DATE SET FOR UNIVERSAL CREDIT’S ARRIVAL IN CARDIFF:

THE controversial Universal Credit benefit system will reach Cardiff in February, it was revealed yesterday.

Despite calls from critics to delay or scrap the system, it will be extended to areas across South Wales and the rest of the nation over the coming months.

In the seven Welsh areas already covered – including Cwmbran and Pontypool – many new recipients have described being left in debt and dependent on food banks and borrowing due to the mandatory six-week delay in receiving their first payment.

But the Government claims it represents a simpler way of paying benefits.

The system will go live in Newport next month. In February, it will hit Bridgend, Cardiff, Maesteg and Porthcawl, before arriving in Merthyr Tydfil in March.

It will then be rolled out in: Bargoed, Blackwood, Caerphilly in May; Barry and Penarth in June; and Aberdare, Llantrisant, Pontypridd, Porth, Tonypandy and Treorchy in July.

The new system replaces six meanstested benefits with one single payment.

Described as the biggest overhaul of the welfare system since the 1940s, the government says Universal Credit will simplify the system, with one monthly payment paid directly to claimants whether they are in or out of work.

It argues that the benefit of Universal Credit is that people will always be better off when they take on extra work.

But critics argue that by trying to cut £2.7bn from the UK’s total benefits bill while introducing this major change, the Government is causing pain to the poorest households.

Among working households, 2.1 million will get less in benefits as a result of its introduction (an average loss of £1,600 a year) and 1.8 million will get more (£1,500 average gain).

From this month, 54 of the 59 Jobcentres in Wales will be moving to “full service”, meaning that almost all new applicants will claim Universal Credit by July 2018.

Citizens Advice estimates that by 2022, 400,000 households across the UK will be in the new system.

Universal Credit is paid to a person’s bank account once a month, rather than the fortnightly or weekly payments that were made under previous systems.

Housing contributions are also usually included in this single payment.

Claimants may have to wait up to six weeks before they receive their first payment under the scheme because it is paid monthly in arrears.

Government figures showed 23% of new claimants do not receive their first full payment within six weeks, which has been linked to rent arrears and other debts for claimants – prompting warnings that the system is not ready.

Prime Minister Theresa May has defended the reform, saying it is a “simpler system”, which is working because “more people are getting into work”.

Amid criticisms, Work and Pensions Secretary David Gauke told the Tory Party conference he would tweak the system to ensure claimants are offered quicker advance payments upfront, but would not pause the roll-out.