PM Is Told That Local Resident Is 'Living Off £20 A Week and Generosity Of Foodbanks

PRIME Minister Theresa May has been told that one Cleckheaton resident is reportedly living off just £20 a week due to Universal Credit delays.

Labour MP Tracy Brabin, who represents Batley and Spen, raised the issue of poverty in her constituency at today’s Prime Minister’s Question Time. In particular she focused on issues with Universal Credit payments.

She spoke of how Emma-Jayne Best, a Cleckheaton teacher and single mum, has been forced to use Batley Foodbank to feed her young son after being told she will have to wait over two months for her first Universal Credit payment.

She has been teaching for 20 years, but had to apply for universal credit after her temporary teaching contract came to an unexpected end in mid-December.

She was told she would not receive any payment in January as her final wage from the school came in December.

She contacted Tracy Brabin MP, and today the MP took Theresa May to task over the controversial system.

Batley and Spen MP Tracy Brabin said to the Prime Minister in the House of Commons: “This week I have been approached by a constituent Emma-Jayne Best, a single-mum and up until December was as a teacher.

“She's been told that she's going to have to wait over six weeks for her first payment and been denied a hardship loan - this means she is now living off £20 per week child-benefit and the charity of foodbanks.

“Can the Prime Minster tell us if this is how Universal Credit is supposed to work, and does she regret Emma-Jayne’s son now joining the nearly 9,000 children in poverty in Batley and Spen?"

Mrs May asked Mrs Brabin to write to her with details of the case.

Ms Brabin said: “Emma-Jayne is a hard-working single mum who has never had to apply for Government help in the past and the way she has been treated is disgusting.

“Universal Credit exists to help people in times of need but this broken system is failing Emma-Jayne and many, many more.

“When we raise these issues with the Government, they give us the same old lines and tell us changes have been made – but how is Emma-Jayne supposed to get by when she won’t have a penny coming in for at least two months?

“This unacceptable wait will plunge people into poverty and will leave some without a roof over their head.

“Emma-Jayne’s case is yet another example of how the current system is broken and the Government must pause and fix it before any more damage is done.

“I will continue to fight for Emma-Jayne to get what she is entitled to and I’ll do the same for any of my constituents whose lives are turned upside down by this flawed system.”

Last month Mrs Brabin raised the issue of Universal Credit in Parliament, expressing concerns it could lead to a rise in homelessness and the use of food banks in her constituency.