'In some cases, people are waiting up to six weeks before claims are processed....
'A Department for Work and Pensions
spokesman said: “Under Universal Credit, people are moving into work
faster and staying in work longer than under the old system. Our
research shows the majority of UC claimants are comfortable managing
their budgets. We’re working with local authorities and landlords to get
extra support to people who may find themselves in arrears. “We’ve been
rolling Universal Credit out gradually so we have time to ensure it
works in the right way.”''(2)
Déjà Vu?
"Waits as long as six weeks for benefit claims to be processed" and
"unacceptable" telephone helpline service standards are nothing new and
pre-date Universal Credit and even the 2010 General Election. In
November 2006
Community Care magazine reported:(3)
'Earlier this month, MPs slammed Jobcentre
Plus for leaving 21 million calls unanswered. Despite government claims
of improvements, stories of poor service continue to mount, Neil Bateman argues.
'Jobcentre Plus (JCP) is the arm of the Department for Work and
Pensions that administers benefits and job search activities or people
under 60. It was set up in 2001 as a key part of the government’s
welfare-to-work reforms, the aim being that people could obtain advice
and help on benefits and job-seeking under one roof.
'Since the
announcement in 2005 that DWP had to lose 30,000 staff over three years,
on top of other spending cuts in the department, concern has been
growing in the social care and welfare rights fields about the
deteriorating standards of service provided by JCP. There has been
concern about the effect on vulnerable customers, particularly care
leavers, those with sensory impairments and people with mental health
needs who have greatest difficulty with the JCP one-size-fits-all
approach to customer service.
'Welfare rights advisers and social care specialists identify problems with JCP, including:
● Delays in processing claims and changes of circumstances – six weeks is common – leaving people destitute.
● Communications between different parts of JCP “not being received”.
● Huge difficulty accessing JCP by phone.
● JCP staff insisting that all benefit claims are made by phone, when the law does not state this.'
Is Universal Credit helpline's under-resourcing aimed at destroying the economically vulnerable?
Where our 'experts by experience' would disagree with the CNJ's report is
that we believe the report should state,
'People wait a minimum
of six weeks for claims to be processed.'
Those delays are exacerbated
by the income fluctuations caused by means-tested processing of Universal Credit
claims in zero hours economies; and the DWP's deepening reliance on 'pay-as-you-go' call-centre service delivery that
penalises economically vulnerable people for their vulnerability and is arguably designed to discourage people claiming their entitlement.
'Telephone calls [to the Universal Credit helpline] can cost up to 55p a
minute from pay-as-you-go mobile phones, which are commonly used by
people with lower incomes. Wait times to speak with an adviser can be
very long – one claimant in Camden has reported that their phone bill
for a month was over £140, used almost entirely on calls to the DWP.”'
That is an all-too-common experience, leading in many cases to rent arrears and subsequent evictions. The reality is that such waits are now far more common and cannot be ignored, and also that 'austerity' cost-cutting in public services has eliminated council welfare rights units. As Neil Bateman has said in response to my sending him an earlier edition of this response to the CNJ article:
'If we thought things were bad back in 2006…'
This
sickening system leads more and more people to sickness and suicide,
while
the DWP refuses to take lessons from coroners courts,(5) and insists
instead that disability benefit claimants be reassessed every six months
as standard. If this system is 'fit for purpose', what is its purpose?
For those who have fallen
Against that backdrop, Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group
will be highlighting local benefits-related suicides on Monday 3 April
as follows:
- 12
Noon: Assemble outside Kilburn Jobcentre, Cambridge Avenue, NW6 5AH for
rally with
- local Labour MP Tulip Siddiq,
- PCS (jobcentre workers union)
National Executive Officer Zita Holbourne and
- Brent Trades Council
Executive Committee.
- 12:45: Black Flag march to Paddington Cemetry via Kilburn High Road.
- 13:30: Address at Leon Brumant graveside by
Dawn Butler MP and - RMT Political Officer Cat Cray.
- 14:00: Prince of Wales PH, Willesden Lane NW6 for Tea & Sandwiches.
