Benefits payments delay slammed

Oldham’ Lib-Dem leader Councillor Howard Sykes, has expressed his disappointment that the Government will make Universal Credit claimants wait seven days for their payment rather than three.

He said: “Last October, I wrote to the Secretary of the Social Security Advisory Committee and objected when a seven-day wait period was proposed for claimants of job Seekers’ Allowance and Employment Support Allowance.

“Despite most of the respondents to the latest consultation indicating they too were opposed to the changes, the Secretary of State has just advised the committee he has decided to go ahead anyway.

“This latest proposal will have its greatest effect in Oldham. Oldham was a pathfinder area for Universal Credit. We have almost 4,500 claimants, the largest number in the UK; and this figure is steadily increasing. New claimants will continue to suffer financial loss as a result of these changes.

“Many claimants are under the age of 25 and unlikely to be entitled to redundancy payments if they are claiming after leaving employment. They may therefore have no immediate source of ready cash to meet day-to-day needs. If someone is unemployed they should be entitled to receive their benefits from day one — no ifs, no buts.”