The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced the support available for current benefit claimants affected by Coronavirus – COVID-19. They have also released the type of help available to self employed people and businesses affected by the outbreak. Please read the following statements carefully and if you are unsure about anything, contact your Work Coach or local jobcentre
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Jeremy Corbyn will tomorow announce that should Labour win a General Election, they will scrap the controvertial benefit Universal Credit as well as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). He will also pledge to end several other policies enacted by the Tories since 2010 that have led to the rise of poverty and inequality across the UK. Universal Credit
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This week saw the annual rise of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW). While a rise for low paid workers is always welcome, those aged under 25 may be feeling short changed. After all, they get less than their elders despite doing the same job. The same also applies to under 25s on benefits but they
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Disabled workers on Tax Credits can currently receive additional premiums, a Disabled Element (WE) and a Severe Disability Element (SDE). However, if they’re moved to Universal Credit there’s no provision for these and it will see claimants lose over £4,000 a year. There’s been much talk on the news about the loss of the Severe Disability Premium (SDP) for claimants
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 The DWP has revealed that claimants used to receiving the one-off Christmas Bonus on legacy benefits such as Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), are no longer entitled to the additional money once they’ve moved onto Universal Credit. The Christmas Bonus is a one-off, tax-free £10 payment made to people on certain benefits in the first week of December. It
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National foodbank charity The Trussell Trust have released their latest study on the effect Universal Credit has had foodbank referrals and other poverty factors in the UK. The comprehensive study is damning for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) as it shows that the new benefit is directly to blame for the rise in foodbank use. More worryingly it
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Today, Thursday 4th October 2018, is National Poetry Day. National Poetry Day was founded in 1994 by The Charity Forward Arts Foundation, whose mission is to celebrate excellence in poetry and increase its audience. Everyone is invited to join in, whether by organising events, displays, competitions or by simply posting favourite lines of poetry on social media using #nationalpoetryday. I received this powerful piece from
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The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have made a embarrassing U-turn that they haven’t publicized. All new claims for Universal Credit will not be accepted if the claimant is in receipt of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Daily Living Component. Instead the claimants will be placed on legacy benefits; Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) depending on
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Data released in a Freedom of Information request (FOI) by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) shows between 2010 and 2014, Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claimants with a mental health condition were 5 times as likely to be sanctioned than those with other health conditions. The FOI request submitted by Jack Dutton on whatdotheyknow.com asked for; “A graph showing the employment and
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The owner of a property management company in Devon has had to evict three tenants after the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) failed to make payments for claimants rent as part of Universal Credit. He has also been instructed by landlords not to rent to all benefit claimants so as not to cause a repeat of the issues that have already occurred. No longer accepting benefit
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A report by the Resolution Foundation, a think-tank that aims to tackle income inequality, has warned of the risks that “managed migration” aka moving current benefit claimants will bring. It lays out how this is make or break for the fledgling benefit. But it’s recommendations are the work of a fantasy writer in my opinion. The Resolution Foundation today published a
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The Department for Work and Pension (DWP) is using lies in social media ads to promote Universal Credit Just a quick aside from my usual articles as I’m seeing more and more promoted posts from the Department of Work and Pensions about Universal Credit. This fact alone is irresponsible because every working-age benefit claimant will eventually be transferred to Universal
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This is the first in what I’m hoping will be a series of posts giving a comprehensive breakdown of Universal Credit, how it works for claimants and agents, and some of the fundamental flaws causing problems.
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“You are the government, and we should know what you are doing and what you are spending.” This is what High Court Judge Justice Lewis said when ordering the Department for Work and Pensions – DWP to disclose details of a compensation settlement made to two men the High Court ruled were unlawfully discriminated against because of their disability.
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