Universal credit plan ‘should be put on hold’

More than two thirds of frontline staff working on universal credit believe its introduction should be paused, a survey suggests.

Nearly nine in ten staff have not received the promised training on mental health conditions. There are also concerns about staff shortages, according to findings from Channel 4’s Dispatches.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) saiditstronglydisputedthe claims from the “extremely small, self-selected and flawed survey”.

Some 550 Public and Commercial Services Union members who work on universal credit for the DWP were polled for the programme.

Dispatches also uncovered cases of a disabled mother waiting five months to receive her full benefit entitlement, as well as a self-employed claimant being advised to give up work to receive more money.

A DWP whistleblower said: “Sometimes we’ll have a couple of people on our team on leave or off sick and then the work really piles up at that point and these claims have not been given the due attention they deserve.”

Some 70 per cent of staff polled said they felt the welfare reform should be stopped.