Demands for six-week Universal Credit wait time to be cut

THERESA MAY faced further pressure to make major changes to the Government’s flagship welfare reform as a committee of MPS called for the waiting time for Universal Credit to be cut.

The cross-party Work and Pensions Select Committee said there was evidence that the six-week wait before claimants received their first payment was causing “acute financial difficulty” and should be reduced to one month. The committee said cutting the waiting time would remove a “major obstacle” to the success of the policy.

The delay between people making a claim and receiving their first payment is designed to mimic waiting for a first pay cheque after starting a job.

But Heidi Allen, a Tory Work and Pensions committee member, said: “Despite the clear support for Universal Credit, there is cross-party recognition that the six-week wait does not honour the original intentions. To truly represent the world of work, the payment cycle must mirror how the major- ity of people are paid, ie, monthly. Universal Credit will only be the success it deserves to be if it works with claimants, and not against them.”

The report concluded: “In areas where the full service has rolled out, evidence compellingly links [the wait time] to an increase in acute financial difficulty. Most low-income families simply do not have the savings to see them through.”

Mrs May defended Universal Credit at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday under pressure from Jeremy Corbyn.