to show how tough they can get on welfare recipients. And we haven't even taken into account yet the polarising debates on benefits and immigration that would come from a referendum from the EU. We need to evolve our narrative on welfare. What's to be our new story? At the seminar we realised that getting people into jobs is important - but it's only part of the story. For me, there are three things we need to really get our heads around:

• How do we make sure we value all the different ways people in our communities contribute to society, and support each other
• How can we move to completely abolish sanctions, and accept that 99.99% of people do best when they get positive unconditional support from people they trust when they get into crisis

• How we can ensure that human rights and dignity are the foundation pillars of any future welfare support system? This would mean completely breaking the link between benefits and paid work.

In preparation for the elections in 2015 and 2016, SCVO will be working closely with practitioners in the NHS, and professionals in our own and other sectors to plan our overarching narratives for welfare, recognising the deep links it has with the way we run our economy, enhance our democracy and rebuild our society.