Universal Credit rollout ‘will be delayed again’
THE roll-out of the UK Government’s flagship benefit reform will again be delayed, it is understood.
The phased introduction of Universal Credit has triggered fierce controversy and strong concern amid reports of claimants finding themselves in debt and having to turn to food banks.
Leaked documents seen by the BBC show that the Government plans to spend hundreds of millions of pounds to stop more people suffering hardship.
Universal Credit – which merges six benefits into one payment – was supposed to be in place by April last year but is not now expected to be up and running across the country until December 2023.
The process of moving nearly four million people onto the benefit was due to start in January but the broadcaster reports that “large-scale movement” will not now begin until November 2020 at the earliest.
It is also reported that three key
changes will be made.
First, it is planned to continue paying income support, Employment and Support Allowance, and Jobseeker’s allowance for two weeks after a claims for Universal Credit is made.
A second change will mean that if deductions are made from a claimant’s payment – which happens when people are given and advance while waiting for their first full payment – this will be limited to no more than 30% of the total award.
Third, more help is on the way for the self-employed in the wake of what is described as “incorrect assumptions” about their earnings by the Department for Work and Pensions.
Dame Louise Casey, the former head of the Government’s troubled families team, told the BBC the rollout of Universal Credit should be “halted and sorted out” to stop thousands of people falling into “crippling debt”.
She said many families were being forced to turn to emergency loans, as the BBC reported that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was planning to spend hundreds of millions of pounds to prevent hardship among claimants moving on to the combined benefit system.
Dame Louise told Today: “My worry about more pauses is this needs to be halted and sorted out. Something also needs to be done for the thousands of people who have already transferred over to it who are now in crippling debt.
“People having to wait for five weeks, who are used to being on either weekly or fortnightly pay, just doesn’t add up, and making those people take out loans just pushes them further and further into destitution.”
Former Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has called on Prime Minister Theresa May to back £2bn extra funding for welfare in this month’s Budget.
The architect of the troubled Universal Credit system quit in 2015 over billions being cut from the new benefits scheme.
Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Margaret Greenwood, wants the roll-out stopped.
She said: “People’s lives are being destroyed by poverty and debt. The Government must stop the roll out of Universal Credit immediately.”
Plaid Cymru Work and Pensions spokesman Hywel Williams said: “People in poverty are being forced into desperation thanks to the botched roll-out of Universal Credit. It’s right that its roll-out is stopped, but the system itself must be looked at a again.
“No one should be worse off as a result of Universal Credit... Welsh people are stuck between an uncaring Westminster and cynical Welsh Government.”
Carole Easton of the Young Women’s Trust said the system led to more women “using food banks, falling into rent arrears and accumulating debt,” adding: “This only serves to prevent them from getting to the job centre and attending interviews. Paying the benefit to one person in each household potentially gives abusive men more financial control over their partners, putting women at more risk.
“The roll-out should be paused as soon as possible until the Government can ensure people won’t be made worse off due to the changes.”
A Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman said it did not comment on “speculation”, but added: “We have long said that we will take a slow and measured approach to managed migration. This will not begin in January 2019, but later in the year, after a period of preparation.
“For a further year we will then begin migration working with a maximum of 10,000 people, continuing with our ‘test and learn’ approach. This is to ensure the system is working well for claimants and to make any necessary adaptations as we go.
“We will publish full plans for the next stage of Universal Credit rollout, including managed migration, in due course.”