Yesterday, Stephen spoke at a webinar on ‘The Pandemic and its Aftermath - Making Welfare Work’. This was an online event exploring the themes of a new publication on welfare authored by Frank Field and Andrew Forsey, in the context of the current coronavirus outbreak.
At the event, hosted by thinktank Politeia, Stephen spoke alongside Frank (former MP for Birkenhead and Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee) and Andrew (National Director for Feeding Britain), and Lord Maurice Glasman. The speakers highlighted the current challenges for welfare and work in the coronavirus crisis, with many people facing job insecurity and lost income, and discussed what the future of the system could look like.
Stephen commented: ‘‘I was very pleased to take part in this discussion. I very much support the report’s commendation of job guarantee schemes for unemployed people, and was glad to highlight how mutual and voluntary organisations such as the Trussell Trust are responding in such an agile way to the current crisis. The Universal Credit system has withstood the strain of the pandemic well, but, to make it fit for purpose, the five-week wait for the first regular payment must be scrapped.’
The report, A Benefits and Welfare System for the 21st Century, will be published in the summer.