Universal Credit Pilot Council Calls For Suspension

One of the councils piloting the roll-out of Universal Credit has written to the DWP calling for the immediate suspension of the housing benefit part of the new system. In a cross-party letter to work and pensions secretary Damian Green, Great Yarmouth Council said private landlords are not willing to take any new tenants  who receive Universal Credit (UC) as a result of delays in payments coming through. The council said it has “deep concerns” about the roll-out of UC and called for an “urgent” investigation. It also questioned why it had been selected as one of the pilot areas for UC “given that the borough has wards with some of the highest deprivation levels in the country, where some people rely on benefits as their main or sole source of income”. Read more on Inside Housing.