Agenda item

9.1

It was formally moved by Councillor Julie Dore, and formally seconded by Councillor Olivia Blake, that this Council:-

(a)       believes that Universal Credit’s callous and chaotic roll-out will push families into poverty in Sheffield, which is unacceptable, and that the roll-out of Universal Credit must be stopped immediately;

(b)       notes that the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Rt. Hon. Esther McVey MP, has conceded that some of the poorest families will be £200 a week worse off and that, when asked in Parliament, the Minister could not guarantee that no one in Sheffield will be worse off;

(c)        believes that the Government are using Universal Credit as a vehicle for cuts - leaving people in debt, rent arrears or forced to turn to food banks to survive – and that claimants are still experiencing delays to initial payments, with the Department for Work and Pensions estimating in June that 40% of claimants were still experiencing financial difficulties even 9 months in to their claim;

(d)       notes research from the Trussell Trust which shows moving on to Universal Credit from existing benefits is the fastest growing cause of referrals to food banks and that, on average, food bank demand in areas where Universal Credit has been in place for at least 12 months increased by 52%, compared with 13% in areas where the new benefit had been in place for three months or less;

(e)       notes that a wide range of organisations, including Citizens Advice, the Child Poverty Action Group and over 80 disability organisations, have warned that the Government’s plans still risk thousands of people losing support either temporarily or falling out of the system altogether;

(f)        confirms that £17 billion of social security cuts have already taken place since 2010, much of which took place under the coalition government, such as the introduction of the Bedroom Tax and cuts to council tax support, which have already had a damaging impact;

(g)       recalls the 2014 report commissioned by the Council and published by Sheffield Hallam University, about the impact of welfare reform on Sheffield under the coalition government, which highlighted that:-

(i)         some local communities were hit by welfare reform five times harder than others;

(ii)        just under half of the financial loss from welfare reform fell on working households;

(iii)       couples with children lost an average of nearly £1,700 a year;

(iv)       lone parents lost over £2,000 a year; and

(v)        men and women with health problems or disabilities were significantly disadvantaged;

(h)       believes Universal Credit is not just a vehicle for cuts, its design is also deeply flawed; and

(i)         believes Universal Credit isn’t working and cannot continue in its current form and that the roll-out in Sheffield should be stopped and a genuinely comprehensive system in which no one is worse off should be introduced.

9.2

Whereupon, it was formally moved by Councillor Penny Baker, and formally seconded by Councillor Richard Shaw, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the addition of new paragraphs (j) to (o) as follows:-

(j)         notes the Joseph Rowntree Foundation analysis that Universal Credit in its current form is likely to push around 300,000 people into poverty by 2020;

(k)        agrees with the Liberal Democrat leader, the Rt. Hon. Sir Vince Cable, MP, that the implementation of Universal Credit is wrong and the further roll out of Universal Credit should be paused to take time to fix the damaging design flaws which are pushing thousands of families into poverty; 

(l)         notes that since 2015, £3 billion a year has been taken out of Universal Credit and that the recent announcement in the Chancellor’s budget goes nowhere near addressing this shortfall and calls for all of the money to be put back;

(m)      believes that the Government are refusing to fix Universal Credit for “ideological reasons”;

(n)       calls for three specific changes to Universal Credit:-

(i)         a reversal of the cuts to the work allowance, worth around £3bn a year, which the Joseph Rowntree Foundation analysis suggests would boost the budgets of 9.6 million parents and children, 4.9 million of them in working poverty, and take 300,000 people out of poverty;

(ii)        improvements to Universal Credit for the 800,000 self-employed who will eventually claim the benefit; by extending the period before the “minimum income floor” cap kicks in, from 12 to 24 months; and averaging income over several months so that people are not penalised for fluctuating incomes (all at a cost of around £400m); and

(iii)       ending the benefits freeze a year early so that benefits are inflation proofed again (at an estimated annual cost of £1.6bn in 2019/20); and

(o)       calls for Labour to join the Liberal Democrats in campaigning for the reform of Universal Credit, as the principles are right but the current system is wrong.

9.3

It was then formally moved by Councillor Martin Phipps, and formally seconded by Councillor Alison Teal, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the deletion of paragraph (i) and the addition of new paragraphs (i) to (k) as follows:-

(i)         believes Universal Credit isn’t working and cannot continue in its current form and that:-

(i)         Universal Credit should be scrapped; and

(ii)        Universal Basic Income should be trialled;

(j)         resolves to act compassionately to avoid punishing claimants who are awaiting Universal Credit payments, which unacceptably take at least five weeks; and

(k)        resolves to send a copy of this Motion to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, and the Prime Minister.

9.4

The amendment moved by Councillor Penny Baker was put to the vote and was negatived.

9.4.1

(NOTE: Councillors Kaltum Rivers, Douglas Johnson, Robert Murphy, Martin Phipps and Alison Teal voted for paragraphs (j) to (n), and against paragraph (o) of the amendment, and asked for this to be recorded.)

9.5

The amendment moved by Councillor Martin Phipps was then put to the vote and was carried, except for paragraph (i) of the amendment, which was negatived.

9.6

The original Motion, as amended, was then put as a Substantive Motion in the following form and carried:-

RESOLVED: That this Council:-

(a)       believes that Universal Credit’s callous and chaotic roll-out will push families into poverty in Sheffield, which is unacceptable, and that the roll-out of Universal Credit must be stopped immediately;

(b)       notes that the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Rt. Hon. Esther McVey MP, has conceded that some of the poorest families will be £200 a week worse off and that, when asked in Parliament, the Minister could not guarantee that no one in Sheffield will be worse off;

(c)        believes that the Government are using Universal Credit as a vehicle for cuts - leaving people in debt, rent arrears or forced to turn to food banks to survive – and that claimants are still experiencing delays to initial payments, with the Department for Work and Pensions estimating in June that 40% of claimants were still experiencing financial difficulties even 9 months in to their claim;

(d)       notes research from the Trussell Trust which shows moving on to Universal Credit from existing benefits is the fastest growing cause of referrals to food banks and that, on average, food bank demand in areas where Universal Credit has been in place for at least 12 months increased by 52%, compared with 13% in areas where the new benefit had been in place for three months or less;

(e)       notes that a wide range of organisations, including Citizens Advice, the Child Poverty Action Group and over 80 disability organisations, have warned that the Government’s plans still risk thousands of people losing support either temporarily or falling out of the system altogether;

(f)        confirms that £17 billion of social security cuts have already taken place since 2010, much of which took place under the coalition government, such as the introduction of the Bedroom Tax and cuts to council tax support, which have already had a damaging impact;

(g)       recalls the 2014 report commissioned by the Council and published by Sheffield Hallam University, about the impact of welfare reform on Sheffield under the coalition government, which highlighted that:-

(i)         some local communities were hit by welfare reform five times harder than others;

(ii)        just under half of the financial loss from welfare reform fell on working households;

(iii)       couples with children lost an average of nearly £1,700 a year;

(iv)       lone parents lost over £2,000 a year; and

(v)        men and women with health problems or disabilities were significantly disadvantaged;

(h)       believes Universal Credit is not just a vehicle for cuts, its design is also deeply flawed;

(i)         believes Universal Credit isn’t working and cannot continue in its current form and that the roll-out in Sheffield should be stopped and a genuinely comprehensive system in which no one is worse off should be introduced;

(j)         resolves to act compassionately to avoid punishing claimants who are awaiting Universal Credit payments, which unacceptably take at least five weeks; and

(k)        resolves to send a copy of this Motion to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, and the Prime Minister.