Universal Credit Roll-Out Is Slowing

The take-up rate of the Government’s flagship Universal Credit welfare reform is slowing, the latest official figures suggest. Statistics released by the DWP show that far from gathering steam, the rate of new claims for Universal Credit has actually fallen 11 per cent since peak take-up in the summer. New claims fells from their July peak of 6,841 a week to 6,055 a week in the latest stats, which refer to mid-September.  125,877 people in total are now claiming the benefit as of 10 September 2015, and the Government needs a sharp increase in its take-up rate to meet its own expectations of 500,000 people by next May. The Government missed its aim for 100,000 people to be moved on to the benefit’s caseload by May of this year, with a repeat miss next year looking increasingly likely. Read more on the Independent website.