Cross- party support for call to end ‘ cruel’ six- week Universal Credit wait

Conservative MPs have backed calls f or the government to end “cruel” delays of at least six weeks for initial payments to Universal Credit claimants. The Commons Work and Pensions Committee has given unanimous backing to a report that concludes the rollout of Universal Credit has led to increased food bank use and rising rent arrears.

MPS said there was no justification for the minimum wait to start Universal Credit, and called on ministers to cut delays to no more than four weeks in order to avoid a “disaster” for struggling families at Christmas.

The report also criticises the practice of offering “advance payments” to those waiting for their Universal Credit to start, saying that subsequent deductions to recoup the cost of the loans make them unaffordable.

Committee chairman Frank Field said :“The baked-in sixweek wait is cruel. No-one can give us any real justifica- tion for it. Such a long wait b ears no relation to anyone’s working life and the terrible hard ship it has been proven to cause actually makes it more difficult for people to find work.

Tory MP Heidi Allen, who sits on the committee, said: “There is cross- part y recognition that the six week wait does not honour the original intentions of the system. To truly represent the world of work, the payment cycle must mirror how the majority of people are paid – monthly.”