TWO North-East mums have told how they were left with no income at all for eight months, following benefit changes.

Both said their benefits were stopped suddenly, tipping them into poverty.

Emma (not her real name), a mum of two teenagers near Sunderland, was on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), but the Department for Work and Pensions stopped her payments last December, when they did not receive a questionnaire they required, but which she says she sent by recorded delivery.

After eight months with nothing, she registered in August for Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), to ensure some income, but receives around £88 a fortnight now – less than a third of what she received previously.

ESA is for people unable to work due to illness or disability, whereas JSA is paid to people who are able to work and are in the process of seeking a job.

Emma, who has a mental health condition, said: “In those months when I had nothing, it was just about surviving for the kids, making sure there was enough gas and electric. When they were not here, when they were with their dad, I was not bothering about me. I was cutting back on heating and food. There have been days when I have not eaten. It’s been really hard.

“They need a fairer system. For me just to get a letter to say I am not getting any more money, and then to have to go through the system of appealing and mandatory reconsideration; all that takes time with no help or support. It’s hard and although there’s crisis support with the local authority, I was told that when I was only getting child benefit support for the girls, that did not constitute crisis. The crisis support that is there is not working properly.

“Living around here is hard enough. It’s a fantastic community but it’s like going back to the Miners’ Strike with the poverty. In fact it’s worse than that.”

Janet Phillips from Dyke House in Hartlepool, said her payments were stopped because an ex-partner was trying to claim the same entitlement.

She was already one of about 3,000 people in the North-East and 66,000 nationally who had been adversely affected by the benefit cap.

Miss Phillips said: “When my money was stopped I got nothing for months, and I went to the foodbank.

“I went into poverty when the benefit cap came in. I have got four kids and I went from private to council housing but still paid the same. I get £200 tax credits each Friday and £100 of that goes straight to rent. When the kids are at school you have to pay a lot and one of my kids is dairy-free so I have to pay more.

“There are school meals, and trips to pay for, and you get the first blazer, but that does not last long.

“I am losing £100 a week now to rent that was getting paid before, and that was helping with other costs like school uniforms and everything else. They tell you you’re better off, but you’re not.

“I got no help from January to September. I got nothing, just support from The Wharton Trust in Hartlepool. When that all started, it was the worst day of my life. It was horrible. I was sat in The Annexe [community centre] and if it was not for the staff there I would have lost everything. I broke down in tears.”

Other benefit recipients have also reported being tipped into destitution through sanctions or benefit delays.

Wayne Middleton, from Easington Lane, said: “They told me I had missed an appointment, which I had not even known about, and they stopped my money. My last income was six weeks ago, and I have had to rely on the foodbank and friends.

“It just makes you feel drained inside. It puts you in difficulty and your housing benefit stops as well, so you have to pick up the extra. I went to the council and they were alright – Sunderland council give you a voucher for the electric and gas and a food voucher for Tesco, but only once or twice a year.”

Another man at Easington Lane food bank said he missed a Job Centre appointment because he was in hospital, but he was still sanctioned.

The benefits cap limits the amount families can receive, to a maximum of £20,000 a year outside London. Families with more than two children have been particularly affected, and High Court Judge Mr Justice Collins warned in June that it was unlawful and was causing “real damage” to single-parent families. The Government has appealed against that ruling.

ABOUT 38,000 children in poverty in the region will miss out on free school meals after Universal Credit changes, a charity has estimated.

All families receiving the new Universal Credit have been automatically eligible for free school meals, but the Government plans to introduce means testing for the meals.

The Government said 50,000 more children will be entitled to free school meals as a result of its proposed change but The Children’s Society yesterday released figures projecting some families would end up better off if they took a pay cut and would lose out on meals.

Once a family with one child passed a £7,400 threshold, they would need to earn £1,124 a year more to make up for the loss in free school meals, the charity said.

The figure of 37,000 families in the North-East includes a projected 7,000 in County Durham, 6,300 in Northumberland, 4,200 in North Tyneside, 3,100 in each of Stockton and Newcastle, 3,000 in Gateshead, 2,800 in Sunderland, 1,900 in Redcar & Cleveland, 1,700 in South Tyneside, 1,600 in Darlington, 1,100 in Hartlepool and 1,000 in Middlesbrough.

Matthew Reed, chief executive of The Children’s Society, said: “The Government has a golden opportunity to ensure that almost every child in poverty in England does not go hungry at school. There are significant, proven benefits for children’s health, education and their futures in making sure they have a healthy lunch every day, but at least one million children will miss out if this change is introduced.”

  • Church Action on Poverty is a social justice charity (UK charity 1079986) dedicated to tackling the root causes of poverty in the UK and to amplifying the voice of people with first-hand experience of the issues.

For more information see:

church-poverty.org.uk/

facebook.com/churchpoverty/

twitter.com/churchpoverty

Tomorrow: People across the region share their stories of hardship, and we reveal the facts and figures behind this research.