Monthly Archives: March 2015

ASA bans advert from Smart-pig.com

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Smart-Pig.com created an advert that claimed they would provide up to £3,500 to students and they could use the money for paying their rent. After receiving complaints from the public and some other businesses, the…

Non-English speakers may receive less housing support

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According to the government, almost 750,000 residents either do not speak English or they struggle with it. Many of them are migrant or new to the UK. Some currently receive as much as £400 per…

Government donates money to veteran charities

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Multiple charity organisations, such as the one being run by the Independent’s Homeless Veterans, the ABF the Soldiers’ Charity as well as Armed Forces Community is the Armed Services Advice Project, are receiving donations from…

Council’s are cutting back on discretionary housing payments

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Earlier this year the central government announced a reduction in the discretionary housing payments programme by about £40m. The cutbacks were being spread across the UK, with some council’s impacted more than others. Now, the…

Irregular income earners impacted by Universal Credit

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The Department for Work and Pensions worked with parliament to make changes to the Universal Credit system. This could impact an estimated 200,000 claimants that will be already enrolled into the scheme by 2016 and cause…

One in five London jobs do not pay a living wage

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Depending on where a resident lives in London, the percentage of jobs that do not pay a living range ranges from 18% in the city centre to over 25% in the outer boroughs. This equates…

Total housing benefit payments decreased in 2014

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The total expenditure for housing benefits decreased by about £150 million in 2014. This comes at a time of increasing rents being faced by many families across the UK. So while the government made cutbacks…

Benefit issues cause increased use of food banks

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Families are often turning to food banks due to changes in their social security benefits, delays in payment, or other sanctions. The Trussell Trust as well as University of Cheshire recently reviewed hundreds of referrals…