How Wheels Works
Across the North West of England, the personal and community impacts of unrelieved social exclusion and the challenges faced by young people in accessing facilities and services in rural and remote communities without a comprehensive transport infrastructure are unremittingly negative.
Without external support, the challenges faced by young people can be virtually insurmountable. In those formative years, such obstacles can dictate very narrow boundaries indeed for the young person trying to make their earliest life and career choices.
The direct intervention and support of W2W can play a significant part in relieving the symptoms of social exclusion for young people. The boundaries imposed by lack of transport, worklessness and rural accessibility issues can quickly be turned from being barriers into a potentially expanding horizon for their life and career choices.
In simple economic terms the timely, well placed and cost effective intervention by W2W can turn around the fortunes of a young person from being a burden on the public purse to being a contributor towards both the community and to the common wealth through paying national insurance, buying petrol, accessing and paying for local services etc.
The impacts that this turn around can have on the debilitating effects of social exclusion and on the life choices for the individual should never be underestimated.
Cost of benefits paid to the unemployed
Current rates of Job Seekers Allowance are:
- £35.65 per week for 16 to 17 year olds
- £46.85 per week for 18 to 24 year olds
- £59.15 per week for those over 25 years.
Over a six-month period this could amount to a cost to the taxpayer of between £926.90 and £1,537.90 for a 26-week loan or £1390.35 and £2306.85 for a 9-month (39 week) loan.
There may also be the following eligibilities:
Clients supported under EMA are eligible for £10.30 per week.
New Deal and JSA+ support currently stands at £15.38 per week.
These allowances can potentially raise personal benefit costs by between £267.80 and £399.88 for a 26-week loan period and £401.70 and £599.82 for a nine-month loan.
Income support may also be payable, dependent on individual circumstances.
Council tax benefit: up to 100% may be payable, dependent on personal circumstances.
Housing benefit: up to 100% may be payable dependent on personal circumstances.
In addition, other benefits can include assistance in the cost of prescriptions, opticians etc. There is also loss of earnings and associated NI and tax contributions to the economy as well as overhead costs associated with Jobcentre Plus and other agency staff dealing with the unemployed.
The costs provided above are indicative but costs in basic benefits alone (excluding EMA & JSA+) can amount to over £660.10 per month for an unemployed person (18-24) dependent upon individual circumstances – equivalent of
In May 2007, the average ceiling cost of a six-month moped loan with associated support is estimated stands at The actual current loan costs are running noticeably less than this
