FACT S E R V I C E
165 Campaigners win on benefits overpayments
UK's debt could lead to higher taxes
166 Career fears over taking paternity leave
State pension should rise by 2.5% next April
Annual Subscription £70.25 (£59.50 for LRD affiliates)
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 De-
partment 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 gov-
ernment 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 can-
not write these letters to claimants in future. The
LABOUR RESEARCH DEPARTMENT
Published weekly by LRD Publications Ltd, 78 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8HF. 020 7928 3649 www.lrd.org.uk
167 Fuel poverty increases by half a million homes
168 Government delays on agency workers' rights
College survey warns over care in the NHS
Volume 71, Issue 42, 22 October 2009
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 ac-
tion 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 Re-
search (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.
166 Fact Service
“No politician so far has addressed the scale of the
problem,” said the NIESR. “The build up of govern-
ment debt, which may reach 93% of GDP by 2015,
will leave a burden for our descendants.”
Other measures to reduce debt levels could in-
clude 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, grow-
ing by 1.3% next year and by 1.5% in 2011.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8317743.stm
Career fears over
taking paternity leave
Many British fathers are working long hours, strug-
gling 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 Com-
mission (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 be-
cause they cannot afford to. Two in five men fear
that asking for flexible working arrangements
would result in their commitment to their job be-
ing questioned and would negatively affect their
chances of a promotion.
The report also points to an opportunity for employ-
ers 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 com-
mitments outlined in the report is to expand pater-
nity and parental leave schemes. The commission
has previously outlined a series of fully costed
policies that would help to meet the needs of busi-
nesses and modern families as part of its Working
Better Initiative.
Volume 71 Issue 42
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.
“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 con-
sultation, 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
Volume 71 Issue 42
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 Con-
cern 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 house-
holds in the UK in 2007, according to the “latest”
figures from the Department for Energy and Cli-
mate 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 sug-
gest 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 govern-
ment’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 recipi-
ents not being classified as fuel poor, and provides
no incentives to reduce CO2 emissions.
Fact Service 167
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 means-
tested 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 dur-
ing 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 warm-
until fuel poverty is eradicated; and
168
 a coordinated and united approach across the
statutory sector that involves partners from the pri-
vate, 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.
www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/fuelpov_stats/fuelpov_stats.aspx
www.audit-commission.gov.uk/localgov/nationalstudies/loftyambitions/Pages/De-
fault_copy.aspx
http://press.helptheaged.org.uk/_press/Releases/_items/lofty_ambitions_com-
ment_oct09.htm
www.24dash.com/news/Bill_Payments/2009-10-21-Citizens-Advice-warns-over-50-rise-
in-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 busi-
ness costs during the recession. However, it is the
latest possible date it can be implemented.
The directive gives temporary staff the same em-
ployment 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.
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 require-
ments on business until the economic recovery is
more firmly established.”
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 protec-
tion during a recession. Vulnerable workers are
always the first to suffer when times are hard.”
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 “water-
tight” legislation in a speech at the Labour Party
conference.
Fact Service Volume 71 Issue 42
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 con-
cerns 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.tuc.org.uk/equality/tuc-17106-f0.cfm
www.printweek.com/business/news/946412/Temporary-workers-legislation-introduc-
tion-delayed-until-2011/
www.eef.org.uk/UK/mediacentre/mediareleases/uk/2008/EEF-response-to-Agency-
Workers-delay.htm
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 ex-
hausted 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.
Approximately 200,000 nurses are expected to re-
tire 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.
“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.
www.rcn.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/271364/003545.pdf
www.rcn.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/271297/003554.pdf
Designed and printed by RAP Spiderweb Limited, Clowes Street, Hollinwood,
Oldham OL9 7LY Telephone 0161 947 3700