LidDem Social Security 2019 manifesto extract

A Safety Net that Works

The social security system is not working as it should: it is driving people further into poverty and forcing families to rely on foodbanks to get by. The Conservatives have designed the welfare system based on their backward-looking view of work and families and are making the matter worse. Liberal Democrats are looking to the future and will build a system that works for the modern world to support those who need it and help people back into work. We will:

    Make the welfare system work by:
        Reducing the wait for the first payment from five weeks to five days.
        Tackling child poverty by removing the two-child limit and the benefits cap.
        Making work pay by increasing work allowances and introducing a second earner work allowance.
    Establish a legal right to food to enshrine in law the government’s responsibility to ensure that existing and new public policy is audited for its impact on food security.
    Reform Universal Credit to be more supportive of the self-employed.
    Increase Local Housing Allowance in line with average rents in an area.
    Abolish the bedroom tax and introduce positive incentives for people to downsize.
    Ensure that everyone gets the help they need by separating employment support from benefits administration and increase spending on training and education.
    Introduce an incentive-based scheme to replace the current sanctions system, which does not encourage people into work, penalises people with mental health issues and deters people from claiming support.
    Reverse the cuts to Employment Support Allowance for those in the work-related activity group.
    End Work Capability Assessments and replace them with a new system that is run by local authorities and based on real-world tests.
    Reinstate the Independent Living Fund.
    Radically overhaul the Bereavement Allowance, slashed by the Conservatives, so that widows and widowers receive far more support and extend the payments to unmarried couples when a parent dies.
    Aim to end fuel poverty by 2025 by providing free energy retrofits for low-income homes as part of our emergency programme to reduce energy consumption from all the UK’s buildings.
https://www.libdems.org.uk/plan