Benefits shake-up 'will damage city'
CHARITY bosses say Government welfare reforms will take millions of pounds out of Stoke-on-Trent's economy and increase homelessness.
Stoke-on-Trent Citizens' Advice Bureau and Hanley-based Brighter Futures have issued a joint report on the impact that cuts to benefits will have on people living in the city.
They say cuts to employment and support allowance (ESA) alone will take at least £13 million each year out of the local economy.
And the report predicts that changes to housing benefit will lead to increased homelessness and a reduction in the number of private landlords in the area.
Gill Brown, chief executive of Brighter Futures, said: "The proposals to change housing benefit are designed to solve problems in London and the south east.
"Housing conditions in those areas are completely different to those here and the effect of imposing these cuts on Stoke-on-Trent will be to make many people homeless and to make it difficult for organisations like Brighter Futures to offer the individually tailored packages of care that we design to help people cope with the effects of mental health problems, addictions or criminal behaviour."
Simon Harris, chief executive of Stoke-on-Trent CAB, said: "Often, people currently dependent on welfare benefits could be helped back into work by the regeneration strategies of central and local government.
"We fully support these efforts to create new local jobs. However, we recognise that they will not create instant jobs and we believe that, even for those who can be helped into work, they need a decent benefits system meanwhile."
Figures in the report show 10 per cent of all people aged between 16 and 64 in Stoke-on-Trent are unemployed.
A total of 33,500 people of working age are receiving benefits in the city, which is 22.7 per cent of the local population.
Of these 10,392 are either receiving Job Seeker's Allowance, or are single parents who do not need to be available for work. The remaining 23,108 are unable to work because of illness or disability.
The report says the proportion of people receiving either ESA or incapacity benefit in Stoke-on-Trent is almost twice the national rate.
The city currently has 14,000 people claiming incapacity benefit, who will all be reassessed.
The charities say that half of local people could lose some of their benefits after being reassessed, resulting in an average loss of £28 a week.
The report says: "This change could double the number of unemployed people seeking work.
"The impact of these cuts will fall disproportionately on Stoke-on-Trent as we have a disproportionately high number of people claiming incapacity benefit."
Proposals to change the benefit system also include introducing a maximum local housing allowance rate people can receive of £146.54 a week.
In the past people could claim £219.23 a week for a five-bedroom house.
The report says: "The introduction of this cap to LHA could result in unexpectedly large numbers of people becoming homeless or getting into rent arrears.
"As a result more people will turn to the council for help."
Tristram Hunt, Stoke-on-Trent Central MP, pictured left, said the changes to the benefit system could be the equivalent of a large local employer closing down and would hit businesses in the city hard.
He said: "The changes attempt to impose a single 'one size fits all' solution on towns and cities which are facing starkly different economic challenges.
"This means that in a city like Stoke-on-Trent they will represent a false economy and will give at best only short term savings to the public purse and reduce economic activity."
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