The European Minimum Income campaign (EMIN) is an informal network of organisations and individuals committed to achieving the right to adequate, accessible and enabling Minimum Income (i.e. social assistance incomes, including income top-ups for those in low paid work. In the UK that means Universal Credit and the six benefits it is replacing).

Why is poverty on the increase in the UK?

How do we change our social security system to secure an adequate income?

How can we better tackle low paid work?

What can campaigners do to work together to tackle poverty more effectively?

These are just some of the questions that will be discussed at this seminar being organised by the European Anti Poverty Network to look at how we ensure adequate incomes for everyone, whether they are in work or not. The event is part of a European wide campaign to raise awareness of the need for adequate minimum incomes. A campaign bus that is touring Europe will be coming to Leicester, and events and discussions will be taking place across the country. Together we are working to highlight the need for adequate minimum incomes to help tackle poverty in the UK and across Europe.

If you working with an agency or organisation supporting people on low incomes, or if you are just interested in how we can achieve an adequate income then come along to this FREE event.

Programme

09.30: Welcome and introductions: Peter Kelly, Vice President, European Anti-Poverty Network, Nazek Ramadan, Director Migrant Voice and Hassan Ali, Leicester Community Services

09:45 Campaigning for adequate social assistance incomes in Europe: Fintan Farrell, Project Director, European Minimum Income (EMIN) Campaign

10:00 Minimum Income Standards & Social Security Benefits: Professor Donald Hirsch, Loughborough University

10:20 Work, Pay & Adequate Incomes: Tess Lanning, Director, the Living Wage Foundation

10.35: Questions and comments to the panel.

11.00: Round table discussion amongst participants:

1. Challenging myths and stereotypes of people living on low and moderate incomes

2. Examples of good practice locally – in challenging myths or in serving the needs of disadvantaged people

3. How Leicester and other cities can raise their profile in national and European debates on adequate income.

11.35 Summary & Next Steps

11:45 Round Table closes.Sandwich lunch.

Biogs

Tess Lanning: Tess joined the Living Wage Foundation as Head of Policy and Business Development in July 2015, and became Director (maternity cover) in March 2018. Before joining the Foundation, she worked as an adviser to the Leader of the Opposition on business, skills and labour market policy, and before that as a senior researcher on economic and social policy at the Institute for Public Policy Research. She has also worked as a freelance policy and campaigns consultant, and has published widely on pay, workplace training, and other issues affecting the world of work.

Donald Hirsch: Donald Hirsch has spent over 35 years analysing social policy in the UK and internationally – as a journalist, OECD official, consultant to public organisations and charities, and an academic. From 1998 to 2008, he was Poverty Adviser to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and played a leading national role in monitoring Labour’s welfare reforms and efforts to cut child poverty. In his present role as Director of the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University, he leads the Minimum Income Standard research programme - on-going studies of what people need for an acceptable standard of living. This work is used as the basis to calculate the level of the Living Wage, used by the Living Wage Foundation to accredit over 4,000 Living Wage Employers. Donald is a regular commentator on policies related to income and poverty in the UK

Minimum Income Bus

Participants are invited to visit the Minimum Income Bus, which will be at Humberstone Gate between 10.30 and 3.30, and meet the campaigners, sign the petition, talk to us about minimum incomes.

EMIN is led by the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN), in partnership with the European Trades Union Confederation (ETUC). EAPN is present in all EU countries, plus some which are not EU members, including Norway, Iceland, Serbia and Croatia.

For the period 2017-2018 EMIN receives financial support from the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation “EaSI” (2014-2020) to develop its work in the EU Member States and at EU level. For further information please consult: http://ec.europa.eu/social/easi