Universal Credit Migration Could Be ‘Disastrous’ For Disabled People

The Work and Pensions Committee has claimed 100,000 families with children deemed “less disabled” will receive less money under Universal Credit than through tax credits. It said ministers’ promises to ensure “severely disabled” people will get more benefits under Universal Credit than the old welfare system will come at a cost to those not deemed severely disabled. The committee also raised concerns that the removal of disability premiums “risks disabled people living more isolated lives, relying on unpaid care – including from their own, dependent children – or simply being unable to complete certain basic daily tasks”. Read more on Inside Housing.

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Government ‘Head In The Sand’ Over Universal Credit

The government has been slammed for having its ‘head in the sand’ over the roll out impact of Universal Credit on claimants and councils. In a response from Government to the Commons Work and Pensions Committee, the DWP claims that rent arrears associated with UC “are likely to be of a short duration” and “should not present an insurmountable obstacle to landlords”. The DWP’s own analysts have urging caution about drawing conclusions from historic data, based on a small number of cases and the Government was unable to provide any of the basic, up-to-date, specific data that the Committee asked for. Read more on 24housing.

MPs Launch Official Inquiry Into Universal Credit

MPs have launched an official inquiry into universal credit amid growing concerns that design flaws in the new benefits system are leaving thousands of low-income claimants facing eviction and reliant on food banks. The Commons work and pensions committee said it was compelled to launch a full investigation after mounting evidence that built-in payment delays and administrative blockages were creating severe problems for claimants and landlords. An investigation this month found widespread evidence that thousands of tenants on universal credit were running up rent arrears and debts because they could not manage the minimum 42-day wait for a first payment. Read more on the Parliament website.

Universal Credit Putting Claimants 'At Risk Of Eviction'

People who move onto Universal Credit are waiting nearly three months for payments - putting them at risk of eviction. The stark warning came from Croydon Council in south London, a key pilot area for the "full digital service" of Universal Credit and the constituency of the Housing Minister Gavin Barwell. Analysts have claimed millions will face overall cuts due to changes in "work allowances" under the new system. Mark Fowler, Croydon Council's director of welfare, told MPs on the Commons Work and Pensions Committee: "We have seen in Croydon, on average, it's about 12 weeks before any form of payment is awarded, which is creating considerable pressures as you can understand, and carries immediate potential for eviction as well." Read more on the Daily Mirror website.

Inquiry Into Supported Housing Funding Reform Launched

The Work and Pensions Committee and the Communities and Local Government Committee launch a joint inquiry into the Government's funding reform for supported housing. The inquiry examines the planned changes for 2019–20, when core rent and service charges for supported housing will be funded through Housing Benefit or Universal Credit up to the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate. For costs above this, funding will go to local authorities for disbursement locally. The Committee considers whether the new system will ensure that the varied rate of the LHA cap will not adversely affect tenants and providers in low-value parts of the country. It examines how existing tenants will be protected following the switch and ask whether the changes should be piloted. Read more on the Parliament website.

Universal Credit Delays Forcing People To Food Banks

Huge built-in delays in the processing of universal credit benefit claims have turned the government’s flagship welfare reform into a “recruiting sergeant for food banks”, according to Labour MP Frank Field. Field, the chair of the Commons work and pensions select committee, said the minimum six-week payment period faced by new UC claimants led to reliance on emergency food parcels, triggered debt and rent arrears, and caused health problems. Field has written to the work and pensions secretary, Damian Green, asking him to cut the lengthy and stressful wait for payments faced by penniless claimants. Read more on the Guardian website.

MPs Call For Action Over 'Unfair' DHP Criteria

The DWP “must address” local Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) criteria which have “unintentionally and unfairly excluded” disabled people from financial support, a parliamentary committee has concluded. The Work and Pensions select committee report concludes time-limited DHPs are “inadequate protection” for people the government “did not intend” welfare reforms to affect. The report states this applies to parents or guardians who care full-time for their severely disabled grown-up children and therefore cannot work, and cannot find any suitable cheaper accommodation, and yet are currently subject to the bedroom tax. The report warned that “expansion of local discretion…has given rise to concerns about the coverage and adequacy of the safety net.” Download a copy of the report from the Parliament website.

Universal Credit: Government Told Roll-Out Plans ‘Not Credible’

The Government has been warned that their plan to see Universal Credit implemented within five years is not “credible”. Lord Freud, who was being questioned by MPs on the Work and Pensions Parliamentary Select Committee, said he wants seven million people receiving UC by the “end of 2020” – despite only 146,000 people being on the system to date. He argued the project was following an “S-curve”, which meant a “careful start, big ramp, and then a tail at the end”. Labour’s Steve McCabe said: “If we’re at 146,000 and we’re at the bottom of the S as it begins to rise, and you want to get to 7 million by May 2020, that would suggest by any standard you’ve got to be near 3 million in less than 18 months time. You’ve got to have a massive escalation at some point. How is that credible?”  Read more on the Welfare Weekly website.

Sanctions Deaths 'Should Be Independently Investigated'

Suicides which occur following a benefit sanction should be investigated by an independent commission, a parliamentary committee has said. The Work and Pensions Committee report into benefit sanctions recommends suicides linked to sanctions should be scrutinised in a similar manner to deaths in police custody. The report also called for a review of the systems of benefit sanctions – which see unemployment benefits stopped or reduced if claimants fail to adhere to a wide range of criteria – in the next parliament. The government previously rejected a call for an independent review in January. Read more on the Parliament website.

Universal Credit Fraud Fears Raised By MPs

Government attempts to cut fraud by introducing the Universal Credit risk being "seriously undermined" by issues with housing benefits, MPs say.  The Work and Pensions Committee warned that gaps in the system could also increase the number of self-employed people working for "cash in hand". But the government said its reforms were expected to cut losses due to fraud by £1bn over the next five years. Read more on the BBC website.

MPs: Universal Credit Inquiry 'Hampered By Ministers'

A Commons committee has accused the government of "hampering" its scrutiny of the Universal Credit welfare policy. The government had not always provided accurate and timely information on changes to the flagship benefit reform, the Work and Pensions Committee said. It also warned the single benefit was being rolled out at a "snail's pace". But the government said it had given "regular updates" to MPs and its plans were being implemented in a "slow, controlled and safe" fashion. In its latest report, the cross-party committee said there remained "worrying uncertainty" over the computer systems being developed to implement the reforms. Read more on the BBC website.

Vulnerable Suffering As Result Of Housing Welfare Reforms

Reforms to the support provided for housing costs – including the Social Sector Size Criteria (SSSC) (also known as the “Bedroom Tax” and the “Spare Room Subsidy”) and the household Benefit Cap – are causing financial hardship to vulnerable people who were not the intended targets of the reforms and are unlikely to be able to change their circumstances in response, say the Work and Pensions Committee in a report published Wednesday 2 April. The SSSC is having a particular impact on people with disabilities who have adapted homes or need a room to hold medical equipment or to accommodate a carer. The Committee recommends that anybody living in a home that has been significantly adapted for them should be exempt from the SSSC. The Report further urges the Government to exempt all households that contain a person in receipt of higher level disability benefits (DLA or PIP) from the SSSC. Read more and download the report from the Parliament website.

Government MPs Think Disabled Are Exempt from Bedroom Tax

The chair of the House of Commons Work and Pensions select committee says coalition MPs are oblivious to the bedroom tax's impact on disabled people. Dame Anne Begg claims "Many of the government's own backbenchers believe that disabled people living in houses specifically adapted for them are exempt. They aren't. They have to apply for a discretionary housing payment to make up the shortfall." Dame Anne also claims that there are a number of situations where the government's welfare reforms might even be costing the government more. Read more on 24dash.

Support for Housing Costs in the Reformed Welfare System

The House of Commons' Work and Pensions Committee requests written evidence to inform an inquiry into providing support for housing costs in the context of the reformed welfare system.  The Committee says that it is particularly interested in hearing views on innovative responses to the changes to housing support already taking place, which could help shape future approaches, and the implications of the changes for:

*landlords (private rented sector and Registered Social Landlords)

*local authorities (including availability of Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs)

*claimants, particularly those in vulnerable groups (such as people with disabilities and families with children), and those in supported and temporary accommodation.

The Committee stresses that submissions to the inquiry do not have to cover all these points, and the deadline for sending evidence is 27 September 2013.

Find full details on the Parliament website.

DWP Insists Universal Credit Plans Are 'On Track'

The Department for Work and Pensions has insisted its plans for universal credit are on track, despite criticism from MPs. The DWP has published its response to a report from the Work and Pensions Committee. The committee warned the government’s timetable for universal credit was ‘ambitious’ and more needs to be done to ensure vulnerable people’s needs are met.  The DWP response said a pilot to test the real-time technology is ‘on track’ and there will be six million people on the system by next month. It added that there will be back-up provisions for tenants to ‘self-report’ if the technology fails.  Read more on Inside Housing.

Landlords Back MPs' Call to Delay Direct Payments under Universal Credit

Housing associations have backed a call from MPs to delay the direct payment of housing benefit to social tenants under Universal Credit. The call came from the Work and Pensions Select Committee whose inquiry into Universal Credit recommended that, during the initial phases of the programme, claimants who currently have their housing costs paid to their landlord should have the option to continue with this arrangement. Read more on 24dash.

DWP Clarifies 'Advance Payments' For Universal Credit Claimants

Welfare reform minister Lord Freud says benefit claimants used to being paid fortnightly will be able to opt in for an advance payment to bridge them on to the monthly system of Universal Credit.  There are concerns about the ability for claimants to manage monthly payments, which was put to Lord Freud at the House of Commons Work and Pensions committee inquiry into the progress of Universal Credit.  He said the Government was arranging an advance for people so that they don’t see any gap in their payments. Iain Duncan Smith, who was also being questioned, said the Government could even “transition them over a longer period” if they were classified as having difficulty with budgeting.  Read more on 24dash.

Committee Launches Inquiry into Progress of Universal Credit

The Work and Pensions Committee is launching an inquiry to review the progress being made towards implementation of Universal Credit and to examine the implementation process, the proposed entitlement conditions and the future operation of the benefit.   Submissions of no more than 3,000 words are invited from interested organisations and individuals on any aspect of implementation of Universal Credit. The Committee is particularly interested in receiving evidence on the following specific areas:

*The proposed arrangements for claims and payments and the provision of support and advice for claimants

*Progress with developing the necessary IT systems to administer Universal Credit

*The proposed arrangements for the “claimant commitment”, sanctions and hardship payments.

*Changes in the income entitlement of disabled people under Universal Credit, *The impact of the changes on local authorities

*The level of the earnings disregards.

*Eligibility for and operation of passported benefits.

*Impact monitoring

The deadline for submitting written evidence is Friday 17 August 2012.  Find more details and how to submit our evidence on the Parliament website.