Universal
Credit was the supposed flagship reform of the benefits system, but it is
causing country-wide chaos and misery.
More than a
quarter of all claimants have had to wait more than 6 weeks to receive their
first payment in full, leaving low-income households without any cash at all.
This is more than long enough to see those claimants face eviction and,
consequently, homelessness.
In areas
where the full universal credit rollout has taken place, food bank referral
rates were running at more than double the national average. The warnings are
coming from far and wide, with 90% of the local authorities themselves
expressing concerns that the roll out of Universal Credit would exacerbate
homelessness further.
In the
House of Commons, I called on the Government to reduce the 6-week payment delay
that families are facing, leaving so many with no money at all to live on. I am
pleased to see that opposition pressure has led the Government to scrap the
immoral Universal Credit helpline charges that had previously left claimants
paying up to 55p per minute.
That's a
start, but there is so much more to be done!