Universal Credit roll out is a disaster waiting to happen, warns council leader Richard Farnell

Councillor Richard Farnell, leader of Rochdale Borough Council

The expansion of Universal Credit is a ‘disaster waiting to happen’ for Rochdale folk, warns council leader Richard Farnell.

His wanring comes following a recent published report by CAB which said the system has many problems which have not been solved yet, including the long waiting times for payments.

The CAB analysed over 50,000 cases where it had helped people with their debt problems and found for those on Universal Credit 79% had priority debt, such as rent or Council Tax.

This compared to 69% on legacy benefits such as Jobseekers Allowance or Housing Benefit.

It has been estimated that this equates to over 10,000 people across the borough who will be struggling financially more than ever when Universal Credit is introduced here in six months ‘ time.

An angry Councillor Farnell said: “Now these findings have come to light, surely the least the government can do is pause the rollout until the concerns are tackled.

“At the very least they should wait to make sure anyone who needs it gets a payment within two weeks.

"A staggering two in five claimants had no money available to pay creditors because their essential living costs are more than their income, CAB said.

“If the government continues to expand Universal Credit as it plans to, it will risk putting Rochdale families into a spiral of debt, placing even greater strain on scarce public services.

“This will also lead to these poor people facing visits from bailiffs if the bills can’t be paid.

“I call upon the government to protect these households by pausing Universal Credit’s roll out and ensure that everyone has access to the support they need to adapt to this new system.”