Universal Credit: Leeds councillors and charities urge Government to scrap the five-week wait for payment

Benefit claimants fall into a spiral of debt because they receive their first payment more than a month after they’ve been accepted for Universal Credit, the letter, sent to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt this week, said.

Council leader James Lewis and the bosses of Voluntary Action Leeds, Leeds Women’s Aid and the chair of the city’s Citizen’s Advice branch are among the 21 people to have put their names to the call.

The letter also demands the government does more to improve the take-up of free school meals and to “remove or modernise” the right-to-buy scheme, which has been accused of depleting social housing stock. The letter said that the city’s welfare system is “Now under more pressure and strain than ever before”.

It added: “Demand for local services continues to rise, and after a decade of financial reductions there is very limited resilience or ability to absorb further cuts or cost increases. There is overwhelming demand for crisis support – including to the local welfare support scheme for help with food, fuel and essential items. Similar demand for food parcels, is up 300 per cent (excluding the pandemic when even higher).”

On the Universal Credit specifically, the letter said: “Evidence from advice and support organisations in Leeds demonstrates that the delay in payments creates debts for claimants at the outset of their claim and has left people struggling to afford food and essentials.

“Benefit deductions are seeing vital support being withheld from low income households – researchers at Leeds University recently found that between 40 per cent and 54 per cent of UC claimants across Leeds constituencies were subject to deductions in February 2022.”

The letter repeated the council’s calls for local government funding to be improved, as the local authority faces a £15m gap in its finances this year.

It also warned that charities and voluntary organisations across Leeds were struggling. Staff shortages, inflation and the “short-term nature” of government funding for the third sector were all cited as challenges for the sector.

The letter added: “As a collection of Leeds-based organisations we would welcome further dialogue with you about these areas and how we can overcome the current challenges this city is facing and realise the full potential of our people and place.”