Looking for welfare benefit advisors to interview on Universal Credit: £40 voucher as thanks

Opportunity to take part in some research…

We’re a team of researchers from across the University of York, University of Oxford and the University of Kent working on a project funded by the Nuffield Foundation on the administration of Universal Credit. We’re looking to speak to welfare benefit advisors about common issues in their work and will provide a £40 voucher as a thanks for your time.

What are you doing?
We are interested in how decisions about benefits are taken and how to make them fairer. In particular, we’re interested in:
• What are people’s experiences like of navigating decision-making processes in Universal Credit (from their initial application, to using the online journal, through to deductions and sanctions)?
• What makes for a good or bad experiences of applications and decisions?
• What works well and what could be improved?

As part of the project we are speaking to people receiving Universal Credit and civil servants in the Department for Work & Pensions. However, we are very keen to draw on the experience and expertise of welfare benefits advisors to help us get a broader perspective on these questions, based on your advice work.

What would happen if I took part?
A member of the research team – either Jed Meers or Simon Halliday – would be in touch to organise an informal interview lasting no more than one hour (over Zoom or the phone, whichever works best). We will send a short set of questions via email in advance.

Once the interview finishes – as a thanks for your time – you’ll receive a £40 voucher (for Amazon or a One4All voucher, which can be used at a number of outlets).

How do I take part?
If you’re interested in being involved, please head to this link here to register your details. We’ll then be in touch with more information in due course. If you have any questions about the study, please contact Jed at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).