Secretary of State response in Questions today shows DWP "appallingly out of step" with reality of life under "shambolic" Universal Credit says Field

Commenting on the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions response to his question in the House of Commons this afternoon on the impact of Universal Credit’s single household payment, Rt Hon Frank Field MP, Chair of the Committee, said:  “As one mother compellingly put it to the Committee, ‘he’ll wake up one morning with £1500 in his account and piss off with it, leaving us with nothing for weeks’. Women in my constituency have been rendered desperate enough by Universal Credit’s design and delivery to resort to prostitution. For the Department to suggest that ‘these ladies’ could just go to the JobCentre to get the ‘other jobs on offer’ betrays how appallingly out of step it is with the reality of life in this country under this shambolic welfare reform.”

The Committee recently reported on the increased risk of domestic abuse posed by Universal Credit’s single, monthly household payment and called on Government to support pilots of split payments going on in Scotland, with a view to assessing their suitability for the rest of the UK.  The Committee received a “totally inadequate” response from Government and has written back to the Scottish Government seeking further clarification.