Roaming street worker will help beggars with benefits
A COUNCIL officer armed with a tablet computer will roam the streets of Glasgow helping people who are begging to apply for benefits.
The move is the latest to try and help people living on the streets take up the help they are entitled to.
The worker will walk the city centre with the Simon Community street team helping with on line applications.
The council held a rough sleeping and homelessness summit last year and planned a number of initiatives to get people off the streets.
Part of it is a multi-agency city centre hub for homeless people which is due to open seven days a week early next year.
The new roving benefits worker will be based at the new hub, where people can also go to access computers and DWP accounts for benefits.
The new service is being brought in before Universal Credit is rolled out in Glasgow, which means all applications must be made on-line and claimants need to have a bank accounts to get payments.
The worker will help people apply for forms of identification needed to access benefits and help with fees.
The Simon community, who deal with rough sleepers and beggars on a daily basis, said people are too busy begging, so they don’t engage with agencies that can help.
Robin Wallace, Assistant Director of Simon Community Scotland, said: “This type of assistance is exceptionally important for people living on the margins of society.
“Our experience within the Street Team recognises that people can spend a large amount of time engaged in street begging, and less time engaging in support and connecting with staff and services – therefore it is imperative that we take this service to them.”
Allan Casey, Chair of Glasgow’s City Centre Begging Strategy Group, said: “The benefits system can be complicated and confusing – especially if you have a chaotic lifestyle and no access to technology or broadband.
“The application process can be daunting, but this new digital inclusion post will take financial and digital support directly to the most vulnerable to help ensure no-one is missing out on the benefits they are entitled to.
“It will build on the relationship the Simon Community’s Street Team already has with people begging in the city centre and is a great example of how partnership working can get to the heart of complex social problems.”