The results of a survey to find out people’s experiences of the
benefit system during the coronavirus outbreak have today been
published by the Work and Pensions Committee.
More than 6,000 people responded to the Committee’s call for
submissions from people claiming benefits for the first time,
from existing claimants, and from people who need support but
have found they are unable to claim any benefits.
The summary of responses [attached] has
been divided into nine key themes which will inform the
Committee’s work and scrutiny of the DWP’s response to the
coronavirus outbreak.
The Committee is also publishing today a letter [also
attached] from the DWP Permanent Secretary in
response to questions from the Chair about Universal Credit
Advance payments and telephone waiting times.
Rt Hon MP, Chair of the Work and
Pensions Committee, said: “Hearing from people
with first-hand experience of the benefits system is a crucial
part of our scrutiny of the DWP. It’s clear from what we’ve heard
that DWP staff are working very hard and have made great strides
in adapting to the unprecedented strain on the benefits
system.
“But we’ve also heard from people who are still facing
serious difficulties. Disabled people have been particularly hard
hit: their living costs have gone up, but their benefits have
stayed the same. And there’s an urgent need for more clarity for
people who are self-employed. We hope that Ministers will look
carefully at what people have told us, and make
changes.
“It would be easier to understand how the system is working
in practice if DWP were to publish more information. We’ve asked
for quite basic facts—such as how long people are waiting on the
phone—but had no answers. Our survey has attempted to fill in
some of the gaps, but there is no substitute for the official
data. The Department must now follow the very clear instruction
of the UK Statistics Authority and make this data available to
the public.”
The Committee yesterday questioned
Ministers and officials from the DWP on how the
Department was handling the unprecedented increase in
applications for Universal Credit and its overall approach to
supporting people claiming benefits.
The UK Statistics Authority wrote
to DWP on 22 April to express concern that it had
not published some information about Universal Credit claims
during the coronavirus outbreak, despite having previously
announced—including to the Committee—that it would do so.
