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Greater Manchester Law Centre @gmlawcentre.bsky.social · 1h

"It’s a fundamental principle that everyone, no matter their income, should be able to get access to justice to challenge unfair behaviour at work."
www.theguardian.com/money/2025/o...

David Lammy rules out charging workers for employment tribunal claims

Justice secretary says right to challenge unfair work behaviour is core to Labour’s work plan after union backlash

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Greater Manchester Law Centre

Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU) @gmiau.bsky.social · 2d

📒 We have published a new Policy Briefing: Refugee Homelessness in Greater Manchester.

Please read and download the briefing here: gmiau.org/refugee-home...

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Greater Manchester Law Centre @gmlawcentre.bsky.social · 9d

GMLC calls for all those who want to see the end of child poverty to fight for the end to both of these policies for a fairer, less discriminatory social security system.
www.gmlaw.org.uk/2024/10/01/s...

Scrap the cap: the benefit cap in 2024 and why it needs to go – Greater Manchester Law Centre

Today, GMLC releases its new research report, 'Scrap the cap: the benefit cap in 2024 and why it needs to go'.

www.gmlaw.org.uk

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Greater Manchester Law Centre @gmlawcentre.bsky.social · 9d

Removing the two-child limit but not the benefit cap will help a lot of households - and so it's worth doing, even on its own. But 34,000 families who could be helped by the change won't see an increase in their income if the benefit cap is left in place.
www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...

Catastrophic caps • Resolution Foundation

In the benefit system, entitlement and need are intertwined: the greater the need, the more benefit income a family is usually entitled to receive. But in the 2010s, two policies were introduced that ...

www.resolutionfoundation.org

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Greater Manchester Law Centre @gmlawcentre.bsky.social · 9d

GMLC meets people this policy affects regularly, usually single mums with young children. Often, the people we meet are facing eviction, homelessness and debt. The policy hits single parents hardest, and there is often no way out.
largerfamilies.study/publications...

Benefit changes and larger families

We are a group of university-based researchers investigating how families with more than two children are coping with the benefit cap or the two-child limit.

largerfamilies.study

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Greater Manchester Law Centre @gmlawcentre.bsky.social · 9d

Those families in the deepest poverty tend not only to be affected by the two-child limit, but the benefit cap as well. The benefit cap is a separate policy which limits the total amount of benefits a household can receive to a maximum of £1835 a month outside London.

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Greater Manchester Law Centre @gmlawcentre.bsky.social · 9d

However, now that the two-child limit is up for debate, GMLC urges ministers and commentators not to forget the detrimental effects of a second punitive benefits policy - the benefit cap.
www.turn2us.org.uk/get-support/...

Benefit entitlement: What is the Benefit Cap?

The Benefit Cap is a limit to the total amount in some benefits that working age people can receive, even if their full entitlement would otherwise be higher.

www.turn2us.org.uk

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Greater Manchester Law Centre @gmlawcentre.bsky.social · 9d

GMLC wholeheartedly supports calls to scrap the limit. Many of our clients are living on reduced amounts of income as a result of the two-child limit, leading to hardship. This includes disabled parents and others who struggle to secure employment to improve their incomes.

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Greater Manchester Law Centre @gmlawcentre.bsky.social · 9d

The government is coming under renewed pressure to scrap the two-child benefit limit. The two-child limit deprives parents of further child benefit when their third or later child was born after 6/04/17. It now affects 1.67 million children.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Scrapping child benefit cap makes economic sense, Rachel Reeves told

Senior Labour MP and leading economist urge the chancellor to scrap the two-child benefit cap.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Reposted by Greater Manchester Law Centre

Advicenow @advicenow.bsky.social · 10d

We recommend signing up for GMLC's newsletter!
t.co/KJ0wbqPKS5

This month's newsletter has great tips on finding free legal advice.

You can find further info on one of their recommendations, which is to join a union to receive support and employment law advice here: gmlaw.org.uk/employment-l...

Greater Manchester Law Centre @gmlawcentre.bsky.social · Dec 11

GMLC is now on Bluesky! Hello to those of you who have followed us already.

Today we visited the picket line at the Manchester Early Intervention services strike for better funding of mental health services.
#ManchesterstrikeMH

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Reposted by Greater Manchester Law Centre

Legal Action Group @legalactiongroup.bsky.social · 16d

We're delighted to have sent our Social Justice packs to this year's brilliant cohort of Legal Education Foundation's Justice First Fellows.

The Fellowship supports aspiring lawyers to pursue #SocialJustice law. We're proud to play a small part in this.

#AccessToJustice

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Reposted by Greater Manchester Law Centre

Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People @gmcdp.bsky.social · 21d

We’re recruiting for 4 roles on our Disabled People’s Archive 🎉
Thanks to funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund (made possible by National Lottery players) we’re looking for an Archive Project Assistant (staff), plus freelance Oral Historian & Evaluator. (1/2)

Jobs | Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People

gmcdp.com

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Greater Manchester Law Centre @gmlawcentre.bsky.social · 22d

The two-child limit on benefits is a policy that gets worse over time - more and more children are plunged into poverty each year.
It's time for the government to scrap this policy once and for all.
www.bigissue.com/news/social-...

Two-child benefit cap is 'punishing' working families, Labour warned

Families hit by the two-child limit on benefits describe how "the system is truly unfair" for those with more than three children.

www.bigissue.com

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Greater Manchester Law Centre @gmlawcentre.bsky.social · 24d

The cost of living crisis hasn't ended just because the news has moved on.
There has been no improvement in the key measures of hardship over the last year, with over 7 million low-income families still going without essentials.
www.jrf.org.uk/cost-of-livi...

A year of Labour but no progress: JRF’s cost of living tracker, summer 2025

A year into the new Labour Government, key hardship measures show no improvement - over 7 million low-income families are still going without essentials.

www.jrf.org.uk

Greater Manchester Law Centre @gmlawcentre.bsky.social · Sep 3

Family reunion for refugees is one of the last remaining 'safe routes' to the UK for those facing war, persecution and violence.
But the government has decided to suspend applications.
If you need to apply to bring your family here, do it today!
gmiau.org/refugee-fami...

Changes to Refugee Family Reunion - GMIAU

The Home Secretary has announced that refugee family reunion applications will be suspended. Act now if you need to make an application.

gmiau.org

Greater Manchester Law Centre @gmlawcentre.bsky.social · Sep 2

Join @gmiau.bsky.social and Garden Court North for the upcoming North West Migrants’ Rights Conference on 30/09/25. Our solicitor Kathy Cosgrove will be speaking alongside knowledgeable speakers on asylum aid, trafficking, age assessments. Get your ticket here: gcnchambers.co.uk/event/migran...

North West Migrants' Rights Conference - Garden Court North Chambers

Garden Court North will be co-hosting the Migrants' Rights Conference with Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit on 30 September.

gcnchambers.co.uk

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Greater Manchester Law Centre @gmlawcentre.bsky.social · Sep 2

"Manchester city council spent the most on landlord incentives, spending £3.3m in 2024-25, with Enfield council in north London spending £2.7m, Ealing council in west London spending £2.3m and Birmingham city council spending £1.7m."
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

English councils pay private landlords millions in incentives to house homeless families

Exclusive: Data gathered by Generation Rent shows 37 councils spent £31m in 2024-25 in one-off payments to individual landlords

www.theguardian.com

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Greater Manchester Law Centre @gmlawcentre.bsky.social · Aug 15

What we know about the UK–France ‘one in, one out’ small boats agreement - from @gmiau.bsky.social:
gmiau.org/one-in-one-o...

What we know about the UK–France ‘one in, one out’ small boats agreement - GMIAU

What we know about the 'one in, one out' agreement on small boats between the UK and France, and what we think about it.

gmiau.org

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Greater Manchester Law Centre @gmlawcentre.bsky.social · Aug 8

"[T]he participants receiving benefits struggled to access proper nutrition [...].
"We saw the kind of nutrient deficiencies that you see in developing countries and it seems this was driven solely by people's financial capabilities," he added."
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

'Living on universal credit is a constant battle' - BBC News

Keith Williams says he uses a food bank as his monthly £368 benefit payment lasts "about a week".

www.bbc.co.uk

Greater Manchester Law Centre @gmlawcentre.bsky.social · Aug 7

Research this year revealed claimants received huge increases in compensation offers – in one case jumping from £300 to £170,000 – after legal advice.
#AccessToJustice
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

‘It’s about justice’: the couple pushing for legal aid for Windrush scandal claims

Home Office behaviour has convinced Hetticia and Vanderbilt McIntosh that only experts lawyers can change system

www.theguardian.com

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Greater Manchester Law Centre @gmlawcentre.bsky.social · Jul 30

Thank you to everyone who came to our 10 year anniversary party last week!

It was lovely to reflect with so many of our past and present contributors on the progress GMLC has made in the last 10 years, and what fights are ongoing for #FreeAccessToJustice.

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Greater Manchester Law Centre @gmlawcentre.bsky.social · Jul 28

It's important that the government's improvements to workers' rights don't get watered down - especially now that cuts to disabled people's benefits have been passed for futureclaimants. Better workplace rights are crucial to improving people's lives.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Zero-hours contracts: peers accused of ‘trying to block stronger UK workers’ rights’

Lords ‘doing bidding of bad bosses’, says TUC, amid growing campaign by business leaders to water down Labour’s plans

www.theguardian.com

Greater Manchester Law Centre @gmlawcentre.bsky.social · Jul 17

Whilst improvements to sick pay proposed by the government will have an upfront cost to employers, the TUC has published research to show it will have financial benefits for employers in the long-term due to increased productivity and employee retention.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Sick pay changes could benefit UK firms by up to £2bn, TUC says

Exclusive: Analysis shows covering part of salaries from first day off can boost productivity and employee retention

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Greater Manchester Law Centre

Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People @gmcdp.bsky.social · Jul 14

Don't fight the DWP alone, do it with friends!
Benefits Tips Social
Wed July 16・6:00pm
The Proud Trust
49-51 Sidney St M1 7HB
Join us for our hybrid Benefits Tips Social - an evening of disability-related Benefits tips and peer support.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/benefits-t...

Benefits Tips Social

Join us for our hybrid Benefits Tips Social - an evening of disability-related Benefits tips and peer support.

www.eventbrite.co.uk

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Greater Manchester Law Centre @gmlawcentre.bsky.social · Jul 8

"I’ve been told Parkinson’s is not usually hereditary, but my brother is worried he might be developing it. If PIP becomes harder to access, what will it mean for people like him in the future?"
www.bigissue.com/news/social-...

I never thought I might need PIP – now I don't know where I'd be without it

A PIP and universal credit claimant shares his fears for future benefit claimants who could be impacted by the disability benefit cuts.

www.bigissue.com

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