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| Welfare system failing thousands of its most vulnerable claimants, MPs told | Welfare system failing thousands of its most vulnerable claimants, MPs told |
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| Britain’s social security system is failing thousands of its most vulnerable claimants, with delays and errors in processing welfare benefits leaving many sick and disabled people, including some with cancer, for months without income. | Britain’s social security system is failing thousands of its most vulnerable claimants, with delays and errors in processing welfare benefits leaving many sick and disabled people, including some with cancer, for months without income. |
| MPs have been told that long waits for benefit payments are the single biggest cause of food bank use and are forcing claimants into debt and “survival crime” such as shoplifting, as well as triggering stress, mental illness and homelessness. | MPs have been told that long waits for benefit payments are the single biggest cause of food bank use and are forcing claimants into debt and “survival crime” such as shoplifting, as well as triggering stress, mental illness and homelessness. |
| Charities and local authorities say the millions of pounds they spend providing advice and help to vulnerable individuals left in crisis by avoidable benefit delays is unsustainable, and they cannot “shore up” the system’s failings indefinitely. | Charities and local authorities say the millions of pounds they spend providing advice and help to vulnerable individuals left in crisis by avoidable benefit delays is unsustainable, and they cannot “shore up” the system’s failings indefinitely. |
| The claims are contained in over 60 evidence submissions by frontline charities, food banks, councils, housing associations, private landlords, academics and individuals to a Commons select committee inquiry on benefit delivery which starts on Wednesday. | The claims are contained in over 60 evidence submissions by frontline charities, food banks, councils, housing associations, private landlords, academics and individuals to a Commons select committee inquiry on benefit delivery which starts on Wednesday. |
| A Guardian analysis of the evidence reveals: | A Guardian analysis of the evidence reveals: |
| Tory MP John Glen, a member of the work and pensions select committee and a prime mover behind the inquiry, said it would examine why charities’ benefit delay-related workload was rising at a time when the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) claimed it had speeded up benefits processing. | Tory MP John Glen, a member of the work and pensions select committee and a prime mover behind the inquiry, said it would examine why charities’ benefit delay-related workload was rising at a time when the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) claimed it had speeded up benefits processing. |
| He said: “If individuals are reliant on money from the benefit system then clearly when something goes wrong [with the benefit system] it is then an absolute disaster. We must get to the heart of this problem.” | He said: “If individuals are reliant on money from the benefit system then clearly when something goes wrong [with the benefit system] it is then an absolute disaster. We must get to the heart of this problem.” |
| The weight of evidence submitted to the inquiry challenges both ministers’ claim that they are committed to protecting the most vulnerable in society, as well their long-held insistence that welfare reform cannot be linked to rising food bank use. | The weight of evidence submitted to the inquiry challenges both ministers’ claim that they are committed to protecting the most vulnerable in society, as well their long-held insistence that welfare reform cannot be linked to rising food bank use. |
| Care Plus, a community health social enterprise, which delivers end of life care in Lincolnshire, says the system often fails terminally ill claimants. “People with a cancer or a palliative care diagnosis should be fast tracked but in reality this is not happening,” it said. | Care Plus, a community health social enterprise, which delivers end of life care in Lincolnshire, says the system often fails terminally ill claimants. “People with a cancer or a palliative care diagnosis should be fast tracked but in reality this is not happening,” it said. |
| There is stinging criticism of the government from the Royal British Legion, which says thousands of veterans have been pitched into long periods of financial hardship by “inadequate and unpredictable” disability benefit processing systems. | There is stinging criticism of the government from the Royal British Legion, which says thousands of veterans have been pitched into long periods of financial hardship by “inadequate and unpredictable” disability benefit processing systems. |
| The legion says in the first six months of this year it spent £133,000 issuing nearly 1,000 crisis grants to former service personnel including vouchers for food, clothes and fuel. It warns MPs that it should not be relied on to always “pick up the tab” for benefit delays. | The legion says in the first six months of this year it spent £133,000 issuing nearly 1,000 crisis grants to former service personnel including vouchers for food, clothes and fuel. It warns MPs that it should not be relied on to always “pick up the tab” for benefit delays. |
| The Trussell trust food bank network says more than one in four of its clients receive food parcels as a result of benefits delays. A survey of 51 of its foodbanks revealed clients typically experienced benefit delays of nearly five weeks, although waits of up to 20 weeks were not uncommon. | The Trussell trust food bank network says more than one in four of its clients receive food parcels as a result of benefits delays. A survey of 51 of its foodbanks revealed clients typically experienced benefit delays of nearly five weeks, although waits of up to 20 weeks were not uncommon. |
| A number of submissions from both social and private landlords say that the government’s troubled and much-delayed flagship welfare reform, universal credit, which is meant to simplify the benefits system, has frequent system crashes and other glitches, causing delays in housing benefit payments. | A number of submissions from both social and private landlords say that the government’s troubled and much-delayed flagship welfare reform, universal credit, which is meant to simplify the benefits system, has frequent system crashes and other glitches, causing delays in housing benefit payments. |
| The Residential Landlords Association warns that if multiple universal credit design and delivery difficulties were not fixed then landlords were likely to refuse tenancies to universal credit claimants, even those who were in work and on low wages. | The Residential Landlords Association warns that if multiple universal credit design and delivery difficulties were not fixed then landlords were likely to refuse tenancies to universal credit claimants, even those who were in work and on low wages. |
| The delays affect a range of benefits including job seeker’s allowance (JSA), employment and support allowance (ESA) for people who cannot work because of illness, personal independence payments (PIP), and housing benefit. | The delays affect a range of benefits including job seeker’s allowance (JSA), employment and support allowance (ESA) for people who cannot work because of illness, personal independence payments (PIP), and housing benefit. |
| Long waits often occur when a claimant moves from one benefit to another, or are challenging fit-for-work tests. Delays are frequently exacerbated by administrative errors, poor communication and lost paperwork, charities say. | Long waits often occur when a claimant moves from one benefit to another, or are challenging fit-for-work tests. Delays are frequently exacerbated by administrative errors, poor communication and lost paperwork, charities say. |
| In some cases claimants taken off ESA by one section of the DWP because they were apparently fit to work were told by another DWP office that they did not qualify for JSA because they were ill, leaving them with no income at all. | In some cases claimants taken off ESA by one section of the DWP because they were apparently fit to work were told by another DWP office that they did not qualify for JSA because they were ill, leaving them with no income at all. |
| The DWP argues that benefits delivery has improved in recent years despite reductions of a third in staff numbers. It says that it has speeded up benefit payments and reduced delays. It currently meets its performance targets for its main benefits of processing 85-90% of applications within 10 days (JSA) or 16 days (ESA). | The DWP argues that benefits delivery has improved in recent years despite reductions of a third in staff numbers. It says that it has speeded up benefit payments and reduced delays. It currently meets its performance targets for its main benefits of processing 85-90% of applications within 10 days (JSA) or 16 days (ESA). |
| But it admits that delays experienced by PIP claimants have been “unacceptable”. In June the high court declared waits of over a year for PIP decisions of over a year to be unlawful. The DWP and its private contractors Atos and Capita were forced to take on 800 staff to bring down PIP waiting times to an average of 11 weeks. | But it admits that delays experienced by PIP claimants have been “unacceptable”. In June the high court declared waits of over a year for PIP decisions of over a year to be unlawful. The DWP and its private contractors Atos and Capita were forced to take on 800 staff to bring down PIP waiting times to an average of 11 weeks. |
| The DWP paid out more than £10m in compensation to claimants over benefits maladministration between 2011 and 2015. But several submissions to the inquiry say the complaints system is obscure and difficult to access. | The DWP paid out more than £10m in compensation to claimants over benefits maladministration between 2011 and 2015. But several submissions to the inquiry say the complaints system is obscure and difficult to access. |
| The PCS union, which represents job centre workers and other Department for Work and Pensions staff, blames delays on cuts which have seen 30,000 DWP jobs go in recent years with no reduction in workload. It says benefit processing performance targets encourage staff to prioritise straightforward benefit applications at the expense of more complex claims. | The PCS union, which represents job centre workers and other Department for Work and Pensions staff, blames delays on cuts which have seen 30,000 DWP jobs go in recent years with no reduction in workload. It says benefit processing performance targets encourage staff to prioritise straightforward benefit applications at the expense of more complex claims. |
| Many submissions describe the benefits system as variously slow, over-complex, impersonal and bewildering. Some note that as result of delays and benefit sanctions, the DWP is distrusted and feared by many vulnerable people who rely on it the most. | Many submissions describe the benefits system as variously slow, over-complex, impersonal and bewildering. Some note that as result of delays and benefit sanctions, the DWP is distrusted and feared by many vulnerable people who rely on it the most. |
| A DWP spokesman said there had been significant improvements in benefit delivery. Its latest figures showed that 96% of JSA claims were processed “on time” and that the average wait for PIP awards was now five weeks. | |
| “We provide more than £80bn a year in support to people of working age, ensuring a strong safety net is in place.” | |
| It said claims from people with a terminal illness were fast-tracked using special rules, and all were dealt with sensitively and compassionately. It said there was no strong evidence that the use of food banks is linked to welfare reform. |