Calls for more Universal Credit support amid business closures
COUNCILLORS want more powers to help residents who find themselves in need of Universal Credit (UC).
Lib Dem councillors John Pugh and Lynne Thompson fear that large numbers of people in Southport will need financial assistance as Tier 3 restrictions result in business closures and job losses.
The government is implementing a new support system to replace the furlough scheme which means that staff at closed businesses, such as pubs, casinos and soft play centres, will only receive twothirds of their wages.
That is likely to result in a rise in residents who are, for the first time, seeking the UC scheme which has been plagued by a host of problems since its implementation.
The councillors say they have been approached by residents struggling with the system, in part because of the requirement to sign up online.
Instead, they want to see a dedicated phone line introduced so they can raise issues directly.
Cllr Thompson, who represents Ainsdale, believes the system being fully computerised makes it very hard to sort out and help with problems when it all goes wrong.
She said: “You used to be able to take a difficult case up with a named person in DWP in a specific office with proper correspondence records.
“Now it’s all in the cloud with often quite stressed clients trying to resolve their issues through entering their details in an electronic journal on their phone.
“It seems quite arbitrary who will respond or how much they will actually know about the case.”
Cllr Pugh added: “Southport we know is a low wage town and 60% of a low wage is very little - so we anticipate even more problems ahead with people trying to negotiate the
Universal Credit system.
“Not all will or should seek the help of local councillors but it would save much time and stress if we had access to named individuals or a local hotline to avoid the nightmare of sending messages to the cloud and not knowing who is responsible for responding to them.
“Only a more personal service can be sensitive to individual and personal problems with the system.”