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The people's verdict: 'Worry over spending cuts is killing me' The people's verdict: 'Worry over spending cuts is killing me'
(35 minutes later)
Mark Payne: ‘We regularly have to skip meals’Mark Payne: ‘We regularly have to skip meals’
Supermarket lorry driver Mark Payne and his family are breathing a sigh of relief after the chancellor’s U-turn on plans to cut tax credits, although they had little cause for cheer elsewhere in the spending review. Supermarket lorry driver Mark Payne and his family are breathing a sigh of relief after the chancellor’s U-turn on plans to cut tax credits, although they had little cause for cheer elsewhere in the spending review. The family of five would have faced cuts of more than £2,000 a year under the government’s proposed plans to cut working and child tax credits.
The family of five would have faced cuts of more than £2,000 a year under the government’s proposed plans to cut working and child tax credits for millions of low-paid workers. Mark and his partner have been working 53 hours a week but have also felt the pinch from the gradual reduction in their household income since 2010. Mark, 43, works 35 hours a week as a delivery driver for a supermarket in Port Glasgow, where his partner works 18 hours a week as a checkout operator. They have three children, aged 13, 11 and three, but struggle to stay afloat financially.
Mark, 43, works 35 hours a week as a delivery driver for a major supermarket in Port Glasgow where his partner also works 18 hours a week as a checkout operator. They have three children, aged 13, 11 and three, but struggle to pay their bills and stay afloat financially.
“We regularly have to skip meals to make sure our kids don’t go hungry,” Payne said. “We have no food in the fridge by the end of the week and we end up shopping from Iceland and Farm Foods because at least frozen food doesn’t get wasted.“We regularly have to skip meals to make sure our kids don’t go hungry,” Payne said. “We have no food in the fridge by the end of the week and we end up shopping from Iceland and Farm Foods because at least frozen food doesn’t get wasted.
“We both enjoy our work and don’t want to survive on handouts, but our financial situation is horrendous and we are worried that we will have nothing to spend on our kids at Christmas.”“We both enjoy our work and don’t want to survive on handouts, but our financial situation is horrendous and we are worried that we will have nothing to spend on our kids at Christmas.”
Payne works shifts of up to 10 hours, sometimes at night, and can drive up to 100 miles a shift in the area he covers. But he also has days at home when he can help with after-school childcare. “I love my job and I love meeting people but this is killing me because of all the worry.” Payne works shifts of up to 10 hours, covering up to 100 miles per shift. But he also has days at home when he can help with after-school childcare. “I love my job and I love meeting people but this is killing me because of all the worry.”
Payne previously worked on a building site and, although his income was higher, it meant he saw little of his family. He had calculated that the cuts to working tax credits, the reduction in the threshold from £6,420 to £3,850, and the increase from 41% to 48% in the amount the government cuts tax credits over a certain limit would have taken a further £40 a week out of their household budget. Payne previously worked on a building site and, although his income was higher, it meant he saw little of his family. He had calculated that Osborne’s proposed cuts would have taken £40 a week out of their household budget.
The couple rent a council house but do not qualify for housing benefit so pay the full £89 a week themselves. The children are not eligible for free school meals, and the couple find it a strain to shell out £25 a week for their lunches. They have to keep gas and electricity costs under tight control at this time of the year. The couple rent a council house but do not qualify for housing benefit so pay the £89 a week themselves. The children are not eligible for free school meals, and the couple find it a strain to shell out £25 a week for their lunches. They have to keep gas and electricity costs under tight control at this time of the year.
As a shop steward at his workplace for the retail workers’ union Usdaw, Payne he has been actively campaigning against the plans to erode the value of tax credits. But he remains worried about the future: “What’s worse is universal credit is still to come and that’s a real worry. As a shop steward at his workplace for the retail workers’ union Usdaw, Payne had been campaigning against the tax credits cuts. But he remains worried about the future: “What’s worse is universal credit is still to come and that’s a real worry.
“For the last five years in-work benefits have been either cut or frozen. It’s like having money go in one pocket and then go out of the other. Our standard of living has been going backwards since 2010. I might have to get a second job just to make ends meet, but even if I do I’ll get hammered in tax. We’re stuck between a rock and a hard place.”“For the last five years in-work benefits have been either cut or frozen. It’s like having money go in one pocket and then go out of the other. Our standard of living has been going backwards since 2010. I might have to get a second job just to make ends meet, but even if I do I’ll get hammered in tax. We’re stuck between a rock and a hard place.”
Valerie Tait: ‘The pension rise is very good’ Annette le Sage: ‘There will be more challenges for working families’
Valerie Tait reached state pension age 10 years ago but, at the age of 70, is still working part-time as a civil servant. She will benefit from the chancellor’s decision to increase the basic state pension by 2.9% to £119.30 a week from April 2016.
“I get about £130 a week once everything is added on, so this rise is very good,” Tait says. “I officially retired at 60 and was re-employed on a part-time basis. I’d only had that job for seven years so the pension was very small – about £140 a month – so I have been paying into it and when I eventually retire there will be a small lump sum and a bit more each month.”
Tait and her partner live in a housing association bungalow, for which they pay £390 a month in rent. It is “very, very small,” she says, but in a beautiful location in North Yorkshire, “so I’m not complaining”. Her children are in full-time jobs and own their own homes, but Tait still helps them out financially when she can.
She says her income has kept up with prices in recent times. “In the last year, partly because of the likes of Aldi and Lidl, the prices at other supermarkets have come down,” she says. “I have time – I know not everyone does – so I shop at a variety of supermarkets now, I don’t just shop at one like I used to do.”
Petrol and heating are also cheaper than they were, and Tait gets the winter fuel allowance to help with bills.
Annette le Sage: ‘There will be further challenges for working families’
As a single mother who juggles childcare, part-time work, and study for an MSc in computer science, Annette le Sage was set to lose around £1,300 a year from the tax credit cuts. On Wednesday she declared herself “very relieved” that the government had made an about-turn.As a single mother who juggles childcare, part-time work, and study for an MSc in computer science, Annette le Sage was set to lose around £1,300 a year from the tax credit cuts. On Wednesday she declared herself “very relieved” that the government had made an about-turn.
Living just outside Cambridge with her two children, the freelance teacher and web developer currently works about 16 hours a week, paying herself around £660 a month.Living just outside Cambridge with her two children, the freelance teacher and web developer currently works about 16 hours a week, paying herself around £660 a month.
She said she relied on help from her parents and received £247 a month in child maintenance.She said she relied on help from her parents and received £247 a month in child maintenance.
“I believe Osborne would never have stepped back if there had not been such effective challenging posed,” she said. “Public awareness was raised to the extent that even Tory MPs and members of the House of Lords opposed tax credits cuts.”“I believe Osborne would never have stepped back if there had not been such effective challenging posed,” she said. “Public awareness was raised to the extent that even Tory MPs and members of the House of Lords opposed tax credits cuts.”
When the tax credit cuts were proposed Le Sage lobbied her local Conservative MP, Heidi Allen, who controversially made her maiden speech in the House of Commons opposing the changes as originally proposed – lobbying that appears to have worked.When the tax credit cuts were proposed Le Sage lobbied her local Conservative MP, Heidi Allen, who controversially made her maiden speech in the House of Commons opposing the changes as originally proposed – lobbying that appears to have worked.
Le Sage said she always believed the original decision to cut tax credits was ideologically motivated rather than born out of necessity.Le Sage said she always believed the original decision to cut tax credits was ideologically motivated rather than born out of necessity.
“In my current circumstances, life will be much more manageable, as it will for numerous other families who would have been adversely affected if the proposals had gone ahead.“In my current circumstances, life will be much more manageable, as it will for numerous other families who would have been adversely affected if the proposals had gone ahead.
“However, in the long term, with the phasing in of universal credit and its 65% withdrawal rate, I am convinced that the government aims to reduce support to working families and there will be further challenges for working, single parents to endure,” she said.“However, in the long term, with the phasing in of universal credit and its 65% withdrawal rate, I am convinced that the government aims to reduce support to working families and there will be further challenges for working, single parents to endure,” she said.
The original planned increases to the minimum wage wouldn’t have helped her as she already earned “a living wage”.The original planned increases to the minimum wage wouldn’t have helped her as she already earned “a living wage”.
“As a single parent with two children it is not easy for me to work more hours due to my responsibilities for my children. I also need to complete my MSc which has been extremely hard work but something I have done to enable me to have greater employment opportunities in the long term.”“As a single parent with two children it is not easy for me to work more hours due to my responsibilities for my children. I also need to complete my MSc which has been extremely hard work but something I have done to enable me to have greater employment opportunities in the long term.”
Liz Taylor: ‘We need more hospital beds rather than more staff’
As a senior sister in an accident and emergency department at a hospital in Kent, Liz Taylor is on the frontline of NHS services. The 46-year-old gave a cautious welcome to the chancellor’s announcement of £3.8bn in extra funding for NHS England, and a controversial move to lift a cap on recruitment numbers by making student nurses pay for their own training through loans rather than grants or bursaries.
Taylor worries, however, that the £3.8bn may not be enough. “It’s a very pressured job … I have to manage patients’ care while achieving government targets. The government says 95% of A&E patients should be seen, treated and discharged from A&E in four hours. It’s hard to meet the targets, especially in winter.
“In winter the patients are more ill and there are more of them. A bed shortage in the hospital means they can’t always be admitted to the ward so spend longer in A&E, meaning we miss the four-hour target.
“We probably need more hospital beds rather than more staff – then we could transfer patients from A&E more quickly. We only need more staff in A&E because patients spend longer than they should in the department.”
Taylor’s personal gripe is over pay. She is in NHS salary band 7, which means a full-time salary of £40,964, but as the mother-of-two works part-time, her basic pay is £31,405. Since 2009-10 Taylor’s payhas risen by £1,691, well below inflation.
“I’d like to see more money spent on patient care, proper pay for junior doctors and a pay rise for nurses,” she said. “The pay rises we had in 2013-14 and 2015-16 equate to about £33 a month before tax – that’s not much and not enough.”
Taylor welcomed the move to increase the number of nurses and reduce dependence on agency staff, but warned that substituting grants or bursaries with loans may deter many prospective students.
Valerie Tait: ‘The pension rise is very good’
Valerie Tait reached state pension age 10 years ago but, at the age of 70, is still working part-time as a civil servant. She will benefit from the chancellor’s decision to increase the basic state pension by 2.9% to £119.30 a week from April 2016.
“I get about £130 a week once everything is added on, so this rise is very good,” Tait says. “I officially retired at 60 and was re-employed on a part-time basis. I’d only had that job for seven years so the pension was very small – about £140 a month – so I have been paying into it and when I eventually retire there will be a small lump sum and a bit more each month.”
Tait and her partner live in a housing association bungalow, for which they pay £390 a month in rent. It is “very, very small,” she says, but in a beautiful location in North Yorkshire, “so I’m not complaining”. Her children are in full-time jobs and own their own homes, but Tait still helps them out financially when she can.
She says her income has kept up with prices in recent times. “In the last year, partly because of the likes of Aldi and Lidl, the prices at other supermarkets have come down,” she says. “I have time – I know not everyone does – so I shop at a variety of supermarkets now, I don’t just shop at one like I used to do.”
Petrol and heating are also cheaper than they were, and Tait gets the winter fuel allowance to help with bills.