Universal Credit Must Be Paused Says Social Security Minister Jeane Freeman

The UK Government must stop the full roll-out of the “shambolic” Universal Credit system “until it is fixed”, the Scottish Government has demanded.

Social Security Minister Jeane Freeman argued the policy is “fundamentally flawed” and being delivered with “incompetence”, as she accused UK minsters of ignoring compelling evidence about problems with the system.

She claimed recipients are being damaged by the set-up, with people forced to make decisions between eating or heating their homes, and feeding their children or keeping a roof over their head.

The full service of Universal Credit, where people use an online account to manage their claim or apply for a benefit, is already operational in certain places, with a full roll-out across the country planned.

It is aimed at bringing a number of welfare payments together into one social security payment, making the system easier to use.

Ms Freeman led a debate at Holyrood, giving parliament “the opportunity to show it is on the side of the people being damaged by a system that needs to be halted until it is fixed.”

She accused UK Ministers of “shamelessly” ignoring calls from recipients, councils, charities and other bodies to halt the roll-out of Universal Credit.

Pointing to “overwhelming and compelling evidence that the Universal Credit system is fundamentally flawed”, she said: “What is broken must be fixed because the UK Government’s reckless behaviour will continue to see more and more people plunged into debt and despair as this service is rolled out unchanged.”

She attacked what she described as an inbuilt six-week wait for the first payment under the system, saying it plunges people on low incomes into debt, rent arrears and, in some cases, homelessness.

“Stop forcing people to make decisions about eating or heating, going to a food bank, getting a crisis payment or wondering if they can feed their children and keep a roof over their head,” Ms Freeman said.

“By its actions and its failure to act, the UK Government is not only heartless, it is incompetent.”

Image: Theresa May

Theresa May at the Conservative Conferance has signalled she will push ahead with the roll-out of the Government’s flagship welfare reform despite a Tory rebellion.

The Prime Minister said that while she recognised there had been problems with the implementation of Universal Credit it remained “important that we do roll it out”.

However, Tory MSP Adam Tomkins told the chamber that Universal Credit is the right thing to pursue.

Image: Tory MSP Adam Tomkins

Citing the words of the Joseph Rowantree Foundation, he said: “The current system is fragmented and traps people in poverty. The prospect of an integrated benefit system that responds to people’s changing circumstances is a prize worth having. Universal Credit is an important tool for tackling poverty.”

He went on: “In rolling six benefits into one, in being expressly designed so that work always pays, in being a much more flexible system that can be readily tailored to individuals’ particular and often changing needs, in all of these ways and more, Universal Credit is a reform to be welcomed.”

UK Work and Pensions Secretary David Gauke announced on Monday that Universal Credit recipients who need a cash advance would get one within five days, or on the same say in cases of emergency.

Mr Tomkins told MSPs: “That isn’t carrying on regardless, that isn’t putting the blinkers on, that is taking into account the evidence and making significant changes to the operation of Universal Credit so that it is safe to be rolled out, which is exactly what is happening.”

Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens all backed the Scottish Government’s call for the roll-out to be halted.

Labour interim leader Alex Rowley said the announcement of enabling claimants to request a cash advance on the day they claim is a “sticking plaster solution” which fails to address the underlying problems, including people being driven into debt.

He said: “The Tory government has shown complete contempt to some of the most vulnerable in our society and seems willing to push ahead regardless of the misery they are going to inflict.”

Green MSP Alison Johnstone said the new benefit makes “absolutely no sense” and criticised the UK Government’s claims that the inbuilt delay for payment mimics being paid a salary, saying very few firms operated in this manner.

Image: Green MSP Alison Johnstone

Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton said benefits that harm those they are intended to assist, as universal credit appeared to, must be stopped and fixed.

Images: Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton