The Richmond Fellowship Scotland

FOCUS Launch giveme5 Campaign

FOCUS has today launched its campaign to increase the permitted earnings disregard, a limit which forces people on benefits to reduce their working hours.
 
Called giveme5, the campaign hopes to enable people on benefits to work more hours for more money by raising the limit from £20 to £25. FOCUS are encouraging staff, the people we support and the general public to sign the online petition in support of the campaign and find five other signatories.

Permitted earnings is the money people on benefits can earn if they are in receipt of any of the following benefits due to an illness or disability: Incapacity Benefit, Income Support, Council Tax Benefit and Housing Benefit. The Earnings Disregard limit has remained at £20 for more than five years.

Because the government has increased the national minimum wage, people are now being forced to reduce their working hours to stay within this disregard limit. That makes it difficult for people to take on part-time work which could be the first step on a pathway to full-time employment.

Stephen McNulty, FOCUS Development Officer (Challenging Stigma), manages the giveme5 campaign:

"I worked for the Richmond Fellowship Scotland in their Glasgow North services for six years. I supported many people who could have got a job but were scared because they feared they would lose benefits. So I jumped at the chance to work with FOCUS to change the system.

"Although I have only been in post for a few months, the campaign is already gathering momentum. We have started a petition and are confident that we will attract thousands of signatures. We have been lobbying MPs and MSPs and many have said they will support us. We have started up local campaigning groups to co-ordinate our efforts. Because our ambitions are modest, they are achievable but even these modest changes will really make a difference. If the government is serious about moving people off Incapacity Benefit and into employment, we need to take away the barriers and disincentives."

To sign the online petition and learn more about how you can help the campaign, please visit www.trfs.org.uk/giveme5

Alternatively, please contact Stephen McNulty, FOCUS Co-ordinator on 0141 779 6363
 or email smcnulty@trfs.org.uk