Universal Credit Plans Could Be Defeated in Parliament, Says Senior MP Frank Field

The national rollout of universal credit has been repeatedly delayed after MPs and charities issued dire warnings about the impact it was having on vulnerable people.

Labour, along with the Church of England and hundreds of charities, has called for the rollout to be halted completely, but ministers have vowed to push ahead with the policy and make sure they get it right.

The government's flagship universal credit policy will be defeated in Parliament unless ministers make further changes to protect vulnerable people, a senior MP, Frank Field has warned.

Frank Field MP, chairs the Commons work and pensions committee, said ministers risked a defeat in parliament unless they made further concessions.

The government has faced sustained pressure over fears about the impact the policy will have on millions of low-paid people. Over two hundred charities and faith groups have complained about UC.

Universal Credit is a benefit that moulds six benefits into one and is due to be rolled out in full nationally in July 2019 and is expected to take four years to fully implement.

Philip Hammond, the chancellor, announced a further £1bn of funding for the scheme in last week's Budget but critics said it would not be enough money to provide sufficient support to those who need it. 

Image: Alok Sharma, Employment Minister.

Mr Field has requested that ministers give the committee a copy of a plan for moving claimants over to the new system, but in correspondence published by the committee, Alok Sharma, the employment minister, said it would not be appropriate to "diverge from the standard process for the scrutiny of draft regulations" and delay their introduction.

Mr Field said: "Having got it so disastrously wrong with its first attempt, you'd think that the government would want to make sure its plans to move vulnerable people on to universal credit stand up to scrutiny.

"That hardly inspires confidence that it has really made the changes needed to ensure that its actions won't simply plunge people deeper into poverty.

Food Bank use is up by 40% in some areas. 

"If its new plans don't have enough safeguards to protect the vulnerable, then MPs will be left with no option but to vote them down."

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