End hell of 5-week wait for universal credit cash
Committee calls for grant scheme to replace loans
PEOPLE claiming universal credit should not have wait five weeks for their first payment, according to a report from MPs.
The Commons Work and Pensions Committee has recommend firsttime claimants should receive a simple three-week payment to ensure they can afford basics during the fiveweek wait for an initial payment. The present system gives advance payments to tide claimants over but these must be repaid, pushing many into debt. The new grant, equivalent to three weeks of the standard allowance, would be a simple way to ensure claimants can afford essentials, the MPs said.
Chris Stephens, the SNP member of the committee, said: “This report calls on the UK Government to do what the SNP have been calling on for months – but make those starter payments non- repayable grants once the claimant has been deemed eligible for UC and scrap advance payment loans.”
Stephens added: “The Tory Government must stop dithering over this and get the job done.”
Citizens Advice told MPs that half the people it helps during the wait are unable to keep up with bills, rent, or afford essentials.
The report also says the £20 increase in UC, introduced during the pandemic, must continue beyond April. Committee chairman, Labour MP Stephen Timms, said: “There is a growing body of evidence that moving to UC leaves many reliant on food banks, falling seriously behind with their rent, and even experiencing increased levels of psychological distress.
“Our social security system should not be leaving people without the money they need for food and heating.”
Andrew Forsey, the director of campaign group Feeding Britain, said the report “hit the bullseye”.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman said: “With UC, no one has to wait five weeks to be paid, as urgent advances are available. Since the start of the pandemic, more than two million payments have been made to new claimants within days of being requested.”