Only 31,030 People Claiming Universal Credit, Figures Show – Welfare Weekly

Last Updated: February 20, 2015By

UCcost

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has discretely released dismal Universal Credit statistics on the same day as the latest unemployment figures are announced.

The figures reveal that there were just 31,030 people on Universal Credit by 8th January 2015.

This represents an increase of 17 per cent on the caseload compared to December 2014, but is still far short of the 1million (plus) originally promised by the Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith MP.

Read the full story on Welfare Weekly.

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10 Comments

  1. paulmac49 February 20, 2015 at 1:28 am - Reply

    Unbelievable and he is still telling lies

  2. Jeffery Davies February 20, 2015 at 6:41 am - Reply

    Unbelievable hes still in a job his book of misdeeds must be pretty thick on his peers has a politician his lies have made a mockery of our system

  3. Tim February 20, 2015 at 8:19 am - Reply

    As far as I know the only people receiving Universal Credit are fully-unemployed single people or childless couples. I don’t believe that any part-time or self-employed workers or people with children have yet become guinea pigs for Iain Duncan Smith’s abortive new benefit (actually dreamed up by dicks at the Centre for Social Justice, which Smith founded, and has included people like Frank Field, David Blunkett and Frazer Nelson from the Spectator as leading lights). To date, factually, the DWP has no functioning computer system necessary to administer the ever-changing real-time benefit system.

    What I don’t understand is why the media isn’t investigating and exposing the failure and impossibility of Universal Credit or the suffering caused to innocent millions by IDS’ draconian sanctions system. Or the fact that a majority of the million and a half jobs the Tories claim have been created are mostly low-paid, short-term and of short duration, with people bouncing between temporary employment and Jobseeker’s Allowance time after time.

    I honestly do not understand.

    I really, really don’t.

  4. NMac February 20, 2015 at 8:47 am - Reply

    IDS tells lies because he doesn’t know the meaning of truth. He is a proven dishonest liar.

  5. victedy February 20, 2015 at 9:32 am - Reply

    IDS telling lies surely not? This man is a Christian and practices his RC faith.

    Matthew 19:20-30 New International Version (NIV)

    Jesus said to him: “If you want to be perfect, go sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come be my follower.” When the young man heard this, he went away grieved, for he had many possessions. 

    Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

    • Mike Sivier February 20, 2015 at 12:25 pm - Reply

      How does any of that relate to Iain Duncan Smith?

      • fathomie February 20, 2015 at 2:24 pm - Reply

        I hope he’s being sarrcy. I hope.

  6. fathomie February 20, 2015 at 2:35 pm - Reply

    How does IDS keep getting away with it? Yes, the figures are up ‘17%’ but where did the initial roll out take place? In areas chosen specifically because they had low unemployment levels, and no ‘difficult’ clients. Yet they still took forever to get them signed up and on the system. As for IDS’s pathetic ‘there are always teething problems’, yes, there are with new IT. However, 99 times out of a 100 that is because the govt has under budgeted for the system. They hire private IT consultants at massive cost to the taxpayer, and these (surprise surprise) twiddle their thumbs for months on end knowing that the govt hasn’t, in it’s ideological belief in ‘private sector is better’, set a hard line in the sand for their contract to end. If you try and bring a system online without funding it properly, then it goes tits up. I’ve seen it happen, as I was part of the internal team at MAFF (many moons ago – under the last Tory govt) that set their new Sun system up. What happens then is, the ministers blame the senior Civil servants, have to pony up more dough, and escape all blame. Well, it you’re a Tory minister that is. I seem to remember several Labour ministers getting (deserved) flak for their depts IT balls ups.

  7. mey151 February 20, 2015 at 9:14 pm - Reply

    lies lies and more lies but this is apparently perfectly acceptable and legal if told in the houses of Parliament i guess theirs no hope for us mere mortals

    • Mike Sivier February 21, 2015 at 12:42 am - Reply

      It shouldn’t be acceptable at all! I wrote, years ago, about ‘contempt of Parliament’ – basically, an MP telling Parliament information they know to be false – and pointing out that Iain Duncan Smith should be expelled for having done so.

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