Neil Couling, Director General for the Universal Credit Programme, gave evidence to the Scottish Parliament on 15/12/2016(watch the video here, or read the transcript).
Here are some of the main points-
Implied and Explicit Consent- 'Implied Consent' is possible for the live service areas(most of the country). It is not possible in the full service/ digital service areas because here the claimant should have full access to everything the DWP worker would have. The claimant can opt to put online explicit consent for a representative to act on their behalf. The DWP will then require that the representative is in the room with the client when they call or will set up a three way conversation to con rm that consent has been given.
For example- ‘..If the claimant would like the adviser to speak for them, what they need to do is simple: they just put in the journal,..I would like my adviser, Neil Couling, to speak to you about this. We will then speak to the adviser. We might check back that the person is in the room with the adviser. If they are not in the room, we will set up a three- way telephone call.’
Sanctions- There are no target for sanctions. Unlike JSA, if the client doesn't turn up for interview, the whole of the UC claim isn't stopped if a claimant is sanctioned.
Arrears- Some claimants think they don't have housing costs because they think Housing Bene t will still be payable. Arrears tend to come down if after the first 3 months.
Housing Costs- 90% of claims are paid housing costs in the first assessment period.
Landlord Portal- A landlord portal is being developed(with the National Housing Federation) which should
hopefully be live by October 2017(prototype being worked on).
Nos. on UC- 7 million will eventually be on Universal Credit with 3 million of those working.
In work conditionality- This is not national but being piloted along with the DWP's overall policy of 'test and learn'.
Latest National Universal Credit Roll Out Schedule released- the government has release a full national timetable of the rollout of the digital (full) service areas by job centre area.
At present, in most areas, only simple single job seeking claims are accepted for Universal Credit. The guide gives the dates when the government says all types of new claims will be taken(that would have previously been for the six legacy benefits Job Seekers Allowance (IB), Employment and Support Allowance(IR), Income Support, Housing Bene t and both Tax Credits).
Click here or on the image to access the guide(from our members' area).
Nos. on UC- The number of people on Universal Credit rose to 420,000 in November 2016. 41% are in employment.