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UC isn’t working - but what’s new
The Guardian Today @10.53
A leaked staff memo at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) appears to show the government is still struggling to roll out its flagship welfare programme, Universal Credit (UC), across the UK.
The memo, seen by the Guardian and titled: “Ideas please: Sinking”, appears to be a plea from a jobcentre manager to her staff for solutions to tackle an ever-growing workload brought about by the new system for delivering social security to more than 7 million people ...
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/oct/27/universal-credit-leaked-memo-scheme-rollout
[ Edited: 27 Oct 2014 at 12:13 pm by shawn mach ]Channel 4 info about tonight’s Dispatches episode ‘Benefits Britain’ (on at 8.00pm) says that -
Liz MacKean reports from Warrington, where claimants have been trying out the new benefit for a year. It’s meant to simplify claims and offer seamless support to people moving in and out of short-term and low-paid work.
Dispatches meets some claimants who say the new system, far from simplifying things for them, has been making basic errors and leaving them at risk of losing their homes or having to choose between paying the rent or feeding their children.
It took three months for Universal Credit staff to process one couple’s claim, and they ended up with over £2000 of debt. Nicky, who is pregnant, tells Dispatches that some days she goes without so that she can make sure her four-year-old is properly fed.
Liz also hears from staff working inside the benefits office who believe the flagship scheme is failing badly. Dispatches hears that the IT system is unworkable, staff training is out of date and that they are falling behind in processing new claims.
“We are rolling UC out in a safe and controlled way to ensure we can make changes to the system if necessary. But there is absolutely no evidence that cases cannot be dealt with. When fully rolled out, UC will make 3 million families better off by £177 a month and lift up to 300,000 children out of poverty.”
The same robotic cut-and-paste response from the DWP every time. They say there is ‘no evidence’ - but any evidence is ignored. Beyond satire.
And all this while it is still, for most claimants, JSA(ib) by another name, administered by the same people in the same shop. Really, how hard can it be?
Dispatches last night was that utter rarity of a tv programme which both portrayed people engaging with the benefit system as human beings and allowed them to tell their potted stories free from insinuation or malice, as well as revealing some of the practical problems afflicting UC roll-out in particular, as well as some of the more mundane failings of the administration of the social security system.
Worth catching on 4-on-demand if you missed it, or you could have a look at the UC dispatches storify that someone put together for some of the commentary on the programme.
[ Edited: 28 Oct 2014 at 09:51 am by Paul_Treloar_CPAG ]Oh look -
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/dwp-accused-planting-fake-tweets-praising-universal-credit-scheme-1472131
Nothing would surprise me….
Aha - the alleged fake tweet is on the ‘storify’ list provided above, along with some very interesting synchronised tweeting about how 30,000 people have claimed UC [where DOES that figure come from…?]
[ Edited: 28 Oct 2014 at 03:50 pm by Andrew Dutton ]indeed, we screen-grabbed the tweet ourselves last night ....
Universal Credit IT write-offs will reach £500m, claims Margaret Hodge
Public Accounts Committee chair said existing systems are ‘not fit for purpose’ and ‘simply cannot cope’
By Charlotte Jee | Computerworld UK | Published 09:09, 29 October 14
Local Councillor’s warning about UC’s unreadiness…
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/11/03/iain-duncan-smith-universal-credit_n_6092594.html
Duncan Smith knew UC was going wrong months before admitting it
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04mc1hv
Radio 4 Analysis programme ‘Inside Welfare Reform’