Here and over the next couple of days is a round-up of news items and data sources, bridging the gap of the last few months on welfare related issues. This will become a regular post.

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• Changes to legal aid and Tax credits – ‘Where’s my reply’? service. Citizens Advice Bureau Advice Guide. Civil legal aid helps to pay for the costs of getting legal advice if you’re on a low income. You can check the progress of an enquiry on line.
• Child poverty, a million more kids set to live below the breadline by 2020 Mirror. The coalition’s child poverty policies are a slap are a “slap in the face” to families – and could put a million more children below the breadline.
• Benefits rule risks closure of night shelters forcing hundreds on streets Guardian. Hundreds of vulnerable homeless people face being turned out on to the streets amid confusion over how local authorities should interpret a legal ruling which could trigger the closure of emergency night shelters.
• Homelessness, despair and confusion amid the night shelter funding crisis. Guardian. The future for housing-benefit funded emergency night shelters for rough sleepers is precarious. So why are ministers so reluctant to intervene to prevent them closing?
• Poverty: 50 ways to close a food bank. Guardian. As food banks struggle to cope with rising demand, they – and politicians – could learn valuable lessons from volunteers in Canada.
• Homelessness: BnB hoteliers doing very nicely thanks. Guardian. Faced with a £1m-and-rising hotels bill, a London council wants the law changed to reduce its obligations to homeless people.
• Ministers who misuse statistics to mislead voters must pay the price. Guardian. Politicians resign for fake expenses or receiving favours, but not for making false statements. They should be punished.