MSE News: Benefits shake-up to introduce Universal Credits

A question about : MSE News: Benefits shake-up to introduce Universal Credits

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

The Government has pledged the biggest overhaul of welfare in 60 years, saying 2.7m households will better off ...

Read the full story:
Benefits shake-up to introduce Universal Credits

Best answers:

• "better off"
  Yeah, until you read the fine print probably!
  "anyone over 90 with a child under 2 qualifies " or something like that most likely!
• DLA is to be abolished and replaced by a new form of Personal Payments...My DLA award was 'indefinite' because the decision-maker (eventually) agreed that my condition is unlikely to ever improve. I wonder if all claimants in my situation will automatically be passed for the new payments? Somehow I doubt it. It looks like another opportunity for the government to move the goalposts and take money away from those who need it most.
• an increase of 3.13% for Jobseekers, so thats actually a decrease in real terms?
• "Our reforms will end the absurdity of a system where people too often get rewarded for doing the wrong thing, and those who strive to do the best by their families get penalised."
  Thank goodness sense has been seen!
• Better off? Debatable.
  I've just worked out that we are currently Ј35/week better off with me working than staying at home with Marley & the littl'un. I have to spend Ј15/wk of that on travel and lunch (bring my own).
  So I am getting out of bed for Ј4 every day. The way I felt this morning, I could happily have sacrified today's Ј4 for the chance of sleeping a little longer.
• Document about Personal Payments (they feel regular reassessments are a good thing):
  www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dla-reform-wr2011-ia.pdf
  Universal Credits:
  https://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/universal...-wr2011-ia.pdf
  Those who have been wondering about the capital rules coming in for tax credits - this is clearly something they've thought of and want to do - from the document:
  "[Universal Credit will apply] a capital rule to child elements for people with capital of more than Ј16,000."
  "The households with lower entitlements will tend to be claimants who are in one or more of the following categories;
  • Those in receipt of a large amount of WTC;
  • Those who do not receive HB/CTB;
  • Those who have a low disregard;
  •Households with substantial amounts of capital."
• Well I would stay in bed, why do you get up ?
• Any change is welcome however I would have liked to see a more hardline approach. I won't say this often however I think the US system has got it right.
  Quote:
• I was unemployed for about 4 months in 2010 after loosing a job. I was about to be made homeless also, but because i did not have kids i was not entitled to any help with accomodation or any other benefit appart from JSA.
  So my view is that single parents with children should get nothing as this this the root cause of the problem, not those looking for work.
  I found a job and relocated in the space of 4 months when there are apparantly no jobs. What a joke as there is loads of work out there if you are prepaired to actually look. The reason it took me this long was down to the fact that i had zero funds. I had to crash at frends houses and did not know where my next meal was comming from.
  All I needed was help in the short term but had none. I even did not get any JSA money until about a week before starting my new job.
• I have just discovered something quite alarming under the new plans... The following is buried in the text of the white paper:
  "For Universal Credit we are considering introducing a floor of assumed income from self employment for those registering as such. The floor will be set at the National Minimum wage for the reported hours; clearly profits above this limit may be received and reported."
  It's rare for many starter businesses to get anywhere near the tax threshold in net profit for the first few years - many in fact make a loss.
  So if a person stated they were working 40 hours - then they would assume they were earning 40 x Ј5.93 - whereas in fact they could be netting way less than that?
  Under the current system you are entitled to the full credit if you are single and working over 30 hours / week up to the tax threshold - whereupon it tapers off.
  Am I missing something here - do they not state 'No-one will be worse off in work under the new system'?
  'Assumed income'. What an absolute joke. Are they serious??? What about the actual income
• Let me put it like this if i may,
  Two Skeletons bump into each other and one Skeleton turns and says to the other,
  "Tell me,did you die before or after the cuts to the benefits??
  The other one replies"No, I'm still alive".
• Universal credit is an excellent idea on paper. When we first read the White paper in November I have to say I thought what an excellent idea. But I seriously can't see it being done by 2013, and widespread by 2017.
  They expect to take on all new hb cases by oct 2013,I just can't see it happening. Dwp staff have to be trained to assess it. They now also want to take ctb as well from la's.
  Nice idea, I lose my job because of it. But if it works then it will really reduce fraud which has to be a good thing
• I'm not familiar with the new proposals as it relates to self-employment.
  Perhaps this new threshold has been imposed because of the number of people who set up rather rotten 'businesses' which are no more than pocket money hobbies in order to be eligible for tax credits. I'm thinking of the amount of posts I see on this forum from people being urged towards setting up an 'ebay' or catalogue commission selling job like Avon, being instructed that even if they don't make a profit, it'll simply mean that they trouser tax credits.
  There have been discussion on this forum about how tax credits tempt many into becoming self-employed who have no true entreprenurial impulse, suggestions that it encourages pretty much 'bogus' businesses where the person doesn't really put any effort into business planning, marketing their services, finding clients or increasing turnover because its not worth it from a benefit claimant perspective.
  We have posts from tax credit recipients who earn sometimes less than pound or two per hour, after running costs, for their alleged 16 hour per week self-employment in child care, taxi driving and similar.