Benefits Street

Benefits Street
Genre	Documentary
Narrated by	Tony Hirst
Composer	Matthew Cracknell
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	5
Production
Production locations	Winson Green, Birmingham, England 52.4955°N 1.9438°W / 52.4955; -1.9438
Running time	60 mins (inc. adverts)
Production company	Love Productions
Original release
Network	Channel 4
Release	6 January (2014-01-06) – 10 February 2014 (2014-02-10)

Benefits Street is a British documentary series broadcast on Channel 4. It was first aired on 6 January 2014, and ran for five episodes. The show was filmed by documenting the lives of several residents of James Turner Street, Winson Green, Birmingham, England, where newspapers including the Daily Mail and The Guardian reported that 90% of the residents claim benefits. It shows benefits claimants committing crimes, including a demonstration of how to shoplift, and portrays a situation in which people are dependent on welfare payments and lack the motivation to seek employment.

The show has been controversial, with the police, Channel 4 and Ofcom receiving hundreds of complaints. There have been Twitter death threats made against the residents of the street. Channel 4 has been accused of making poverty porn.' Many of those taking part have claimed that they were misled by the documentary makers. However, the producers of Benefits Street have defended the series, arguing that the reaction to it demonstrates the importance of making such a documentary. The series was mentioned in the House of Commons, and prompted some political debate on the topic of welfare. Benefits Street has given Channel 4 their highest viewing figures for any show since 2012.

Background

In 2012, Love Productions approached the BBC with the idea for a programme that would feature a prominent member of the business community working with unemployed people, but the show did not come to fruition after the unnamed individual had to withdraw from it because of other commitments. The format for the series that would later become Benefits Street was then suggested, but the BBC declined to commission the series because it was producing a number of other programmes concerning similar issues, such as People Like Us and Nick and Margaret: We All Pay Your Benefits. Love Productions then suggested the format to Channel 4, which agreed to commission it.

Writing for The Observer in January 2014, Nick Mirsky, head of documentaries at Channel 4 said that Love Productions intentionally selected an area where a high proportion of the residents were in receipt of welfare payments "to show the effect of benefit cuts on a community for whom they were the principal source of income". The filming and production process took eighteen months. Both Mirsky, and Ralph Lee, Channel 4's head of factual programming, said the residents of James Turner Street were consulted about the series before filming began. Cameras observed them over the course of a twelve month period. The decision to call the series Benefits Street was taken two weeks before the programme aired. The comedian Frank Skinner, who is from the West Midlands, was approached to narrate the documentary but turned it down because he had concerns about how people from Birmingham would be portrayed, and did not wish to criticise the city.

The first episode of Benefits Street was aired at 9.00pm on Monday 6 January 2014, and ran for five episodes. A live one-hour debate was then scheduled to be broadcast by Channel 4 following the final episode. Channel 4 announced on 16 January that this would be chaired by presenter Richard Bacon and feature a panel of guests who "represent the views across the political spectrum – and crucially those who claim benefits". Mentorn Media, producers of programmes such as BBC One's Question Time was commissioned to produce the show. Originally scheduled for 10 February, the programme, titled Benefits Britain: The Debate, was subsequently moved back a week to 17 February after rival broadcaster Channel 5 announced plans for a two hour debate about immigration for the same evening. Channel 4 said Benefits Britain: The Debate would be immediately preceded by a follow up documentary, Benefits Street: The Last Word. The change was announced after many listings magazines had gone to press, a practice generally discouraged in the media industry.

During the week following the broadcasting of the third episode of Benefits Street, West Midlands Police charged several James Turner Street residents with drugs related offences in connection with a raid their officers had carried out in June 2013. Those facing charges included some people seen in episodes of the series. Channel 4 said they had no plans to alter any footage from the episodes yet to be transmitted.

On 23 January, the Birmingham Mail reported that some Benefits Street branded merchandise, such as mugs and T-shirts were being produced for sale over the internet by individuals wishing to cash in on the programme. As the series came to a close on 10 February, Love Productions confirmed to the Birmingham Mail that it was investigating potential locations for a second series, but that this would not be filmed in Birmingham. Channel 5 confirmed to Broadcast magazine that it was in the process of filming a similar documentary, provisionally titled Living on the Social, in which individuals and families would discuss their lives on welfare.

James Turner Street, seen here in 2008, is the setting for Benefits Street

James Turner Street

James Turner Street is a residential street of 137 Victorian terraced houses in the Winson Green area of Birmingham. The street is in the city's Soho Ward, part of the Ladywood constituency, and has a B18 postcode.

It is first recorded in local records as Osborne Street in 1877, and given its present name in 1882. According to school historian Alison Wheatley, the street is possibly named after a James Turner who taught at King Edward's School in Birmingham, and the name may have been suggested by a former pupil, who became a town planner, as a way of honouring Turner's legacy. However, the Birmingham historian Carl Chinn believes the street was named for a local businessman and partner in the firm Hammond, Turner & Sons, a manufacturer of buttons.

Of Winson Green, Chinn writes that it was originally developed as a "better-off working class district", but that by the latter part of the 20th century, many of the properties in the area were falling into decay. Dr Chris Upton, reader in public history at the city's Newman University has described the street as part of a "ribbon development" of suburban districts built as Birmingham expanded during the latter part of the 19th century. While many of the street's original residents were locals who moved from the inner city back-to-back houses, some had moved from as far away as London and Cornwall to work in Birmingham. Upton describes them as "the respectable working class"—skilled workers who earned around 30 shillings (£1.50) per week, and who in many cases could even afford to employ a maid. Those who grew prosperous moved to wealthier areas, and were replaced by immigrants from Asia and the West Indies, who came to the UK during the years after World War II. A high proportion of those who lived in the area were employed by Birmingham's industrial economy, which enjoyed prosperity until the collapse of the city's manufacturing industry during the early 1980s, resulting in mass unemployment. Professor Steven McCabe of Birmingham City Business School has noted that Birmingham lost 200,000 manufacturing jobs between 1971 and 1981, and that the city's GDP per capita, which in 1976 was the highest for a UK city outside the south east region, had fallen to become the lowest in England seven years later.

During the 1980s, unemployment in Birmingham reached 20%, and McCabe says that in many areas, including James Turner Street, this figure has not been reduced since that decade. Clare Short, who grew up in the area and represented Winson Green as Member of Parliament for Ladywood for 27 years has said that along with high unemployment came a "new culture of drugs, crime and mental health problems." On their website, Channel 4 have described James Turner Street as "one of Britain's most benefits-dependent streets". Sources such as the Daily Mail and The Guardian reported in January 2014 that 90% of the street's residents are benefits claimants.

Synopsis

Narrated by Tony Hirst, the series is presented in a fly on the wall documentary format that follows a year in the lives of the residents of James Turner Street, a road in the Winson Green area of Birmingham which Channel 4 describes as "one of Britain's most benefit-dependent streets". The programme portrays a situation in which people are dependent on welfare payments, and often lack the motivation to find employment. Some residents are seen committing crimes such as shoplifting, and attempting to raise money to support themselves and their families. Others are shown to have more ambition, such as a young mother who wants to become a model. The series also aims to show the street's sense of community spirit, with residents helping each other in times of difficulty.

Episode list

No.	Title	Air date
1	"Episode 1"	6 January 2014 (2014-01-06)
Viewers are introduced to the residents of James Turner Street in Birmingham, where there is a high proportion of benefit claimants. Residents are seen committing crimes, such as benefit fraud, cannabis cultivation and shoplifting, with the programme including a demonstration of how to steal designer clothes and remove the security tags. A shoplifter is returned to prison after breaching an anti-social behaviour order that excluded him from the city centre, while another resident takes free magazines from a hotel lobby and sells them on the streets for £2.50. A reformed ex-convict sells 50p sachets of sugar and washing powder to raise money for himself. The street's sense of community is highlighted too, as one of the residents attempts to help a friend to overcome his drug habit.
2	"Episode 2"	13 January 2014 (2014-01-13)
The second episode of Benefits Street focuses on immigration. A group of Romanians arrive in the street and start a metal collecting business, but this leads to tension with other residents when the newcomers search through their household rubbish looking for recyclable material. The group is forced to move on when their electricity supply is cut off, but another group from Romania soon arrives. Promised work on a farm, they quickly discover their gangmaster has not told them the truth about their working conditions.
3	"Episode 3"	20 January 2014 (2014-01-20)
Episode three focuses on the children of the families on James Turner Street. The episode deals with a woman whose son has been taken away from her because of her addiction to heroin. The programme also features a young couple struggling to raise their two young children. Children are seen swearing and misbehaving, while a mother reprimands her son for losing his bicycle.
4	"Episode 4"	27 January 2014
The fourth episode deals with ambition. The 15-year-old daughter of a resident, who wishes to follow a career as a gym instructor undertakes work experience at a leisure centre. An aspiring model who left her abusive partner has her children schooled at home, and finds work in a local takeaway. A drug addict whose electricity has been cut off, and who has no contact with his children, experiences personal disappointment when a planned meeting with his son is cancelled by the boy's adoptive parents.
5	"Episode 5"	10 February 2014
The final episode of the series sees a woman leaving her Zimbabwean partner after he loses his benefits because he failed to renew his visa, descends into depression as a result and begins drinking excessively. She is rehoused by the local authority, while he is left without an income because of his lapsed immigration status. Another resident goes for hospital tests after discovering a lump on his chest. He is relieved to learn it is not cancerous, but is told it is being aggravated by his lifestyle of drink and drugs. An information technology worker takes part in a cleanup initiative as the street prepares to enter a Britain in Bloom contest.

Reception

Political and media response

The programme has led to some political debate on the issue of welfare. Speaking in the House of Commons on 13 January, Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, suggested the programme justified the changes being made by his government's Welfare Reform Act. The following week, Duncan Smith gave a speech to mark the tenth anniversary of his Centre for Social Justice in which he said that areas of the country were being ghettoised by long term unemployment and had remained largely hidden from the rest of society. Conservative MP Simon Hart raised the subject of Benefits Street at Prime Minister's Questions on 15 January, saying that a street of the type seen in the series existed "in every constituency in the land". Prime Minister David Cameron responded that the government should "intervene in people's lives" to get them off benefits and into employment. After declining an invitation to visit James Turner Street, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said that he believed both left and right arguments on welfare were wrong. "We want a welfare system which is compassionate." Shortly after Clegg's comments, Birmingham councillor Desmond Jaddoo told the Birmingham Mail that he had compiled letters to Clegg, Cameron and Ed Miliband—the leaders of the UK's three main political parties—on behalf of some James Turner Street residents inviting them to visit the street and asking for help to find employment.

Writing for the Wiltshire Gazette and Herald, the Liberal Democrat MP Duncan Hames argued the programme would contribute little to the subject: "We do need to have a rational, informed debate about how to improve our welfare system, but the editorial line taken by supposedly factual ‘reality TV’ adds very little to that." The programme was condemned by the current Ladywood MP, Labour's Shabana Mahmood: "I found it shocking that Channel 4 or any other organisation would present poverty as entertainment. It was profoundly wrong." In the Radio Times, Clare Short, who represented the constituency prior to Mahmood said the series was "totally unrepresentative" of the area, and condemned it as "crummy and misleading". Others have also criticised Benefits Street, arguing it does not present a balanced view of the subject. Labour MP Anne Begg, chair of the Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee, said that the programme was a "misrepresentation" of people claiming benefits, arguing that it focused on those claiming unemployment benefits which makes up a small proportion of the overall welfare bill. Referring to the first episode that featured a shoplifter, Chris Williamson (also a Labour MP) said it was "irresponsible" to portray him as a typical benefits claimant. Owen Jones, a columnist for The Independent described the series as "medieval stocks updated for a modern format". In an article for the Birmingham Mail, writer and television personality Samantha Brick, a native of Birminggham, said that the series was an "atrociously unbalanced" view of the city.

Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator, suggested the programme had highlighted a section of society who have been forgotten by the politicians: "These people are people who otherwise don’t have a voice. They don’t vote, so for many years they have just not mattered". Nelson's comments were echoed by Dominic Sandbrook in the Daily Mail, who felt the programme portrayed its participants sympathetically: "The real scandal of Benefits Street, in fact, is what it tells us about a welfare system that abandons thousands of people – through no fault of their own – to a life without hope or ambition, effectively turning them into an underclass, dependent on the charity of the State." Charlie Brooker also felt the programme had been "broadly sympathetic" to those it portrays. In the Daily Mirror, entrepreneur John Bird, founder of The Big Issue wrote that although Benefits Street did not fully represent the spectrum of people who claim benefits, it did show what could happen to those forgotten by the system "who get caught in a kind of social suicide".

The Birmingham Mail reported on 10 February that figures released to the newspaper by Birmingham City Council's fraud investigation service indicated instances of benefit fraud in the city were lower than had been suggested by the documentary, with 851 prosecutions in the five years preceding 2014, an average of 0.5% of total benefit claimants. Furthermore, of the 152,000 housing benefit claimants in Birmingham, 178 were prosecuted for fraudulent claims in 2013.

The Big Benefits Row: Live

Channel 5 aired The Big Benefits Row: Live, their own unconnected debate about the welfare state on Monday 3 February. Presented by Matthew Wright, the show featured a panel of guests made up of Conservative MP Edwina Currie, reality television star Katie Hopkins, former London Mayor Ken Livingstone, broadcaster Terry Christian, former model Annabel Giles, and two people associated with James Turner Street – charity campaigner Rev. Steve Chalke and Dierdre Kelly, who has appeared in Benefits Street. The programme was watched by 2.1 million viewers. The Daily Express described it as a "heated debate" in which Hopkins was heavily critical of Kelly for claiming welfare, and of Giles's modelling career. The Independent's Jess Denham felt that Hopkins's "larger-than-life personality" had dominated proceedings, while "fact-based arguments were lost to the non-stop barrage of immature tempers". The Daily Mirror described it as "a mess of a programme and a joke of a discussion".

Public reception

The first episode of the series attracted several hundred complaints both to Channel 4 and the media regulator Ofcom from viewers over a variety of issues. According to The Guardian, complaints were received about alleged criminal activities, foul language and misleading portrayals of welfare claimants. By 8 January 2014, two days after the series debuted, Benefits Street had attracted 300 complaints to Ofcom and 400 to Channel 4. Three weeks later that figure had collectively increased to 1,700. Ofcom said that it would assess the viewer feedback before deciding whether to launch an investigation. Additionally, an online petition calling for Channel 4 to cancel the remaining episodes was launched, attracting 3,000 signatures by 8 January. 60,000 people had signed it by the time the series ended on 10 February. The trade union Unite organised a protest at the offices of Love Productions on the afternoon of 13 January. A group of 30 people attended.

Following the first episode, West Midlands Police said they had received a number of complaints from members of the public about alleged criminal activities that had been filmed, which they were considering whether to investigate. Alleged death threats by Twitter users against the residents were also being probed. Channel 4 said they would not provide investigators with any unbroadcast material from Benefits Street unless issued with a court order to do so.

The Birmingham Mail reported on 9 January that the programme had attracted an influx of tourists to the street, who wished to have their picture taken by the James Turner Street road sign. Police advised visitors to stay away. Steve Chalke, founder of the Oasis Academy Foundry, a charity that runs a primary school in James Turner Street subsequently said that visitors had disrupted activity at the school and that he was preparing a complaint for Ofcom.

Critical reception

Several James Turner Street residents have claimed they were tricked into appearing in the series by Love Productions, who they say told them it would be about community spirit. One resident told the Birmingham Mail, "They told me it was about living as a community and how we all got along. But the actual programme doesn't show any of that. If they had said it was about benefits and making the street look bad I would not have taken part. They tricked us." Responding to allegations the residents were duped, Nick Mirsky said that Love Productions had spent much time consulting the residents before filming began, and that process continued afterwards: "Key contributors have been offered viewings of the programmes during the editing period and were given the opportunity to comment on them. Both Love and Channel 4 listened to any concerns raised, and in some cases made changes to the programme to accommodate them."

Sources including The Independent and Broadcast reported that several commentators had accused Channel 4 of making "poverty porn". In response, Ralph Lee refuted those accusations during a debate on the 9 January edition of BBC Two's Newsnight programme: "It’s inaccurate and it’s patronising towards the people that take part in these programmes and open up their lives, and it’s quite offensive to the people who make them." Mirsky claimed the reaction to Benefits Street demonstrated how it had "touched a nerve" and subsequently proved it was "essential" the series was made. The boss of Love Productions, Richard McKerrow, also defended the series, saying it was not about "demonising the poor...It’s a very honest and true portrayal of life in Britain and people are frightened of it." Writing as the series concluded, The Daily Telegraph's Neil Midgley felt that Benefits Street had not exploited its participants, and was "definitely the kind of series that Channel 4 should be making: easy to grasp and innovative, and yet a blinding revelation of some ills that are at the heart of modern Britain."

Emma Johnson, the head teacher at the street's primary school, organised a public meeting on the evening of 15 January to discuss issues raised by the programme. The event was attended by around 100 residents from the area. BBC journalist David Lumb said some residents became irritated and felt that the meeting was being used as an opportunity to "preach a political agenda". Those present were told that an employed couple who were filmed for the series were dropped from the final version. Love Productions said this was because the show was about people on benefits, and one of the unnamed pair was a benefits officer.

After the third episode was televised on 20 January, the Daily Mail reported that community leaders and residents had accused Channel 4 of exploiting children, claiming it had led to the children featured in the documentary becoming targets for bullying. In response, a Channel 4 spokeswoman said that consent from parents and guardians, and the children themselves was obtained before filming began "in accordance with the relevant sections of the Ofcom broadcasting code. Any children without consent have been blurred in programmes."

Viewership

Overnight figures indicated the show's first episode attracted 4.3 million viewers and a 17.7% share of viewing, more than any Channel 4 show in the whole of 2013. The second instalment, aired on 13 January, saw an increase of almost a million viewers to 5.1 million, a 20.8% share of the audience and beating ITV's The Bletchley Circle and an edition of Panorama on BBC One and its own former show Celebrity Big Brother (now on Channel 5) which aired in the same time slot. The third episode drew 5.2 million viewers giving it a 21.2% share of the audience, making it the most popular programme in the 9pm time slot for the second week in a row, and giving Channel 4 their highest ratings since their coverage of the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Paralympics in September 2012. The fourth episode attracted less viewers, however, with an average of 4.1 million, and was behind the first part of Jeremy Paxman's World War I documentary series, Britain's Great War, which aired on BBC One and had an average viewership of 4.23 million. The final episode drew 4.5 million viewers, an 18.6% audience share, but was beaten by ITV's DCI Banks which was watched by an average 6 million viewers.

Episode no.	Date	Total viewers (including +1) (in millions)	Share	Channel 4 weekly ranking
1	6 January 2014	5.42	14.4%	1
2	13 January 2014	6.45	17.5%	1
3	20 January 2014	6.48	18.4%	1
4	27 January 2014	5.87	16.9%	1
5	10 February 2014	4.5	16.0%	1

External links

• Benefits Street at IMDb
• Benefits Street at Channel4.com