Hansard

I welcome the opportunity to speak to members today in order to share the conclusions of the Welfare Reform Committee’s inquiry and the recommendations in our report “Women and Social Security”. The committee reported that the reforms to the social security system have had a damaging and disproportionate impact on women, particularly disabled women, lone parents, carers, refugee women and those experiencing domestic abuse. The cumulative effect negatively impacts on not only women’s lives but those of their families and the people they care for.

Although the committee welcomed reports that there are more women in work than ever before, we cannot escape the fact that £26 billion-worth of cuts have been made to benefits, tax credits and pay and pensions since 2010. According to the House of Commons library, 85 per cent of the £26 billion has been taken from women’s incomes. The committee heard that one of the reasons for that disproportionate impact is existing systemic inequality for women, which has been aggravated by the recent reforms to the social security system.

I am sure that all members are aware of the challenges that women face in finding accessible, good-quality childcare. In that regard, we heard about women being forced into lower-level, pink-collar jobs; women earning less in the workplace; and the overreliance on women as primary carers. Those situations impact on people over their lifetime and mean, for example, that women have fewer financial assets and less access to occupational pensions than men; that women are twice as likely to give up paid work in order to care; and that 92 per cent of lone parents are women. Overall, it is clear to see why women are twice as dependent on the social security system as men are.

I thank members of the Welfare Reform Committee, the clerking team and all those who contributed to our deliberations for the report. The committee published the report “Women and Social Security” in July this year. Based on the written and oral evidence received, the committee made a number of conclusions and recommendations. I particularly thank committee member Christina McKelvie for suggesting the approach that our deliberations should take. I will not be able to cover all our recommendations, but I will try to give a flavour of our main findings, with the caveat that the Conservative member of the committee noted their dissent from certain conclusions and recommendations, as detailed in the report.

Let us look at some of the main changes. One of the biggest reforms, which is still in the roll-out phase, is to universal credit. The principles behind that can be seen as laudable; making it easier for everyone to gain and sustain employment should be a good thing. However, in evidence the committee heard that the financial arrangements for second earners, who are most likely to be women, may discourage them from entering the labour market at all. That is why we called on the UK Government to rethink the earnings disregard for second earners to make work more financially worthwhile for second earners, who are mainly women.

The committee welcomed the proposals to allow Scotland discretion over the administrative elements. We would like the Scottish Government to use those powers to move from monthly payments and single household payments in order to allow women to budget more effectively and to preserve their financial autonomy in the household. We would also like a return to housing payments being made directly to the landlord. Being able to choose what is best for them and their family and decrease the risk of rent arrears will improve women’s security and their ability to provide for their children.

I turn to employment and job-seeking support. Working women need a new Scottish social security system that will overcome the barriers that prevent or restrict their labour market participation. For it to be at its most effective, we believe that job-seeking support should be integrated across health, housing and social care and tailored to meet the needs of particular groups. The committee would like the Scottish Government to think about how it can incentivise employers to provide truly flexible working arrangements for women with caring responsibilities and reduce the dependence on short-term and zero-hours contracts.

The committee recognises the work that has been done in Scotland so far on increasing childcare provision. However, more can be done. Efforts to improve the availability, quality and flexibility of childcare in order to allow women to return to work if that is their wish should continue to be a top priority.

We also examined the impact on lone parents. We heard that the system creates pressures, especially on lone parents, to apply for or take up work that does not fit in with their caring responsibilities. To avoid that pressure, we want the DWP to make jobcentres more welcoming, to train staff appropriately and to provide experts with specialist knowledge of particular circumstances. That is especially important given the announcement in the emergency budget earlier this year that, from April 2017, parents who claim universal credit, including lone parents, will be expected to prepare for work from when their youngest child turns two and to look for work when their youngest child turns three.

We need to make sure that the existing safeguards for lone parents work to avoid single mothers being threatened with or receiving sanctions inappropriately. That brings me to the S word and one of the areas of greatest concern—sanctions. The committee has always taken a strong view on the impact of sanctions. Although the necessity for some form of conditionality is welcomed and understood by the committee, we believe that the current operation of the so-called sanctions regime can be punishing and counterproductive. The committee will continue to demand of the Department for Work and Pensions a review of the application of its policies at a local level to ensure that sanctions are only ever a last resort.

We have also joined the UK Parliament’s Work and Pensions Committee to call on the UK Government to conduct a comprehensive independent review of sanctions to identify whether they actually have their desired effect and encourage people into work. In addition, we want the UK Government to publish a tracking study to follow the true cost of being sanctioned and how it impacts not just on the immediate finances of the claimant but on local authority services, the third sector and the NHS.

The committee also took evidence on the impact on women who experience domestic violence. In talking about the true costs of the reforms, we need to consider the knock-on impact on particular groups.

Women who experience domestic and financial abuse have suffered a decrease in their financial autonomy, which increases the risk of their remaining with or returning to abusers. We found that that can be a particular issue for European Economic Area job seekers whose right to reside is based on their partner’s status.

The UK Government should consider what further security and protection it can offer women who wish to leave abusive partners. We want the DWP to promote its domestic violence easement flexibilities, to remove job-seeking pressure from women who are exiting abusive relationships.

The danger of a lack of financial autonomy is particularly experienced by refugee women. The committee heard that women in refugee households might not receive a national insurance number for several weeks. On some occasions, women do not receive their national insurance number until after significant advocacy work on the part of the third sector or an elected member. The lack of a NI number can leave women destitute, with no right to claim benefits in their own name and potentially no bank account or financial independence. We have raised the issue with the UK Government, so that it can do more to speed up the process and give such women the right to financial autonomy.

This week the committee heard about the impact of the sanctions regime and work capability assessments on women with mental health issues. We had looked at the issue when we wrote the report and we had heard about the reforms’ disproportionate impact on women. The processes that must be undergone have a serious impact on women with mental health issues. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde cited evidence that women in its area have a significantly poorer mental health profile than men have and told us:

“Loss of income and stigma through sanctioning or changes in benefits are very large risk factors in precipitating mental health problems and suicide.”

The committee was therefore shocked when witnesses told us that the recent tightening of the eligibility criteria for employment and support allowance discriminates against women with mental health issues. The new screening system places more requirements on women to prove that they are at high risk of self-harm or suicide than it places on men who undergo the same assessment. Therefore, not only is the impact of the cuts being disproportionately felt by women but women are having to go to disproportionate lengths to prove the negative impact on their mental health. The committee has written to the UK minister to try to understand why the UK Government has put in place such a potentially discriminatory policy.

The committee considered the impact of the social security reforms on carers and children. Of course, negative impacts are felt keenly not only by carers but by the people for whom they care. We know that 74 per cent of people in receipt of carers allowance are women. Women who take on caring roles make an essential contribution to society, but many take on significant challenges when they take on a caring role, as we heard. Carers often see a sharp rise in household expenditure, accompanied by a drop in income, because the earnings disregard is so low as to act as a disincentive to work. That is why the committee supports the Scottish Government’s proposal to bring carers allowance into line with jobseekers allowance.

The committee also believes that there should be a stronger link between the social security system and the Scottish Government’s approach to child poverty and getting it right for every child. We encourage the Scottish Government to consider those links when it is planning the delivery of devolved benefits.

Given the potential for Scotland to use the proposed devolved powers over benefits, we are in interesting and challenging times. The committee welcomes the devolution of further social security powers to Scotland, which presents an opportunity to rectify some of the systemic inequalities that women face and to reverse some of the disproportionate impact that I have been talking about.

When the Scottish Government takes the opportunity afforded by further devolution to design a new system, we want it to embed gender and human rights analysis in the whole process. We need to examine our services and better support people who are in need. We need to get it right for the women of Scotland. Therefore, we want the Scottish Government to produce a dedicated action plan on mitigating the impact of the social security cuts on women. The plan should take stock of employability services, social care and childcare provision.

I am out of time, Presiding Officer. I look forward to hearing members’ speeches in the debate.

I move,

That the Parliament notes the 3rd Report, 2015 (Session 4) of the Welfare Reform Committee, Women and Social Security (SP Paper 773), including its recommendations to the Scottish and UK governments.