Episode 2 Battling with Benefits

That's all we have at the moment.

Life on benefits can be tough.

The Government in Westminster

is undertaking a shake-up of the welfare system.

The aim is to focus payments on those in greatest need

and help claimants into work.

They're also aiming to cut £12 billion

from the spend on benefits.

You think you could do this yourself?

Tighter rules have been introduced.

Filling in those forms is an absolute nightmare.

..new systems...

It can drive you mental.

..and stiffer penalties.

It's not right, just cutting our money like that.

Vulnerable and disabled people, even those who are ill,

say they are being pushed to the limit.

I don't see why we should be punished for having a spare bedroom.

If it's just me that's not getting the help,

who else is suffering in this world?

In the Bridgend area,

we followed people for ten months

to see the impact on some of those who are experiencing the changes,

and how challenging benefits decisions

can be complicated and stressful.

Why should I have to fight against it? But that's what it takes.

And a lot of people would have given up, you know?

A lot of people would have given up.

This is the reality for those who are...

Any one of us could be affected by illness or lose our job

quite out of the blue.

The benefits system is there as a safety net,

to help people get their lives back on track.

Over the last four years,

the Westminster government has revamped the entire benefits system

and cuts of £9 billion a year are having an impact.

One of the changes to the welfare system is tighter rules,

aimed at making it much harder for migrants to arrive in Britain

and claim benefits.

But these changes can also affect some British-born nationals.

As well as working for 20 years in Britain,

Bridgend-born Will Thomas has also worked abroad, with his wife, Julie.

They decided to settle in South Africa,

where things went well for them.

We worked together, we lived together,

we laughed together, so were together 24/7.

And, um, it couldn't have been better.

But all that changed when Julie died unexpectedly

during a routine operation.

It's been eight years now and I miss her every day.

I talk to her every day.

We were best friends.

I know it's a cliche, but we certainly were.

After this, Will decided to travel.

He ended up in Malaysia, where he became the victim

of a violent robbery and he was seriously injured.

His money was taken and he was hospitalised.

Will had a badly-broken hip, which was left untreated

until he was flown back to the UK in 2013.

I came directly from hospital in Kuala Lumpur

to the hospital in Hillingdon

and I applied for benefits almost immediately.

They said, "Unfortunately, you have no history in this borough,

"so we can't help you at all."

Although his injuries were debilitating,

he wasn't eligible for any disability benefit

because tighter rules prevent anyone from applying

who has not been resident in Britain for two of the last three years.

After four months in hospital, on crutches

and with just £2 in his pocket, Will got the bus back to Wales

in the hope he would get emergency accommodation in his home town.

So, then, I went to Bridgend Council

and I was told that there were people just like me

on the streets with worse problems, such as drugs and drink problems.

Will says he left the meeting

under the impression that they could not help him.

Stressed and anxious, he was worried he'd have nowhere to stay that night.

It made me feel very angry because they're treating me

like some foreign alien, who has no rights whatsoever.

I had no money, I'd had no contact with my family, at that point,

so I was totally alone, with no benefits of any type.

But, unbeknown to Will,

the council WERE trying to sort out emergency accommodation for him.

Another of the big shake-ups in the Government's welfare reform

is more stringent rules for job seekers,

aimed at getting people into work.

For young people in the Bridgend area,

that can be more of a challenge

because there are higher than average numbers

amongst 16-to-24-year-olds looking for jobs.

As a couple, Yolanda and Michael get jobseeker's allowance.

It amounts to £114 a week for both of them to live on.

They are long-term unemployed and are desperate to find work.

It would just give us a bit more freedom

to do certain things that we weren't able to do now.

I mean, now we haven't even got a phone.

Don't have internet or anything. So, I think, just getting a job,

we'll be able to make slow progress towards those kind of things

that most people take advantage of nowadays, like.

So, it would be nice.

Every day, Michael has to log in

to his jobseeker's account online.

But without an internet connection, he has to walk from his home,

at the top of the Ogwr Valley, to the local library.

How far is it to where you go to get to the computer?

It's about a 45-minute walk...

..there and 45 minutes back.

Like every JSA claimant,

Michael has made an agreement with the Job Centre

about what steps he'll take to look for work.

Claimant's money can be cut or sanctioned

if they don't stick to the agreement

they have to make with the Job Centre.

Basically, I have to click on to Activity History

and just write in what I've done so far.

Introduced in 2012,

the universal job match is designed to sift for the most suitable jobs

that fit his profile.

This one is saying that they're recruiting

for a temporary warehouse assistant.

It's essential that the candidate possess a forklift truck licence.

-Have you got one of them?

-No.

Even though he's not qualified, he applies anyway,

just to fill his job quota.

It's really annoying because...

it feels as if I'm forced to apply for jobs

that are way out of my league

and it's genuine that I can't find a suitable job for myself.

Michael has been using the system for years without success,

so job searching has become a box-ticking exercise

in order to comply with the Job Centre.

All he needs is just someone to give him a chance,

but it's very hard for him.

But I'm constantly supporting him,

I'm constantly applying for jobs for him and giving him advice.

It may be tough, but we have gone through a lot together already,

so this is nothing.

Yolanda and Michael face stiff competition.

They are up against 3,500 other unemployed young people

in the Bridgend area - all competing for the same jobs.

When 61-year-old Will Thomas returned to Britain in 2013,

having worked abroad,

he discovered the benefits system had been transformed.

In poor health, penniless and with nowhere to live,

he was surprised to find out he could not apply for benefits.

I was born in Bridgend.

My parents were Welsh,

my whole family is Welsh

and then they have the nerve to tell me that I have to be back

in my own country for two years to get what I'm entitled to.

It was his first day back in his home town.

Will was in pain,

so he went to the Princess of Wales Hospital for treatment,

where he got the news that the council had arranged

emergency accommodation for him that night, in a B&B.

From then on, his situation improved.

I went down to the council next day and they were, oh,

full of apologies.

She was almost on her knees when she came to see me!

"Oh, what can I do to help you?"

So I wasn't just on my own any more.

With the help of the council, he got a longer-term place in a hostel.

Now, he is returning to the Salvation Army hostel in Bridgend,

which was his home for over a year.

-Ah, William!

-How are you doing?

He meets the staff who helped him - Shaun Haynes and Janine Rees.

-How are you?

-I'm all right, thank you.

-Good to see you.

At that time, the 16-bed hostel was full of young people,

many of whom had fallen out with their families.

Unlike them, he had no benefits to pay for food.

Will had no income. He had nothing to be able to feed himself.

The food bank were fantastic,

but it doesn't provide things like your perishables -

your bread, your milk, just for a cup of tea.

So, we would go and provide that for him to make sure he could have

a cup of tea in the morning. A bacon sandwich.

A bacon sandwich was this guy's luxury

for the best part of eight months.

It was the first time I had ever been in surroundings like this

or an environment like this.

Totally alien to me.

And you just wonder, "Well, is it EVER going to end?

"Is anybody going to give me a break?"

After six months in the hostel, without any money,

Will was told that he could apply for one of the new benefits -

Employment Support Allowance - so he did.

But his claim for ESA was rejected,

as he was deemed fit enough to work.

If you're stressed already and you're depressed already,

you get an envelope through the door, saying,

"Right, you are not ill. You can work. You're not on ESA any more."

How that would make you feel? How would that make you feel,

when you know exactly what you're capable of

and what your ailments are and how fit you are -

what you can and cannot do?

At a loss as to what to do next,

in November 2014, Will turned to Bridgend's Citizens Advice,

who offer free help to people with benefits problems.

Advisor Carl Williams reviewed Will's health problems

to see if he had a case.

-Is there a problem with anxiety, as well?

-Yes, it's all connected.

Very severe depression, as well.

Do you know what brought the depression on, Will?

The death of my wife.

'Now, Will suffered from depression and anxiety.'

He suffered... He had trouble with his hands, his shoulder, his leg,

so his mobility wasn't there.

He had trouble preparing food,

so we made then another application

for Employment and Support Allowance.

-Where's the arthritis, Will?

-The arthritis is in the shoulder

and in the hands...

..and in the feet.

Looking at the forms, you know, that immediately turns you off.

You think, "I can't do that. There's no way I can fill that in."

So, thank goodness for people like Carl, because he's a life-saver.

Literally, a life-saver.

Next, he'll be called to a Department of Work and Pensions

health assessment to test if he qualifies for ESA.

Both Yolanda and Michael are on jobseeker's benefits.

Until 11 months ago, Yolanda had been working,

but Michael has never had full-time employment.

Their toughest experience was after family circumstances

left them homeless and with no alternative but to sleep rough.

It was about a year ago today that we were here.

It was really freezing, wasn't it?

It was a really cold night. It wasn't like this last year.

It was absolutely freezing.

But even homelessness didn't exempt them

from their daily job search.

We tried explaining to the Job Centre, we can't be job searching

and sorting out a roof over our heads, all at the same time.

I was embarrassed. I was ashamed.

It was a really tough time, mentally, for me.

They eventually found a place of their own,

40 minutes away from Bridgend, at the top of the Ogwr Valley.

Yolanda and Michael have both felt the impact of one of

the most controversial changes to the benefits system.

Claimants' money can be cut or sanctioned

if they don't stick to the agreement

they have to make with the Job Centre.

Being late for a Job Centre appointment

or not making enough job-seeking effort can result in a sanction.

The next time they go to sign on,

they discover Michael has been sanctioned again.

They've sanctioned me...

..for not attending a work appointment.

But I explained to them that I had attended an interview

previously and sent a letter to them

to say that I was at an interview,

and they just sanctioned me.

His work coach didn't say anything to him

and just, you know, signed him on as normal and then,

only when we checked today, we noticed half the money was missing.

When we came in today, we found that he was sanctioned for two months.

They struggle on £114 a week.

Now, after this sanction,

they have to survive on half that,

which works out at less than £9 a day.

They don't give you a warning or anything. They'll just...

There's no pity, there's no nothing. It's just, "You're sanctioned".

It's like they're not even human any more.

They have just become very robotic

and they don't understand that, you know,

if you cut that money away, they'll starve for two weeks.

I think we might be fine, in terms of electric,

but we are just going to have to switch everything off at night

and...stuff like that, but...

It's going to be hard.

Yolanda and Michael are not alone.

Benefits sanctions were meted out last year

to 28,000 claimants who, by definition,

are some of Wales' poorest people.

Yolanda has been job hunting.

She has had jobs in retail and catering before, so she's focused

her job-searching efforts

by knocking on the door of every cafe in town.

You got some quite good news.

Yeah, I just had a trial shift at Costa Coffee,

so it went pretty great.

It was only for the three hours and it went really good.

They're going to give me a trial week, just to teach me properly

everything, cos they didn't have much time to do it today.

Everything seems really good.

Finally, after 11 months of jobseeker's allowance,

she has got the prospect of a wage coming in.

-Hey, babes.

-Hey, babes.

How do you feel about tomorrow?

I'm quite excited. I'm nervous. I'm not going to lie, I'm nervous,

but I think I'll be fine.

My last job was last year, in October, and I was fired

because of my homelessness.

So, going back through those doors again is quite exciting.

It's nerve-racking, but it's exciting.

Now she's got a job, both the couple's benefits are stopped.

They told me that I weren't entitled to any type of benefits,

including housing benefit, because of Yolanda working.

They'll also have to pay their £350 per month rent.

Since Will returned go the UK, he's been trying to get a benefit

that recognises he's not fit for work.

He has reapplied for Employment Support Allowance

and, whilst this is happening, he gets a basic application rate

of just over £70 per week.

This has helped him to move from the hostel to his bedsit.

As well as the hip injury,

he has a litany of health problems that hinder his everyday life.

-Oh, hi!

-Morning.

A visit to local hairdresser Tricia Whelan can be a necessity for Will.

-Oh!

-There are times when he finds using his hands extremely difficult.

It's a real treat for me, getting my hair done,

because, with my problems with my hands...

-Do you struggle with your hands?

-Yeah.

I have... Thank you.

-I have Dupuytren's, which makes them close.

-Oh, right, OK.

It's a tightening of the tendons you can see here.

-So... It's something that Margaret Thatcher had.

-Did she?

I'm not proud of that!

So, I'm not even in good company.

But, yeah, eventually, they just tighten up like that,

so you have to have an operation.

But it just makes it difficult for dexterity, you know?

-You obviously struggle with things like washing your hair.

-Exactly.

After the wash, Trish can't resist a restyling.

-How is that looking for you, Will?

-Absolutely brilliant.

I'll show you the back now.

Oh, yeah! Lovely! Great!

-OK, lovely.

-Thank you, Will.

-Thanks so much.

-Good to see you.

-Take care.

-You take care.

-Thank you.

The next stage in Will's ESA application

is to attend a work capability assessment.

It's a 50-minute test,

designed to determine if he's fit for work or not.

It's the day Will has to prove to the Department of Work and Pensions

that he has health issues.

His shoulder and hand problems make putting on his jacket difficult.

See, they don't see this at the assessment, do they?

It's almost a year since Will was first turned down for ESA

and he never really understood why,

with his health problems, he got zero points.

It is very hard, once you get knocked back

by the assessment people, to go back again and try it again.

But if you know you're true and you are disabled,

then you're not lying,

but they make out that you're lying all the time.

So, today, it's them trying to prove that I'm fit for a job

and me saying, "Look at everything that I have -

"my complaints and my health - and you'll see that I can't do a job."

What happens in the assessment will play a big part

in whether or not he gets his ESA benefit.

50 minutes later,

it's all over and done with.

It's a waiting game now.

I wait for that magic white letter through the door box.

And they'll tell me...

..what my life is going to be.

After a year of job seeking,

Yolanda has finally started her new job at the coffee shop.

That's all we have at the moment.

Well, in the fridge, anyway.

There's a bit more in the cupboard and the freezer.

So...

Despite getting a job, the couple are struggling more than ever

because Yolanda has to wait four weeks for her first wage packet.

From our last payment,

we have just had to make that stretch as far as we can.

Only just the last week, I've had to ask my mother for money

because I only get paid monthly, so...until the next payday,

it's been hard.

The impact of this and Michael's sanction leaves them with £80

from their last benefit payment to survive four weeks.

So, when Yolanda gets her first pay packet of around £700,

it will barely cover their debts, never mind the £350 rent.

I am just kind of thinking that, even when I get paid,

it's not going to be as hip-hip-hooray as I'd want it to be.

Not even living any more - just surviving.

What should have been the beginning of a new era in their lives

is turning out to be tougher than living on benefits.

Five weeks later, things are looking up.

They've finally got their computer connected -

all down to the generosity of a friend.

We've got Wi-Fi in the house now, only cos of the neighbour.

He's got Wi-Fi recently and he's asked if we wanted to have it,

so he gave us the password. It's just helped a lot.

Now, I don't have to rely on going down the library

and all of the computers being used up or the system's down.

Although Yolanda's pleased to be back at work,

it's difficult to plan ahead.

She's on what's known as a zero-hours contract,

which means she has no guarantee of a set number of hours each week,

so her take-home pay varies.

I was already getting 30 hours, so I thought that's what I'd get,

more or less, each week.

But, yeah, after a while, when Christmas came, it wasn't as busy,

so I did get, eventually, a little bit less hours.

Not by much but, at the end of the month, when the pay comes in,

you do notice the difference.

It is hard, just seeing other people my age having that kind of money

to just go out, do a bit of shopping or you see them on Facebook,

going on holidays, having different experiences,

and I'm just pretty much stuck at home.

I do believe that we can get ourselves sorted,

start living life like, you know, young people should.

I do see us doing that, but it's...

..just getting past that first barricade,

which has been holding us back for such a long time.

Having moved off benefits and into the world of work,

Yolanda and Michael still face an uncertain future.

The number of people of zero-hours contracts is increasing yearly.

Across Wales, that's 40,000 people with no guaranteed weekly wage.

Yes, yes.

Two weeks after going to his work capability assessment,

Will has received a letter from the Department of Work and Pensions.

It says he's not eligible for Employment and Support Allowance.

He's on the phone to them because it doesn't make sense.

I really don't know what's going on

and it really is stressing me to death!

Confusingly, the letter refers to the very first time

Will was assessed for ESA, over a year ago, in 2014.

I went for a health assessment about two weeks ago.

So, does this letter have anything to do with that health assessment?

It seems the letter is a mistake -

a Department of Work and Pensions blunder.

Ah. So, that is the results of my last assessment?

But they DO have the result he's been waiting for.

Ah, OK. So I'm not fit for work for two years?

Oh, that's great news! Thank goodness for that!

Oh, bless you so much. It really means a lot, you know?

Having battled for 19 months and been turned down once before,

now Will's finally been recognised as unfit for work

and eligible for ESA.

Goodnight. Bye-bye!

Hello!

HE LAUGHS

Oh!

Happy, happy!

I just need to see, you know, a confirmation now.

But that is... Oh, that is...

What a great result. And it should be a great result, you know?

Why should I have to fight against it?

But that's what it takes.

And a lot of people would have given up, you know?

A lot of people would have given up.

He'll be getting £109 a week

which, even with his housing benefit,

is far less than a living wage.

But for Will, this is a victory.

It's turned my whole life around, it really has. I'm not...

I don't feel as if I'm in the gutter now.

You know, I have a life, which I can enjoy.

It can sometimes take months to challenge benefits decisions,

but half of those who went as far as appealing their ESA claim

won their cases.

Next time, on Battling With Benefits...

Oops-a-daisy! Right, where are we going?

..some of the most vulnerable people in Bridgend

are being hit by the changes to disability benefits

and cuts in local services.

I am trying be to civil and polite

but, when it comes to my daughter's health,

something needs to be done urgently.

And how some are giving up on the benefits system altogether.

-Ah, that is a result.

-Oh!

-Free.

-Yeah.

-Free at last.

It's just not worth the hassle - it's too stressful.