Students

The government is about to ‘temporarily’ suspend free travel for under 18s in London, to protect public health during the pandemic. This will be a disaster for families with children who are already struggling and could mean that children and young people will miss out on their education and other opportunities in the capital. Families have suffered enough during the pandemic – it’s not right that they should be punished further during a time of national crisis.

This is the eighth in a series of briefings, Mind the Gaps, which highlight some of the gaps in support that exist for children and families affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Evidence of these gaps is drawn from our Early Warning System (EWS) which collects case studies from frontline practitioners working directly with families on the problems they are seeing with the social security system.

Latest include: lone parents with no childcare being told to take unpaid leave, families claiming UC not realising their tax credits would stop and EU nationals with little or no access to benefits just now

Latest findings emerging from the Early Warning System include: difficulty accessing PIP claim forms, people accruing rent arrears because they are unable to move and confusion about which benefit to claim

The Early Warning System was set up by CPAG in Scotland to collect and analyse case evidence about how social security changes are affecting the wellbeing of children, their families and the communities that support them. We will be producing a regular summary of emerging issues during the Covid 19 pandemic. This summary includes case studies from the week 13th – 17th April