Andy Burnham makes the case for devolving benefits system to a local level, in radical overhaul

“Simply devolve to us how we do it. We all know the organisations right here and those who will succeed.”

The Mayor of Larger Manchester Andy Burnham has referred to as for a radical overhaul of the advantages system, with higher devolution at a neighborhood stage to assist help these on welfare entry help in addition to assist to get again into work.

Burnham, as Mayor of Larger Manchester, has championed devolution and used it to ship radical change in Manchester, together with the creation of an impartial, round the clock bus community.

He has now referred to as for the rolling out of a ‘Dwell Effectively’ service on a city-wide scale. He desires Manchester to be on the forefront of a extra holistic strategy to coping with advantages, which might assist construct pathways for folks to search out jobs by way of group outreach.

Burnham mentioned: “Devolution in Manchester has helped repair some damaged issues up to now. Now we wish to do the identical with the advantages system. It’s at the moment seen as attempting to journey folks up and punish them, moderately than serving to them. Very often it makes folks really feel worse about themselves.”

“We at the moment are saying to authorities, let’s flip that notion round. We’d like a service that gives broad help for folks to assist them into work. There’s actual hope that we are able to pioneer a brand new, and rather more constructive strategy to advantages.”

Burnham additionally instructed the Immediately Programme on Radio 4 that by ‘routing the cash by way of local people and voluntary sector, that cash is circulated inside the area people’.

Requested about why he needed to devolve the advantages system additional, given it may result in higher fragmentation and result in a unique stage of high quality relying on the place folks dwell, Burnham mentioned: “Effectively we’ll take accountability for that as a Larger Manchester Mixed Authority, I shall be held to account on how many individuals we find yourself entering into work. We’re blissful to be held to account as a result of we’ve succeeded in getting extra folks into work.

“Simply devolve to us how we do it. We all know the organisations right here and those who will succeed. Circulating that funds inside native communities implies that they will create extra alternatives, together with voluntary positions.”

Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Ahead