The Government is being urged to pause the mass roll-out of its new benefits system next week as charities warn it is forcing people into poverty.
Since 2014, Universal Credit has been introduced relatively slowly to around five selected job centres a month.
In October, the new way to pay benefits will be implemented in around 50 job centres a month.
The system is designed to simplify the way claimants are paid merging six existing benefits, including housing benefit and jobseeker’s allowance, into one monthly payment.
The Government says claimants are moving into jobs faster and staying in work longer than under the old system.
However, charities including Citizen’s Advice are calling for major changes to the system before large scale roll-out begins.
Meanwhile, 12 Tory MPs are reported to have written to Work and Pensions Secretary David Gauke demanding a halt to the mass roll-out.
The campaign has been led by backbencher Heidi Allen and backed by Andrew Selous, one of ex-work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith’s former parliamentary aides, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Video: MP rebellion over Universal Credit mass roll-out
Another prominent charity lobbying the Department For Work and Pensions is The Trussell Trust, which is putting a spike in visitors to its foodbanks down to Universal Credit.
Sky News went to one of their centres in Oldham to find out if that was the case.
In the two days I was there I met the sort of people all too familiar to foodbanks. People like Debbie and Steven who, through addiction, had run out of benefit money and are desperate for help.
Like many people, Debbie openly admitted that her need was self-inflicted.
She said: “My problem is alcohol basically. But I recently got into some drugs as well and was spending £100 a day. Now I can’t afford to buy my food.”
Many of the people I spoke to in detail had similar problems. Most were on “sickness benefit” or Employment And Support Allowance (ESA) and were unable to work because of mental health issues like depression and anxiety.
However, it did not take long to meet people who blamed their predicament squarely on Universal Credit.
Lee could not afford to eat or turn on his lights at home. He says he was switched on to Universal Credit from ESA and said “the process took a long time and I’ve had no money for nine weeks”.
He added: “They also took deductions out of the money they gave me for that period which left me with £110 for nine weeks.”
A young mother of one who did not want to give me her name had brought her three-year-old son along.
As he played with the toys provided by the foodbank, she told me she too had waited for almost five weeks for money.
She said: “As soon as this happened, it messed me up. This is the worst thing they’ve ever done. I’ve been two days without food and it’s a joke.”
Image: Universal Credit will be rolled out at 50 job centres a month from October
As well as the delays in the first payment, people complained to staff at the foodbank that they were struggling to cope with the new once-a-month payment.
Previous benefits are paid every fortnight and staggered as many people get more than one benefit payment. Universal Credit is forcing vulnerable people to rethink how they spend their scant resources.
One couple told me they were unable to budget for the month and had “run out of fresh produce”.
Another man, recovering alcoholic Steven, told me he is worried about being responsible for paying his rent out of the lump sum. Previous Housing Benefit was paid direct to rent takers.
He said: “I think it’s totally wrong [to pay benefits monthly] because you’re giving people like me who are vulnerable and alcoholic money in their hand in one lump sum where they’re just going to blow it all.”
This was just one foodbank and certainly not a scientific study but The Trussell Trust say they are seeing these sorts of issues wherever Universal Credit is introduced.
The Department For Work And Pensions has routinely defended the system and said in a statement: “The best way to help people improve their lives and increase their incomes is through employment, and Universal Credit claimants are moving into jobs faster and staying in work longer than under the old system.
“Universal Credit is paid the same way as many people in work are. Budgeting support and advances are available to anyone who needs it, so no one should be left without money if they cannot wait for their first Universal Credit payment.”
Source: Sky