‘Nothing to gain’ for families on new credit

The TUC and Child Poverty Action Group said the new single benefit payment, now being trialled in parts of the country before being introduced across the UK, was in danger of failing to deliver on its key objectives.

The two groups said that although Universal Credit will improve some aspects of the benefits system, its ability to lift families out of poverty and remove barriers to working will be “severely undermined” by the Government’s wider tax credit and benefit changes.

Nine out of 10 families will gain nothing overall from its introduction, with any benefits offset by recent social security cuts, it was claimed. Requiring people to claim online and make joint claims with their partners will make the process more complicated at a time when advice services are being cut, said the report.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Universal Credit is not bad in principle, but taken together with the other benefit changes introduced by the Government, it will make most people worse off.

“For all the claims of simplicity, in practice it is such a complex system that the Government has been forced to delay its roll-out.

“We are also concerned at the impact Universal Credit will have on disabled workers, as well as its plans to take away benefits from second earners as soon as they find work.

“Ministers must not turn a blind eye to these problems or Universal Credit will fail to help those very people it has been designed to support. ”

Child Poverty Action Group chief executive Alison Garnham said: “Many of Universal Credit’s shortcomings can be fixed but if the Government wants to reduce poverty, it needs to take a long, hard look at its broader policies rather than expect Universal Credit to save the day.”