Something on Sanctions...

Following the session on the Claimant Commitment and Sanctions at the forum meeting, Terry Patterson's sent us through the Independent Review of sanctions recently carried out by NAWRA, which makes for interesting reading. Most of the case studies will make you cringe, and will sadly not be that shocking, I imagine. You can read the report here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPTE9Nank2eFd2Y28/edit?usp=sharing

And you can keep up to date with NAWRA's work here: http://www.nawra.org.uk/

You'll no doubt have lots of opinions about the report, and we'd love to hear them...either comment on this post, or start a discussion on the message board - get sharing, people!

Have a say on ESA!

Manchester CAB are conducting a survey to look at the costs of getting medical evidence to support ESA claims. They're keen to hear from anyone who has made a claim for ESA in the last 12 months, so it would be wonderful if you lovely people could promote the survey to your clients. The link to the survey is

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Y5WGZHN

and it shouldn't take them any more than 10 minutes to fill in.

Thanking you in advance!

Help for Harpurhey (and the surrounding area!)

Next Tuesday, support comes to Harpurhey Market and Shopping Centre! From 10am - 3pm, there will be a Northwards Housing trailer, a Help With Rent bus, and a few market stalls dedicated to providing information and support to the public. If your clients might benefit from this, please point them in the right direction, and/or print off the flier linked below for more information.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPU1QxbktOTWZCM1U/edit?usp=sharing