Tom Pollard @PollardTom Twitter profile | Pikagi

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Tom Pollard

@PollardTom

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Head of Social Policy @NEF | Previous work on mental health, poverty & social security | NHS Mental Health Social Worker | Views expressed here my own

London

Joined June 2011

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

8 months

While many politicians are critical of benefit sanctions, few are talking about serious reform of the system of conditionality that drives them My new @NEF paper argues that conditionality can only achieve compliance, when what we need is engagement. Here's why that matters...🧵

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

3 years

Man with a salary of £1,575 a week tells people who have to live off £96 a week that he reckons they'll be fine getting by on £76 a week.

@BBCPolitics

BBC Politics

3 years

“I think there are people that quite like getting the extra £20 but maybe they don’t need it” says Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell on temporary universal credit rise Labour MP Carolyn Harris says £20 is “food for a week" for some people #PoliticsLive

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Tom Pollard

3 years

Sajid Javid said this the day before his government cut the income of the poorest 20% of households by 7%. Allow that to sink in.

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Tom Pollard

10 months

Beyond the nastiness & terrible impact of the two child limit itself (& therefore the disappointment that it may be around even longer), I think there are three deeper reasons why Labour's position has caused so much concern among those working on poverty & social security...🧵

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

10 months

"Abolishing the two-child limit would lift 250,000 children out of poverty, and a further 850,000 children would be in less deep poverty at cost of just £1.3bn" @CPAGUK Keeping this policy in place is irreconcilable with a serious commitment to tackle child poverty

@HugoGye

Hugo Gye

10 months

A Labour govt would keep the two-child cap on benefits, Keir Starmer confirms in @bbclaurak interview.

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

9 months

Totally irresponsible for that Matthew Parris benefits piece in the Times to be so uninformed & inaccurate: -PIP has nothing to do with your ability to work -It isn't more generous than its predecessor -It isn't comparable to Jobseekers Allowance (which barely exists now anyway)

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Tom Pollard

2 years

"There are a lot of very desperate people who are feeling vulnerable because of the cost-of-living crisis & they need to be given some reassurance too, as well as the markets" Great to hear @MartinSLewis call for an immediate commitment to uprate benefits in line with inflation

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Tom Pollard

5 years

Last year I finished an 18 month secondment at the DWP advising on #mentalhealth . I came to the conclusion that the department is institutionally incapable of delivering the changes needed for ill & disabled people. I've explained why in this @Demos paper:

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

7 months

The debate about benefits in this country affords way too much time & attention to the views of people who have never faced the slightest risk of financial insecurity pontificating about the motivations & moral character of people struggling to get by on poverty-rate benefits

@BestForBritain

Best for Britain

@BestForBritain

7 months

Jacob Rees-Mogg: "The benefits system should be there as a safety net, not as a lifestyle opportunity." Just in case you were considering giving up work and living La Dolce Vita on £84 per week. ~AA

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Tom Pollard

10 months

Social security should be seen as an investment in people rather than just a black hole for public money - this is particularly true for children living in poverty as this investment will echo throughout their entire life. We have to get more confident at making this argument 6/9

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

2 years

My seven year old daughter heard me talking about the research I've been doing on food banks. She asked what food banks are & I explained that some people struggle to afford food. She said "well why don't they just have a money bank & give them money instead?". It's a fair point.

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

5 months

It's understandable, given that I think the Government has wilfully blurred the lines, but there's been some misreading of what yesterday's announcements will mean for ill & disabled people so I thought it was worth offering my interpretation of where things stand... 🧵

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

24 days

You must be caring for someone for at least 35hrs a week to be eligible for Carer's Allowance. You get £81.90 - the equivalent of (at most) £2.34 an hour Any overpayment debts owed by carers are dwarfed by the undervaluing of their contribution to society

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Calls to end ‘persecution’ of carers over UK benefits rule breaches

Thinktank calls punishments ‘cruel and nonsensical’ and says government should accept blame

www.theguardian.com

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

10 months

Given that child poverty is estimated to cost the economy & public services almost £40bn a year, significantly alleviating it for 1/4 of children experiencing it will bring substantial returns to offset the £1.3bn cost of scrapping the two child limit 5/9 .

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Tom Pollard

1 year

📣 Excited to share that I'll be joining @NEF as Head of Social Policy in two weeks My team will be mapping out a path to a sustainable future where everyone can rely on a living income, a decent home & access to excellent universal public services Can't wait to get started!

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Tom Pollard

3 years

When I was at #DWP , I wasn't aware of any work at a policy level to consider what a liveable amount of income is. Benefit levels were treated as a purely political question, & the calculation has generally been "what's the lowest rate we can get away with"

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One in six new universal credit claimants forced to skip meals

Claimants report struggling to pay bills or put any money aside amid coronavirus crisis

www.theguardian.com

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Tom Pollard

10 months

Finally, one of the reasons being cited for Labour backing off the two-child limit is that the public support the policy. But public views on social security have been strongly shaped by decades of political & media rhetoric & can be reshaped by alternative narratives 7/9

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Tom Pollard

10 months

Secondly, citing cost as the reason not to scrap the two child limit indicates that there is scepticism about (or at least a lack of focus on) the potential return on investment from alleviating poverty. This has much wider implications beyond this individual policy decision 4/9

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Tom Pollard

2 years

"No one is asking for the moon. People just want to be able to pay their rent & feed their kids" @BootstrapCook This is exactly what I heard from people using food banks for my research with @IFAN_UK & @jrf_uk - benefits just aren't covering the basics

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Cost of living crisis could be fatal for some UK children, Jack Monroe tells MPs

Food campaigner calls for social security benefits to be uprated in line with inflation as situation is ‘untenable’ for those in poverty

www.theguardian.com

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

10 months

Firstly, the two child limit was seen by many as 'low hanging fruit' in the social security space - one of a the changes that would be quick & easy to act on for a new Labour government, with a relatively low price tag but a guaranteed significant impact on (child) poverty 2/9

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

6 months

"if you refuse to work, if you are taking taxpayers for a ride – we will take your benefits away" Government really cranking up the divisive rhetoric here - the reality is that the vast majority of people want to work & are being let down by poor support

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Unemployed who refuse to job-hunt will be stripped of benefits perks

Jeremy Hunt confirms biggest welfare shake-up for a decade, with claimants coasting on state handouts to be kicked out of the system

www.telegraph.co.uk

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Tom Pollard

3 years

I'd love to see the government develop a meaningful strategy for improving the lives of disabled people, but it's hard to take that aspiration seriously when they increased #UniversalCredit in response to #COVID19 but claimed it's too difficult to do the same for people on #ESA .

@DisabilityGovUK

Disability Unit

@DisabilityGovUK

3 years

Did you know that we’re creating a National Strategy for Disabled People? Have your say on the strategy now:

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Tom Pollard

10 months

All of this just reinforces how important it will be for those of us working on these issues to keep them high on the political & media agenda, build the case for investing in poverty alleviation, & find ways to cut through the dominant narratives that poison this debate 9/9

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Tom Pollard

2 years

I've been interviewing people using #FoodBanks about the circumstances that have led them there & the impact on their #MentalHealth In a new @IFAN_UK & @jrf_uk report, out today & covered by @BigIssue , I describe what I heard - here are the headlines 🧵

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‘Heartbreaking’ reports from food bank users show mental health impact of poverty

The entrenched poverty forcing people to food banks is driving down mental wellbeing and leaves some feeling "trapped and hopeless".

www.bigissue.com

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

10 months

I think the fear now is that there may be little prospect of larger reforms in the social security space, such as addressing the fundamental inadequacy of unemployment benefit rates, if something like scrapping the two child limit is seen as too expensive & politically risky 3/9

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

10 months

If we're going to have any chance of building the type of social security system required to meaningfully reduce poverty & provide people with a secure foundation from which to thrive, we're going to need political leadership to help drive new narratives & policy approaches 8/9

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

5 months

There will be time to scrutinise & challenge these proposed changes before they are implemented & there will of course be an election before then too! What this group needs is security & genuine support offered on a voluntary basis, not more pressure & threats of cuts [10/10]

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Tom Pollard

2 months

Increasing the length of time people have to repay Universal Credit loans is welcome, lowering the cap on monthly deductions would be better still But the ultimate driver of debt for people on Universal Credit is the sheer inadequacy of the support they receive #Budget2024

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

9 years

Really powerful @VICEUK piece on the impact of #benefits sanctions on people with #mentalhealth problems http://t.co/YwIeSnGBiA @MindCharity

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

11 months

The overarching finding here - that the government failed to understand the reality of people's lives, the barriers they face & why they make the choices they do - is essentially the story of the last 13 years of social security & employment support policy

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Two-child limit on UK welfare benefits ‘has failed to push parents into jobs’

Exclusive: Policy misunderstands realities of caring roles and has left hundreds of thousands of families in poverty, study finds

www.theguardian.com

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Tom Pollard

1 year

Breathtaking @resfoundation graph of the growing difference between inflation rates for low and high income households due to energy and, increasingly, food prices Our social security system is completely failing to reflect the reality of what low-income households are facing

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Tom Pollard

3 years

I'm sure some people may find the diagnosis 'emotionally unstable personality disorder' useful but I increasingly see it used in #mentalhealth services as a catch-all label for people staff see as 'difficult'. I'm very uncomfortable with the assumptions & responses it can entail.

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Tom Pollard

2 years

I interviewed a woman in a food bank last year who used to be a chef. I reckon she can cook a better meal than Lee Anderson & I'm certain she knows more than him about how to budget on a low income.

@AdamBienkov

Adam Bienkov

2 years

Conservative MP Lee Anderson says there isn't a massive need for food banks in the UK, it’s just that people “cannot cook properly, they can't cook a meal from scratch, they cannot budget.”

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Tom Pollard

5 months

However, there are worrying longer-term implications as the Government has said it would like to ultimately scrap the WCA & leave conditionality entirely at work coach discretion. This would be incredibly dangerous, especially given the harsher punishments being planned [9/10]

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

5 years

Working in a #mentalhealth crisis team, I've been thinking about the damage done by the value we place on 'independence' as a society. So many people reluctant to seek help from friends & family, services & benefits for fear of 'being a burden'. We are all dependant, & that's ok.

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

2 years

Supporting people to transition from one sector to another to find a job is a great idea Threatening them with benefit sanctions to try to force them to do so is cruel & stupid People want to work, but they need security & encouragement, not coercion

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

7 months

This is a really important point from Rachel Reeves - insecurity fundamentally limits people's ability to make longer term plans & work towards them As well as informing an approach to work, this insight needs to shape the adequacy & reliability of our social security system

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

5 months

So, people who have been assessed by the state as being too ill or disabled to be expected to look for work will be able to avoid the prospect of going through a stressful reassessment process if they *checks notes* look for work (from: )

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Tom Pollard

5 months

These proposals are deeply worrying, particularly as the OBR only expects 10,000 of this 371,000 to have moved into work by this time. So people will have lower benefits & more pressure & threats, but are unlikely to have found the jobs this is supposed to be all about [5/10]

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Tom Pollard

1 month

Really significant that the Work & Pensions Select Committee has recommended today that benefit rates should be benchmarked against what households need to meet essential costs Here's what I said when I gave evidence to their inquiry on behalf of @NEF

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Tom Pollard

29 days

"When we look at the benefits system, we see a distrustful deficit model that only succeeds in making people feel worse about themselves" Strong stuff from @AndyBurnhamGM , but it reflects exactly what I consistently hear from people in the benefits system

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We have seen the failure of Tory levelling up, so in Manchester we have radical plans to help...

At a defining moment for English devolution, my manifesto has clarity, ambition and three big ideas, says Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester

www.theguardian.com

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

1 year

'the “so-called” welfare safety net [has] floated completely free from the economic reality of people’s lives' @jrf_uk & @TrussellTrust have drawn a clear line in the sand with this critical intervention - benefits must match the actual cost of essentials

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UK benefits fall short of minimum living cost by £140 a month, charities say

Exclusive: research shows universal credit allowance far below cost of food, energy and essentials

www.theguardian.com

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

6 months

Councils are spending £1.7bn a year on temporary accommodation The failure to invest in social infrastructure & preventative support over the last 13yrs means we're now hemorrhaging public funds on downstream costs, much of it flowing to private rentiers

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Councils in England paying £1.7bn a year to house people in temporary homes

Annual cost would be enough to build about 100,000 new homes over five years, as families forced into cramped hostels and B&Bs

www.theguardian.com

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Tom Pollard

3 months

New @NEF analysis shows that £70bn of public money will go to private landlords through housing benefit over the next 5 years - often for poor quality homes That's six times the amount earmarked for building new affordable & social homes from 2021 to 2026

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Damp and mould in 40% of rental homes despite landlords raking in taxpayer cash

Billions of taxpayers’ money is lining landlords’ pockets instead of going on building new affordable homes - all while private renters are experiencing low standards

www.mirror.co.uk

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Tom Pollard

1 month

Many of the people Mel Stride suggests are mistaking the "normal ups & downs of human life" for mental health problems are, in reality, enduring circumstances (& an associated mental toll) that I don't think he has any real experience or understanding of

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Mental health culture has gone too far, says Mel Stride

Work and Pensions Secretary unveils plan to get 150,000 people back into a job as benefits bill rises

www.telegraph.co.uk

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

7 months

This is the reality of surviving on benefits - constant, grinding anxiety about whether you can make ends meet, even if you are working People don't weigh up the options & decide this is the 'lifestyle' they want - it's driven by circumstances, disadvantage & inadequate support

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

8 months

This simply shouldn't be up for debate. Ensuring the incomes of the poorest households in our society keep pace with inflation should be a guaranteed bare minimum What we should be talking about is deepening poverty & the underlying inadequacy of benefits

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Jeremy Hunt warned against real-terms benefits cut in autumn statement

Labour MP says cut would be ‘catastrophic for families’ amid reports chancellor mulling move to make space for tax reductions

www.theguardian.com

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Tom Pollard

8 months

New polling for @NEF shows that the threat of benefit sanctions directly undermines people's ability to engage with back-to-work support, especially for disabled people & those with health conditions Thanks to @nadinebh_ for this @politicshome coverage

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Benefit Claimants Say Sanctions Make It Harder To Find Work

Exclusive: New research has found that the majority of people required to attend job centres to access benefits believe being hit with sanctions when they don't attend undermines their ability to...

www.politicshome.com

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

3 months

It's obviously completely wrong, even by DWP's own rules, for someone on a mental health ward to be asked to attend a Jobcentre appointment But it's an unsurprising consequence of a system built around achieving compliance rather than genuine engagement

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‘Seriously ill’ mental health inpatients told to attend jobcentre or risk losing benefits

‘It’s beyond ridiculous’ say campaigners in England – rules state that nobody in hospital should be required to attend in person

www.theguardian.com

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

25 days

Benefits are being increased by 6.7% today. It will be a welcome boost for low-income households & the government will try to present it as an act of great generosity But it's a completely inadequate response to the scale of poverty we're currently seeing in the UK... 🧵

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Tom Pollard

2 years

These charts from @jburnmurdoch 's @FT piece on economic inactivity & health are jaw-dropping Huge rises in the number of people who are out of work due to multiple physical & mental health conditions, but no meaningful government response Full piece here

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

3 years

"Mr Sunak is concerned that if the government legislates to extend the [£20 Universal Credit] increase it could become permanent." Yeah, God forbid we set benefit rates at a level that almost allow people to live in dignity while they need support.

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

5 months

None of this is to downplay concerns about the planned reforms, but it's important for ill & disabled people already in the system to know that these changes will not happen overnight & that they are not likely to suddenly be expected to seek work under threat of sanctions [8/10]

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

5 months

These threats are aimed at people subject to 'full work requirements', which would mean they've either never flagged an illness/disability or have been assessed as 'fit for work' (although, of course, neither of these is guaranteed to mean the person is not ill/disabled) [7/10]

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Tom Pollard

18 days

"DWP treats people with distrust & suspicion, prioritising catching out a small minority who misuse the system at the expense of offering a supportive, compassionate & effective service to the vast majority who don't" I spoke to @Matthew_Wright on @LBC about the carers scandal

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Tom Pollard

2 years

It takes a special sort of heartless egotism to hear that story and think that it's a good opportunity to take credit for introducing free bus passes

@GMB

Good Morning Britain

2 years

. @susannareid100 tells the PM about 77-year-old Elsie who eats one meal a day and stays on the bus all day to avoid using energy at home. She questions the PM about the comments he made about people having to make choices about what they spend their money on.

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Tom Pollard

1 month

Have been listening to lots of people talking about experiences of DWP & Jobcentres recently. Striking how many say that just being treated with a basic level of respect, dignity & compassion would be huge progress. Feels like a very low bar but also a distant ambition right now

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Tom Pollard

8 months

Another month, another record high number of people unable to work due to disabilities or poor health - now over 2.6m But the government narrative continues to focus on individual motivation & support to work, ignoring the social & economic root causes driving worsening health

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Tom Pollard

5 years

Have been on placement in a #mentalhealth crisis team for less than two weeks & have already seen two people whose crisis is, in large part, due to their experience of DWP/JCP. So frustrating to see another part of the state directly undermining the work of the NHS/social care.

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

8 months

These proposed reforms are about trying to recategorise some ill/disabled people to reduce their benefits & subject them to conditionality DWP claims it just wants to offer support, not threaten sanctions, but it could do that without making these changes

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Government announces new welfare reforms to help thousands into work

Disabled people and those with health conditions, who are currently being held back from improving their lives through work, will be better supported to realise their potential under Government plans...

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

2 months

This government has already spent 14 years "squeezing" benefits - the main result has been growing levels of poverty, illness & disability, costing us all more in the long term Cutting financial support & ramping up pressure will only worsen this crisis

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Rishi Sunak: I’ll squeeze benefits to fund more tax cuts for workers

On a trip to Yorkshire to sell the budget — and show off his Wetherspoon app — the prime minister insists he will end national insurance contributions if he wins the general election

www.thetimes.co.uk

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Tom Pollard

5 months

However, some of the harsher threats that have been announced - around people losing benefits altogether if they fail to seek work for six months, or being pushed into mandatory work placements after 18 months - would not currently affect people in the LCWRA or LCW groups [6/10]

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Tom Pollard

3 years

"As a mental health social worker, I want to be able to focus my efforts on supporting people to feel happier, safer & more in control of their lives, not seeking emergency grants so that they can afford to heat their homes & eat" My @guardian piece

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The Tory ‘emergency fund’ is an admission that universal credit shouldn’t be cut | Tom Pollard

The government is plugging its £6bn cut with a £500m one-off bung. How many people will struggle for food and heating, asks Tom Pollard, an NHS mental health social worker

www.theguardian.com

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Tom Pollard

2 years

People who are financially comfortable taking the time to tweet their advice about how people living in poverty could better manage their money is a great example of the cognitive bandwidth freed up (but often wasted) by not having to deal with living in poverty

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Tom Pollard

7 months

Regardless of the practicality, it's completely unethical to coerce people into receiving medical treatment except in very specific circumstances set out in law. For mental health in particular, it would undermine critically important progress about the right to choice & control

@Peston

Robert Peston

7 months

Jeremy Hunt says he wants those who feel unable to work because of physical or mental health conditions to receive medical and therapeutic help as a condition of receiving their out-of-work benefits uplift, as a pathway back to work. But this seems less than practical - even…

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Tom Pollard

3 months

This is really grim from @CitizensAdvice - around 5m people experiencing a negative budget (where their monthly outgoings are more then their income) and another 2m only avoiding that situation by going without essentials such as adequate food or heating

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@PollardTom

Tom Pollard

3 years

I increasingly feel that having had some kind of therapy should be a pre-requisite for holding major public office. Qualities like self-reflection, doubt, curiosity & emotional intelligence seem so undervalued in our politics, & policy/decision-making suffers as a consequence.

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Tom Pollard

2 years

Kit Malthouse says he wants to challenge the link between poverty and crime, and instead focus on drivers such as drug addiction Wait until he finds out what one of the key drivers of drug addiction is (spoiler alert: it's poverty)

@GMB

Good Morning Britain

2 years

Crime and Policing Minister Kit Malthouse reacts to the Chief Inspector of Constabulary's comments that there could be an increase in petty crime as a result of the cost of living crisis.

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Tom Pollard

8 months

Here we go again Spoiler alert: telling more ill & disabled people that they're 'fit for work', giving them even less adequate benefits & subjecting them to conditionality & sanctions will not lead to a significant proportion finding sustainable work 1/2

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Claiming sickness benefits to be made harder

Ministers want to reform work capability assessments, which determine whether someone is fit enough for employment

www.telegraph.co.uk

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Tom Pollard

1 year

We need to talk about conditionality Despite a growing political consensus that benefits sanctions are 'bad', there's been little real discussion of the mechanism driving them Sanctions are the worst consequence of conditionality, but it has a much wider negative impact...🧵

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Tom Pollard

3 months

If local authorities can't afford to fund things like Citizens Advice, fewer people get the help & income they need, debts grow, evictions increase, mental & physical health worsen & the downstream costs just pile up Really important @patrickjbutler piece

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When a Citizens Advice has to close despite demand being ‘off the scale’

In Mansfield, the council could not afford the funding needed by a service that is vital to one of the UK’s most deprived areas

www.theguardian.com

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Tom Pollard

1 year

Grateful & excited to have been asked to become an Associate Fellow at @IPPR I'll be working with @rachelstatham_ & her team in the new year on research & policy focused on reducing poverty & inequality through a supportive benefits system & good work

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Tom Pollard

2 years

Heartbreaking episode of #Dispatches by @richardbutchins tonight on deaths caused by the disability benefits system. The #DWP should not be stopping the benefits of anyone with #MentalHealth problems unless they have clear proof that the person is safe & no longer needs support.

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Tom Pollard

9 months

That's before you even get to the unfounded, tedious & insulting central argument - that people are overstating their poor mental health & its impact on their ability to work because they lack the moral fibre to 'soldier on' like people would have done in the good old days 🙄

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Tom Pollard

2 months

Cutting national insurance would benefit high-income households the most while doing nothing for those really struggling to make ends meet Investing the same money in Universal Credit could lift 384,000 people out of poverty Great to see this @NEF analysis getting pick up today

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Tom Pollard

2 years

Difficult to see how 'benefits to bricks' is going to work when the government hasn't yet mastered 'benefits to food'

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Tom Pollard

2 years

I've seen some reactions to this story focus on variation in price changes between different foods, with the implication that people should just adapt their buying habits accordingly. I think this highlights a big gap between the data & lived experience 🧵

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Budget pasta prices jump 50% as food staples rise

Data reveals prices of some everyday items rose by 15% but the average increase is below inflation.

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Tom Pollard

4 years

I've heard from a few people I support that they've had much more positive interactions with @DWP during this crisis. I wonder whether a shift in focus to providing support rather than trying to police behavior has freed staff to be more human & compassionate? Keep it that way!

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Tom Pollard

5 months

The key announcement was planned changes to the criteria for the Work Capability Assessment (WCA), to kick in from 2025, meaning fewer people with mobility issues & mental health problems will be declared to have 'limited capability for work related activity' (LCWRA) [2/10]

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Tom Pollard

8 months

This piece is blighted by the same narrow, traditional economic thinking & lack of effort to understand the lived experience of ill & disabled people that has led to both a complete policy failure in this space & a huge amount of distress & harm for many of those affected

@TheEconomist

The Economist

8 months

People deemed unable ever to return to employment now get twice as much as in welfare payments as those expected to go back one day. This gives them a strong incentive to never look for a job again. Politicians should tighten the system

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Tom Pollard

2 years

The argument that benefits should rise in-line with wages rather than inflation is disingenuous & cruel The basic rate of Universal Credit is about 25% of a full time minimum wage salary - people on benefits live on the edge & simply can't afford a real terms cut to their income

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Tom Pollard

2 years

It really seems like the leadership candidates have been caught up in the narrow culture war obsessions of certain parts of the media/Westminster & are failing to address the central issue that Conservative members & the wider public are most concerned about - the cost of living

@lewis_goodall

Lewis Goodall

2 years

Key takeaways from this (mainly Conservative inclined group) -terror/fury about economy, about winter to come. -short shrift for ‘culture war’ issues in that context: “what’s that got to do with me?” Sole focus cost of living -desperate to hear about policies to deal with it.

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Tom Pollard

3 months

A Prime Minister (with reported household wealth of £529m) bets a TV presenter (with reported personal wealth of £16m) £1,000 that he can deport some asylum seekers (who have to live off £49.18 a week) to Rwanda before the next election. Gross.

@Independent

The Independent

3 months

Rishi Sunak has accepted a £1,000 bet from Piers Morgan that deportation flights to Rwanda will be up and running before the General Election. The full interview is due to be shown on the Piers Morgan Uncensored YouTube channel at 2pm and TalkTV at 8pm on Monday (5 February).

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Tom Pollard

8 months

A lot to dislike in that Nick Timothy Telegraph piece yesterday but this bit was particularly odious Health services are having to step in to offer this support because this government has decimated legal aid & the advice sector. Lazy & ignorant to blame it on 'welfare culture'

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Tom Pollard

1 year

When the Conservatives came into office in 2010, the basic rate of unemployment benefit was £65 a week If it had consistently risen in line with inflation it would now be £92 a week The current rate is £78 a week

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Tom Pollard

11 months

"It seems incredible that the level of [Universal Credit] isn’t set with reference to the actual essentials of life, but that’s the situation" Important @FT piece by @TrussellTrust 's @Helen_Barnard on how inadequate social security drives food bank use

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Inflation is hitting society’s most vulnerable families hardest

This cost of living crisis is not a sudden emergency, but the latest chapter in a longer-term story of rising poverty

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Tom Pollard

8 months

I spoke to @CommonsWorkPen last week about my time at #DWP & their instinct to rely on conditionality as the way to push people towards work Trying to subject more ill & disabled people to conditionality, as they're planning, will be ineffective & harmful

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Tom Pollard

5 months

People in this group get an additional £390 a month & are exempt from conditionality. Many people will instead be placed in the 'limited capability for work' (LCW) group, where they would lose this additional payment & be required to 'prepare for' but not apply for work [3/10]

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Tom Pollard

7 months

Jeremy Hunt wheeling out all the tired old tropes about people opting for "a lifetime on benefits" & not trying hard enough to "do the right thing" Maybe if we treated people with respect, kindness & support we'd get better outcomes than we do with criticism, hardship & threats

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Tom Pollard

2 years

If DWP actually listened to people about what would help them to get into work or increase their hours, they might come up with some ideas more creative, effective & compassionate than just ramping up the threat of imposed poverty

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Claimants will be asked 'seek more and better paid work or risk benefit cut' | ITV News

Around 120,000 people in part-time work could face a benefit cut if they fail to properly look for more work, the Chancellor is set to announce. | ITV National News

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Tom Pollard

2 years

I've settled into a pattern of working two days a week in a #MentalHealth crisis team alongside my freelance research/writing. The mix of practice & policy feels so valuable - I really recommend it to others & feel policy organisations should do more to encourage/facilitate it.

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Tom Pollard

1 year

The rights, wellbeing & dignity of people receiving benefits are held in such low regard that it's considered legitimate debate to suggest they should be forced to do hard manual labour under threat of destitution

@JeremyVineOn5

Jeremy Vine On 5

1 year

"Why do we have 1.2m on the dole... can't we use some of them [for fruit picking]? They should be made to pick." Ann Widdecombe says people on benefits should be made to fill agricultural jobs. Do you agree? @JemmaForte | @theJeremyVine | #JeremyVine

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Tom Pollard

5 months

Initially these changes would just affect new applicants, but increasingly also people who are being reassessed. The OBR expects to see 371,000 fewer people in the more protected group by 2028-29 than under current rules & most of these would instead be in the LCW group [4/10]

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Tom Pollard

4 years

Even among those on #UniversalCredit who don't start out with a mental health problem, the anxiety & insecurity the process often entails is causing levels of stress that can lead to depression. 'Do no harm' should be the 1st guiding principle for #DWP

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Tom Pollard

2 years

I told myself I'd resist the urge to post pictures of our new puppy on Twitter, but she's helping to distract me from my political despondency this morning, so it seemed selfish not to share that around a little

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Tom Pollard

3 years

I love this quote from one of the @CovidRealities participants in this @CPAGUK article by @ruthpatrick0 & Jim Kaufman: Such a clear articulation of how much more supportive & empowering the social security system could be

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Tom Pollard

6 months

This is positive from @RachelReevesMP : -not engaging with the excessive & pernicious focus on people 'playing the system' -highlighting the importance of health limiting people's ability to work & the role of the NHS -committing Labour to uprating benefits in line with inflation

@BBCPolitics

BBC Politics

6 months

“The reason for [people being out of work] is that our NHS is not functioning properly” Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves says Labour would support benefits going up in line with inflation as normal #BBCLauraK

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Tom Pollard

10 months

This is so quietly damning from the House of Commons Library. Sixty years since the last serious attempt by government to gauge the actual adequacy of benefits. Thanks to @PaulKissack for highlighting

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@PaulKissack

Paul Kissack

10 months

It is 60 years since any British Government carried out an official empirical study into the adequacy of social security. I didn’t realise that. But it does help to explain a few things #OurEssentials

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Tom Pollard

1 year

"the harm caused by poverty extends not only to the material absence, which is at the core of experiences of poverty, but to the misrecognition & disrespect that it also entails" Excellent @TheIFS paper by @ruthpatrick0 on lived experiences of poverty

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Living at the sharp end of socio-economic inequality: everyday experiences of poverty and social...

When we turn our analytical gaze to questions of inequality, we routinely and rightly focus on structural forces that variously act to increase, address or soften divisions in opportunities and...

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Tom Pollard

1 year

Excited to be getting started as Head of Social Policy at @NEF today (although I'm easing myself in with a day of IT setup, admin & reading at home!) Here are some of the exciting projects I'm going to be working on with my excellent team ( @alex_dinerLOFC & @Sam_Tims )...

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Tom Pollard

5 months

Wow. The Government has only just announced changes to the benefits system that will affect hundreds of thousands of disabled people, but thinks there's no need to have a specific Minister to represent disabled people's views & interests as these reforms are rolled out. Shameful

@ITVNewsPolitics

ITV News Politics

@ITVNewsPolitics

5 months

'Minister for disabled people' role scrapped by government, Number 10 confirms

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