Labour asks Poole Housing Partnership for meeting

Labour has written to Poole Housing Partnership to ask for a meeting to discuss how they intend to react to the introduction of Universal Credit (UC), particularly in light of the letters they have sent to tenants on benefits, advising them to start saving to prepare for the switch to UC - when they could face an eight week wait before getting any payments. The fear is that many of these tenants could fall into arrears as result of the change, and may subsequently face eviction and homelessness.

Universal credit is the controversial new benefit system for working-age people, replacing six benefits and merging them into one payment. The six benefits are income support, income-based jobseeker's allowance, income-related employment and support allowance, housing benefit, child tax credit and working tax credit.

The benefit is paid in arrears, everyone has to wait at least four weeks, but reports of IT issues and other administrative problems, have left many facing delays of six to eight weeks for first payments.

Labour has called on the government to pause the introduction of UC until the problems with its implementation have been fixed.