MPs to debate pause in Universal Credit roll-out

Labour has secured an opposition day debate to take place next Wednesday.

Universal Credit has come in for increasingly intense criticism from a number of Conservative MPs alongside Labour colleagues in recent weeks as the roll-out continues and more people are affected.

Some claimants have said they are struggling with the six-week wait before their first Universal Credit payment and falling into rent arrears. The government recently responded to the growing criticism of the roll-out by pledging to make it easier for claimants to get advance payments during the six-week wait, which they then have to pay back through reduced monthly Universal Credit payments.