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Universal Credit: charity launches complaint over DWP ad campaign
An anti-poverty charity has lodged an official complaint over a government-backed Universal Credit ad campaign, claiming the content is “deliberately misleading”.
Zacchaeus 2000 Trust (Z2K) has written to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) arguing the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) paid-for articles in the Metro newspaper are “propagandist”.
The DWP launched a nine-week campaign in the Metro on 22 May titled, “Universal Credit Uncovered”, which seeks to dispel “myths” about the welfare system.
“We believe these adverts to be dangerous in their disingenuousness and could lead to people who are not better off on Universal Credit, than they were on their old legacy benefits, being seriously harmed and at risk of living with not enough income for basic provisions, such as food,” Z2K said in its complaint.
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It pointed to one excerpt which claims it is a myth that “you have to wait five weeks to get any money on Universal Credit” and adds: “Fact: if you need money, your job centre will urgently pay you an advance.”
The charity argued this statement breaches ASA rules by failing to make clear that the advances must be paid back over several months taken from future benefit payments.
Z2K also took issue with the advertorials’ claim that it is a “myth” that Universal Credit makes it harder to pay the rent on time.
It argued that this is true because people “must now take responsibility for doing it themselves, which takes more planning” even if they apply for housing payments to be made directly to their landlords.
And it said a section rejecting the “myth” that “Universal Credit doesn’t work” with “fact: it does. People move into work faster on Universal Credit than they did on the old system” omits “the thousands of claimants universal credit does not ‘work for’ but instead has driven them into debt, rent arrears, foodbanks and homelessness”.
The complaint also suggested that the articles are not clear enough about being produced by the DWP, particularly to an audience “that, by its very nature of being an audience that is claiming benefits, will have a disproportionately higher number of people who are sick and disabled”.
The articles do not include DWP branding, but state “advertising feature from the Department for Work and Pensions” in the page header.
A spokesperson for the DWP said: “It is important people know about the benefits available to them, and we regularly advertise Universal Credit.
“All our advertising abides by the strict guidelines set by the Advertising Standards Authority.”
The department added that it consulted with the ASA before launching the campaign.
Raji Hunjan, chief executive at Z2K, is chair of London mayor Sadiq Khan’s new housing panel, which unveiled its 15 member organisations today.
