A Westminster committee is the latest organisation to condemn the UK Government’s flagship welfare reform, Universal Credit.
In a recent report, the Public Accounts Committee (a select committee of MPs which scrutinises government spending) says the rollout of Universal Credit by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is leading to increased debt, rent arrears and food bank use.
Public Accounts Committee Chair Meg Millier MP said: “This report provides further damning evidence of a culture of indifference at DWP – a Department disturbingly adrift from the real-world problems of the people it is there to support. Since the Department began rolling out full service in May 2016 there have been several further delays to the programme, which is now unlikely to complete before 2023.
https://nen.press/2018/10/26/universal-credit-dwp-is-a-department-in-denial/
Southport’s MP in favour of the widely discredited system of welfare reform.
Southport’s Preston – based Tory MP Damien Moore warmly welcomed Universal Credit to the town. He stated: ” The Government have purposefully managed a careful and controlled Universal Credit roll-out… Universal Credit is simple and fair and will be effective for the whole country. “
Do all Southport Tories warmly welcome the scheme like Mr Moore does? Do they think that all the many professional and unbiased media reports about Universal Credit, regarding nationwide public hardship, are simply fake news or anti-government spin?
Perhaps a more honest Tory response to the victims of Universal Credit’s widely-recognised flaws would have been:
“Bah Humbug” or “Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?”
The National Audit Office report previously concluded that universal credit, which is running six years behind schedule, is failing to deliver anticipated cost savings and employment benefits, and has left thousands of the most vulnerable claimants in debt, fear and hardship.
In response, the Tory Government went out of its way to try and rubbish the report. This, however, led to even more criticisms of the flawed scheme. Liverpool, as just one example, is apparently being hit very hard by Universal Credit.
Sadly for Mr Moore, the ongoing suffering that Universal Credit is creating for thousands of families across the UK makes a mockery of his detached comments. The harsh reality gives his constituents evidence of just how far from reality his dismissive remarks really are.
Universal Credit was engineered as a streamlining tool by the Tory Party as a kind of welfare reform. The programme is designed to save £billions of government money, yet the reality is that the worst off in society are suffering the most. Ironically, because of government inflexibility against valid criticism, the whole affair may well result in greatly escalated expenditure farther down the line.
The Government describe Universal Credit as a ‘force for good’. However, a brief search over the countless critical reports in the UK media will soon illustrate that this deeply problematic welfare reform system is pushing thousands of folks deeper into debt and hardship every day. This fact alone proves that this government has got it totally 100% wrong and that is simply will not listen to logic and good reason, even from professional bodies.
This will undoubtedly impact very negatively on the entire country and in ways not yet fully understood unless this blundering government finally faces reality and fixes its highly discredited and problematic scheme.
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/label-food-bank-friendly-items-to-make-donating-easier?
Universal Credit has become a serious threat to public health, with the stress of coping with the new benefit affecting mental health and leading some to consider suicide, according to new research.
Ken Butler, Disability Rights UK’s Welfare Benefits Advice and Policy Officer said:
“The findings of this report are truly shocking and reason enough for the roll-out of Universal Credit to be halted. The benefits system should support, protect and enable disabled people and those with long-term health conditions not drive them to despair, poverty and desperation.”
Dr Mandy Cheetham from Teesside University who led the new study said:
“Claimants were under severe stress because of the claims process and some people had been so low they said they had considered suicide. The process of claiming and then trying to survive in the system, with the constant threat of sanctions was making people increasingly anxious and depressed, and worsening existing health problems.”
Pat Regan ©
http://pat-regan.blogspot.com/
More
Universal Credit fiasco hitting UK’s most vulnerable families hardest
https://www.otsnews.co.uk/universal-credit-fiasco-hitting-uks-vulnerable-families-hardest/
Tory MP’s staunch support for Universal Credit could lose him Southport claim