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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Universal credit administration  →  Thread

How to define need/vulnerability under Universal Credit

Paul Treloar
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Head of Policy, LASA

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Nigel Keohane, deputy director at the Social Market Foundation (SMF), has written an article for Public Finance looking at how the DWP is going to ensure that the most vulnerable claimants get the support Lord Freud agrees they need. Noting last year’s SMF report Sink or swim, which found that key UC aspects risked backfiring, with many claimants likely to find it hard to adapt, he notes that whilst some vulnerable claimants may be easily identifiable, many others may be much harder to notice. He goes on to say:

For instance, many low income families deal in cash deliberately because they have been stung previously by high charges from banks or because they like the flexibility cash gives them. Some rely on frequent payments to help them ration their expenditure and depend on them to provide structure to their household finances.

These are the realities for many budgeting on a low income, especially for those least likely to cope with the benefit changes. But will all such people be readily identifiable by the DWP?

Evidence from the previous exceptions policy that was applied to Local Housing Allowance suggested that policymakers (in this case local authorities) struggled to identify and collect compelling evidence about vulnerability ahead of the claimant going significantly into rent arrears. Those in need of help were only identified because they had gone into crisis. The result was thousands of families going into arrears. Under Universal Credit the consequences could be yet more severe, with claimants running up big debts.

Faced with this evidence, it would be much more efficient to resolve this problem at source and allow claimants to decide whether the reforms were likely to cause them problems. The DWP should also take more active steps to help people manage the transition to greater financial responsibility.

Claimants should be able to opt into a ‘personal budgeting portal’, which would allow them to determine how frequently they received benefit payments and earmark funds for specific expenditure (such as rent payments, saving or childcare).

For the whole article, see Universal Credit: how do you define need?

It is worth noting that I attended an Equality and Diversity Forum seminar yesterday, which had someone from the UC Policy Division of DWP - I think it would be fair to say that, from his replies to various questions on similar issues around domestic violence, risk of homelessness, newly-granted asylum seekers, and disabled people with communication problems, the risks remain very high and the flexibility asked for in the article seem a million miles away currently.

Robbie Spence
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Independent benefits adviser and trainer

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I am trying to look up how universal credit intends to deal with - and has been dealing with - “vulnerable claimants”, eg people who don’t have internet access or couldn’t use it if they did, and people who are homeless or alcoholic, etc.

This thread of Paul’s with only one post seems to be the most on-topic thread. The topic seems to have gone quiet since then, with my quick rightsnet news search today for “vulnerable claimants” finding these stories, which are related but not quite on the point.

16/09/16 http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/welfare-rights/news/item/universal-credit-has-come-back-from-the-brink-of-disaster-and-is-in-recover

0/06/16 http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/welfare-rights/news/item/universal-credit-is-causing-serious-detriment-to-vulnerable-claimants-says

I remember attending (on behalf of DRUK) a stakeholder forum with DWP in about 2013 with groups representing people who are homeless or alcoholic, etc. Drugscope was there (which seems to have closed in March 2015, unfortunately), as were Shelter and Women’s Aid, various housing assocs and several others. I wonder what emerged from it. Does anyone know what the latest news or summary is on this subject, please?

Gareth Morgan
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CEO, Ferret, Cardiff

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Wasn’t this dumped onto LAs as part of what was originally the LSSF?

GWRS adviser
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Welfare Rights Service, Greenwich Council, London

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It seems that relying on DWP staff identifying vulnerability will be a key concern.  Based on past record I think there are reasons to be very concerned about this.  Some time ago I picked out documents 1, 6, 14,15,26, 27, 32, 36, 38, and 48 in redacted peer reviews (review carried out following serious incident or death) as identifying problems with DWP staff picking up on claimants vulnerability.  See http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/images/image/samples/extracts.doc and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-foi-releases-for-may-2016 .

stevenmcavoy
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Welfare rights officer - Enable Scotland

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a really high % of my client group are potentially vulnerable as its people with learning disabilities.

im a support service to help them…..but they dont want me to use implicit consent.

ideal.

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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Information and advice resources - Age UK

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apparently vulnerability is a bit of a dirty word, implies weakness and suffering etc. how to define vulnerability under universal credit? universal credit is designed to make you all vulnerable, regardless of your personal circumstances. good night.