BENEFITS TO BE PAID MONTHLY
Many benefits are to be paid less frequently, in a move ministers say will better prepare jobless claimants for the world of work.
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Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith wants the new Universal Credit to be delivered monthly, replacing mainly fortnightly payments.
The change is part of a raft of extra detail about the implementation of a major shake-up of the system which is being unveiled as the House of Lords starts to examine the legislation.
At the centre of the legislation is the creation of a new Universal Credit to replace the current complex range of existing payments such as child tax credit, housing benefit and income support. The Universal Credit also imposes tougher sanctions on people who refuse work and replaces the Disability Living Allowance with a new Personal Independence Payment.
The Children’s Society warned recently that a planned cap on the total benefits households can claim could make more than 80,000 children homeless and push many thousands more into poverty.
That came after evidence emerged of concern at a very senior level within the Department of Communities and Local Government that the move risked making 40,000 families homeless.
The Government says the aim of the Welfare Reform Bill is to “make work pay” and clamp down hard on benefit cheats – a cause Prime Minister David Cameron has personally championed.
Eyullahemaye Henry
Operational & Information
What a stupid idea. How on Earth is paying benefits monthly going to prepare people for work, when most of the jobs available will be low paid posts offering weekly wages and not monthly salaries?
It’s difficult enough managing when you’ve got a new claim or different circumstances, sometimes going weeks on end without any money – this new proposal will just make things worse.
They just don’t have a clue.