On Wednesday, the Chancellor Philip Hammond delivered his spring statement to update us on the state of the UK economy. On benefits, he resisted cross party calls to scrap the benefit freeze early. However, in an Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) report accompanying the statement, it was revealed that Amber Rudd’s recent announcements were not for compassion but due to
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An answer to a written question in the House of Lords has revealed that 16% of new Universal Credit claims still aren’t paid on time. The government also revealed that 6% of all claims aren’tbeing paid to claimant when they should. With the pilot of managed migration starting later in the year, not to mention the addition of mixed age
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Work and Pensions Secretary, Amber Rudd has caused upset and shock by saying the 5 week wait for claimant’s first Universal Credit payment is acceptable. Unveiling a raft of “supposed” new announcements for Universal Credit, Rudd said of the 5 week period claimants have to wait; “at the moment I’m satisfied with what we’ve got”. This will come as a
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Yesterday there was much coverage in the media of Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd’s announcement that the next process in the roll-out of Universal Credit would be halted. What they all failed to mention is that Esther McVey had announced the same thing months ago. The media literally did the Tories a favour by giving the impression that they
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The New Year’s Honours list was announced this week and as usual there are some questionable recipients. In what can only be seen as a slap in the face to the victims of austerity, 15 Members of the Department for Work and Pensions will receive a gong from the Queen. The DWP has been under intense pressure in 2018 over
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Former Work and Pensions Secretary and architect of Universal Credit, Iain Duncan Smith may have broken rules that require MPs to register their financial interests. Despite being a company director for the think tank he founded, it does not appear on his register of financial interests. Duncan Smith is well known to have founded the think tank; The Centre for
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There was much celebration amongst benefit claimants on Thursday when Esther McVey resigned and Work and Pensions Secretary. Her claim that it was over brexit raised eyebrows, this is due to the fact that she knew a damning UN report was due the next day. However, that celebration was short lived when Theresa May appointed disgraced former Home Secretary Amber Rudd
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In an answer to a written question, The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has revealed that welfare reforms are leaving benefit claimants £65 short when it comes to paying their rent. The question by Labour MP Karen Buck, asked for “the average shortfall between housing benefit and rent of people affected by the benefit cap.” However, DWP Minister Justin
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Esther McVey has attacked me on Twitter after I uncovered that her identity has been used fraudulently. I was carrying out research for an article for Evolve Politics related to MPs financial interests. This involved cross checking the Register of Members Financial Interests and details on Companies House. I was doing this to see if any MPs hadn’t declared a
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A new report released by Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) has blamed the UK government’s welfare reforms for a rise in clients seeking help for rent arrears on. The report comes the day after the government whipped their MPs to block the release of papers showing how Universal Credit will impact families. The report starts by saying that in Scotland, the
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Labour will use their opposition day debate today, to attempt and force Esther McVey and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to disclose any papers showing what impact Universal Credit will have on households currently on legacy benefits when they are moved to the new system next year. The party plan to use their opposition day debate today,
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Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey has caused outrage by suggesting that women on Universal Credit who’ve been driven to prostitution should get a job. Ms McVey was responding to a point raised by the Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, Frank Field MP. The former Labour MP who is currently sitting as an Independent, shared a shocking consequence
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Margaret Greenwood MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, has written to the Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey, to demand the removal of gagging clauses stopping charities from speaking out on Universal Credit, saying: “All civil society organisations… must have the right to speak out about this injustice.” I previously wrote about Citizens Advice and how they cannot be trusted
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A Freedom of Information request has shown that since Personal Independence Payment (PIP) came into being in 2013, over two-thirds of cases that go to Tribunal result in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) decision being overturned. This will come as no surprise as the number of decisions emerging in favour of the claimant has always been high. What
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