Meeting of the Parliament 03 October 2017
No.
On 14 March, the responsible minister, Damian Hinds MP, wrote to the Social Security Committee. He said:
“I accept there are cases where claimants wait longer than 5 to 6 weeks before they get the money they are entitled to. There are a number of reasons for this, including verification of housing costs”.
That is the problem that occurred in East Lothian, which Mr Gray has just mentioned.
From their responses to our Social Security Committee and to the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee, it is clear that DWP ministers and officials are aware of those problems and are working hard to address and minimise them.
Processes for verifying housing costs have been improved, budgeting advice is being provided in jobcentres, and benefit advances are available for new claimants. All that has delivered a real improvement in the timeliness of payments; the most recent statistics show that nearly 80 per cent of new claimants now receive their full payment on time.
Is that good enough? No, it is not. That is why the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions yesterday made two further commitments, both of which the minister sought to minimise in her remarks, in particular in her answer to Mr Balfour, but both of which we should welcome. First, the secretary of state said that claimants who want an advance payment will have to wait not six weeks but five days. Secondly, he said that if someone is in immediate need, the DWP will fast-track the payment so that they receive it the same day.
That is what the secretary of state said yesterday. That is not carrying on regardless. That is not putting the blinkers on, as the minister said. That is taking into account the evidence and making significant changes to the operation of universal credit so that it is safe to be rolled out, which is exactly what is happening.