WHAT DO THE BENEFIT AND WIDER WELFARE CHANGES MEAN FOR PEOPLE ON LOW INCOMES IN HAMPSHIRE, PORTSMOUTH AND SOUTHAMPTON ?
Tina Beatty (Researcher) and Mark Mitchell (BST Chair) at the Seminar
Report launch: Wednesday 13th April and Friday May 20th at the Holiday Inn, Winchester and Rushmoor Council Offices, Farnborough. 140 delegates from Councils, Housing Associations, Citizens Advice Bureaux, Job Centre Plus, homelessness, mental health and other third sector and statutory projects attended the free launch events and received copies of the newly published Report and Executive Summary: “The Impact of Welfare Reform and Public Sector Spending Reductions on Low Income Households in Hampshire”.
Delegates heard a detailed presentation from Christina Beatty on the potential impact of the changes in incapacity and long term sickness benefits, Job Seekers Allowance, Lone Parents Income Support and Housing Benefit locally. She stressed this can only be a partial picture in what is a dynamic and rapidly changing situation. Delegates discussed the scale of the budget deficit, supported housing, the difficulty in obtaining good local data on the impact on ethnic minority groups, the lack of tracking of people who are no longer eligible for benfits and their circumstances and ways in which the impact of the changes can be monitored through advice services. In follow up workshops ways of mitigating the impact and increasing awareness were debated. Mark Mitchell, Chair of the Trust emphasised the Trust would be interested in follow up action research if Councils , Housing Associations or other organisations could help support this.
