800 facing benefit ‘hardship’ - leader

HUNDREDS of Valley residents have been moved onto Universal Credit - amid concerns over whether they will have less money.

Labour has claimed that the new scheme, which has also been hit by delays ahead of a complete rollout, was ‘causing immense hardship’.

Department for Work and Pension figures show that 799 Rossendale benefit claimants had been moved onto the new system by last month.

Reports this week have suggested that the rollout of the Government’s flagship welfare change is now not expected to be fully operational until the end of 2023. It was origi- nally due to be up and running by April 2017.

Coun Alyson Barnes, Rossendale council leader and Labour’s parliamentary candidate, said the Tories had been ‘thrown into disarray’ over the issue. She added: “This failed Government programme is going to leave the poorest families, including half of single parents, £200 a month worse off. This Conservative Government has no excuse for pushing ahead with their shameful and ideological programme. Labour will stop the rollout of Universal Credit, and deliver a more comprehensive system in which nobody will be worse off.”

Under the scheme, six different types of benefits are being rolled into one monthly payment.

In response to Coun Barnes, Mr Berry said the benefits system was ‘out of control’ under the last Labour Government with some households ‘claiming up to £100k a year in a chaotic, unfair system that penalised people for going out to work’.

He added: “Universal Credit is a far simpler system, it works well for many people and crucially, it incentivises and rewards work. The Government is listening to concerns about how Universal Credit supports people.”

Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey defended the Government’s approach in the House of Commons last week, adding that disabled households would be £110 better off through Universal Credit. She said: “We will make sure we get this benefit right.”

Of those who had been moved to the scheme in Rossendale last month, 38 per cent were in employment. The number receiving the benefit is, however, down 15 per cent on September 2017.