Universal Credit claimants in trial roll-out 'suffering hardship'

Tenants who were part of a trial of the incoming Universal Credit scheme "universally... experienced financial hardship", according to a report.

The report by The Smith Institute found 36% of the total rent owed by those studied was not paid after the scheme was introduced in Southwark and Croydon.

The study found arrears built up most quickly in the first few weeks after Universal Credit (UC) was introduced.

The Smith Institute studied the rent accounts of 775 tenants with the Peabody and Family Mosaic housing associations to give a "quantitative understanding of how rent behaviours were changing".

A further 36 in-depth telephone interviews and four focus groups were conducted with tenants by the research company BritainThinks to understand what happened to them once they were on UC.

The Government has been under pressure to cut the period time it takes before it pays the benefits owed to people in receipt of UC after criticism they are being left in difficulty.

It is currently making claimants wait six weeks before they get any benefits, leaving Labour and SNP MPs to tell Parliament in a debate last week food banks would need tons more food to cope with the demand.

The roll-out of the scheme is under way but it is being trialled first before being fully implemented sometime after the start of 2018.

The qualitative research found: "Associations with UC are generally negative, and are primarily driven by claimants' direct experiences of the transition process - specifically delayed payments.

"Claimants describe both positive and negative experiences of the UC application process. However, there are clear issues in terms of how quickly claimants receive payment.

"Delayed UC payments have put many into debt and rent arrears, causing considerable stress to individuals.

"Claimants use a range of strategies to cope financially, with many relying on friends and family (though this is not an option for everyone).

"Many are struggling to manage their finances on UC - for some it's adapting to a single monthly payment, but for others it's simply 'not having enough money to get by'."

The conclusion of the research was that the principle of UC's introduction was less of an issue than the process - a finding that has "significant implications for council(s and) the wellbeing of the individuals themselves, many of whom have desperate personal stories to tell", the Safe As Houses report said.

Iain Duncan Smith, the man in charge of the Department of Work and Pensions when universal credit was conceived in 2013, said during a debate in Parliament the scheme's opponents were "scaremongering".

The minister responsible for its implementation, David Gauke, who last week said call charges to the welfare helpline would be scrapped, defended the programme.

The report came as Crossbench peer Baroness Meacher told the Lords the roll-out of universal credit was leading to "unprecedented" levels of debt and that some people were "resorting to burglary in order to pay their debts".