The charity Citizens Advice has called for a “root and branch overhaul” of Universal Credit, to ensure it delivers on it’s promise of being a fairer and simpler system of support to individuals and families in need.

It says that a half of all claimants who came to it for help with the new benefit are at risk of being evicted, owing to rent arrears and hardship. Since the initial roll out, the charity has helped over 190,000 people with UC issues. It acknowledges improvements in claimants’ circumstances as a result of changes made in 2017, but says these have “only made a dent in the problem, rather than fixed it.”

It summarises the main problems as – people face particular problems during the five-week wait for a first payment but financial problems last well beyond this; UC is paid in rigid ways that make it hard for some to budget and leaves little financial wriggle room; and deductions for debt repayments are common, affecting more than half of all claimants in September 2018.

Further changes are needed so that people are paid enough to live on and in a way that reflects people’s lives and how they budget. Citizens Advice is calling for the following actions:

• Make sure people can access adequate financial support at the beginning of their claim and look to improve Universal Credit design to reduce the wait;
• Ensure Universal Credit provides enough to live on by reviewing how benefit rates are set and ensuring deductions are manageable; and
• Help people to budget by designing Universal Credit around real lives, providing greater flexibility in how UC is paid and income is assessed.

By Patrick Mooney, editor