Benefits shake-up ‘is still not effective enough’
AMBER RUDD has been urged to take further steps to help people on Universal Credit after unveiling reforms of a system she said was not as “effective” or “compassionate” as she wanted.
Charities, church and union leaders spoke out after the Work and Pensions Secretary said a plan to move three million people on to the single benefit payment would be delayed until 2020.
Ms Rudd also said a controversial plan to apply a two-child benefit cap retrospectively to new Universal Credit (UC) claimants would be axed in a move that will help around 15,000 families.
She said it was not “reasonable” to impose the two-child cap – intended to force claimants to make decisions on whether they can afford a third child in the same way as those in work – on families which already have more than two offspring.
Ms Rudd also signalled that an end is in sight for the longstanding benefit freeze introduced by former Chancellor George Osborne in 2016, saying “it should come to an end” in 2020.
However, she admitted she had yet to discuss extra funding with Chancellor Philip Hammond.
Other changes will make the system more “individual”, tailoring it to claimants’ needs by making payments more regular or paying rent money direct to landlords.
Meanwhile, Ms Rudd was yesterday urged to take “immediate steps” over the way Universal Credit is calculated following a High Court victory for four working single mothers.
Tessa Gregory, of law firm Leigh Day, who represented parttime dinner lady and mother-ofone Danielle Johnson, of Keighley, said the Minister should also “ensure all those who have suffered because of this unlawful conduct are swiftly and fairly compensated”.
Her comments came after two judges in London announced that Ms Johnson and three other single mothers – who say they are struggling financially because of the way the welfare system operates – had succeeded in their judicial review action against the Work and Pensions Secretary.
The women argued that a “fundamental problem” with the scheme means that their monthly payments vary “enormously” and they end up out of pocket.
They challenged the method used by the Department for Work and Pensions when calcu- lating the amount payable under the Universal Credit Regulations 2013.
Last year, The Yorkshire Post ran a week-long series on how Universal Credit was affecting communities across the region, which ended with the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, urging Ministers to “think again” about the system and calling for “improved flexibility” towards people applying for and receiving the benefit.
Shelter chief executive Polly Neate said the benefit freeze had been causing “real hardship”, including affecting people’s ability to pay their rent. She said: “We hope the Government is now waking up to the challenges faced by tens of thousands of households around the country.”