Two petitions have been launched to oppose Government plans to develop Welfare Cards to replace benefits paid in cash.
Action | 29.07.16
A report has been published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) evaluating research undertaken in Kent in 2015, by the Centre for Social and Economic Research at Sheffield Hallam University, that tested paying some DWP benefits onto prepaid Welfare Cards.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-the-prepaid-card-live-test
Two petitions have been set up online calling on the Government to scrap the idea of using such Welfare Cards.
They are available to sign here:
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/re-think-pre-paid-benefit-cards
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/159519
Dr Simon Duffy, Director of the Centre for Welfare Reform commented on these developments:
"Welfare Cards are a new form of voucher, one that aims to stigmatise and control people who rely on social security. They are a dangerous innovation, usually targeted at politically weak groups, and then extended outwards. They are usually marketed by Government as having 'advantages' for minority people, but in practice they are bitterly resented for what they are - a humiliating interference in people's lives. The Centre will continue to support all efforts to resist this injustice and calls on academics to resist being recruited into legitimising such regressive and damaging policies."
You can read more about why the Centre opposes Welfare Cards in 10 Reasons to Hate the Welfare Cash Card.
