Amber Rudd hints Universal Credit five-week wait could be slashed
The new Department for Work and Pensions boss said she was 'looking at what we can do to get cash into people's hands earlier'
AMBER Rudd has hinted she could rip up Universal Credit's five week wait for payments as part of plans to try get cash to in-need Brits quicker.
When asked about whether she would cut the wait for new claimants, the DWP boss said she was "looking at what we can do to get cash into people's hands earlier".
It comes after she promised to "fix" problems with the flagship benefits system and accepted there were areas in which it wasn't working.
She told the BBC today that the "biggest problem is getting cash into people's hands as soon as they need it".
Advance payments are available for Brits who can't wait five weeks for money, but that has to be paid back immediately out of their first UC sum.
Ms Rudd said her department would "make it clear to people they can get that upfront as soon as they apply" and then pay it back over 13 months.
On a damning report by a UN representative earlier this week, she promised to look at the concerns with women and single mums in particular.
But she blasted the findings as being too "political" and implying the system was there to negatively impact Brits.
"The aim is to help people when they need it, and help them into work," she told Radio 4's Today programme.
"Our motives are to be efficient and compassionate."
Ministers have already announced they will give an extra two weeks of several benefits to people on Universal Credit in future - but this won't come in until 2020.
At the moment people moving onto the new system get an extra two weeks of just housing benefit to help them cope with the switch.
Ms Rudd insisted: "The main message I want to give is that Universal Credit is a force for good and we will see how we can fix it."
The new benefits system has been beset with issues since it first began being rolled out in 2013.
One chippy owner said yesterday the new system was pushing Brits AWAY from work as people couldn't figure out whether they would be better off or not.
And earlier this week one desperate mum told how she was forced into sex work to get money for food after waiting for her first payment.
One in six Brits still aren't getting their first sum on time, the latest Universal Credit stats showed.
THE SUN SAYS: CREDIT TO HER
MANY MPs can’t imagine being truly broke.
We don’t mean a bit skint, having to max out the credit card or raid the savings account. We mean having literally no money and going hungry.
So it is good to see Amber Rudd, in her first week as Work and Pensions Secretary, consider slashing the five-week wait many claimants endure before their Universal Credit comes through.
We support the new benefits system. It is simpler and incentivises work.
But that hold-up is unfair and causes real hardship. Sort it, Amber.
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