Meeting of the Parliament 06 November 2018
Let me make some progress.
They will still not get their money after that five-week wait.
I note that, in certain circumstances, the DWP can provide an advance payment, but that is a loan that must be paid back. Claimants are often not aware of that potential advance. When they inquire, they are asked whether they can borrow money from family or friends or whether there are other sources from which they can get money. What a question to ask one of my constituents. Delay a vulnerable family’s cash or deny them their cash and then suggest that they lean on others, who may well be experiencing poverty, too. Further, some “other sources” of income in a community charge eye-watering interest rates. After delaying unemployed people’s benefits, are we asking them to seek a payday loan when they are out of work? Worse still, there are some very unsavoury people out there and desperate constituents could ask them for an advance of money when the DWP advises them to go to “other sources” before getting anything from it. Forty per cent of the claimants who have to wait at least five weeks do not receive an advance loan. Some may have personal funds or have family members who can afford to assist, but I worry about where the others are turning—