Elmore hears back from Government about opposition to £20-per-week cut to Universal Credit

Elmore Community Services has heard back from the Government about its opposition to the £20-per-week cut to Universal Credit and concerns about the overall system. You can read the letter here.

Elmore has also heard back from two of Oxfordshire’s six MPs about the £20-per-week cut. Anneliese Dodds MP supported Elmore’s letter to the Government.

Elmore’s concerns about the impacts of the cut have grown since first writing to the Government and Oxfordshire’s MPs.

Universal Credit doesn’t provide enough money for people to pay their bills

Elmore has made the point that it’s hard to understand life without enough money if you haven’t ever experienced it. The social security system plays a critical role in meeting people’s basic needs, but instead of helping, it is getting in the way of people accessing support and things are set to get even worse.

The cost of living in Oxford, and across the county, continues to be one of the highest outside of London and the £20 top-up of Universal Credit had provided people with a better (but still not perfect) chance of making ends meet. And that’s just the situation today; things are getting worse with the news increasingly full of stories about the rising costs of food and essential goods.

UC isn’t accessible and Elmore helps people to make and maintain claims

The problem is bigger than money. UC isn’t accessible. It is ‘digital by default’ and its roll-out has highlighted that there are people who are not at ease or competent online. Many lack the ability to make and maintain a claim digitally.  Making and maintaining a claim requires a smartphone and a high level of skill with using apps, remembering usernames and passwords, and generally being organised. Without support, people without skills or equipment miss out through no fault of their own.  

Digital assistance has fallen to charities like Elmore, as well as public libraries and advice and support organisations. On behalf of clients, Elmore commits significant amounts of time and energy to grappling with the digital welfare net. When Elmore caseworkers try alternative routes such as helplines, they can experience long waiting times, often more than an hour.

UC eligibility is based on flawed assumptions

Everyone who claims UC is assumed to be fit and willing to work until proven otherwise using their own assessment procedure, no matter how severe their health problems.  This is different from Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), which assumed that the claimant had some limitations in the work they could do from the outset. Furthermore, information from a previous claim (for example, for ESA) is not transferred to the UC system.  For example, someone may have spent a year passing a ‘right to reside’ and/or ‘habitual residence’ tests if they went to appeal during their ESA claim.  When they have to claim Universal Credit due to the ongoing enforced ‘migration’ of benefits they would have to go through these tests again. 

Tom Hayes, Chief Executive of Elmore Community Services, said: “In October 2021 Elmore expressed concerns that the Government would be making life harder by making the £20-per-week cut to Universal Credit. The £20 cut has come on top of insufficient funding, rising costs, and longstanding issues. Without well-funded support, there is no financial safety net for vulnerable and disadvantaged members of our society to depend upon.

The response from the Government is a defence of the £20 cut. Like the cut itself, the response is lacking. Elmore will continue to campaign for a more accessible and better funded social security net.”