Sorry

Paper from our FiMT Sanctions, Support & Service Leavers project

Thanks Charlie. We are interested in experiences of those who’ve interacted with VWS, DTS, AFCS, AFPS. I’ll send you a DM too with further info

😂

Dreadful wasn’t it

@charlierad.bsky.social Just wanted to flag up our study. Hopefully of interest and relevance to you and some of those you have been supporting …

Understanding experiences of MOD welfare services for veterans through a trauma informed lens Online surveys is a powerful, easy to use tool for creating online surveys. Run by Jisc, online surveys is used by over 300 different organisations in the UK...

CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS: Survey on UK MoD welfare services for veterans - as part of our new study looking at how welfare services could be enhanced through trauma-informed approaches
app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/salford/un...

Understanding experiences of MOD welfare services for veterans through a trauma informed lens Online surveys is a powerful, easy to use tool for creating online surveys. Run by Jisc, online surveys is used by over 300 different organisations in the UK...

CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS: Survey on UK MoD welfare services for veterans - as part of our new study looking at how welfare services could be enhanced through trauma-informed approaches
app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/salford/un...

1. UC will soon be fully rolled out Thirteen years aer its introduction in 2013, UC will be fully rolled out in April. At this point, just under half of all children in the UK (42 per cent) will be living in families recieving UC. But despite its huge role in modern life, UC remains a source of anxiety for many. The Government must improve the system, and rebuild trust with claimants.

2. key problems remain Despite its long period of implementation, problems remain, like the five-week-wait for support, inflexible assessment periods, and the confusing structure of its online portal. But, there are aordable and fair solutions to all of these problems.

But technical or structural improvements need to be complemented by a fundamental ‘culture reset’ that puts dignity and respect at the heart of UC. The Government should work directly with claimants to deliver this possibly via the co-production of a Charter of Rights and retraining of staff.

4. which needn’t break the bank The sixteen policy recommendations outlined in the Foundation’s analysis would cost an estimated £400 million in one-off costs, and between £700-900 million in additional benefit expenditure each year. This marginal increase in the year-on-year benefit spend would be worth it to transform claimants' day-to-day experiences of the system.

April 2026 will mark a true milestone for the UK benefits system: the end of the thirteen-year rollout of Universal Credit that has brought together all means-tested working-age benefits.

But there are still further improvements to be made ⤵️ buff.ly/TjrE4OW

End of working week but this article from @madeleinepower.bsky.socialn is a must-read. A plethora of names to describe 'food aid' conceals the reality they're all experienced as food banks, with the key fault line not *type* of provision but *demographic* factors www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

🚨Major conference🚨

We're publishing a new book – combining analysis and policy work with in-depth conversations to understand the needs of lower income families – and hosting a major conference to discuss, with keynote speeches from Andy Burnham and Ken Murphy.

Register now➡️ buff.ly/2tG8LsY

"We actually have an unemployment problem in the UK now"

@gthwaites.bsky.social breaks down the latest data on the labour market ⤵️

Just spent a day in Whitby. Absolutely full of dogs. Every pub, cafe and tiny street. People carrying dogs up the steps to the Abbey. Just bonkers! Chatted to a lady working in a shop and she complained about the number of dogs (we left our dog at home because it’s just not a place for dogs!)

I can’t envisage a child poverty strategy which garners any credibility without fully scrapping the two-child limit.

Unconvinced? Check out (even better share) this summary of the peer-reviewed evidence base @kittyjstewart.bsky.social @aaronreeves.bsky.social

largerfamilies.study/publications...

Avanti West Coast. Keeping the nation working. Said no one ever

Group of 40 economists & academics tell Chancellor ending two-child benefit cap will help grow economy | LBC With less than a month to go before the Budget, the group have written to Rachel Reeves to warn that more than half of larger families could fall into poverty as a direct result of the cap.

The two child limit and benefit cap are "economically inefficient" because [they] "undermine public health, early years development and educational outcomes.... This in turn increases pressure on local services, including schools, health and housing." www.lbc.co.uk/article/grou...

The difference between LHA rates and local rents varies widely by place as increases in the cost of renting since September 2023 have been far from uniform. Today, the largest cash gaps are in London where private rents tend to be highest, and even a small percentage increase in rents can lead to a significant cash shortfall. Figure 2 shows, in just two years, average local rents for two-bedroom property have outpaced the prevailing LHA rate by an eyewatering £350 a month in the Inner London borough of Hackney. Even in the London borough with the lowest rent inflation over this period - Bromley in Outer London – that shortfall amounts to £172 a month.

The impact of freezing Local Housing Allowance varies widely across the country.

London has some of the largest gaps between LHA and market rents.

But shortfalls of at least £100 a month appear in every region.

Unlocking the workplace for disabled people – the case for Flex Plus jobs as a pathway to work - British Politics and Policy at LSE The Government would like to get more people who are currently on disability benefits back to work. But Catherine Hale argues that the labour market in its current state is not fit to accommodate disa...

🌟New: The Government would like to get more people who are currently on disability #benefits back to work.

But Catherine Hale‬ ‪(@catherinehale.bsky.social‬) argues that the labour market in its current state is not fit to accommodate disabled people wanting to return to #work.

#GetBritainWorking

😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

Building relationships of trust? The experiences of military veterans claiming ‘interface first’ Universal Credit Trust is a central consideration when understanding the administration of social security benefits and interactions between the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and claimants, which is increa...

"Building relationships of trust? The experiences of military veterans claiming ‘interface first’ Universal Credit" by @davidhjyoung.bsky.social @lisa-scullion.bsky.social Philip Martin, Celine Hynes, Joe Pardoe www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

DWP’s 'unhealthy' AI obsession is trapping people in poverty, Amnesty report finds

Amnesty warns DWP's use of AI and automation in welfare is harming disabled people and digitally excluded claimants.

Four-day week to be permanent at South Cambridgeshire Council South Cambridgeshire Council votes to make four-day work week with full pay a permanent policy.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

A Community Right to Buy is a vital step to building a better Britain

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill has made its debut in parliament. It promises to deliver a Community Right to Buy

The DWP are advertising for a new intake of academic secondees. This is the role I'm currently doing - happy to talk to anyone about what it's like!
www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi...

Loved our perimenopause and parenting chat ❤️ thank you 🙏

@lisa-scullion.bsky.social and colleagues have been working directly with DWP to try and understand how a trauma informed approach might inform their work. Vital and fascinating work < @easp-spa-2025.bsky.social >

Love this!

@haylesben.bsky.social identifies four key roles / ways of potentially understanding the roles local and devolved welfare play & notes they are not mutually exclusive - compensating, complementing, contesting, challenging (or inspiring)

@haylesben.bsky.social is arguing that there is value in trying to develop a new conceptual framework to understand what is happening in the uk around the changing role of local and devolved welfare

Great to have @haylesben.bsky.social kicking off our @easp-spa-2025.bsky.social symposium , a chance to reflect on work we’ve been doing together on our @nuffieldfoundation.org @safety-nets.bsky.social project

🧵inciming