Ian Rathbone has been a member of the Law Centre Management Committee (now Board of Directors) for around 16 years, and in his third year as chair. He has a background in media relations and public affairs work, and in legal and financial advice. He came onto the BoD as a result of Law Centre support for the Sanctuary for the Ogunwobi Family Campaign (a family who took sanctuary in a Hackney church following deportation threats) which he chaired at the time, and has continued to give support for the immigration work of the Centre. He is a local councillor and a former Speaker of Hackney (civic mayor). This is Ian’s page to write about any issues he believes may be of interest to visitors to the Hackney Community Law Centre’s website….
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Projects, Peers and Positivity – February 17th 2012
I am very grateful to Matrix Chambers for the giving of £7,200 towards our volunteer and intern schemes over the next two years. Wonderful!
And even more pleased when their Chief Exec Lindsay Scott (who also has lots of connections with Hackney and a love of the Hackney Empire) took us into their extremely busy main department and produced a big fat law book – ‘EU Law for UK Lawyers‘ written by Matrix QC Aidan O’Neill – as another added gift. That was a lovely final flourish to our visit to their Grays Inn offices.
We are beginning to see a flow of letters into the centre from peers, leading lawyers and other, agreeing to become patrons and Friends of the law centre. More of that later!
I am really encouraged that the worth and value of our work is being recognised and I hope the staff are taking heart from this. To help the poor is an inspiring and humbling process.
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New Youth Advice Service at the Off Centre – February 13th 2012
If you need legal advice on a housing problem or inappropriate accommodation and are aged 16 – 24 Hackney Community Law Centre is now a new service running at Off Centre and the Levy Centre.
The services take place every Thursday morning after then at either the Off Centre or the Levy Centre’s premises.
Hackney Community Law Centre will be working alongside the Off Centre and the Levy Centre’s Advice & Advocacy workers to provide specialist legal advice on things like – Homeless Applications, claiming benefits, rent arrears etc.
Contact the Off Centre on (0208 986 4016) or Hackney Community Law Centre on 07530 845 303 to make an appointment and check where that week’s session will be held.
More detailed information about the new Youth Advice Service can be found HERE.
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The Government’s ‘misplaced and misleading’ welfare benefits cap argument – February 6th 2012
The government’s spin on its top-slicing and arbitrary £26k welfare benefit cap is that it is “fair” to working families vis-a-vis the jobless. The argument is misplaced and misleading in almost every respect, says Simon Barrow, in this article unpacking complex issues …
“The problem with the truth is that it’s complicated. Lies are simple, they can be altered to fit any audience, they can be sensational without any boring honest bits to dilute the story. Honesty doesn’t make headlines. That’s the problem with the Welfare Reform Bill…”
Read more HERE.
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Hackney Council motion on fuel poverty – February 3rd 2012
Hackney Council has become very concerned about the effects of fuel poverty and has passed the following motion HERE.
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Their Cuts, Not Ours! – February 1st 2012
MPs in the Westminster House of Commons will be debating the Welfare Reform Bill on Wednesday 1 February 2012, one day after the House of Lords final debate. There are important issues at stake for disabled people, including the young disabled and those with cancer, for people on housing benefit, for lone parents, vulnerable women and larger families. The LRC, a broad alliance of campaign groups and trade unions, has produced a useful summary of the key amendments passed by the Lords, setting out briefly the points that those talking with their MPs may want to make. These are reproduced HERE with grateful acknowledgement.
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Humiliating defeat for Welfare Reform Bill! – February 1st 2012
Lobbying of MPs is set to intensify in the next 18 hours, after the government suffered a seventh humiliating defeat on its controversial Welfare Reform Bill (WRB) yesterday (Jan 31).
The latest defeat was inflicted by the House of Lords at the WRB Third Reading, in relation to an amendment aimed at protecting disabled children from cuts. Crossbenchers were mainly responsible for the latest victory for poverty, disability, children’s and benefit campaigners – backed by charities, churches, medical professionals and community organisations across the country. Two bishops, two Conservative peers, seven Lib Dems (a medium-sized rebellion) and six others joined 168 Labour peers and 61 Crossbench ones. The amendment was carried by 246 votes to 230, a margin of sixteen against the government.
Labour’s whip Lord Bassam commented that this was “the worst run of defeats for the government in the House of Lords since the General Election. Given that they have a political majority of 70, that is quite an achievement.” The successful amendment proposes: Clause 10, Page 4, line 36, after “disabled” insert “such additional amount to be paid at either a higher rate, or a lower rate, which shall be no less than two-thirds of the higher rate as may be prescribed”. That is, it proposed that the disability addition for children on lower rate of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) should be no less than two-thirds of the £77 proposed for disabled children on higher rate DLA under Universal Credit.
Government minister Lord Freud could not assure the House that his administration would protect disabled children from cuts, and commentators say that this is the reason the coalition lost heavily once more. The Welfare Reform Bill has now suffered four defeats on disability issues, one on housing benefit, one on an attempt to charge mothers for using the Child Support Agency (CSA) and one on exempting child benefit from the £26,000 per household benefit cap. During the debate, Crossbencher Baroness Meacher argued passionately that there are hundreds of thousand of families desperate about cuts to disabled children’s benefits. Baroness Howarth argued said that claims to being a civilised society required that “appropriate funding” for disabled children was “absolutely crucial”.
Ministers said that benefit payments to children have outpaced those to adults in recent years, and need to be realigned. They have also argued that the higher child rates fail to prepare disabled youngsters for the “difficult” drop in income when they reach adulthood. Disability researcher Jenny Morris points out: “In other words, disabled children should get used to living in poverty in childhood as that is what awaits them as they move into adulthood.” The shift to a more targeted approach, focusing benefits only on the most disabled, is a constant theme of government welfare reform, she points out. But this means that there are many thousands of losers that the Department of Work and Pensions keeps ignoring in its litany-like response to the defeats inflicted on it by the Lords. Dr Morris writes on her blog: “Another of the government’s justifications for changes to the ‘disability addition’ for disabled children is that it is targeting help to those who are most ‘severely disabled’.
This is part and parcel of the residualisation of the welfare state – the process by which it is becoming something that only those in the greatest need can look to receive help from. This is not a social security system on which we can all rely at times of misfortune and need, something in which therefore we all have stake. Instead it is a benefit system which – like social housing has become – is only available to the most marginalised of social groups.”
Attention now passes to the House of Commons tomorrow, Wednesday 1 February 2012, where the Welfare Reform Bill receives its final reading before passing for Royal Assent. The government is likely to make further concessions, but so far is steadfastly refusing to listen to expert and specialist opinion and the huge opposition its plans have generated.
* Pat’s Petition (Stop and review the cuts to benefits and services which are falling disproportionately on disabled people, their carers and families): http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20968 *
38 Degrees action in disability and welfare cuts – http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/speakout/cuts-to-support-email-mp
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The six myths of IDS’ benefits cap – January 25th 2012
The Child Poverty Action Group have exposed what they dub the ‘six myths of of IDS’s benefits cap’:
1. The cap is just for out of work claimants of benefits
2. Claimants have more money than working families
3. Families with a disabled member will not be affected
4. There will be no behavioural changes and social impacts
5. The cap will deliver fiscal savings
6. This is a new policy
Read more HERE.
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Further defeat looms for the Government on child maintenance charges - January 24th 2012
From the Ginger Bread organisation -
On Wednesday 25 January, the last day of the Welfare Reform Bill’s Report Stage, the Lords will turn its attention to the Government’s child maintenance proposals - where another government defeat is threatened. Under an amendment tabled by the widely respected Conservative Peer, Lord Mackay of Clashfern – former Lord Chancellor under Mrs Thatcher – parents with main care of children who have no alternative but to use the statutory maintenance service in
order to get maintenance for their children would be exempted from government charges. Read more HERE.
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Gloucester Law Centre campaigns on legal aid – January 24th 2012
I came across this excellent article on Gloucester Law Centre and the campaign they are running against the legal aid cuts. The key paragraph reads: “We hope that all local members of the House of Lords as well as Gloucestershire’s MPs will support these amendments and do their best to prevent there becoming one law for the rich and another for the poor”. At Hackney Community Law Centre we fully agree.
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Ministry of Justice Green paper – ‘Justice & Security’ – January 23rd 2012
A considerable matter of concern for me is the Ministry of Justice Green Paper entitled Justice and Security. The green paper is intended to pave the way to legislation which will bar journalists- and others – from court proceedings where matters deemed by ministers to be “sensitive” are to be raised, and where reporting could be said to be contrary to the “public interest”.
The proposals are available to read HERE. It is a fascinating document!
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is putting together a response – you can add your view by sending to: campaigns@nuj.org.uk
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Wandsworth Council finally listens – January 20th 2012
Good to see that even a council like Wandsworth finally listens to voice of sense and caring and backs down over threats to evict tenant over her son’s riot conviction (Read all about the case HERE). HCLC has been key in campaigning against such appalling discrimination.
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Legal Aid cuts will put domestic violence victims at risk – January 18th 2012
I was very interested to read this article in the Guardian newspaper about the effect of the legal aid cut proposals on victims of domestic violence. A new report reveals that the proposed cuts to legal aid (currently being debated in Parliament) will put domestic violence victims at risk.
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Their Cuts, Not Ours! – January 13th 2012
The government is proposing to cut the Social Fund, which provides emergency support for poor, sick and vulnerable people in desperate need. A coalition of charities and welfare groups explains why this is wrong. Click HERE to read more.
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Their Cuts, Not Ours! – January 12th 2012
Buoyed by a stunning victory in the House of Lords, disabled rights activists and their supporters are pledging to step up the campaign for welfare justice.
The government was defeated by large votes on three crucial amendments to the Welfare Reform Bill (WRB) last night (January 11 2012), thanks to the commitment of Crossbench Peers such as Lord Patel and Baroness Meacher, the votes of Labour members, and intensive lobbying and publicity from spartacusreport campaigners.
Now Labour MP John McDonnell has tabled a Parliamentary Question asking for a statement from the Government in response to the ‘Responsible Reform’ report (also known as the Spartacus report) produced by disabled people themselves. This exposes what critics calls the ‘sham’ official consultation on Disability Living Allowance (DLA).
Find out more by visiting the ‘Their Cuts Not Ours‘ Facebook page HERE.
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London Borough of Hackney’s motion supporting the Justice for All Campaign – January 2012
I was very grateful to the London Borough of Hackney (LBH) for passing the following motion to support the Justice for All campaign:
“RESOLVED that:
This Council:
- Believes that access to justice is a right that should be available to all and, ensuring that individuals are not excluded from the courts system due to lack of finance was deemed fundamental to ensuring the principles of equality before the law when it was created in 1949.
- Believes there are unexplored alternatives to these cuts which mean up to 77% of legal aid funding will be lost to all advice agencies in the borough.
- Notes the evidence in Hackney which shows that a cut of £1 in legal aid will waste between £10 to £100 and has not been properly assessed by the Government.
- Deplores the Government’s proposal to make legal aid only available through a phone service when a large number of people in a multi-cultural area like Hackney use face to face services.
- Notes the valuable support given to what is a high quality advice services in the borough by Team Hackney.
- Is concerned that the proposal to remove from scope – employment advice, education welfare, debt advice and to reduce provision in family, immigration and housing advice – will have a catastrophic impact for those Hackney residents who will need advice at a time when government policy will result in lost jobs, benefits and tenancies.
- Feels particularly alarmed at the disproportionate impact that these proposals will have on women, protected groups as well as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic residents in the borough.
- Supports the Justice for All campaign and asks the Government to think again and talk to advice agencies in inner city areas.”
I am also very proud that LBH was the first local authority to offer its support to Justice for All in this way.
To find out more about how you can support the Justice for All campaign, please click HERE.
