Cautious welcome for Universal Credit changes from SNP

Changes to the UK Government’s roll-out of the controversial Universal Credit benefits system were welcomed by Stirling SNP this week.

It follows DWP minister Amber Rudd indicating earlier this month that proposals to move a further three million claimants on to UC by this summer is to be postponed. The minister is seeking approval to move just 10,000 onto the new system.

Ms Rudd also indicated last week that the two-child limit on UC, for children born before April 2017, which included an exception for any subsequent children born of rape, will not be extended.

Bannockburn SNP councillor Alasdair MacPherson this week said he welcomed the minister’s comments which, he added, showed that the UK Government was“starting to see how flawed this policy really is.”

But he called for more details on what the changes will mean for Stirling district claimants. He commented:“Stirling Tory MP Stephen Kerr stood up in the commons earlier this month and invited Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd to Stirling’s Job Centre.

“I would welcome the opportunity to meet her whilst she’s here, and impress on her the hardship that Universal Credit has caused for people who are already on it.

“Importantly, she must use her time here to announce what the future is for Universal Credit for the people who are suffering in the Stirling area.”

But his SNP colleague Maureen Bennison added that the scaling back of the two-child cap and ‘rape clause’was“too little too late.”

She said:“Rape is a heinous crime, not a process in a policy decision.

“A rape survivor should receive support from the UK Government, not be ordered to prove her ordeal to bureaucrats.

“Only seven per cent of families in the UK have more than two children, the apparent cost saving aims of this policy are completely unjustified.

“The fight to properly scrap the rape clause is far from over. The two child cap and rape clause must be scrapped for all children.”

A Stirling Conservatives spokesman said yesterday (Tuesday):“We welcome the support for Stephen Kerr’s continued efforts to ensure Universal Credit evolves, constantly improves, and delivers a fair system for those that use it and the taxpayer.

“It is also to be hoped that the SNP finally stop their scaremongering for party political purposes, but that is probably too much to expect.

“Stirling’s MP has been working with Government Ministers to ensure practical solutions are found to enhance how the system operates for people across the Stirling area and he will continue to do.”