Benefit rules to change after CIEH lobbying

1 February 2010

The CIEH has lobbied the Department of Work and Pensions to change benefit rules, potentially helping thousands of students across the UK.

The change, announced by work and pensions secretary Yvette Cooper last week, will mean that lone parent environmental health students will now be able to claim benefit during their unpaid work placements.

Last year, the CIEH was contacted by students suffering severe financial hardship. Due to changes in rules lone parents who had previously been awarded income support during their unpaid placements were being denied benefit and had no other means of support.

CIEH principal education officer Tony Lewis said:

"This is brilliant news for us all and particularly for the single parents in our student community. I am delighted that the government has seen sense on this issue and I should like to thank Joan Walley and all the students who contacted me."

Tony Lewis, working with the CIEH vice president Joan Walley, MP for Stoke-on-Trent, requested a meeting with the work and pensions secretary. In a letter to Ms Cooper Mr Lewis stated that the rule change was adversely affecting many students, causing real hardship.

Initially, the DWP declined to act but Ms Cooper replied to Ms Walley last week. She said in reply:

"We have accepted that this was an unintended outcome from the lone parent obligation and required change …. The change in regulations will allow lone parents who have a youngest child under 16 and are engaged in full-time studying to claim IS in the summer period. These changes will be in secondary legislation."

One affected student, Tim Baggaley, is a constituent of Joan Walley. Mr Baggaley, 48, a former butcher, is on the second year of an environmental health degree at Salford University. He has a son aged 14.

Tim said:

"This is great. It will give students who are lone parents more flexibility to complete their placements for a few weeks each summer and it will also give employers more flexibility. It won't just affect me, but potentially many other students too. On behalf of all students, I would like to express my gratitude to Tony Lewis and Joan Walley."

Mr Baggaley added that there is still a dearth of paid placements and that many students were extremely hard up and would end their studies in severe debt. He will be looking for a placement from September.

Joan Walley MP, vice president of the CIEH said:

"Thanks to our campaigning, this unintended consequence is sorted for the future. I thank the Secretary of State for her attention to the issue."

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