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SFHA calls for Universal Credit pause
The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) is calling for the rollout of Universal Credit to be paused, to allow time for improvements to be made to the major welfare change.
The SFHA’s call for a pause came ahead of Esther McVey, secretary of state for work and pensions, appearing before the Scottish Parliament’s Social Security Committee today.
Under the Scotland Act 2016, the ability to vary the housing part of Universal Credit was devolved to the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Government committed to using these powers to abolish the bedroom tax.
Despite negotiations taking place with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the Scottish Government recently said the abolishment of the bedroom tax will be delayed by more than a year until at least May 2020, because of delays to the UK government rolling out Universal Credit.
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Negotiators had hoped that system changes would be in place by April 2019, ahead of the migration of all claimants to Universal Credit, currently planned to start in July 2019. A UK government spokesperson said it had been “very clear” that the “potential” 2019 date was “subject to detailed feasibility”.
The SFHA is concerned that changes to the Universal Credit system will not go far enough to support claimants during the transition.
Sally Thomas, chief executive of the SFHA, said: “The switch from using discretionary housing payments for mitigating the bedroom tax to its full abolition needs to be completed before households move to Universal Credit. Trying to make the switch in 2020, when in the middle of moving households over to the new system, is fraught with difficulty.”
A DWP spokesperson said: “Universal Credit is helping people improve their lives; people are moving into work faster and staying in work longer than under the old system.
“We will continue to work closely with the Scottish Government to support them on the introduction of their new powers to ensure that the transition is as smooth as possible.”
