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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Universal credit administration  →  Thread

UC ‘a bit rubbish or what’ shocker

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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Information and advice resources - Age UK

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What I found slightly alarming was listening to Stephen Crabb on Today this morning talking about work allowances in relation to how much people can earn every week and on income disregards about how much of their earnings are ignored every week. Do you think someone forget to tell him it’s assessed on a monthly basis?

Gareth Morgan
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The press release that went out today says:  “From John O’Groats to Land’s End, all single jobseekers can now claim Universal Credit”.

Good to see that all the Gateway conditions have now been dropped.

Andrew Dutton
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Sounds like the beginning of a McGonagall poem…

From John O’Groats to Lands End
All single jobseekers can now claim Universal Credit
We wrote a letter about it to your friend
But we are not at all sure that he has read it
For Universal Credit is a transformative benefit
But if you do not claim it you will not get any of it
It will surely make you better off in work
Even if you are labouring part time in a small shop in Chirk,
And if you are at Lands End or John O’Groats
You may claim UC even if your only work is
Herding goats

Pete C
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Another Scottish poet;

O would some power the giftie gie us to see ourselves as others see us.

Robbie Burns -  “To a Louse”

Benny Fitzpatrick
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Welfare Rights Officer, Southway Housing Trust, Manchester

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A Crabb-Louse, perhaps?

SarahJBatty
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Crabb really needs to take this opportunity before the ‘Full Service’ roll out to correct some of the most serious design flaws of UC. He is pushing on with something that is not fit for purpose.

I looked at 8 UC cases last week and not a single one was without problems and I saw some of the design flaws in just those 8 cases, including a man who’d had no money since January.

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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SarahJBatty - 03 May 2016 01:11 PM

Crabb really needs to take this opportunity before the ‘Full Service’ roll out to correct some of the most serious design flaws of UC. He is pushing on with something that is not fit for purpose.

I looked at 8 UC cases last week and not a single one was without problems and I saw some of the design flaws in just those 8 cases, including a man who’d had no money since January.

Wouldn’t hold your breath Sarah….

Mr Crabb said the latest expansion marked an “important milestone”.

He added: “Universal Credit is transforming welfare and is central to our vision for our society where people of all backgrounds can earn a decent wage and provide for their families, with claimants moving into work faster and earning more than under the old system.

“Our focus now is on continuing its expansion to all claimants.”

For the above, read “on time, on budget and according to plan” as IDS used to trumpet with depressing regularity.

SarahJBatty
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It will have no impact on the capacity to earn a decent wage whatsoever.  Only an employment and investment strategy can do that.

The vision which it is in fact central to is a neoliberal dream society where it facilitates the increase in zero hours precarious temporary work, where there is no longer any need to incentivise people to work because any deviation is punished by destitution and homelessness.

Breath not held!

Rehousing Advice.
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Paul_Treloar_AgeUK - 03 May 2016 01:34 PM

Mr Crabb said the latest expansion marked an “important milestone”

Its quite interesting that he thinks this is an important milestone.

In terms of technical development they are really still dealing with just the most simple cases, in a non digital way across more locations. The whole UC project needs to be still run in tandem with the older Housing Benefit network with the use of SPOCS (single points of contact) where problems arise….... 

This has taken 4/5 years so far, that is to get what are really the simplest UC cases assessed by the DWP.

 

Andrew Dutton
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DWP relies upon exaggeration to keep the whole messy thing afloat, in PR terms anyway.

As has been pointed out in another thread, the latest boast is that UC is now available to all single job-seekers. No it isn’t. Given the number of exemptions, it’s not even a pardonable exaggeration, it’s just more of the same: not’ Test And Learn’ but ‘Boast and Bluff’.

Mike Hughes
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Could someone give an example of an unimportant milestone?

Well, apart from her madges 90th obviously!