S E R V I C E

FACT S E R V I C E

165 Campaigners win on benefits overpayments UK's debt could lead to higher taxes

167 Fuel poverty increases by half a million homes

166 Career fears over taking paternity leave State pension should rise by 2.5% next April

168 Government delays on agency workers' rights College survey warns over care in the NHS

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Campaigners win on benefits overpayments The government cannot recover overpayments of social security benefits through the courts where the claimant is not at fault, the court of Appeal has ruled in a victory for anti-poverty campaigners, the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG). Between March 2006 and February 2007, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) wrote to over 65,000 claimants telling them it could take them to court at common law if they did not pay back overpayments. The letter acknowledged the money was paid due to a DWP error and was not recoverable under social security law. Benefits affected include those paid to families and those with disabilities as well as to those over 60. Three judges in the Court of Appeal ruled the government had no power to recoup the overpayments unless they were the result of misrepresentation or fraud. The appeal court’s ruling recognised that “the impact … can be devastating to a person already living in or close to penury”. The court’s decision means the government cannot write these letters to claimants in future. The

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CPAG is considering the implications for whether claimants can recover money they have already paid back to the DWP. Sarah Clarke, solicitor for the CPAG, said: “We brought this case because we know that letters sent to vulnerable claimants threatening court action if they do not repay have caused considerable distress. We are delighted with the ruling that the DWP cannot recover these overpayments through the courts.” www.cpag.org.uk/press/2009/141009.htm

UK's debt could lead to higher taxes The UK’s spiralling debt will lead to tax rises, spending cuts and delayed retirement far beyond what is being discussed, one of the most respected think tanks has said. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said the retirement age will have to be raised to 70 if debt levels are to fall by 2015. Alternatively, the government would have to raise the basic rate of income tax by 7p in the pound, it argued.

LABOUR RESEARCH DEPARTMENT

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“No politician so far has addressed the scale of the problem,” said the NIESR. “The build up of government debt, which may reach 93% of GDP by 2015, will leave a burden for our descendants.” Other measures to reduce debt levels could include extending VAT to a wider range of goods, or imposing a five-year public sector pay freeze. All these policies would raise the equivalent of 2% of gross domestic product, the NIESR said. The think tank also forecast that the UK economy would return to growth by the end of the year, growing by 1.3% next year and by 1.5% in 2011.

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It included fathers having:  two weeks’ paternity leave at the birth of their child at 90% pay;  four months of dedicated "parental leave" with at least eight weeks of leave being at 90%; and  another four months’ parental leave — that can be taken by either the mother or father — eight weeks of which is taken at 90% pay. Andrea Murray, acting group director strategy for the EHRC, said: “It is clear that today’s families require a modern approach to balancing work and childcare commitments. Fathers are telling us they are not spending enough time with their families and want to take a more active role in shaping the lives of their children.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8317743.stm

Career fears over taking paternity leave Many British fathers are working long hours, struggling to balance work and family and fear that requesting flexible working will damage their careers, a new report has found. The report, launched to coincide with Parents’ Week, finds that British men want to take a more active role in caring for their children. But four in 10 fathers say they spend too little time with their children, says the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). Getting on for half of men (45%) fail to take two weeks’ paternity leave after the birth of their child with the most common reason provided being because they cannot afford to. Two in five men fear that asking for flexible working arrangements would result in their commitment to their job being questioned and would negatively affect their chances of a promotion. The report also points to an opportunity for employers to gain a competitive advantage in recruitment, as two in three fathers consider the availability of flexible working to be important when looking for a new job. One approach to balancing work and family commitments outlined in the report is to expand paternity and parental leave schemes. The commission has previously outlined a series of fully costed policies that would help to meet the needs of businesses and modern families as part of its Working Better Initiative.

“Some companies which have adopted forward thinking policies towards families are reporting increased productivity, reduction in staff turnover, reduced training costs and an ability to respond better to customer requirements.” At present, a government proposal to increase paternity leave to up to six months is open for consultation, closing on 20 November. The government is proposing that from April 2011, mothers should be able to transfer all or part of the second six-month period of maternity leave to the father or mother’s civil partner as paternity leave. Up to three of these months taken by the father may be paid at the usual Statutory Paternity Pay Rate — currently £123.06 a week. However, even here the government is pessimistic, as it estimates that only 10-20,000 fathers will take up the right each year — a pitiful take-up rate of between 4%-8%. www.equalityhumanrights.com/uploaded_files/research/fathers_family_and_work. pdf Consultation document is at: www.berr.gov.uk/consultations/page52964.html

State pension should rise by 2.5% next April The basic state pension will rise by £2.40 a week next April, even though inflation as measured by the Retail Prices Index (RPI) was a negative rate in September (see FS41). Theoretically, pensions rise in April in line with the RPI inflation rate the previous September. But since 2001, the government’s pension policy has been to award a minimum of 2.5% if the RPI is lower

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than that figure. A 2.5% rise would bring a single person’s basic state pension up to £97.65 a week from the present £95.25. However, a fly in the ointment is that inflation is expected to be much higher by then. Andrew Harrop, head of policy at the Age Concern and Help the Aged charity, said: “Although the commitment to raise the basic state pension by at least 2.5% will be a relief for older people, a £97.65-a-week pension is still not enough to ensure a decent standard of living to people who have worked hard all their lives.” www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/oct/13/pensions-rise-inflation

Fuel poverty increases by half a million homes There were around four million fuel poor households in the UK in 2007, according to the “latest” figures from the Department for Energy and Climate Change. That is a 14% increase on the year before when the figure was 3.5 million. The increase in fuel poverty between 2006 and 2007 was blamed on rising fuel prices. Since the fuel poverty low of 2004, domestic energy prices have risen, by 80% between 2004 and 2008, driving the trend in fuel poverty in recent years. Fuel poverty amongst vulnerable households for 2007 stood at 3.25 million UK households — up half a million on 2006. A vulnerable household is one that contains the elderly, children or somebody who is disabled or long-term sick. Departmental projections for 2008 and 2009 suggest further rises, although these figures will be only become available for publication in 2010 and 2011 respectively. However, winter fuel payments for pensioners are an “unsustainable” response to fuel poverty and should be reconsidered, another government report has said. Lofty Ambitions from the public finance watchdog, the Audit Commission, also brands the government’s £2.7 billion a year winter fuel payments as a missed opportunity to both help keep people warm and to reduce CO2. The current system pays out to all older people, despite three-quarters of recipients not being classified as fuel poor, and provides no incentives to reduce CO2 emissions.

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The report says the payments fail to focus on those in the greatest need and do not provide a long-term solution — spending on heating today rather than reducing the need to heat in the future. Only 12% of people receiving the payments — worth up to £400 a year — are classed as being in fuel poverty, according to the Audit Commission. It was left to Andrew Harrop‚ head of public policy for the Age Concern and Help the Aged charity‚ to hit the nail on the head: “In an ideal world‚ the winter fuel payment (WFP) wouldn’t be necessary because people would have a sufficient pension to pay their heating bills‚ but the reality is more than two million pensioners live in fuel poverty and the WFP is still an effective way of getting additional help to these people. “The WFP provides much needed financial help to many older people who struggle to heat their homes due to high energy costs‚ poorly insulated housing and a low state pension. “An advantage of universal payments is they get to all older people‚ including the very poorest and most vulnerable‚ who often miss out on meanstested financial support due to the complexity of claiming.” Meanwhile, Citizens Advice said it had seen a 46% increase in the number of people contacting it during the six months to the end of September who had fuel debts, compared with the same period the previous year. Eight out of 10 people who were behind with their energy bills had incomes which were half the national average, with a third (32%) living off less than £400 a month, while a quarter of people with fuel debt had a disability. David Harker, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “We are already seeing large increases in the number of people in fuel debt and it is not yet winter. With fuel prices remaining at historically high levels it is essential that people get all the help that is available.” In Wales, a charter calling for fuel poverty to be eradicated has been launched by a coalition of organizations, including Children in Wales and the End Child Poverty Network. The charter calls for:  a detailed action plan setting out how and when fuel poverty will be eradicated in Wales;  support to all fuel poor households to stay warmuntil fuel poverty is eradicated; and

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 a coordinated and united approach across the statutory sector that involves partners from the private, voluntary and community sectors in Wales. The Welsh Assembly is shortly to launch a new fuel poverty strategy for Wales and the coalition would like to see the calls outlined in our charter, incorporated into this strategy.

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Employers’ organisations of course were delighted. David Yeandle, head of employment policy at the EEF manufacturers’ organisation, said: “We are pleased the government has listened to the concerns of business and delayed the implementation for as long as possible.” http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/detail.aspx?NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=407610&Subje ctId=2 www.berr.gov.uk/files/file53203.pdf

www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/fuelpov_stats/fuelpov_stats.aspx

www.tuc.org.uk/equality/tuc-17106-f0.cfm

www.audit-commission.gov.uk/localgov/nationalstudies/loftyambitions/Pages/Default_copy.aspx

www.printweek.com/business/news/946412/Temporary-workers-legislation-introduction-delayed-until-2011/

http://press.helptheaged.org.uk/_press/Releases/_items/lofty_ambitions_comment_oct09.htm

www.eef.org.uk/UK/mediacentre/mediareleases/uk/2008/EEF-response-to-AgencyWorkers-delay.htm

www.24dash.com/news/Bill_Payments/2009-10-21-Citizens-Advice-warns-over-50-risein-fuel-debt www.childreninwales.org.uk/policy/news/12372.html

Government delays on agency workers' rights To much union anger, the government has delayed the introduction of the agency workers directive until October 2011. The government said the delay was to mitigate business costs during the recession. However, it is the latest possible date it can be implemented. The directive gives temporary staff the same employment rights as permanent staff after 12 weeks’ work, including pay. The decision is included in the Department for Business, Innovations and Skills The government’s forward regulatory programme.

College survey warns over care in the NHS More than half of nurses (55%) say that there are not enough staff to meet patient needs and they are looking after more patients on the wards, according to a Royal College of Nursing (RCN) survey. The union’s chief executive Dr Peter Carter said that the survey shows that health care staff are exhausted by the pressure to make efficiencies and frustrated by being prevented from delivering the quality of care they want to provide. “Staff are concerned that they are delivering the basics but are unable to provide the full range of quality care they would like,” he said. The RCN has also warned of a ticking timebomb over NHS staffing in its 2009 edition of its Labour Market Review.

Business minister Pat McFadden, announcing a government consultation document on the draft regulations for agency workers, said: “We are also mindful of the need to avoid changing requirements on business until the economic recovery is more firmly established.”

Approximately 200,000 nurses are expected to retire in the next 10 years, there will be fewer newly qualified nurses and as a result of restrictions on migration fewer nurses will be moving to the UK, the report shows.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “It is extremely disappointing that temps will have to wait so long for these rights to come into effect. Agency workers are even more in need of protection during a recession. Vulnerable workers are always the first to suffer when times are hard.”

“The nursing workforce has grown in recent years but only just enough to keep up with rising demands on health care. We expect the next few years will be the most challenging for staff levels in decades, especially with the drive to provide more services in the community,” Carter said.

General union Unite called the move a “scandal”. Assistant general secretary Tony Burke told Print Week that he was extremely disappointed at the news, having called for the introduction of “watertight” legislation in a speech at the Labour Party conference.

www.rcn.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/271364/003545.pdf www.rcn.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/271297/003554.pdf

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