Restoring Faith in the Safety Net
A new report from Church Action on Poverty shows serious failures in the UK’s welfare safety net, and calls for an urgent Parliamentary Inquiry.
Restoring Faith in the Safety Net presents a detailed overview of the holes that have appeared in our benefits safety net, strongly restates the case for the welfare safety net, and lays out recommendations for action to reinstate the safety net principle.
In the UK today, an increasing and alarming number of holes have appeared in that safety net. Undue delays, errors, and excessive sanctions are leaving large numbers of people without income for days, weeks or even months at a time. Too many people, including children, are being left at risk of hunger or destitution as a result. Church Action on Poverty’s new report Restoring Faith in the Safety Net contains many stories of real hardship caused by failures in the benefits system, often leaving people penniless and hungry.
Frank Field has just been elected as chair of the House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee, the cross-party group responsible for overseeing the benefits system. We need as many MPs as possible to urge the Committee to launch an inquiry.