Universal Credit: Tory Peer Criticises 'insane' Wait For Payments

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-41695664/universal-credit-tory-peer-criticises-insane-wait-for-payments

Not only did the Government lose the debate on this issue in the Commons this week, they are losing the argument, even amongst their own supporters.

I confidently expect Mrs May to make another U-turn early next week. Lets see what happens !

[ToraToraTora]

I can only assume that mikey and other Labour supporters want a government that never ever ever changes direction or responds to circumstances.

[jim360]

I'd like a government to get it right to start with.

Or is that too much to ask... ?

[mikey4444]

lol Jim !

Lets just think about why the Tories brought this in,
in the first place....it was to save money, and what better way of saving money than to deprive people of an income for 6 weeks. Some people have been waiting much longer than 6 weeks.

[New Judge]

"Lets just think about why the Tories brought this in, in the first place....it was to save money,..."

Indeed. The second most important responsibility of all governments (after the defence of the realm) is to try to reduce the amount of other people's money they choose to dole out.

[jim360]

I mean, my last post is a little tongue-in-cheek. But I think you're missing the point rather. The problems facing Universal Credit have been evident for years, so any "pause" or "U-turn" or "climbdown", or whatever other term you prefer to describe the government accepting that it's got it totally wrong, is arriving rather late so can't be praised as the government listening without also acknowledging that fact. In this particular case I think the correct response from those crying out for a change of direction would be one of relief, rather than praise, that finally -- and very late -- the government has paid proper attention to the situation rather than a series of token gestures.

Obviously that's preferable to a government that fixes on a particular course and refuses to listen to circumstances or opposition or reason, and in general I would clearly prefer a government to be flexible. They usually are in the end, but it seems that politicians tend to see flexibility as weakness and stubbornness as strength, and switch too abruptly from one to the other.

[mikey4444]

NJ....well, by making so any people descend into poverty, the Government has certainly done that !

[fiction-factory]

How quickly should people wait between claiming and between getting money, mikey? It's surely going to take some time to collect all the info to make sure the payments are right. I'm not sure anything less than 2-3 weeks is feasible. Would yous ay 4 weeks was unacceptable? The worst thing we could do is overpay or pay early leading to some people running out of money before the next pay cheque. Most employees have to wait until the end of the current or next month when sarting work- then they get a full month's pay. This doesn't seem much different to me. Are you saying employers should also pay people in advance?

[mikey4444]

FF....most people are now saying, even a lot of Tories, that the 6 week wait is unacceptable. It shouldn't be so difficult to pay some monies out in less time.

Rent arrears seem to be a problem, so couldn't the DWP continue to pay these direct to the Landlord, at least until the situation is resolved ?

But lets wait until next week, to see what rabbit Teresa manages to pull out of the hat.

[New Judge]

"Rent arrears seem to be a problem, so couldn't the DWP continue to pay these direct to the Landlord, at least until the situation is resolved ?"

The DWP stopped doing that some time ago, Mikey. The theory was that by paying rent to the tenants rather than the landlord it would give the recipient the opportunity to assume responsibility for their household budget themselves. In fact all it did was to give them the opportunity to spend their rent money on beer and fags.

[Islay]

It is difficult to pay benefits in less than 4 weeks in fact 4 weeks is a tight turn around.
thousands of applications are received each day, they need inputting and checks made, if a job has been left that employer needs contacting for the reason, if there are children involved evidence is needed.
For rental allowance, I believe checks are made there too.
Do you know how difficult it is to get an over payment back from someone on benefits even if it is their fault?
The know their rights they claim and bring the media into it as their children are starving!!!

[mikey4444]

NJ......."In fact all it did was to give them the opportunity to spend their rent money on beer and fags"

What a jaundiced view you have on life...disgraceful thing to say.

That, combined with your remarks that about "the Government shouldn't be building houses" show how out of touch with reality and ordinary people you are.

"Let them eat cake "

[New Judge]

Far from being out of touch with ordinary people, Mikey, I count myself among them. Mrs NJ and I own our own house. When we first bought it we each worked six days a week to keep up the mortgage (which at times reached 15% pa interest and was larger than we really wanted to take out). Meals out were a rare treat; holidays usually consisted of a week or ten days camping in the UK; we moved from a furnished flat (which we secured after much searching and was not in the area we wanted to live) and had little in the way of furniture apart from a bed, a cooker, a washing machine, a table and two chairs. What little spare time we had we spent doing up our house (though structurally sound it was in quite a bad way when we bought it). The garden was overgrown and had an Anderson Shelter at the bottom. I had to install central heating and refit the kitchen (when I say I, I mean I, me myself). We ran a fourteen year old mini for transport.

One or two of our friends managed to get a council tenancy. They enjoyed ultra-low rents, all their maintenance was provided for them, they had plenty of money (and time) to enjoy themselves. They chose their route, we chose ours. We now own a fairly expensive house in a nice area and they don’t.

For sure we live in better circumstances now and are comfortably off. But please don’t suggest I don’t know what “ordinary people” have to face.

As for my belief that the government should not build houses, I simply have a different view to you. Government sponsored housing costs an absolute fortune to provide and maintain. People need to take responsibility for their own lives and not expect the taxpayer to heavily subsidise a roof over their heads.