The Government’s flagship benefit scheme Universal Credit has the lowest claimant satisfaction rates of any welfare benefit, according to an official survey

One in 10 claimants told the Department for Work and Pensions they are “very dissatisfied” with their experience of UC and they reported significant levels of discontent with the quality and effectiveness of the service they received.

Other findings from the survey include:

• Nearly one in five claimants said they had reported difficulties in their dealings with DWP. Asked later whether their dealings had been resolved, more than half (55 per cent) said they had not;
• Almost a fifth of claimants reported they were given incorrect information when they called DWP staff, while a similar proportion felt staff “did not understand their circumstances”;
• Overall satisfaction with UC fell from 83 to 80 per cent in 2017/18; and
• One in six respondents said they did not have internet access at home, suggesting they relied on computers in libraries, cafes or jobcentres to apply for, or update their claim for, the primarily online benefit.

At the time of the survey there were about 600,000 UC claimants. The results equate to approximately 114,000 “dissatisfied” claimants, of whom 60,000 were “very dissatisfied”. There are now about 1.6 million claimants and it is expected this will rise to around 7 million by 2023.

Campaigners say the results show there are still “fundamental problems” with UC and called for it to be closed to new claims while the issues are fixed.

Alison Garnham, chief executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, said: “The Work and Pensions Secretary has said she is listening to concerns about how UC plays out on the ground. Will she listen to the many people who responded to this survey to report ongoing problems?”

A DWP spokesman said: “Overall satisfaction among claimants has remained consistently high over the last three years. Four out of five claimants are satisfied with the support they received when claiming UC and this survey plays a vital role in helping us improve this number even more.”

By Patrick Mooney, editor