Free School Meals

[gonzo]

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-for-the-first-time-in-its-history-unicef-will-help-feed-kids-in-the-uk-12163515

 

You know things are shit when UNICEF are getting involved 

[Sweep]

10 minutes ago, gonzo said:

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-for-the-first-time-in-its-history-unicef-will-help-feed-kids-in-the-uk-12163515

 

You know things are shit when UNICEF are getting involved 

......I know they've only pledged £25K, but still, you're right , something has gone horribly wrong if they're "helping" our kids. Clearly they didn't read Mounts post saying there are already more than enough foodbanks in this great nation of ours 🙂, clearly they're just virtue signaling.

[L/H White]

2 hours ago, Sweep said:

......I know they've only pledged £25K, but still, you're right , something has gone horribly wrong if they're "helping" our kids. Clearly they didn't read Mounts post saying there are already more than enough foodbanks in this great nation of ours 🙂, clearly they're just virtue signaling.

it's all the parents fault to

[birch-chorley]

9 hours ago, Sweep said:

......I know they've only pledged £25K, but still, you're right , something has gone horribly wrong if they're "helping" our kids. Clearly they didn't read Mounts post saying there are already more than enough foodbanks in this great nation of ours 🙂, clearly they're just virtue signaling.

£25k is barely worth bothering with in reality, it seems on the face of it more of a PR stunt than anything else 

I’ve been as critical of this governments response as the next man, but to be fair on FSM I can see the governments point 

Thd vast majority of kids who get FSM have parents on Universal Credit. Right at the start of Covid the government increased UC by something like 20%, the biggest increase ever (I believe), it’s cost billions. Nobody expected that to be fair to them, with hindsight they would have come out of it better had they not spent billions with that unexpected increase and instead spent a few hundred million offering FSM to kids in the school holidays 

I don’t buy into this narrative that a FSM in holidays is the tipping point to a child going hungry or not. In reality the vast majority of parents on UC will prioritise their kids eating over everything else. The fact is the FSM in the holidays just saves them a few quid, it’s been more than off set by the additional UC they are getting with the increase 

[Casino]

Lot of sense there

A question though

UC is generally for the lower paid, lower skilled,I think

Are they not the ones most likely to have been blitzed by hospitality being shut. Does UC go up to cover loss of earnings 

I dont know

[Horwich]

If their wage goes down, their UC payment goes up. 

[birch-chorley]

11 minutes ago, Casino said:

Lot of sense there

A question though

UC is generally for the lower paid, lower skilled,I think

Are they not the ones most likely to have been blitzed by hospitality being shut. Does UC go up to cover loss of earnings 

I dont know

When I say UC, it’s a lot broader now as it covers all benefits (I think) 

But basically the job seekers element has gone up. Think it used to be £70 a week, they upped it by £20 to £90 a week 

Calls for it to be increased on a permanent basis...

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/dec/14/peers-call-for-universal-credit-boost-to-be-made-permanent

in answer to your question, if your in some of the hit sectors then you’d hopefully have benefitted from furlough. If you had been let go (think 1m have) then they are getting more than they would have 

If you were getting it anyway before Covid, then your getting more now even though you haven’t been impacted by losing your job (although a new job may have been harder to come by) 

[Casino]

10 minutes ago, Horwich said:

If their wage goes down, their UC payment goes up. 

 

7 minutes ago, birch-chorley said:

When I say UC, it’s a lot broader now as it covers all benefits (I think) 

But basically the job seekers element has gone up. Think it used to be £70 a week, they upped it by £20 to £90 a week 

Calls for it to be increased on a permanent basis...

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/dec/14/peers-call-for-universal-credit-boost-to-be-made-permanent

in answer to your question, if your in some of the hit sectors then you’d hopefully have benefitted from furlough. If you had been let go (think 1m have) then they are getting more than they would have 

If you were getting it anyway before Covid, then your getting more now even though you haven’t been impacted by losing your job (although a new job may have been harder to come by) 

Cheers folks

[Winchester White]

90 quid a week, that's really going to keep you going.

How the fuck folk survive on benefits is beyond me. Yes I know they get other payments and concessions depending on kids etc but fucking hell it doesn't seem like much of a life to me.

[birch-chorley]

9 minutes ago, Winchester White said:

90 quid a week, that's really going to keep you going.

How the fuck folk survive on benefits is beyond me. Yes I know they get other payments and concessions depending on kids etc but fucking hell it doesn't seem like much of a life to me.

That’s not all of it though, is it? housing benefit, council tax benefit, childcare costs, FSM in term time etc. It’s not meant to be ‘a life’ it’s meant to be a safety net 

The fact is, in this discussion, the benefit has been increased this year by a bigger % than any previous government has ever risen it (by some distance) 

That increase has cost the government £8bn this year, the FSM in the school holidays costs less than £1bn for a full year 

Point being, nobody expected them to increase UC by a bigger % than any other government ever, they got barely any credit for that. Yet they have been hammered for not spending about 10% of that cost providing FSM to the same group in school holidays 

It’s pure spin and politics for me 

Edited December 16, 2020 by birch-chorley

[Winchester White]

1 minute ago, birch-chorley said:

That’s not all of it is it though, housing benefit, council tax benefit, childcare costs, FSM in term time etc 

The fact is, the benefit has been increased this year by a bigger % than any previous government has ever risen it (by some distance) 

That increase has cost the government £8bn this year, the FSM in the school holidays costs less than £1bn for a full year 

Point being, nobody expected them to increase UC by a bigger % than any other government ever, they got barely any credit for that. Yet they have been hammered for not spending about 10% of that cost providing FSM to the same group in school holidays 

It’s pure spin and politics for me 

Fair point but that's politics for you.

It just bothers me that folk always attack spongers and the work shy when talking about benefits but by and large it is single mums working part time around school who rely on it.

Doesn't distract from the growing underclass of cunts who's only work is robbing others of course. 

[birch-chorley]

Just now, Winchester White said:

Fair point but that's politics for you.

It just bothers me that folk always attack spongers and the work shy when talking about benefits but by and large it is single mums working part time around school who rely on it.

Doesn't distract from the growing underclass of cunts who's only work is robbing others of course. 

The underclass of cunts will have received more despite not being impacted by Covid (yet still likely have a good moan they didn’t get FSM in the summer holidays) 

Its the poor folk who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own that I feel sorry for in all this, millions of them, heartbreaking really 

UC does need amending for me, I don’t see why you only get housing benefit if you rent? I appreciate mortgage holders have been able to take payment holidays but still, a system where your mortgage gets frozen and housing benefit is used to pay the interest (up to a ceiling figure of course) should be in place 

Also, many European countries also base job seekers on your contributions. If you’ve been working for 20 years earning £50k a year and paying £15k a year in tax you’d get a bit more than if you’d been on £30k a year paying £7.5k in tax (as your outgoings are likely higher). I think that would be a sensible approach 

[Horwich]

8 hours ago, Winchester White said:

90 quid a week, that's really going to keep you going.

How the fuck folk survive on benefits is beyond me. Yes I know they get other payments and concessions depending on kids etc but fucking hell it doesn't seem like much of a life to me.

Its £180 if you have a kid.

Plus their house, free school meals, golden ticket to the foodbank etc

[gonzo]

Take a phone contract, broadband and leccy card out of that, it wont go far.

(Not saying they should get more by the way)

[birch-chorley]

13 minutes ago, Horwich said:

Its £180 if you have a kid.

Plus their house, free school meals, golden ticket to the foodbank etc

Might be wrong but I think you can work up to 16 hours a week as well without it impacting your claim. That might have been how it used to work though 

I think it’s a reasonable system, although it could do with a tweak. Think we spend about £70bn a year on it, roughly half the cost of the NHS 

 

[Horwich]

14 minutes ago, birch-chorley said:

Might be wrong but I think you can work up to 16 hours a week as well without it impacting your claim. That might have been how it used to work though 

I think it’s a reasonable system, although it could do with a tweak. Think we spend about £70bn a year on it, roughly half the cost of the NHS 

 

You could work 100 hours a week if you wanted to. No limit.

Award takes earnings into account.

Edited December 17, 2020 by Horwich

[Duck Egg]

10 hours ago, Horwich said:

If their wage goes down, their UC payment goes up. 

I'm assuming this doesn't happen automatically?

I filled a UC form in for someone a while back.  Talk about complex! One of the issues with benefits in the past, was the hassle in reporting a change in your circumstances.  Often their money would be stopped and they'd be stuck in some bureaucratic nightmare just declaring an extra few hours work.  It was no wonder many just chose not to mention it.

After the huge waste and borderline corruption over PPE and the awarding of covid contracts worth billions, I'll not be losing sleep over some folk getting an extra 20 quid in their benefits.

[Horwich]

5 minutes ago, Duck Egg said:

I'm assuming this doesn't happen automatically?

I filled a UC form in for someone a while back.  Talk about complex! One of the issues with benefits in the past, was the hassle in reporting a change in your circumstances.  Often their money would be stopped and they'd be stuck in some bureaucratic nightmare just declaring an extra few hours work.  It was no wonder many just chose not to mention it.

After the huge waste and borderline corruption over PPE and the awarding of covid contracts worth billions, I'll not be losing sleep over some folk getting an extra 20 quid in their benefits.

No you didnt

[birch-chorley]

30 minutes ago, Duck Egg said:

I'm assuming this doesn't happen automatically?

I filled a UC form in for someone a while back.  Talk about complex! One of the issues with benefits in the past, was the hassle in reporting a change in your circumstances.  Often their money would be stopped and they'd be stuck in some bureaucratic nightmare just declaring an extra few hours work.  It was no wonder many just chose not to mention it.

After the huge waste and borderline corruption over PPE and the awarding of covid contracts worth billions, I'll not be losing sleep over some folk getting an extra 20 quid in their benefits.

I don’t think anyone is losing sleep on it 

Just needs some credit where it’s due, the government put it through back in March yet it barely got a mention despite being the biggest % increase in the benefit ever (through various Labour and Conservative governments)

The increase costs £8bn a year, yet they have been hammered for then refusing to spend another £800m a year providing FSM in the holidays, which is essentially just saving someone on UC money. I don’t think that the balance of criticism is right in this instance 

I’m not sure that we should be blaming this government for not spending money, they have sprayed unimaginable amounts of it all over the place 

[London Wanderer]

On 16/12/2020 at 22:52, birch-chorley said:

The underclass of cunts will have received more despite not being impacted by Covid (yet still likely have a good moan they didn’t get FSM in the summer holidays) 

Its the poor folk who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own that I feel sorry for in all this, millions of them, heartbreaking really.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-55133081?fbclid=IwAR12m33nZuqyhota64PFOYsELzADjHMvCgyUPDgJDXPspYgQAhfjFdiXeQM

 

[birch-chorley]

3 hours ago, London Wanderer said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-55133081?fbclid=IwAR12m33nZuqyhota64PFOYsELzADjHMvCgyUPDgJDXPspYgQAhfjFdiXeQM

 

I fully understand the restrictions put in place to fight Covid have made life really difficult for many, I’ve been one saying that the restrictions have gone too far and the economy needs to take priority over healthcare 

Would the situation have been better or worse had the government not increased universal credit by the biggest % of any previous government ever? I’m sure they would have been much worse, yet they got little credit for that increase 

The point still stands, nobody expected them to spend the extra £8bn on UC this year. Yet the got hammered for initially not spending another £800m on the same group in the way of FSM in the holidays 

 

[Youri McAnespie]

Do you know the cost of putting a kid through school?

Unless you're on 100k pa your tax won't touch the sides.

Two or three kids - about 300 grand.

It's funny but not funny that a lot berating spongers will soon be sponging.

Who'd give a fuck about another grand going into the state? Apart from folk into Moncler binbags or obsessed about clearing 50k after tax.

[birch-chorley]

6 hours ago, Youri McAnespie said:

Do you know the cost of putting a kid through school?

Unless you're on 100k pa your tax won't touch the sides.

Two or three kids - about 300 grand.

It's funny but not funny that a lot berating spongers will soon be sponging.

Who'd give a fuck about another grand going into the state? Apart from folk into Moncler binbags or obsessed about clearing 50k after tax.

Fag packet but I think secondary schools cost £40bn a year to run for 5m kids so £8k a year per child? 

So 1 parent on a salary of £40k would cover that in tax and NI, 2 parents on £25k. Clearly, if both parents have lost their job because of the ridiculous Covid restrictions then neither will contribute fuck all in tax towards their child’s education whilst also requiring tens of thousands more in benefits each year.

However they will get £1,000 per person more per year this year in UC vs last year, that’s the biggest single increase ever! Yet this government received no credit for that increase, which I don’t think is fair given the  stick they got for not spending a much smaller sum on the same group 

To be fair on the berating bit, I think it was @Winchester White who used the term ‘underclass of cunts’ at the top of this page. I took the tone of his note to mean a small % of overall UC’s claimants fit into that bracket as they have no interest in working,  just taking out the system, which I think is fair. That group will be getting £1,000 more per person this year despite not having been impacted financially by the pandemic 

Edited December 19, 2020 by birch-chorley

[ex_midlandwhite]

Government pays secondary schools £5k per pupil. Will be a bit more from government/council funds for some eHCPs, PP etc.

[birch-chorley]

7 minutes ago, ex_midlandwhite said:

Government pays secondary schools £5k per pupil. Will be a bit more from government/council funds for some eHCPs, PP etc.

Over 5m students that would only end up at £25bn a year, not sure where the other £15bn is going 

Assuming it must be central administration, building schools and probably pensions for retired teachers