Benefit shake-up would slash jobless and child poverty, says new CSJ report

Plans to move 600,000 households off welfare and into work will be unveiled today (September 16) in a major new report from the think-tank set up by the former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith.
The 370-page report from the Centre for Social Justice , the most far-reaching review of the welfare system in 60 years, estimates that the shake-up will boost the incomes of the lowest paid by nearly £5 billion.
It also calculates that its radical recasting of state support for the jobless and low-paid – built around measures to make work pay and increasing support for working couples - will lift more than 200,000 children out of poverty.
But although there will be some short-term costs to the taxpayer, these will be offset by savings elsewhere. And in the medium term, the welfare overhaul will save the state money.
Download the report at http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/default.asp?pageRef=37

Parents targeted on child poverty

Both parents in low-income families could be encouraged to work to help meet child poverty targets under plans being considered by the government.
Ministers are concerned they will fail to meet their commitment to end child poverty by 2020 if only one parent in the poorest families has a job.
Incentives to encourage the second parent to find work are being explored.
But poverty campaigners warned that pushing both parents into work could harm the well-being of their children.
Read more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8250258.stm

Welsh language mobile launched

Samsung and the Orange mobile phone network have launched a Welsh language interface mobile phone. The language of the phone can be set to Welsh as well as French, German or English.
Ifan Evans from the Welsh Language Board says the new interface will allow people to use predictive text functions in Welsh for the first time.

See a video of Welsh speakers giving their views on the new phone - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8231906.stm

Employment pledge 'may be missed'

The Welsh assembly government is failing to meet self-imposed employment targets
A pledge to get 80% of adults of working age in Wales into employment is unlikely to be met, an assembly government minister has admitted.
Schemes to put more people in work will meet only half the shortfall as the employment rate stands at 69.7%, said Education Minister Jane Hutt.
The assembly government said it was drawing up a new employment strategy.
But opposition politicians said that setting such a high target was "unrealistic".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8234405.stm

Denbighshire County Council get blogging and tweeting!!!

Denbighshire County councils Chief executive Chief Executive Mohammed Mehmet and Leader of the council HughH Evans have entered the blogosphere follow them on:- http://mohammedmehmet.wordpress.com/ and http://hughevans.wordpress.com/

The council also have a twitter page at http://twitter.com/DenbighshireCC

Only a third of Welsh have heard of social enterprise

Organisers of a new awards scheme celebrating Welsh social entrepreneurs hope it will tackle a lack of awareness about the sector in Wales.
Two recent pieces of research reveal a gap between awareness of the sector in Wales and its achievements, with only 35% of people questioned in a street survey familiar with the term ‘social enterprise’.
Only 50% of those who had heard the term social enterprise knew what it meant, according to the survey carried out by the University of Glamorgan.
Yet, a separate piece of research commissioned by the Welsh Assembly government shows the sector in Wales had an estimated total turnover of £2.18bn for the financial year 2007/8.
The research also reveals that Wales’ contribution to the social enterprise sector’s UK turnover figure was more than twice the rate of the principality’s contribution to the UK economy as a whole.
Wales’ top 20 social enterprises, by turnover, include Glas Cymru, RCT Homes, Welsh National Opera, Wales Millennium Centre and Wales and West Housing Association.
The first ever Social Enterprise Awards Wales are aiming to celebrate the principality’s most successful and inspiring social enterprises.The awards are organised nationally by the Social Enterprise Coalition and promoted in Wales by Wales Co-operative Centre, with the closing date for entries 28 September.