Warning over roll-out of new benefit

COUNCILLOR Abdul Jabbar

OLDHAM Council warns benefit claimants to prepare for the Government's roll-out of Universal Credit.

Councillor Abdul Jabbar, Deputy Leader of Oldham Council, says they have now received confirmation the new system - which is intended to simplify the benefits system - will be rolled out fully across the town from April 26.

That means that residents will need to claim Universal Credit if they make a claim for the first time or they have a change in circumstances that means their existing claim for income-based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA), income-based Employment Support Allowance (ESA), Housing Benefit (HB), Working Tax Credits (WTC), Child Tax Credits (CTC) or Income Support (IS) has to be cancelled.

The rollout has been subject to concerns and was labelled as a "crisis" last month with the Work and Pensions Select Committee launching an investigation into it and the Child Poverty Action Group also expressing concerns.

But Oldham Council are advising that, while they share those concerns, residents will have to learn to apply in order to ensure they do not lose out on vital support.

Cllr Jabbar said: "We are aware there is significant debate about the rollout of Universal Credit. However, our priority is to try to support residents so our advice is that, regardless of any debate about Universal Credit, claimants are going to have to embrace the system if they want to continue to receive their payments.

"We have an extensive support network in place so I would urge people to make use of it. It is very important when you become eligible to apply straight away to ensure you still receive the support you need."

With Universal Credit applications having to be done exclusively online, Oldham Council has made additional technical support available within libraries, lifelong learning centres and in their face-to-face customer centre, Access Oldham, for people who are not regular computer users.

Staff have also received extensive training and briefing in order to ensure they are equipped to help.

All claimants will also need a personal bank account. With some residents still without a bank account, advice on setting up a bank account has now been made available on the council's website.

Visit www.oldham.gov.uk/universalcredit