We need revamp of UC now, say Labour members
VOTE CALLS FOR AXING – OR TRANSFORMATION – OF BENEFIT
OPPONENTS of Universal Credit have won support in a campaign to urge the Government to rethink its controversial all-in-one benefits payment.
Labour members on Kirklees Council backed a call for the authority to write a letter to Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey.
It will call for the Government to stop the roll-out and transition of people onto Universal Credit (UC).
And, if it refuses to scrap the sixin-one benefit payment system, to assist claimants by making six key changes:
Stop the freeze in social security payments;
Scrap the five-week wait for UC; Provide the option for alternative pay arrangements for UC;
Make advance payments nonrepayable loans;
Pay childcare payments up front;
Stop the two-child limit in support.
The letter follows a motion put forward by 13 Labour members led by Clr Harpreet Uppal (Ashbrow).
It took almost a year for the motion to be heard and voted on.
Speaking after the vote, from which the Conservatives abstained en-masse, Clr Uppal said she was “delighted” to have got to a vote on an issue that is having a “devastating impact” on some Kirklees residents.
She said: “I have heard from many people about how UC has caused a downward spiral of poverty and debt, including many people in work, the self-employed, people with mental health problems and disabled people.
“I also heard testimony from the team at the Welcome Centre, of the increased use of foodbank vouchers following the introduction of UC. This is a horrendous indictment of this Tory policy.
“If ministers had to go through this process, it simply wouldn’t exist.”
Critics of UC, such as Clr Uppal, say it has cost Kirklees more than a million pounds in rent by tenants with Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing (KNH). Universal Credit claimants make up more than a third of KNH accounts in arrears.
Food bank use is rising and there have been horror stories of people scavenging in bins for food.
In Huddersfield, the Welcome Centre, on Lord Street, is rapidly becoming one of the biggest foodbanks in the North.
A flagship policy for the Conservative government, Universal Credit was rolled out in November 2017. It replaced Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Income Support, Housing Benefit, Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit and Employment and Support Allowance.
When the disabled are migrated across to the new system, they could lose £62 a week from their premium - around £3,000 a year. The effect is said to be “absolutely huge”.
Leading members of the Conservative group on Kirklees Council were approached to comment.