Election season is just over and we are a country that’s divided in our religions, political views, and political parties yet we all need the same thing; a working Government. Our country and its people are in crisis, we can barely keep our heads above the water and see a future in front of us. […]
Siobhán continues to attend meetings of the Cliff Edge Coalition Working Group which is working to strengthen the existing mitigations package for Northern Ireland. Cliff Edge recently relaunched their key asks and Siobhán spoke at the launch event about the Coalition’s key ask to resolve the five-week wait in Universal Credit. A revised briefing paper […]
Siobhán has joined the Coalition of Carers which is chaired by Carers NI and continues to attend regular meetings of the Coalition. The Coalition is made up of a number of organisations all working to highlight the key issues that carers are facing across Northern Ireland.
Siobhán continues to the meet with the working group for the Northern Ireland Child Payment Coalition. The introduction of a NI Child Payment was a recommendation by the Gender Equality and Anti-Poverty Expert Panels and in the Feminist Recovery Plan.
Siobhán is now part of a new campaign from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Trussell Trust calling for an Essentials Guarantee within Universal Credit. The Essentials Guarantee would embed in the social security system a principle that at a minimum Universal Credit should protect people from going without essentials. You can read more about […]
Following the announcement of the Budget 2023/24 by the Secretary of State the Department’s Equality Impact Assessment details the Department for Communities proposed budget allocations and how it will impact on the Department’s ability to deliver public services during the Cost of Living Crisis. The website states that this consultation is open until 19th July […]
Siobhán has carried out a number of media interviews in relation to proposed cuts to the Department for Communities (DfC) funding particularly in relation to cuts to Discretionary Support. Siobhán was able to draw on research carried out on behalf of the Consortium in relation to Cost of Living, Universal Credit and welfare reform to […]
Siobhán continues to carry out engagement with a range of people and organisations on the Consortium’s research paper on ‘Women Living with Debt’. Recently Siobhán has spoken about the findings, women’s experiences and recommendations at the following: Workers Demand Better Event Meeting with Department for Communities on Fuel Poverty Meeting with Pam Cameron, DUP NI […]
Siobhán Harding, Women’s Support Network Policy Worker, has completed a series of 20 focus group sessions across Northern Ireland looking at the impact of the Cost of Living Crisis on women and has spoken to almost 250 women. The focus groups discussed the impact of Cost of Living increases on women’s household budgets, on their […]
This is an excerpt from the consultation response. The Women’s Regional Consortium response to the Call for Views on the Domestic and Sexual Abuse Strategy provided much feedback which we consider still remains relevant to this Consultation. Repeating many of the issues raised in the Call for Views is not an effective use of time […]
