Chris Greyling visited us in Rugby this morning. Chris is Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary and so he and I went along to meet David Gooding and his team at the Rugby Office of the Citizens Advice Bureau. The CAB is often the first port of call for people facing hardship and benefit issues and we wanted to understand how their workload is changing as the recession starts to bite. I learnt a great deal including the disadvantage of home owners compared to those in rented accomodation when it comes to support for housing costs and how tough lenders are currently when people fall behind with mortgage payments. We also covered the complexity of the benefit system and the forms that go with it and were shown a new form of almost 40 pages! I wasn't previously aware that it someone comes off a benefit, for example if they move into work, but later return to it perhaps if a new job doesn't work out, then the whole process needs to be re-started with a fresh application in each case. I know that Chris appreciated the very practical examples that the Rugby CAB staff were able to give him. They were very forthcoming about the need for simplification of the process when I asked them what they would like Chris to impliment when he takes up his role in Government!Thursday, 13 November 2008
Chris Grayling in Rugby
Chris Greyling visited us in Rugby this morning. Chris is Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary and so he and I went along to meet David Gooding and his team at the Rugby Office of the Citizens Advice Bureau. The CAB is often the first port of call for people facing hardship and benefit issues and we wanted to understand how their workload is changing as the recession starts to bite. I learnt a great deal including the disadvantage of home owners compared to those in rented accomodation when it comes to support for housing costs and how tough lenders are currently when people fall behind with mortgage payments. We also covered the complexity of the benefit system and the forms that go with it and were shown a new form of almost 40 pages! I wasn't previously aware that it someone comes off a benefit, for example if they move into work, but later return to it perhaps if a new job doesn't work out, then the whole process needs to be re-started with a fresh application in each case. I know that Chris appreciated the very practical examples that the Rugby CAB staff were able to give him. They were very forthcoming about the need for simplification of the process when I asked them what they would like Chris to impliment when he takes up his role in Government!
