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| Theresa May rules out pause in introducing universal credit | Theresa May rules out pause in introducing universal credit |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Theresa May has dismissed calls for a pause in the national introduction of universal credit to address problems with the system, but said the decision to scrap charges for a claimants’ phone helpline showed ministers were listening. | Theresa May has dismissed calls for a pause in the national introduction of universal credit to address problems with the system, but said the decision to scrap charges for a claimants’ phone helpline showed ministers were listening. |
| May was challenged on the new benefits system at prime minister’s questions, with Jeremy Corbyn saying it was “in a shambles” and arguing that the gradual extension of universal credit to new areas should be halted for a period. | May was challenged on the new benefits system at prime minister’s questions, with Jeremy Corbyn saying it was “in a shambles” and arguing that the gradual extension of universal credit to new areas should be halted for a period. |
| Earlier on Wednesday, the work and pensions secretary, David Gauke, announced that he would end the 55p-a-minute helpline charge for claimants calling on mobile phones, which was raised by Corbyn at last week’s PMQs. | Earlier on Wednesday, the work and pensions secretary, David Gauke, announced that he would end the 55p-a-minute helpline charge for claimants calling on mobile phones, which was raised by Corbyn at last week’s PMQs. |
| Later in the day MPs are to vote on a Labour opposition day motion calling for the rollout to be paused so serious problems with universal credit can be addressed. It is understood Conservative MPs will be whipped to abstain from voting. | |
| “Last week I asked the prime minister to scrap the unfair charges on the universal credit helpline,” Corbyn said. “Today she’s finally bowed to that pressure. | “Last week I asked the prime minister to scrap the unfair charges on the universal credit helpline,” Corbyn said. “Today she’s finally bowed to that pressure. |
| “But the fundamental problems of universal credit remain: the six-week wait, rising indebtedness, rent arrears and evictions. Will the prime minister now pause universal credit and fix the problems before pressing ahead with the rollout?” | “But the fundamental problems of universal credit remain: the six-week wait, rising indebtedness, rent arrears and evictions. Will the prime minister now pause universal credit and fix the problems before pressing ahead with the rollout?” |
| May said that while removing the charges was necessary, universal credit was “a system that is working” and would be introduced on schedule. | May said that while removing the charges was necessary, universal credit was “a system that is working” and would be introduced on schedule. |
| “I said last week that we were listening to a number of proposals that had been made, and we have done that,” she said above a chorus of jeers from Labour MPs. | |
| “I think it’s right to have done this now, because there’s a lot of emphasis, a lot of publicity around universal credit at the moment. | |
| “I want people to know that they can ring in, that they can get their advice, and that they can do that without being worried about it. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do.” | “I want people to know that they can ring in, that they can get their advice, and that they can do that without being worried about it. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do.” |
| Speaking about the idea of a pause, she said: “Why have we introduced universal credit? It’s a simpler system, it’s a system that encourages people to get into the workplace. It is a system that is working, because more people are getting into work. | Speaking about the idea of a pause, she said: “Why have we introduced universal credit? It’s a simpler system, it’s a system that encourages people to get into the workplace. It is a system that is working, because more people are getting into work. |
| “And pausing universal credit won’t help those people who will be helped by going to universal credit getting into the workplace and bringing home more pay for their families.” | “And pausing universal credit won’t help those people who will be helped by going to universal credit getting into the workplace and bringing home more pay for their families.” |
| The Labour leader replied by saying “a very long list of people” had urged a pause, including Citizens Advice, the Trussell Trust food bank charity, and Sir John Major, as well as “two dozen of her own backbenchers”. | The Labour leader replied by saying “a very long list of people” had urged a pause, including Citizens Advice, the Trussell Trust food bank charity, and Sir John Major, as well as “two dozen of her own backbenchers”. |
| Any Tory rebels could vote in favour of the opposition day motion, he added. | Any Tory rebels could vote in favour of the opposition day motion, he added. |
| Charities welcomed the abolition of the phone charges but reiterated that they wanted to see universal credit improved more generally. | Charities welcomed the abolition of the phone charges but reiterated that they wanted to see universal credit improved more generally. |
| Citizens Advice said urgent action was needed to mitigate hardship caused by delays. | Citizens Advice said urgent action was needed to mitigate hardship caused by delays. |
| The chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, Alison Garnham, said that while the news on the telephone charges was good, “the government will need to go much further to address widespread, cross-party concerns about universal credit”. | The chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, Alison Garnham, said that while the news on the telephone charges was good, “the government will need to go much further to address widespread, cross-party concerns about universal credit”. |
| She said: “These aren’t teething troubles but deep-seated problems that require a proportionate response.” | She said: “These aren’t teething troubles but deep-seated problems that require a proportionate response.” |
| Gauke had told MPs that the universal credit helpline would be made free, along with other Department for Work and Pensions numbers. | Gauke had told MPs that the universal credit helpline would be made free, along with other Department for Work and Pensions numbers. |
| He told the pensions committee that the universal credit helpline was an 0345 number, charged at local rate and was not a premium-rate charge, but in the light of the concerns raised he had decided to change it to a freephone number. | He told the pensions committee that the universal credit helpline was an 0345 number, charged at local rate and was not a premium-rate charge, but in the light of the concerns raised he had decided to change it to a freephone number. |
| “Given the recent attention and concern that this could place a burden on claimants, I have decided that this will change to a freephone number over the next month,” Gauke said. | “Given the recent attention and concern that this could place a burden on claimants, I have decided that this will change to a freephone number over the next month,” Gauke said. |
| “It has been DWP’s longstanding position to operate local line charges for benefit inquiry lines, but having reviewed this matter more widely I will be extending freephone numbers to all DWP phone lines by the end of the year.” | “It has been DWP’s longstanding position to operate local line charges for benefit inquiry lines, but having reviewed this matter more widely I will be extending freephone numbers to all DWP phone lines by the end of the year.” |
| While MPs on the committee praised the decision, they pressed Gauke about the six-week wait experienced by many new claimants before their first payments, something opponents say causes many people to build up rent arrears and other debts. | While MPs on the committee praised the decision, they pressed Gauke about the six-week wait experienced by many new claimants before their first payments, something opponents say causes many people to build up rent arrears and other debts. |
| Gauke, appearing alongside Neil Couling, the DWP’s universal credit programme director, defended his department, saying advance loans were available to those struggling with their finances and that he believed the number of people taking up such payments would continue to rise. | Gauke, appearing alongside Neil Couling, the DWP’s universal credit programme director, defended his department, saying advance loans were available to those struggling with their finances and that he believed the number of people taking up such payments would continue to rise. |
| But challenged by by Frank Field, the Labour MP who chairs the committee, Gauke said he was unable to guarantee that further introduction of the system would not require more people to use food banks. | But challenged by by Frank Field, the Labour MP who chairs the committee, Gauke said he was unable to guarantee that further introduction of the system would not require more people to use food banks. |
| Opening the universal credit debate after PMQs, the shadow work and pensions secretary, Debbie Abrahams, said Conservative MPs must vote with their conscience when they had doubts. “It is unacceptable people on the lowest incomes have been paying money that they don’t have,” she said. | Opening the universal credit debate after PMQs, the shadow work and pensions secretary, Debbie Abrahams, said Conservative MPs must vote with their conscience when they had doubts. “It is unacceptable people on the lowest incomes have been paying money that they don’t have,” she said. |
| “If the government and the prime minister is sincere about talking injustice in this country and to ensure that work pays, then they must act. I commit to working with them on this.” | “If the government and the prime minister is sincere about talking injustice in this country and to ensure that work pays, then they must act. I commit to working with them on this.” |
| Abrahams said the country was “at a crossroads” and that the government could not allow Brexit to “blind them to their other obligations to their citizens”. | Abrahams said the country was “at a crossroads” and that the government could not allow Brexit to “blind them to their other obligations to their citizens”. |
| “We must all work together in the national interest to avert the disaster which is about to unfold if UC is rolled out without fixing the problems,” she said. “I urge all MPs to vote with their conscience and stand with us, stand with your constituents, and pause and fix universal credit.” | “We must all work together in the national interest to avert the disaster which is about to unfold if UC is rolled out without fixing the problems,” she said. “I urge all MPs to vote with their conscience and stand with us, stand with your constituents, and pause and fix universal credit.” |
| Universal credit is the supposed flagship reform of the benefits system, rolling together six benefits (including unemployment benefit, tax credits and housing benefit) into one, online-only system. The theoretical aim, for which there was general support across the political divide, was to simplify the benefits system and increase the incentives for people to work, rather than stay on benefits. | Universal credit is the supposed flagship reform of the benefits system, rolling together six benefits (including unemployment benefit, tax credits and housing benefit) into one, online-only system. The theoretical aim, for which there was general support across the political divide, was to simplify the benefits system and increase the incentives for people to work, rather than stay on benefits. |
| The project was legislated for in 2011 under the auspices of its most vocal champion, Iain Duncan Smith. The plan was to roll it out by 2017. However, a series of management failures, expensive IT blunders and design faults have seen it fall at least five years behind schedule. | The project was legislated for in 2011 under the auspices of its most vocal champion, Iain Duncan Smith. The plan was to roll it out by 2017. However, a series of management failures, expensive IT blunders and design faults have seen it fall at least five years behind schedule. |
| There is a minimum 42-day wait for a first payment endured by new claimants when they move to universal credit (in practice this is often up to 60 days). For many low-income claimants, who lack savings, this in effect leaves them without cash for six weeks. The well-documented consequences for claimants of this are rent arrears (leading in some cases to eviction), hunger (food banks in universal credit areas report striking increases in referrals), use of expensive credit, and mental distress. | There is a minimum 42-day wait for a first payment endured by new claimants when they move to universal credit (in practice this is often up to 60 days). For many low-income claimants, who lack savings, this in effect leaves them without cash for six weeks. The well-documented consequences for claimants of this are rent arrears (leading in some cases to eviction), hunger (food banks in universal credit areas report striking increases in referrals), use of expensive credit, and mental distress. |
| Plenty. Landlords are worried about the level of rent arrears racked up by tenants on universal credit. Unchecked, this will lead to a spike in evictions. Claimants complain that universal credit is bafflingly complex, unreliable, and difficult to manage, particularly if you are without internet access. Multibillion-pound cuts to work allowances imposed by the former chancellor George Osborne mean universal credit is far less generous than originally envisaged. According to the Resolution Foundation thinktank, about 2.5m low-income working households will be more than £1,000 a year worse off when they move on to universal credit. | Plenty. Landlords are worried about the level of rent arrears racked up by tenants on universal credit. Unchecked, this will lead to a spike in evictions. Claimants complain that universal credit is bafflingly complex, unreliable, and difficult to manage, particularly if you are without internet access. Multibillion-pound cuts to work allowances imposed by the former chancellor George Osborne mean universal credit is far less generous than originally envisaged. According to the Resolution Foundation thinktank, about 2.5m low-income working households will be more than £1,000 a year worse off when they move on to universal credit. |
| More than 90 MPs have listed their intention to speak in what is expected to be a heated debate on Wednesday afternoon. In his statement, Gauke admitted he had seen people who had had long delays in receiving payment but said the DWP could make emergency payments in three days. | More than 90 MPs have listed their intention to speak in what is expected to be a heated debate on Wednesday afternoon. In his statement, Gauke admitted he had seen people who had had long delays in receiving payment but said the DWP could make emergency payments in three days. |
| “I recognise the concerns. I have seen the hard cases of people who have apparently gone weeks and weeks and weeks, sometimes months, without support,” he said. “What we are saying is they can get that advance quickly.” | “I recognise the concerns. I have seen the hard cases of people who have apparently gone weeks and weeks and weeks, sometimes months, without support,” he said. “What we are saying is they can get that advance quickly.” |
| Gauke, whose speech was constantly peppered with shouted objections from the packed Labour benches, said universal credit was “working and the rollout will continue and to the planned timetable”. | Gauke, whose speech was constantly peppered with shouted objections from the packed Labour benches, said universal credit was “working and the rollout will continue and to the planned timetable”. |
| The Conservative MP Peter Aldous was among those who expressed some reservations about the rollout, saying the DWP should “proceed with caution, they must not stick rigidly to a pre-conceived timetable”. | |
| He told the Commons there had been “significant problems” with the rollout in his Waveney constituency. “The long delays before some claimants receive the payments must stop,” he said. | |
| “The government must seriously consider implementing the CAB recommendation that those who need it much get a payment within two weeks, which they do not then have to pay back.” |