Author: Society Matters

  • In conversation with … Sir James Mackey

    In conversation with … Sir James Mackey

    In this 20 minute podcast brought to you by Society Matters cic you can hear the wisdom of the leader of one of the North East’s biggest employers when Sir James Mackey, Chief Executive of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, shares his thoughts with Jayne Graham MBE on in-work poverty.

    This podcast is supported by the North of Tyne Combined Authority Child Poverty Prevention Programme.

    Sign up to our mailing list to hear future podcasts HERE or to find out more about how to get involved in the programme email socialaction@societymatterscic.com.

  • PRESS RELEASE: New partnership to work with employers to tackle child poverty in the North of Tyne

    PRESS RELEASE: New partnership to work with employers to tackle child poverty in the North of Tyne

    Employers across the North of Tyne will be invited to participate in a programme to tackle child poverty in the region thanks to a partnership between North of Tyne Combined Authority (NTCA) and the social enterprise Society Matters cic.

    NTCA is committed to giving every child in our region the opportunity to thrive. Which is why in June 2021, Cabinet approved a Child Poverty Prevention Programme (CPPP) for the North of Tyne. 

    Working with local authority partners and school leaders, we have developed a programme made up of three pillars: 

    • Funding an innovative programme of poverty interventions in schools across the North of Tyne
    • Bringing welfare rights advice and support directly into school settings
    • Working with employers to tackle child poverty

    Society Matters will deliver the Working with Employers pillar. Their approach involves supporting employers across the North of Tyne to step up their support to employees, particularly in developing strategies to improve their financial wellbeing.

    Jayne Graham MBE, Director of Society Matters, which is the trading subsidiary of charity Citizens Advice Gateshead, believes a lot can be achieved through the programme if employers are prepared to engage.

    “Our aspiration for this programme is to improve awareness amongst employers of the realities of in-work poverty, and most importantly to support them to put in place practical measures that will make a real difference to financial wellbeing of their staff and, in turn, their families.  We have already identified best practice examples through talking to employers across the region which will be fairly straight-forward to replicate – our job is to make sure employers have the tools and support they need to take immediate action to avoid financial problems spiralling out of control.”

    Employers will be encouraged to participate in a series of workshops and masterclasses, and will be supported to undertake Poverty Reduction Audits and to work with the Society Matters team to convert the findings of the audits into detailed poverty reduction strategies.

    Cllr Karen Kilgour Cabinet Member for Education, Inclusion and Skills said: 

    “It is not poverty but opportunity which is every child’s birth right – with a fair chance in life, support and security. This should be every child’s destiny in the North of Tyne, which is why we set up our Child Poverty Prevention Programme.”

    Our three constituent local authorities Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland are working hard to address the causes and symptoms of child poverty across the North of Tyne. This is more important than ever; we know that the ongoing impacts of the pandemic have made life more difficult for too many families and households in our region. 

    Data tells us that employment is not always a route out of poverty. Besides paying a decent wage, employers can take practical steps to support employees experiencing financial insecurity.

    Employers across the region will be invited to participate in the programme, with a priority focus on those that have a high proportion of lower-paid employees with families.  

    This is more important than ever; we know that the ongoing impacts of the pandemic recent cost of living increases have made life more difficult for too many families and households in our region. 

    Read more about the programme here, or to find out how you can get your organisation involved please contact Jayne Graham at Society Matters cic at hello@societymatterscic.com.

    ENDS

    Notes for editors

    The North of Tyne Combined Authority is a combined authority with an elected mayor that was created in November 2018, when Parliament signed off on a £600 million devolution deal bringing Newcastle, Northumberland, and North Tyneside councils together in an unprecedented transfer of power and investment from Westminster to the North East. It is tasked with initiating projects to boost growth, create jobs, and create a more green, inclusive economy. North of Tyne Mayor Jamie Driscoll was elected on a promise to support communities in the North of Tyne to create and build wealth, then keep that wealth in the region.

    Society Matters CIC is a social enterprise which is the trading subsidiary of independent charity Citizens Advice Gateshead.  Society Matters CIC has developed a wide portfolio of learning and development programmes, including CPD accredited courses, workshops and webinars, designed to support people working ‘in the support system’ (spanning CVS organisations, housing, utility companies and employers) to understand the challenges being faced by individuals and families experiencing poverty, and the provision that’s available to them, to reduce the likelihood of falling into crisis.  For more information about Society Matters contact hello@societymatterscic.com

  • What does the Chancellor’s Cost of Living Support package mean in practice?

    What does the Chancellor’s Cost of Living Support package mean in practice?

    In the last week of May 2022 UK energy regulator Ofgem said the typical household energy bill was set to rise again in October by another £800, bringing it to £2,800 a year. This comes after bills have already risen by average £700 in April, while prices of food, fuel and other goods have also gone up significantly, pushing inflation (the rate at which prices rise) to a 40-year high at around 9%. Charities and campaign groups had already been calling for emergency support to people and to bring welfare benefit rates in line with inflation, so this latest announcement made this an even greater imperative for the government to take action.

    On 26 May 2022 the Chancellor announced a number of important packages of support for people in the UK in an attempt to combat the ever-increasing impact of the cost of living crisis.

    Here’s our 5 point summary of what you need to know about the package, and who it will help.

    1. One-off £650 payment for households receiving ‘means tested benefits’

    More than 8 million UK households receive ‘means tested benefits’, which means the benefit applies to them because their income and capital are below a certain level. Universal Credit is one example – you can view a full list of means tested benefits here.

    £650 will be paid to qualifying households by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in two instalments, the first will be made in July and the second in the Autumn. Payments from HMRC for those in receipt of tax credits will follow shortly after.

    To qualify for the first payment, households will need to already be in receipt of a means tested benefit, or have started a claim for one of the qualifying benefits by no later than 25 May 2022. In the case of a joint claim, where someone claims a household benefit with their partner, they will receive one payment of £650 between them.

    Importantly, the Government has confirmed that this £650 payment is tax-free, will not count towards the benefit cap, and will not have any impact on existing benefit awards. There will also be no application process – payments will automatically be paid directly to households across the UK that are eligible.

    2. People on qualifying disability benefits will receive a one-off payment of £150 in September

    Around six million people across the UK who receive qualifying disability benefits will receive a one-off payment of £150 in September, and where they also receive a means tested benefit this will be in addition to the £650 one-off payment. So for example, a person claiming both Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment they will receive both payments. A full list of qualifying Disability benefits can be found here.

    Again, these payments will be exempt from tax, will not count towards the benefit cap, and will not have any impact on any existing benefit awards, and there will be no application process.

    3. All households will receive a non-repayable £400 grant which replaces the £200 Energy Rebate

    All households in England, Scotland and Wales will get a non-repayable £400 grant to help with rising energy bills, replacing the much criticised £200 repayable so called “loan not loan” energy rebate. You do not need to be on benefits to get this support.

    Energy suppliers will deliver this support to households with a domestic electricity meter over six months from October. Direct debit and credit customers will have the money credited to their account, while customers with pre-payment meters will have the money applied to their meter or paid via a voucher.

    Importantly, this support is in addition to the £150 Council Tax rebate for households in England in Council Tax bands A-D, which was announced in February, and which millions of households have already received.

    4. Pensioner Cost of Living Payment for people over pensionable age

    Over 8 million pensioner households will receive an extra £300 this year to help them cover the rising cost of energy this winter. Households that receive the Winter Fuel Payment – which is homes with at least one person of pension age – will receive a top-up payment of £300 in November or December. For most pensioner households, this will be paid by direct debit, will not be taxable and does not affect eligibility for other benefits or the benefit cap.

    Importantly households on lower incomes, who claim pension credit, will also receive the £650 mentioned earlier. A small group of pensioners with disabilities will receive a total of £1,500 when all the new payments and discounts they are eligible for are added up if they are on Attendance Allowance or DLA.

    5. Additional funding for the Household Support Fund

    The Government confirmed it is providing an extra £500 million of local support, via the Household Support Fund which was introduced to support those in most need with payments towards the rising cost of food, energy and water bills, and that the funding will be extended to March 2023, originally planned to end in October this year.

    The Household Support Fund is distributed by Local Authorities who are also responsible for determining their own eligibility criteria, however the Government has committed to issuing additional guidance to ensure support is targeted towards those most in need, including people not eligible for the Cost of Living Payments set out above.

    Adam Matthews, Social Welfare Instructor at Society Matters cic

    You can read a full breakdown of the Cost of Living Support Package here. If you’d like to learn more about the benefits outlined, including means tested benefits and disability benefits, you may be interested in the Society Matters social welfare learning and development programme.

    Get in touch for more information at hello@societymatterscic.com

  • What you need to know about the Universal Credit migration roller coaster

    What you need to know about the Universal Credit migration roller coaster

    The ‘managed migration’ of claimants to welfare benefit Universal Credit is set to restart this month. This short article gives you an easy explanation of what you need to know to make sure the people who need your help get the information they need.

    First, a bit of background …

    When Universal Credit (UC) was introduced in 2013 a programme of ‘managed migration’ was introduced. In essence this meant that, as well as new claimants automatically being assessed for UC, existing claimants across a range of other benefits would gradually be moved to the new benefit. These so called ‘legacy benefits’ that were to be replaced by UC include working tax credits, child tax credits, housing benefit, employment and support allowance, income support and jobseeker’s allowance.

    The managed migration programme was fraught with difficulties, compounded by a lack of understanding in the support system of the workings of UC. That was a big driver for Society Matters cic introducing its Get to Grips with Universal Credit training course in 2019, with the objective of removing the confusion and ensuring that people were supported to understand their obligations when on this new benefit, and ensuring they were able to effectively manage their claim.

    Planned migration did go ahead, and by March 2020 millions of people were claiming UC, but there were still millions claiming legacy benefits that needed to be managed across. However the migration programme was disrupted significant as a result of the pandemic. The requirements of people already claiming were changed, with sanctions pretty much abandoned (as the requirement to seek work and attend appointments which are fundamental to the UC ‘Claimant Commitment’ were no longer feasible) and the migration programme came to a standstill whilst a massive 1.5 million people claimed UC for the first time.

    The Universal Credit Migration Roller coaster starts again, but this time with a safety net

    There has been some transition from legacy benefits over the past couple of years, as a change in personal circumstance (such as moving house, co-habiting, new children in a family) automatically triggers a reassessment and shift to UC – this has been termed ‘natural migration’. However as at April 2022 the government has estimated that around 2.6 million households in the UK are still claiming legacy benefits, compared to 5.6 million claiming UC, and so it’s now time for that to stop. The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has therefore announced the restart of the managed migration programme in full force, with the objective of getting all claimants moved to UC by the end of 2024, building on learning from a pilot that started in Harrogate in 2019.

    The government has estimated that more than half of current legacy benefits claimants will be better off on UC, and around 1.4 million households should voluntarily move to gain the increased income outside of the migration programme. Only time will tell whether that comes to fruition, but in the meantime a welcome safety net has been put in place by the DWP they’ve called transitional protection that may top up a person’s UC so it matches their previous benefit income to ensure they are not worse off due to the move.

    Transitional protection is achieved by including an extra element of UC in the claim to the value of the difference to the amount received on the legacy benefits and this will last until there is no shortfall between the amount awarded under UC and the amount previously received on the legacy benefits, taking into account changes in circumstances that would have impacted on their original benefits too.

    Migration to UC will be triggered with 3 months’ notice

    Whilst people are being encouraged to voluntarily migrate to UC, this will no longer be an option when they appear in the migration programme – they will receive a migration notice from DWP giving them a deadline date no less than three months after the migration notice.

    There will be some flexibility for people who need longer to adjust or need additional support, but this needs to be formally agreed. Otherwise, if they haven’t made their first UC claim by the deadline day their entitlement and payment to most existing benefits will stop, other than if housing benefit applies this is likely to be paid for two further weeks.

    The DWP have said that claims made within one further month after the deadline day will be treated as having been made in time and automatically be backdated to the deadline day, however importantly if a claim is made after that time it will be treated as a new claim altogether. In these circumstances, there will be no transitional protection so there’s a risk people may lose out on a significant top up to maintain their original level of benefits received through the legacy system, so It is very important to let the DWP know if someone might struggle with the migration due to a learning disability or mental health condition for example, so extra support and extended timescales can be agreed.

    Help is available

    We would always recommend getting a full benefit check whenever there is a change in circumstances (and a ‘better off’ calculation to give people a reading of what their UC payments will be so they can budget), especially during these really challenging times. If help is needed to make a UC application it’s also recommended that people are referred to the ‘Citizens Advice Help to Claim service’.

    If you’d like to understand more about UC to help you to improve your confidence and the service you can offer to people please get in touch with Society Matters cic – we provide social solutions, including social welfare training, to help you to make your mark.

    Adam Matthews, Social Welfare Instructor

  • How to build a social enterprise by playing to your strengths

    Social Entrepreneur Jayne Graham MBE delivered a webinar to Social Enterprise UK members on how to build a social enterprise by playing to your strengths, and tells the story of how Society Matters was born.

  • Why our courses can now earn you CPD points

    Why our courses can now earn you CPD points

    At Society Matters cic we’ve built a reputation for delivering great training that people need and want. But we’re also not resting on our laurels. We’re continuing to learn from our customers as much as our customers learn from us, and we listen.

    When we were asked why our courses weren’t accredited by the CPD Certification Service we had to ask ourselves the same question. Most of our training is delivered to professionals so it stands to reason that you’d want to align the time you’ve spent on our courses and workshops with your other professional development.

    So in the Autumn last year we set ourselves the target of getting at least 10 of our courses accredited by the CPD Certification Service within 12 months, and we’re already well on our way, with 3 courses already accredited and 3 more planned this side of Easter.

    What does CPD Certification mean?

    First of all CPD is a mark of quality. We are proud of the wonderful feedback we receive on our course content and delivery approach, but also recognises that having independent endorsement is so important.

    With CPD certification our customers can have absolute confidence in the quality of the material, the content and the delivery approach, so the learning opportunity will have the best possible impact on both personal and organisational development. For training to be awarded CPD certification it will always have been independently assessed and scrutinised to ensure integrity and quality to a high level.

    Over and above this, by attending a CPD certified course our customers are awarded CPD points which holds a genuine value in professional development terms, whether that’s simply through the CPD certificate we award after the training, or a serious contribution towards the continuous professional development standard expected by your professional body.

    CPD Certified courses – at the same affordable price

    We’ve prioritised the development of our most popular social welfare courses, and are proud to have now achieved CPD Certification, as well as being able to keep our prices at a level we know our customers can afford.

    Get to Grips with Universal Credit (5½ CPD points)
    Get to Grips with Personal Independence Payment (5 CPD points)  and
    Introduction to Current Welfare Benefits (3½ CPD points)

    Next up are our popular ‘Managing and Stress and Avoiding Burnout’ and ‘Mental Health Awareness’ courses, both of which have had rave reviews so you can book now with confidence that CPD accreditation will be in place by the time you attend.

    If there’s a course you’re keen to see CPD certified let us know, and we’ll keep you posted on progress over the next few months. If you haven’t already, sign up to our mailing list so we can keep you updated.