By Richard Johnstone | 19 June 2013
MPs today urged the Department for Work and Pensions to check what help will be available for benefit claimants when the internet-based Universal Credit is introduced later this year.
Examining the assistance provided by jobcentres, the Public Accounts Committee said the introduction of the new single benefit could mean a host of new claimants will need help. For example, people receiving Working Tax Credit and Housing Benefit, who might not have previously claimed through jobcentres, might need help with the new system, which will require them to claim online.
Payment of Universal Credit, which combines six existing benefits, is currently being tested in Ashton-under-Lyne. From October, all claimants will begin to be moved onto the single payment. Jobcentre staff will work alongside local councils to assist people who are unable to make online submissions.
The PAC report, Responding to change in jobcentres, said some claimants would inevitably find the system difficult to use and have problems with online applications.
The DWP had a responsibility to ensure that more vulnerable individuals were able to claim the benefits they were entitled to. It must ‘look closely’ at the planned support regime, the MPs said.
They welcomed the decision to allow jobcentres to determine the best way to support claimants in their local area.
However, chair Margaret Hodge warned this ‘local flexibility’ also opened up the possibility that claimants who were harder to help, such as those with disabilities, would get ‘parked’. The department’s own evaluation of jobcentre services found that Employment and Support Allowance claimants received a worse service than those on Jobseeker’s Allowance.
Ministers needed therefore to be clear about how the performance of individual jobcentres would be measured under Universal Credit, in particular how disabled claimants were supported, she added.
‘Jobcentres will have to cater for new claimant groups as a consequence of the introduction of Universal Credit. People will also increasingly manage benefit claims and job searches online. Some claimants will inevitably struggle, which will increase the burden on third parties such as libraries and Citizens Advice. But these services are themselves under severe pressure. ‘The DWP should make sure that vulnerable claimants have the help they need.’
Responding to the report, employment minister Mark Hoban said advisers in jobcentres were successfully helping people realise their aspiration to move off benefits and into work every day.
He added: ‘We're focused on making sure people get all the help and support they need from Jobcentre Plus to make the move into work, and it is encouraging that employment has risen by over 400,000 in the past year while the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance has been falling for the last seven months.’
