Stone condemns Universal Credit waiting time and urges Government to act: ‘People are being left without an income for five weeks’
Far north MP Jamie Stone raised his concern in parliament regarding the five-week wait for Universal Credit and asked the Government to urgently address it.
The MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, argued that this waiting time was particularly difficult for people currently receiving legacy benefits, such as Employment and Support Allowance, who are being migrated onto Universal Credit and will not receive an income for the five-week period.
Mr Stone explained the serious risk that this would pose to recipients of these benefits, who would likely become unable to pay for essential direct debits and become over-reliant on food banks.
Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation estimates that two in five families due to move onto Universal Credit will be unable to meet basic living costs during the five-week wait.
Responding to Mr Stone’s request, the Minister for Work and Pensions, Alice McGovern, told Mr Stone that she would consider his question a ‘submission to the Child Poverty Taskforce’ in tandem with concerns regarding the two-child benefit cap discussed earlier in the debate.
Commenting, Mr Stone said: “Through no fault of the claimants’ own, and by government design, there are people who are being left without an income for five weeks due to the way that Universal Credit is paid.
“This means that, unless they have savings, they are entirely reliant on discretionary funding and food banks until they get their payment. This is no joke. This risks direct debits going unpaid, causing the loss of essential services such as broadband.
“The Government need to look at this urgently – it is simply unsustainable.”