Pre-paid benefits will stigmatise the poor

At the Conservative Party Conference last month Work and Pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith, said he planned to roll out a system of pre-paid cards to stop people spending benefits on drink and drugs.

A similar system currently exists for failed ­asylum seekers still living in Britain, many of whom are in Glasgow.

Despite calls for the Azure card to be scrapped, the UK Government is now introducing a card system for some benefit claimants which Mr Duncan Smith said can only be "paid out in certain shops on certain things."

As part of Challenge Poverty Week the Scottish Refugee Council and the Poverty Alliance have criticised the plans. They say the cards dehumanise those forced to use it.

Mr Duncan Smith said the cards would be targeted at people with addiction problems to prevent children going without because of drink, drug or gambling habits. Trials were starting in parts of England.

Campaigners in Scotland said the use of the system for asylum seekers has been a trial for a benefits card and has led to serious problems, increasing hardship for many.

As part of Challenge Poverty Week the Scottish Refugee council has published details of a study into the use of the cards among failed asylum seekers who cannot return to their home country, but who are not entitled to benefits.

The Poverty Alliance said there needs to be a human rights approach to benefits and tackling poverty.

The organisation wants to see a rejection of any moves which stigmatise and are divisive, entrenching the division of "strivers versus skivers' and instead wants a recognition that poverty is an affront to dignity which governments must tackle.

The Scottish Refugee Council said 85% of organisations working with users of the card reported people had gone hungry because the support was inadequate.

It found almost nine out of ten users felt anxious and embarrassed using the card.

People were unable to travel to access legal advice as transport cost was not included in the card's permitted uses.

Almost three quarters had reported poor service from shop staff when using the card, and 85% has said cards had stopped working at some point.

Peter Kelly, director of the Poverty Alliance, said the card system should not be rolled out to benefit claimants.

He said: "Pre-payment cards not only increase the stigma of being in receipt of benefits but put the blame on the individual.

"The causes of poverty are political. There is no need for poverty to exist and if governments made a real commitment to tackling poverty then millions of people could see their circumstances improve.

"Instead we have seen a punitive regime of 'welfare reform' and more and more people being pushed into poverty.

"Moving to a pre-paid smart card will undermine the dignity and rights of people in receipt of benefits."

Graham O'Neill, policy officer of the Scottish Refugee Council, said in some instances people had to walk for miles to a store that accepted the cards.

He said: "Cashless support is dehumanising. This is illustrated by the anxiety and humiliation experienced by people who use the Azure card, a cashless card for people whose asylum application has been turned down but who are unable to go back to the country they fled.

"We hear story after story from people who have fled horrors we can scarcely imagine overseas, who face destitution here and who then have to face the stigma of using a card that identifies them and their plight."

Campaigners for human rights said there must be an understanding of the connection between human rights and poverty.

Dee Flanigan, of the Scottish Human Rights Commission said: "The very existence of poverty represents a failure to fulfil a range of human rights including the right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate food, housing and the right to earn a decent living. Those living in Scotland who have direct experience tell us time again that living in poverty is not just about a lack of money but also a lack of power.

"At the Commission we believe that the opposite of poverty is not wealth, but rather a society in which everyone is able to live with dignity."

stewart.paterson@ eveningtimes.co.uk