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£1.5bn package of changes to Universal Credit
Chancellor announces £1.5bn package of changes to Universal Credit -
We will remove the seven day waiting period applied at the beginning of a benefit claim so that entitlement to Universal Credit will start on the day of the claim.
We have looked at reducing the delay at the end of the first month assessment period.
But to do so would mean compromising the principle of payments being made on the same day of the month.
A key feature of the system which is very important for claimants in managing their budgets.
So to provide greater support during the waiting period we will change the advances system to ensure that any household that needs it can access a full month’s payment within five days of applying.
We will make it possible to apply for an advance online.
And we will extend the repayment period for advances from 6 months to 12 months.
Any new Universal Credit claimant in receipt of Housing Benefit, will continue to receive it for two weeks.
This is a £1.5 billion package to address concerns about the delivery of the benefit.
Work & Pensions Secretary will make a further announcement tomorrow ...
and completion of roll-out delayed to December 2018 -
Project Management award for Mr Thank-You Cards…..
Project Management award for Mr Thank-You Cards…..
Frank Field, the Labour chairman of the Commons Work and Pensions Committee, said: “The world has gone mad and a unicorn will shortly distribute Easter eggs to the entire country. It’s preposterous.”
If only they’d reduced the maximum recovery rates for rent arrears etc I might have actually celebrated this.
I wonder whether Gideon is spinning in his editor’s chair at the waiting days going.
Handing out a small (but welcome) consession whilst offering a special visit from Santa with an invitation to increased debt over Xmas / New Year?
Presumably the 2 week ‘roll on’ of HB from April will be deducted from the 1st or future payments of UC housing costs providing yet another oportunity for DWP to get HC payments wrong?
Project Management award for Mr Thank-You Cards…..
Frank Field, the Labour chairman of the Commons Work and Pensions Committee, said: “The world has gone mad and a unicorn will shortly distribute Easter eggs to the entire country. It’s preposterous.”
So, an award for finally starting “something”. Sigh.
Project Management award for Mr Thank-You Cards…..
Frank Field, the Labour chairman of the Commons Work and Pensions Committee, said: “The world has gone mad and a unicorn will shortly distribute Easter eggs to the entire country. It’s preposterous.”
So, an award for finally starting “something”. Sigh.
Perhaps it was an award Mr Mugabe found while clearing out his office but couldn’t remember what he’d given it to himself for so passed it on?
Surely the changes to advances, housing benefit run on and repayment periods are essentially cost-neutral. It’s just shifting costs around.
The changes to the waiting period can’t cost £1.5 billion?
https://www.apm.org.uk/apm-awards/winners/
The Monty Finniston Award
Inevitable gag - Monty Python more like….
from the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42014044
note the error on the length of an assessment period
Previous winners include seem to have mostly gone to engineers or people working in IT security…
Does appear you can nominate yourself!
“Insert witty comment here” :)
from Frank Field to the SSWP
Thank you for your letter of 13 November. It may well be the most extraordinary I have yet received from the Department on Universal Credit (UC), against some not inconsiderable competition. It served to reinforce my grave concerns about the quality of the advice you are receiving from Neil Couling and his team.
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/work-and-pensions/Correspondence/Letter-from-the-Chair-to-the-Secretary-of-State-(DWP)-relating-to-Universal-Credit-21-November-2017.pdf
So will all the people that made a claim prior to February 2018 be offered an extra week’s benefit? I think not.
Surely the changes to advances, housing benefit run on and repayment periods are essentially cost-neutral. It’s just shifting costs around.
The changes to the waiting period can’t cost £1.5 billion?
Depends over what period. Project forward far enough and the cost could be anything you want.
Says estimated savings of 7 day waiting period are £200m p/a. Getting rid of it entirely will more than double that as there was a 3 day waiting period before in ESA, etc. Presumably figures have been revised slightly due to slowdown in predicted UC roll out but won’t take long to rack up 1.5bn, maybe by the end of this parliament?
Repayment of all advances over 12 months is welcome, especially as DWP have not been applying their existing policy to recover ‘benefit transfer advances’ over 12 months.
However doubling the amount which can be borrowed means the level of repayments which can be £50 to £70 per month will continue to cause hardship.
I cant see how taking the full UC award as an advance can be a good idea for most people .... but it gets the Govt off the hook without addressing the fact that actually £317 per month is way below enough to live on, and £190 per month (after all your deductions amounting to 40 per cent) is very very far below subsistence income levels.
.... Presumably figures have been revised slightly due to slowdown in predicted UC roll out but won’t take long to rack up 1.5bn, maybe by the end of this parliament?
Had a look at the OBR figures, it predicts slowdown of UC caseload and spend and associated savings compared to a non UC legacy benefit comparison (para 4.130) (although still predicts substantial savings reflecting ‘less generous’ UC in particular for equivalent tax credit cases and those affected by removal of disability premium).
On the £1.5 billion UC spend, the OBR predicts spend over five years until 2022/23 - (full details of costings in table A2 at p226) but 895 million is for removing 7 day wait and 540 million on HB run on plus 10 million for in-work progression trials.
Lots more in there including its revised assumptions (again) that UC roll out will not fully complete until well into 2022/2023 (chart 4.7 p160)
http://cdn.budgetresponsibility.org.uk/Nov2017EFOwebversion-2.pdf
New regs just issued that include changes announced in the Autumn Budget 2017 and the Secretary of State for Work and Pension’s oral statement the following day:
Universal Credit (Miscellaneous Amendments, Saving and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2018