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EU migrants serious case review
A colleague has shared this tragic case with me and I feel that is is something that should be viewed by the wider welfare rights community as a sobering reminder of how the right to reside rules can push pople into deep poverty and depression.
It is the story of an EU lone parent denied benefits after the birth of her baby.
I remember reading about this case at the time. I felt like crying then and I feel like crying now. There is much about this country that is good but there is much that absolutely disgusts me. And, quite frankly, the assorted ragbag collection of cheerleaders of this kind of approach to social welfare and the incompetent and indifferent administrators of large parts of it should hang their heads in shame.
Im with you nev, i feel disgusted by it all as well and it concerns me that we may see more of these cases if the little help that the vunerable are allowed now is cut out from underneath them
The starting point of this case, and so many others, was the advice from Jobcentre Plus that the claimant should claim IS as a lone parent/expectant mother. We see EEA nationals who are routinely given this advice by JCP staff, with the resultant consequence of the withdrawal of all benefits, often for months, not to mention the difficulty of getting these benefits backdated following the inevitable return to JSA as an EEA “workseeker”.
This issue has been raised several times with our local JCP, who always follow the line that it is a “training isue”. However, the continuing stream of cases indicate it is a training issue which is not being addressed.
The tragedy is that cases like these could be prevented by the staff at Jobcentre Plus asking a couple of very simple questions (eg. “Are you an EEA national?/ “How long have you been in the UK?”/ “May I Look at your Visa?”), and advising a claim for the appropiate benefits in each case. It isn’t rocket science! It would, however, require a little common sense, something apparently totally alien to the DWP/JCP.
I find that I am relying more and more on charities to help me out with food parcels for my childless couples and on our Children’s Services teams for food vouchers for Tesco for my families. This is such a sad state of affairs.
I would encourage all my working colleagues to donate tinned and dried foods to your local charities as they desperately need our support!
Read this today, below, and it reminded me of this serious case review even if the reporting is a bit remiss. The facts, reported, don’t really make sense but it’s still a tragedy.