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Conservative backbenchers suggest government UC climbdown
Conservative backbench MPs have suggested that the government might be willing to reduce the six-week wait for a first Universal Credit payment to four weeks.
Stephen McPartland MP said in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Week in Westminster that secretary of state for work and pensions David Gauke “has found it very difficult to justify inside the parliamentary party why they need to defend a six-week wait”, adding “we’re very very close to getting a resolution”.
He said: “I think people accept you have to be paid in arrears. A lot of these people on Universal Credit will be in work so they will get paid in arrears themselves, so we would like to see it set down to four weeks, which is what you would have when you went into work and got a salary.”
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Johnny Mercer MP, who recently met with Theresa May the night before an opposition debate in parliament on a pause in the roll-out of Universal Credit, said: “I’m confident that this government is listening. If they weren’t I would say something about it.
“If the government wasn’t working hard to make these adjustments, to make this actually work, I would say something about it.”
Last week’s opposition debate resulted in a unanimous vote in support of pausing the welfare reform after Conservative MPs were told to abstain from the vote.
The government has already announced a climbdown on charging up to 55p per minute for the Universal Credit helpline. Instead the line will be free of charge within the next month.
The Department for Work and Pensions has been approached for comment.
