N E W S

Something nasty going on

Changes to the welfare state are undermining families and communities, it has been warned. A Liverpool debate that examined the impact of the spending cuts heard how societys most vulnerable members are being affected despite government promises not to make them bear the brunt. Alison Gelder, chief executive of the charity Housing Justice, told how a new cap on housing benefit for under-35s means some of the poorest parents now struggle to have their children to stay. property into shared housing, which means they can no longer have their children over to stay. We say this is really destructive to families. Gelder was joined on the panel by Niall Cooper, coordinator of the charity Church Action on Poverty, and Liverpool Labour MPs Louise Ellman and Luciana Berger. situation where families of four are living in one-bedroom flats. Ellman believes communities are feeling increasingly insecure and unsettled as the cuts kick in. Housing benefit changes may force some people to move into smaller properties, where they are available. The legal aid budget is being slashed, council its also about using this opportunity to roll back the state and make people fend for themselves, including those who are extremely vulnerable.

Lobbying
Ellman urged constituents to lobby their politicians about the impact of the cuts on their loved ones and encouraged voluntary groups to work together and to look for alternative money through trust funds and grants. And she praised Liverpool City Council leader Joe Anderson frontrunner to be the citys mayor for lobbying the government for extra funds for the city. He is trying to secure money to rebuild some schools and to develop a cruise liner terminal on the docks. We need to encourage more economic activity in the city, she said. It feels like we have been here before, perhaps in the 1980s, although this might be worse. We have to keep going though, keep on opposing this and trying to make those in the coalition see sense.

Unsettled
Gelder acknowledged government efforts to tackle street homelessness through its No Second Night Out campaign and the creation of personalised budgets for entrenched rough sleepers, but said the removal of ring-fenced funding had enabled hard-pressed councils to divert money from homeless services. She said: What we are seeing is really a dereliction of the welfare state. Once the welfare reforms kick in we will see some families choosing between rent and food. Some will have to move into overcrowded places, and well see the kind of

Destructive
Since January, the maximum housing benefit available to those who are under 35 and renting from a private landlord is the cost of a single room in a shared house. She said: A lot of the people I know who are affected by this are men estranged from their children. They are having to move from a self-contained

We are seeing a dereliction of the welfare state. Gelder

advice services are being scaled back, there are few job or training opportunities for the unemployed many of whose benefits are being cut and there are huge changes proposed for NHS provision. She said: There is something pretty nasty going on. Yes, it is about tackling national debt but

Youve gotta hand it to them: new exhibition

Inequality
Cooper called on faith and voluntary groups to campaign against inequality, which is greater now than at any point in the past 60 years. He said: The government doesnt want to talk about inequality they want to talk about austerity. In the coalition agreement they promised that the poorest would be protected from the worst of the cuts but that has not happened. Sadly the government has huge public support for its welfare reforms not in Liverpool and probably not in other northern cities. But in the south they do, even among people who are not doing that well themselves. There is a perception that people who are on benefits are getting it easy, but we know this is not the case. Overcoming this idea is going to be a real uphill battle.
CIARA LEEMING

Hugh Keane from Didsbury, Manchester, with sculptures of hands, his favourite exhibit at the citys Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI). Keane is one of the men with learning disabilities who have created a film and exhibition at MOSI after attending therapeutic sessions at the museum. The exhibition, Manpowered: A Mens Group Challenging Disability, is the first in MOSIs new community exhibition gallery. Photo: Chris Foster/MOSI
4 THE BIG ISSUE IN THE NORTH 13-19 FEBRUARY 2012