Single-household payments of Universal Credit are failing victims of domestic abuse and playing into the hands of a ‘controlling, abusive partner’, MPs warn
THE single-household payments of Universal Credit are failing the victims of domestic abuse and playing into the hands of a “controlling, abusive partner”, MPs have warned.
The Work and Pensions Select Committee say Jobcentre staff are not being given enough training to deal with problems with the Government's flagship welfare programme.
Its chair Frank Field says that it shows “another disturbing front is opening up” in the policy’s botched implementation.
The committee say evidence from frontline staff showed they do not feel properly equipped to deal with issues such as domestic abuse.
Reports from the Public and Commercial Services union to them showed some training was ";sporadic and patchy".
It forms part of an investigation by MPs into unintended consequences of paying the benefit by household and not by person.
The union's evidence said: "For claimants still in the household experiencing financial controlling abuse, a split payment of Universal Credit is not necessarily helpful or indeed realistic or safe to implement.
"The claimant would need to be able to 'explain' the reason for a split payment to the abusive partner, and would need to set up their own bank account - difficult in itself - in order to receive the money.
"A split payment of the UC personal allowance element also causes any UC rent element to be paid directly to the landlord which potentially ties the claimant to the household further."
And Labour MP Mr Field said: "Another disturbing front is opening up in the implementation of the Government's flagship welfare reform policy Universal Credit.
"Up until now, the focus has been on how brutally some constituents are treated once they are pushed on to Universal Credit.
"Now we have the views from the other side of the counter, of those civil servants who try loyally to carry out the Government's wishes.
"The lack of training and expertise at the front line is a thread running through all of our benefits inquiries, and now it is becoming apparent to the public how this is leaving them unprepared to deal with the most vulnerable claimants."
In response a Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: "Abuse in any form is completely unacceptable and that is why we make sure all our staff are well trained and supported to help vulnerable people.
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"We have specialist teams in every Jobcentre including those who can support victims of domestic violence and staff do everything they can to make sure people fleeing domestic abuse get the help they need as quickly as possible.
"That includes enabling urgent payments to be made for collection within two to three hours and transferring a person's claim to a different Jobcentre.
"Previous legacy benefits were also paid to one account and there's no evidence that paying into one account increases the risk of domestic violence."