The Scottish Campaign on Welfare Reform (SCoWR) meets today for a conference aimed at challenging the political consensus on welfare reform in the run-up to the next General Election and beyond.
In a week that has seen the Conservative Party put welfare reform back in the headlines, SCoWR, which brings together over 40 leading Scottish voluntary sector groups, will challenge a welfare agenda of benefit cuts and increased conditions that they believe threatens to plunge tens of thousands of vulnerable Scottish households into deeper poverty.
Opening the conference, Matt Lancashire, from Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS), said,
"As a group, we all have an interest in combating poverty and protecting the most vulnerable people in Scotland - those who are too often the victims of our society. These are the very people who are in danger of being left behind by the current agenda of welfare reform. We are here to make sure that doesn't happen.”
"We are now in the home straight before the next General Election. We don't know who will be in power this time next year, but what is clear is that all parties are looking for cuts in spending, and that welfare services are very much in the firing line. Our job today is to make sure we work together to shape the future of a fair welfare system.”
John Dickie, Head of the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland, said,
"There is no doubt that reform of the welfare system is needed. But that reform needs to be based on treating people with dignity and providing adequate levels of support to protect them from poverty through times of unemployment, ill health, or caring responsibilities. The current political debate fails to address these issues, but our Campaign conference will.”
The conference will bring together organizations working with those facing the worst consequences of the recession, as well as those with direct experience of the benefit system to draw up ideas on what is needed to create a system that genuinely protects people from poverty, and identify the best ways to take those ideas forward.
Mr Dickie continued;
"Any party that wants to improve the welfare system will find that we will work constructively with them on a reform agenda. But we will vigorously oppose any attempts to cut or make benefits even harder to claim, and limit opportunities for or heap blame on the most vulnerable in our society."
Today's conference is held at the Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC), 333 Woodlands Road, Glasgow, G3 6NG. It will be attended by 65 people, representing all of the SCoWR organizations. Journalists and photographers are welcome to attend. The agenda is below.
AGENDA FOR THE CONFERENCE
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10am Registration, tea and coffee |
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10.30am Welfare Reform – ScoWR aims and action to date John Dickie Head of CPAG in Scotland |
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10.40am Political Opportunities – John Mason MP |
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10.55am Grassroots opportunities – Mary Collins Co-ordinator of the Independent Resource Centre, Clydebank |
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11.10am Alternative models of welfare Professor Paul Spicker – Robert Gordon University |
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11.30am Tea Break |
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11.45am Workshops |
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Workshop 1 - What would a welfare system which treated people with dignity look like and how do we get there? – Jim Boyle - Oxfam |
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Workshop 2 - What would a welfare sytsem which truly supported people look like and how do we get there? – Robert McGeachy – Children 1st |
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Workshop 3 - What would a well resourced welfare system look like and how do we get there? Jim Lugton - SCVO |
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Workshop 4 - What would a welfare system which took into account the differences in Scotland look like and how do we get there? Maggie Kelly – Poverty Alliance |
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13.00 Lunch |
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13.45 Group feedback and discussion of workshops – Matt Lancashire – CAS |
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14.15 Media Savvy Tony Hutson CAS & Eileen Clarkson Oxfam |
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14.45 Next steps Peter Kelly – Poverty Alliance |
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3.30pm Close |
Embargo: 00.01 on Thursday 8th October, 2009
Contact: Matt Lancashire 0131 550 1062 or John Dickie 07795 340 618
(For further information, or to arrange advance interviews)
SCoWR is a coalition of agencies, charities and NGOs based in Scotland who are committed to monitoring and campaigning on the issues raised by the UK Government's welfare reform agenda. SCoWR's membership includes: Action for Children Scotland, Barnardo's, Capability Scotland, Carr-Gomm Scotland, Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland, Children 1st, Church Action on Poverty, Church of Scotland, Citizens Advice Scotland, Dundee Anti Poverty Forum, ECAS - Edinburgh, Energy Action Scotland, Faith In Community (Scotland), Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living, Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector, Glasgow Disability Alliance, Glasgow University Students' Representative Council, Inclusion Scotland, Leonard Cheshire Scotland, Margaret Blackwood Housing Association, Media Co-op, One Parent Families Scotland, Oxfam Scotland, PCS Union, Rosemount Lifelong Learning, Scottish Alliance of Children's Rights, Scottish Churches Housing Action, Scottish Churches Social Inclusion Network, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Scottish Drugs Forum, Scottish Local Government Forum Against Poverty, Scottish Trade Union Congress, Scottish Women's Convention, The Action Group, The Iona Community, The Poverty Alliance, and the Salvation Army.