Findings From The Hampshire Cuts Campaign Research Summary

findings from the hampshire cuts campaign research -------------------------------------------------- summary report september 2014

Findings from the Hampshire Cuts Campaign research
--------------------------------------------------
Summary Report
September 2014
PART 1: INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND
Background
Since the Government’s Emergency Budget in 2010, Disabled People have
seen massive cuts to their benefits and support services, including –
by 2015 – £18 billion from the benefits budget and £8 billion from
social care.
These changes represent a serious threat to the independence,
inclusion and quality of life. What is even more unfair is that
Disabled People are taking a bigger ‘hit’ from the cuts than any other
group in society. A recent report by the Centre for Welfare Reform
found that Disabled People, who make up 8% of the population, are
being hit by a massive 29% of all cuts being implemented.
The Government’s own figures estimate that an extra 50,000 disabled
individuals will be considered to be in poverty under the relative
income measure as a result of the decision to uprate most benefits by
just 1% per year.
And, this is not just about benefit cuts. In addition to the
significant squeeze on incomes, Disabled People are also having to
deal with big cuts in public services, especially Care and Support.
The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services in England say
that they have already had to cut 20 per cent of their budgets for
Adult Social Care since 2010 - at a time when growing pressures from
rising numbers of older and disabled adults continues to grow at three
per cent per year.”
About the Campaign and what we are trying to achieve
====================================================
We know that cuts to benefits and care and support are having a
detrimental impact on the lives of Disabled People and other groups
affected. But, public awareness of the scale of the problem and what
it really means for people’s day-to-day lives is fairly low. There is
also an added problem that what media debate there is has often been
distorted by an unhelpful and misleading presentation of deserving vs
undeserving benefit claims. Too often this portrays Disabled People as
‘scroungers’ – which is both completely inaccurate and grossly unfair.
We want to raise awareness of the real impact of the cuts in Hampshire
and Southampton and try to influence a more realistic tone to the
political and media debates.
Most importantly, we want to engage with local politicians to help
them understand the impact on people in their local communities and
inform their deliberations about the future direction of austerity
measures - both at Westminster and in local Government.
We hope to influence decision making over the future of welfare reform
in ways that will reduce the negative impact on Disabled People.
How we collected our evidence
A total of 47 people contributed to our research either by filling in
a survey questionnaire or participating in interviews. 23 people also
completed 4 weekly diaries recording the detailed impact of the cuts
on their day-to-day lives in terms of household finances, care and
support arrangements, and health and well being. This includes both
welfare benefits as well as cuts to social care and (where applicable)
other public services.
The data for our research was collected between June 2013 and March
2014.
All the people that participated in the research received a voucher
for their contribution. Some people commented that their input was not
dependent upon receiving a voucher as they were just ‘pleased to have
their voices heard, have someone to talk to and help others
experiencing similar struggles as their own’.
In addition to this summary report we have also produced a campaign
briefing and a briefing on sources of help and advice for people
affected by the cuts, both of which are on the SPECTRUM web site.
We have set up a dedicated Facebook page, which is regularly updated
with news, reports and articles. http://facebook.com/hampshirecuts
PART 2: SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS FROM OUR RESEARCH
Feedback relating to the impact of the cuts covered a broad range of
issues including:
*
Severe financial difficulties, with many people regularly going
without food or other essential items;
*
Concerns about changes in eligibility for Employment Support
Allowance (ESA);
*
Cuts to local authority support packages, leading to strain on
both Disabled People and their families, with some people
frequently being left in very vulnerable situations;
*
An increase in social isolation and exclusion resulting from lack
of support and/or money.
*
The extremely negative impact on both physical and, especially,
mental health.
*
The impact of cuts to community facilities and other public
services, including libraries and transport services.
Impact of cuts to care and support
Many people told us about the cuts to services and benefits impacting
on their ability to access the community or not having the assistance
needed to support family life or enjoy leisure activities. This in
turn is leading to people feeling very isolated.
Our findings also provide very strong evidence that cuts to services
are having a real impact on peoples ability to lead positive
lifestyles that are free from stress and anxiety. People regularly
talked about feeling lonely, depressed and fearful of opening post for
fear of receiving ‘more bad news’.
The majority of people interviewed were fearful of the future and felt
that there was a very real risk of having even less choice and control
in their lives.
For example:
*
52 per cent of people completing the research diaries reported
having to go without essential help as a result of cuts in their
care and support;
*
70 per cent said they were having to go without any social or
leisure activities;
*
48 per cent reported being placed in unsafe or vulnerable
situations as a result of cuts in their care and support;
*
65 per cent also said that they were having to ask family and
friends to try make up the for the gaps in their support.
“My friend provides support with helping me in and out of the bath. He
can only come once a week as he works so I’m reduced to having a bath
once a week now.” 08
“I get 12 hours a week to cover the absolute basics like personal
care. There is never enough so my family help me.” 09
“The standard of interrogation from the direct payments has gone from
an encouraging chat about how it’s going to “how many hours do you
REALLY need” and the policy of having a surplus allowed of a few hours
in case you are very sick has been removed. You then have to pay money
back. The quote “other people need that money” levelled at you. It’s
become punitive and painful and it didn’t used to feel like that. I
need funding for my assistance dog but after this week I dare not
ask!”
Impact on finances
==================
Several people have been forced into real poverty, particularly as a
result of cuts to benefits, with some accessing food banks and other
forms of charity or having to resort to loans and credit to make ends
meet. Many are going without essential items of household expenditure
like central heating, or having to choose between paying bills or
having enough to eat in order to avoid getting into further debt.
62 per cent of people who completed the research diaries reported
having to go without or cut down on food for at least 3 weeks a month,
while a similar number were going without or cutting down on heating
and lighting.
“I can’t afford to buy food this week, I have had to use bits up in
the freezer - my emergency stuff - and I’m down to one tin of soup.”
“I would rather go without food to pay bills. I have done this
before.”
An even higher number - 75% - were cutting down or going without
clothing or other basic household items.
“I’ve had to go without food because the electric bill is so high, so
I’m now going without heating and lighting so that this doesn’t happen
again.”
“I would rather go without than put myself in debt. I eat one meal a
day and go without the rest of the time. I put the hot water on for
one hour. That’s not enough but if it goes over that I panic.”
“… we can’t even afford to buy things from a charity shop. Family who
have given us money have only been able to donate enough for food and
essentials like hygiene products. Things like warm clothes have to be
gone without.”
More than half (53%) reported having to go without or cut down on
disability related items for at least 3 weeks a month.
“The cost of FUEL is a major impact and so we are trying not to put
the heating on and wrap up in blankets. With Severe Rheumatoid, the
cold really affects my joints so I am spending more time in bed under
blankets.”
The biggest impact was on social and leisure activities, with over 80%
reporting that they had to cut down or go without. While that is not
usually seen as ‘essential’ expenditure, it does still have a major
impact on quality of life and well-being, particularly in terms of
people’s need for social and emotional support:
“I rely on my friends to access the community. If they are not
available I cannot go to the cinema, access the arts. This is one of
my favourite things …. without this life is not worth living and is
grey. This helps my depression.”
“My main care and support - social and emotional - is missing from my
life. I don’t go out and I don’t visit friends.”
“Library services have been drastically cut and that increases my
isolation - we are without our mobile library.”
Financial pressures
===================
The reduction in people’s incomes obviously creates a number of other
financial pressures in their lives. For example:
*
Over a third of the people completing the research diaries
reported being chased for non-payment of bills for at least 3
weeks in a month;
*
1 in 5 were accessing food banks nearly every week;
*
Just over 60 per cent were relying on financial help from friends
or family, while 40 per cent had taken out loans to make ends meet
during the period of our research.
Some people also stressed that, while they really did want to work,
their health made this very difficult if not impossible. Consequently
they felt that they were being very unfairly ‘penalised’ by the
benefit reforms. Ironically, it was clear that, in some cases, the
negative impact on people’s health as a result of increased stress,
anxiety and depression, was actually making it more difficult for
people to consider taking up employment.
These findings are all the more worrying given that some of the
welfare reforms have not been implemented yet, so the situation is
only going to get worse.
For example, while Personal Independent Payment (PIP)has already
replaced Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for new claimants, from
2015 all existing claimants of working age will be re-assessed, with
much more stringent eligibility criteria. DWP’s own figures state that
the Government anticipates 500,000 fewer claimants as a result of
these changes.
Similarly, changes to Council Tax Benefit mean that even those on
income related benefits have to pay a contribution and this has just
recently been increased to 25% of the liability so the effects of that
are still to be seen.
The introduction of Universal Credit, which had been planned for
October 2013, has been delayed, but if and when it is finally
introduced, it is anticipated that nationally two million new claims
will be submitted. So, again, the impact has yet to be felt.
Impact on health and well-being
===============================
Perhaps the most worrying part of our findings concerns the impact on
Disabled People’s health and well-being – especially their mental
health. Our research diaries included a module of standardised
questions that are used by some of the leading national debt charities
to alert advisors to cases where people should be advised that they
are likely to be at risk of serious mental health problems.
The vast majority of people who completed the diaries were in that
category – in many cases well over the threshold in fact. So, for
example, 96 per cent reported ‘feeling down, depressed or hopeless’
nearly every day each week. It was a similar story with people being
unable to ‘stop or control worrying’ or having ‘little interest or
pleasure in doing things’.
And, every single person who completed the four weekly diaries
reported feeling ‘down, depressed or hopeless’ at least several days a
week.
“It’s everyday, all the time. Sometimes I feel like I want to jump off
a building and sometimes I cry when I’m on the phone dealing with my
benefits. …. All the time I feel depressed. I constantly think about
what will happen next.”
“I am very anxious all the time because I am so isolated here. … I am
stuck here and it is driving me bonkers. I feel very depressed.”
“Even if I’m well I feel anxious. I feel trapped and snowed under.”
“I have had panic attacks this week. They are triggered by stress, and
worry about my finances adds to this. I cannot take the meds as I am
allergic to them. Stress also contributes to my pain linked to MS.”
“The stress of the cuts adds to my anxiety levels. I worry about what
will happen about the Bedroom Tax. I worry about getting into debt. I
worry about having to leave my home because of the Bedroom Tax and I
worry all that stress will possibly bring on another stroke.”
These are all classic signs that people are at risk of serious mental
health problems like clinical depression. If the Government seriously
believes that this is a good way to encourage people to become less
dependent on welfare then they are going to be sorely disappointed.
PART3: campaigning and influencing strategy
Campaign objectives
===================
Our objectives for the campaign are:
*
to raise awareness of the real impact of the cuts in Hampshire and
Southampton and try to influence a more realistic tone to the
political and media debates;
*
to engage with local politicians to help them understand the
impact on people in their local communities and inform their
deliberations about the future direction of austerity measures -
both at Westminster and in local Government;
*
to influence decision making over the future of welfare reform in
ways that will reduce the negative impact on Disabled People.
Key messages
============
Some of the key messages we want to get across are:
*
Far from living it up at the taxpayers expense, many Disabled
People were living at close to poverty levels even before the
cuts. There is plenty of authoritative evidence for this,
including from Government data sources. The cuts have simply
pushed people over the financial cliff edge.
*
The impact of cuts to benefits and services is cumulative and,
taken together, can have extremely negative consequences for
people’s ability to have any sort of life at all.
*
The risks of social isolation and exclusion are greatly increased
at a result of the cuts and this not only has costs for Disabled
People themselves but also for the rest of society (e.g. by making
people even more detached from the labour market which,
ultimately, increases the welfare bill and, by increasing mental
and physical health problems, adds to the costs for the NHS etc)
*
While the situation is already serious, there is much more to come
as some of the cuts are still to be fully implemented. While it
may not be realistic to expect any reversal of cuts already made
(in the short term at least), there is a strong case to be made
for reviewing cuts that are planned for the future.
Dissemination and media activities
We will publish our findings and briefings on the SPECTRUM web site,
with links posted on our Social Media platforms. These will also be
circulated to all SENDPO members and other local and national
organisations we have had contact with during the campaign.
A Press Release will be circulated to all local newspapers and, if the
story is not picked up, we will follow-up by contacting the Editors to
discuss what we might be able to do to increase their level of
interest. We will also seek to get the campaign featured on local
radio (e.g. Solent Radio, Unity 101) and participate in studio
interviews if invited to do so. Where possible we will offer press
contact with people who have participated in our research and who are
willing to talk to the press about how the cuts have affected them.
We will also produce relevant and engaging content for posting on
Social Media – e.g. photos; short (one line) key messages for Twitter;
quotes from the campaign diaries (which will be anonymous); and
possibly a short video of people talking about the impact of the cuts
on their day to day lives for posting on You Tube.
Everything we say will be based on evidence and reasoned argument. The
emphasis will be on highlighting the real impact on Disabled People’s
lives. We do not intend to be aggressive or sensationalist, although
we do want to emphasise the seriousness of the situation and why it is
unfair.
We also recognise that some of the public bodies involved in
implementing cuts may not be completely happy about the situation
either. We do not want to get into a ‘blame game’ or to close off
debate, but we do want to introduce some urgency into debate. We
cannot – and should not – refrain from saying that Disabled People are
being hit unfairly if that is what the evidence shows.
Local Councils
==============
We will seek to raise awareness of our findings amongst local
councils. Our message to local councils is that while they might not
be able to remove or reverse the cuts directly they should be looking
very closely at every measure possible to try to mitigate the negative
impact on Disabled People.
For example, the high incidence of health problems will clearly impact
on local health services. Identifying people at risk and offering help
at an early stage may mitigate some of the negative impact on health
and well-being as well as reducing strain on services.
Similarly, within the obvious budget constraints, as much support as
possible should be given to advocacy and advice agencies, who are the
‘first line of defence’ in many cases but are themselves under
enormous strain.
Influencing political and media debates
=======================================
We want to challenge the misleading and discriminatory portrayal of
Disabled People as ‘welfare scroungers’ in large parts of the media,
which has had a very negative impact on public attitudes and behaviour
towards Disabled People. Again, the emphasis will be on evidence and
reasoned argument aimed at showing why this wrong and trying to
persuade people to take a different view.
However, we also need to be careful to avoid re-enforcing such
prejudices in the way we portray the issues. The ‘politics of fear’
and ‘scrounger rhetoric’ may well add to hostility or provide greater
opportunity for it to find expression, in the same way that
anti-immigration rhetoric has sometimes done for racist incidents.
So, we need to avoid using language and ideas that – even with the
best of intentions – inadvertently portrays Disabled People as
helpless, vulnerable victims as this is likely to be
counter-productive.
The General Election in 2015 obviously presents an opportunity to
influence local MPs and Parliamentary Candidates as securing votes
will obviously be uppermost in their minds. We should make sure they
are aware of the findings (via direct mailings and face to face
briefings) and we should ask questions of all candidates on how they
intend to deal with the issues if elected and what their parties will
be saying in their manifestos.
Our other dissemination activities may also be used to influence
voters indirectly but this would obviously need to be done in a
non-partisan way. We will present the evidence and leave people to
draw their own conclusions about the political response.
There is also an opportunity to exert pressure in Westminster via the
upcoming UK Statutory Report on implementation of the United Nations
Convention the Rights of Disabled Persons (UNCRPD), which will be
debated in Parliament. Baroness Campbell has asked to see our report
and will raise it in the Lords when the UNCRPD is debated.
Disabled People’s Organisations and other ULOS
==============================================
We have already presented a summary of findings from our research to
SENDPO and will be circulating the full report and campaign briefings
to SENDPO members so that they can use these in their own work. We
will hold further discussions with SENDPO about how we can most
effectively co-ordinate our activities across the region.
We will also circulate findings and briefings to other DPOs and ULOs
in our local networks in Southampton and Hampshire.
APPENDIX: Graphical representation of key findings
Impact of Cuts in Care and Support

Impact on Household Finances

Financial Pressures

Impact on Health and Well Being

12