- The cost-of-living crisis has caused huge financial hardship across the country and restricted the life chances of millions. The Government response has been a series of patchy and short term fixes.
- Liberal Democrats believe that no one should fear for their future, struggle to put food on the table, or worry about heating their home.
- Our aim is to make the UK the best place in the world to work, raise children and enjoy retirement by ensuring that proper support is in place for those that need it.
Help the South Staffordshire Liberal Democrats campaign for a fairer deal for the most vulnerable in our villages by donating, volunteering or joining the party.
Pensions and Retirement
Everyone should be able to retire with dignity in this country but far too many pensioners are being hit hard by the cost of living.
More than two million retirees are living in poverty and are now facing record energy bills and eye-watering shopping bills.
This Conservative government is abandoning pensioners, they have totally failed to give them proper support.
Liberal Democrats are looking to the future and will build a country that is the best place in the world to save for, and enjoy, retirement.
- Support pensioners by protecting the triple lock so that pensions always rise in line with inflation, wages or 2.5% – whichever is highest.
- Ensure that women born in the 1950s are finally treated fairly, by properly compensating them in line with the recommendations of the Parliamentary Ombudsman.
- Requiring pension funds and managers to show that their portfolio investments are consistent with the Paris Agreement.
Tackling Poverty and Repairing the Safety Net
The test of a civilised society is the way in which it cares for those unable to care for themselves and how it helps those in need to fulfil their potential.
The guiding principle of the UK welfare system must be to ensure that none are left unable to meet their or their children's basic needs for survival and participation in society.
But the social security system in our country is not working as it should: it is driving people further into poverty and forcing families to rely on foodbanks to get by.
This Conservative Government is missing in action and failing the millions of people struggling to make ends meet.
- Tackle child poverty by removing the two-child limit and the benefits cap.
- Set a target of ending deep poverty within a decade, and establish an independent commission to recommend annual increases in Universal Credit to achieve it.
- Repair the broken benefits safety net by:
- Reducing the wait for the first payment of Universal Credit from five weeks to five days.
- Scrapping the bedroom tax.
- Replacing the sanctions regime with an incentive-based scheme to help people into work.
- Ending the young parent penalty for under-25s by equalising the rate of payment for all Universal Credit claimants regardless of age.
- Fix the broken Statutory Sick Pay system.
Carers Allowance
Unpaid carers are doing a remarkable and important job in very difficult circumstances and many are facing extreme financial hardship.
Many of those on Carer’s Allowance are struggling to make ends meet and often rely on foodbanks to feed themselves and the people they care for.
Carer’s Allowance is the lowest benefit of its kind – another example of how carers are too often an afterthought for many politicians.
Liberal Democrats would tackle this injustice by:
- Give unpaid carers the support they deserve by increasing Carer’s Allowance, and expanding it to more carers.
- Increase Carer’s Allowance and expand eligibility for it by:
- Raising the amount carers can earn.
- Reducing the number of hours care per week required.
- Extending it to carers in full-time education.
Supporting Disabled People
This Conservative Government is letting down disabled people.
The welfare system often sanctions and penalises people, rather than supporting them, and for too long disabled people have felt that this Government is not listening to them, is not giving them the support they deserve, and is not committed to the changes needed.
- Establish an Independent Living Taskforce to help people live independently in their own homes, with more choice and control over their lives.
- Make the benefits system work better for disabled people by:
- Giving disabled people and organisations representing them a stronger voice in the design of benefits policies and processes.
- Bringing Work Capability Assessments in-house.
- Reforming Personal Independence Payment assessments to make the process more transparent and stop unnecessary reassessments, and end the use of informal assessments.