Latest News & ActivityWhat's Happening
Campaign Progress
Keep updated with Need NOT Greed progress and sucesses
- Meeting with senior Civil Servants about informal work and long-term unemployment and worklessness in the UK - trying to get a bit of joined up government!
- Lobbying at the Conservative Party conference on transition and formalisation
- We are working with the DWP and Social Policy Task Force on involving Need NOT Greed in the 2010 European Year of Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.
- Oxfam and the Community Pride Initative are in dialogue with their local Councils about the informal economy.
- Community Links and Off the Streets and into Work helfd a meeting with Terry Rooney MP, chair of the DWP select committee and discussed various kpolicy recommendations on Welfare Reform, discussions on how to take this forward are being discussed.
- Community Links and InBiz met with James Purnell MP, the Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions following the sucessful launch at Westminster and discussed the possibility of piloting a formalisation service here in the UK. We are currently proceeding with talks with the department about how to potentuiallty take this forward.
- DWP have aligned the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Permitted Work Earning Disregard with the ESA and IB Disregard to remove the disincentive to work formally, and therefore removing the need to work cash-in-hand. We have contributed our Housing Benefit evidence paper to the current DWP review and see this as a step in the right direction but urge the DWP to roll this increase out to JSA. Read our blog here for more
- Low Pay Commission Report has a full section on the Informal Economy due to influence from the Vulnerable Workers Project and the TUC, coaltion members of the Need NOT Greed campaign Find out more here
- In the House of Lords the launch of the Need NOT Greed campaign was mentioned in a speech by Lord Skelmersdale (Shadow Minister, Work & Pensions; Conservative) during the second reading of the Welfare Reform Bill (29th April) read the latest news section here
- Eurofound refers to Community Links' approach to undeclared work in the UK Read more information here
- Need NOT Greed was mentioned by Dai Davies MP in a floor debate in the House of Commons. Read more information here
- Need NOT Greed was offically launched on the 24th February 2009 at the House of Commons. The launch was hosted by Terry Rooney MP, Chair of the DWP select Committee who chaired a private Question and Answer session between MPs and Lords and people working cash-in-hand and living below the poverty level. We had a number of MPs and Lords from both main political parties engaging with informal workers to gain a better understanding of the realities of living in poverty and what changes people felt were needed to sucessfully move out of poverty, formalise their work and remove the need for cash-in-hand work.
- We have had round table discussions with local councils keen to address the informal economy and improve initatives in their area to harness this activity and enable people to work formally.
- The media has expressed a greater understanding to why people work informally and they are keen to work in partnership with people living in poverty and we have been working closely with a number of journalists writting for national papers. See the coverage here
- There has been proposals for Housing Benefit to be extended to 3 months when taking up formal paid work by the Government.