The roll-out of Universal Credit may be running five years later than planned, having wasted £40 million in botched IT, and been emasculated by austerity cuts since 2015, but its advocates in the DWP still argue that it is all going to be worthwhile in the end because its labour supply effects will get people into work and onto higher earnings. Sir Robert Devereux, the DWP Permanent Secretary, claimed this in a retirement interview: “the roll-out will see unemployment rates fall as disincentives are taken out of the system”. Esther McVey, the new Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, even seemed […]
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Tag Archives: Universal Credit
The roll out of Universal Credit started in 2013, but the Department of Health doesn’t seem to have noticed. People entitled to Universal Credit who had net earning of less than £435 in a month should get free prescriptions and dental treatment on the same basis as people in receipt of other means tested benefits. For those with a child and/or limited capability for work or limited capability for work related activity the figure is £935. Now the roll out of Universal Credit is well under way, but the prescription form does not mention it. Claimants are officially advised by NHS […]
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My brother recently applied for Universal Credit, he started growing a beard to show how long it took to for his benefit to arrive. He now looks like Rasputin but without the trappings of the household of a Russian queen at his disposal. Bear in mind that my brother is single, has no dependants and is also not in receipt of housing benefit. He is not a complex case, he is essentially a jobseekers’ allowance claimant. In order to distract my sister-in-law (different brother, I am resplendent with brothers) from the painful throes of her labour this week I wittered […]
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Universal Credit is the new payment system which is set to collate and replace all the different types of income assessed benefits. These include: Job Seekers Allowance Income Support Housing Benefit The main purpose of Universal Credit is to bring together all the different forms of financial support which the government offers to both those seeking employment and those already in employment. It will be accessed and monitored online, and should theoretically reduce risk for people moving between systems. It will also help to ensure that support is reduced consistently when people return to work. However there are some concerns […]
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