Scottish Drugs Forum
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October 2008
SdF Events
SDF Membership Consultation on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) consultation -
“No one written off: reforming welfare to reward responsibility”
Tuesday 7 October
2 – 4pm
SDF Glasgow Office, 91 Mitchell Street, Glasgow, G1 3LN
Speakers:
Dr Sharon Wright, University of Stirling
James Egan, Scottish Drugs Forum
Scottish Drugs Forum is holding this event to form a response to the DWP’s consultation on various aspects of the UK Government’s latest tranche of welfare reforms,
“No-one written off: reforming welfare to reward responsibility” which aim to complete the process of removing one million people from Incapacity Benefit (IB) by 2015 and achieve an 80 percent employment rate.
Under the proposals, IB claimants with drug problems will be required to declare specific drug use, and then “move successfully” through treatment and into employment or have their benefits reduced. The UK Government plans to consult with the Scottish Government on the co-ordination required to make this feasible in a devolved Scotland.
The new Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) will replace IB completely by 2013 and proposals also include that ESA would be linked to “work for benefit” proposals where people receiving it could have to attend training if they do not volunteer to do so. Views are also being sought on whether lone parents with a youngest child of five-to-six years old should undergo a skills health check and training as a condition of receiving their benefits.
The proposals comes as seven out of 10 drug users seeking specialist help in Scotland are unemployed, with many facing a range of employability barriers - from past criminal convictions and chronic health problems, such as Hepatitis C, to employers’ negative attitudes and the “in-work” poverty trap.
Speakers:
- Dr Sharon Wright is a lecturer in Social Policy at the University of Stirling. Her research and policy interests include unemployment, social security, welfare-to-work and poverty. She recently co-edited a new book, Understanding Inequality, Poverty and Wealth and co-edits the journal Social Policy and Society. Dr Wright is also co-convenor of the Scottish Social Policy Network.
- James Egan is Head of Policy and Practice at Scottish Drugs Forum. He has over 20 years experience in the drug and alcohol field working in various settings. He has a particular interest in the links between problematic drug use and inequalities and co-authored a literature review on Drugs and Poverty on behalf of the Scottish Association of Alcohol and Drug Action Teams.
Although there will be a focus on the
DWP consultation questions we will be interested in any wider welfare reform views you may wish to express.
If you are unable to attend, then you can submit a written response by Tuesday 30th September to: Lisa McKibben by email lisa@sdf.org.uk, fax 0141 248 6414 or post to SDF, 91 Mitchell Street, Glasgow G1 3LN.
You can download a booking form here (Word 325kb) or see www.sdf.org.uk
Contact: Lisa McKibben tel. 0141 221 1175 email lisa@sdf.org.uk