MSPS back call for halt to universal credit roll-out

MSPS yesterday voted 75 to 23 with no abstentions in favour of a Scottish Government motion, amended by Labour, the Greens and the Liberal Democrats, which called for an immediate halt to the rollout of full service universal credit.

The motion attacking universal credit was launched “due to the overwhelming evidence of the damage that it is causing recipients”.

It also “condemns the six-week wait for the first payment of universal credit”, observes that the independent Office for Budget Responsibility has said that universal credit is “less generous on average than the tax credits and benefits systems that it replaces”, notes the “highlycomplicated application process”andresultantadministration errors which have delayed payments, and believes the UK government must put a support package in place before the roll-out accelerates.

A Scottish Conservative amendment recognising “universal credit’s core purpose of ensuring that work always pays” was defeated by 75 votes to 23.