• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
  • Guest Content
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Mental health charity urges Department for Work & Pensions to delay Universal Credit roll-out

Today  the National Audit Office (NAO) has released a damning report into Universal Credit (UC) – with a focus on how the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has not done enough to protect and support ‘vulnerable claimants’ including disabled people and people with health conditions. The report says that because of the pressures of […]

Joe Mellor by Joe Mellor
2018-06-15 00:01
in News
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Today  the National Audit Office (NAO) has released a damning report into Universal Credit (UC) – with a focus on how the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has not done enough to protect and support ‘vulnerable claimants’ including disabled people and people with health conditions.

The report says that because of the pressures of delivering UC, staff ‘lacked the time and ability to identify claimants who needed additional support’ and ‘felt overwhelmed by the volume of claimants reporting health problems’. The report also says that the DWP’s resistance to making changes ‘gives the unhelpful impression of a Department that is unsympathetic to claimants.’

The NAO has recommended that the Government does not expand the roll out of Universal Credit to existing claims (including over 1m people with mental health problems currently receiving Employment and Support Allowance) until it has fixed problems with the system.

Paul Farmer, Chief Executive at Mind said: “Today’s report highlights once again how problematic the much-criticised roll-out of Universal Credit is. We have learnt from the roll-out of Work Capability Assessments (WCAs) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) that these major projects need to be taken gradually so that significant operational difficulties can be addressed before they impact negatively on vulnerable people. The DWP need to learn from this and pause the implementation of UC – it would be irresponsible to press ahead with the next stage while we are still seeing evidence that it isn’t being delivered safely for people with mental health problems.

“Changes to sanctions – cutting people’s benefits when they’re not able to do the things asked of them – means that even those who are severely unwell and at crisis point are still being required to look for work. We know that even the threat of sanctions can have a negative impact on people with mental health problems. They do nothing to help people move back into employment. We’ve also seen a real lack of support for people who aren’t well enough to manage an online claim or monthly payments. While some people with mental health problems are able to manage their money well, for others receiving one payment and being responsible for ensuring rent and bills are paid can be problematic. Taken together these problems are driving too many people into a cycle of debt, housing problems, and deteriorating mental health.

“The Government has to address the serious problems with the system before they begin to move over 1 million people with mental health problems onto Universal Credit next year.”

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/universal-credit-leading-to-unprecedented-levels-of-debt-and-people-stealing-to-survive/05/04/

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/universal-credit-leading-to-unprecedented-levels-of-debt-and-people-stealing-to-survive/05/04/

Content Protection by DMCA.com

RelatedPosts

South Park hilariously troll Andrew Tate in latest episode

Question Time audience asked if they support the Rwanda policy – only one person raises their hand

Tributes pour in as Ros Atkins presents Outside Source for final time

WATCH: Lady spends 2 mins absolutely eviscerating the Tories on EVERYTHING

Tags: headline

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending

Elevenses: Exposing the Tories’ Deepfake Illegal Immigration Bill

Elevenses: Rishi’s Finest Hour

Elevenses: Fear and Loathing in the New Conservatives

More from TLE

Experts share baking tips and recipes ahead of Alzheimer’s Society Cupcake Day

How To Make: Fruit Scones

Gossip – Arsenal target snub? Man City after Hearts youngster? Liverpool defender to Italy?

Sarah Everard was victim of ‘deception, kidnap, rape, strangulation, fire’

Lucky Numbers and Horoscopes for today 30 April 2022

Tories learn why you don’t stand in front of a blue screen the hard way

Appropriate Behaviour: An Interview with Desiree Akhavan

FT reader says £1 million is ‘not a big salary’

AOC finally finds herself an Irn-Bru after COP call for help

Listen up Amber Rudd: This is Progress

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Commercial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.