In the wake of benefit reform, Sue (not her real name) and her husband have found themselves in a desperate situation.
They both have mental health issues and are long-term benefit claimants. Sue has been claiming disability living allowance, but it stops this month as a result of the change to the system. She applied to transition to personal independent payments – a new benefit for people who need help taking part in everyday life – and has been turned down.
The couple’s income has already been reduced by £14 a week because they have a spare bedroom, and, not understanding the consequences, Sue began to take out payday loans. This has exacerbated an already very difficult situation, and as a result the couple now find themselves in debt that is growing each week.
At the Dove Workshop in Banwen, the Dulais Valley, we support people like Sue, who need help to deal with the reduction in their income and the adverse impact the changes to the benefit system have had on their lives.
In recent years we have had to adapt our community services to include support for those who need help to make sense of their benefits and gain skills to manage their personal finances effectively.
We are set up in an area where there are few local job opportunities – especially those that provide a living wage – and there is poor access to services. There is no bank in the Dulais Valley and the nearest town is four miles away, but there are no bus services that cross the valley. The town centre that is easiest to get to by public transport is Neath, which is 13 miles away where the council offices, the credit union offices and banks are located. But a single adult fare costs £5.70, a return costs £6.55.
We have started to raise awareness of the benefit changes to ensure people understand how they would be affected when they were introduced. It has become clear that many benefit claimants are not aware of the proposed changes and what it might mean for them.
Sue is now being supported during her appeal process for personal independent payment by Neath Port Talbot’s welfare rights unit, which is funded by Welsh government’s Communities First Programme. We provide office space for benefits advice workers from the Western Valleys Communities First Team, five days a week.
Communities First is an integral part of the Welsh government’s Tackling Poverty Action Plan and includes a Financial Inclusion Strategy that focuses on access to financial services, the provision of affordable credit and savings and improved access to financial and debt advice.
In the last year, these advice workers have helped Western Valley residents secure benefit claims amounting to £566,000. They have helped resolve cases for 110 people and currently have over 120 more still to help with.
Dove Workshop helps people in situations similar to Sue’s by providing a community space that houses a team of experienced staff who deliver projects such as ‘Cwm-NI Iach – Healthy Company’, a mental health project and Oxfam’s ‘Sustainable Livelihoods’ Project.
Our advice worker Kate will continue to work with Sue to increase her financial management skills and raise awareness of alternative financial services, in particular the role of credit unions. We would like to see more people use credit unions; they play a very important part in supporting people who are living on a low income, some of whom turn to payday or doorstep lenders and find it difficult to keep up with the re-payments.
Meanwhile we have also started a drop-in service to help people access services online and apply for jobs. We continue to support people who have been sanctioned by the Department for Work and Pensions to appeal decisions and we have a referral system to local food banks for those whose benefits have been cut.
Lesley Smith is joint co-ordinator of the Dove Workshop.
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