Theresa May and the 55p-per-minute miscalculation
The biggest cock-up committed by Theresa May at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday has to have been over Universal Credit – and the cost of phoning in a claim.
First, let’s have a quick summary of the problem, courtesy of the Labour Party:
Under the Tories, a record number of working people are in poverty. Universal Credit is making matters worse. #PMQs pic.twitter.com/hzE7WJRO3f
— Debbie Abrahams MP (@Debbie_abrahams) October 11, 2017
Mrs May doesn’t see it that way, of course – and defended the benefit when Jeremy Corbyn challenged her about it.
Prime Minister totally blinkered on issue of Tories' bungled Universal Credit reform. And no empathy with people plunged into penury. #PMQs
— Richard Burgon MP (@RichardBurgon) October 11, 2017
So Mr Corbyn made the following point:
Watch Corbyn go for May over the "absurd" 55p a min Universal Credit helpline. Quite right, it's disgraceful. #PMQs pic.twitter.com/raLU4HJDzM
— Rachael Swindon (@Rachael_Swindon) October 11, 2017
At #PMQs the PM disgracefully rejects @jeremycorbyn's demand to make universal credit helpline free, which currently charges 55p per minute
— Chris Williamson (@DerbyChrisW) October 11, 2017
See, to Mrs May and her fellow Tories, 55p per minute is hardly worth considering. But £5.50 for a 10-minute call is a fortune if you’re unemployed and need to claim a benefit.
Tories avoid thinking about these things because they show up the flaws in Conservative thinking.
The rest of us don’t avoid thinking about these things, and Mrs May’s stuttered response (always a sign that they’re lying or don’t have anything good to say) provided plenty of opportunity for criticism:
Shame on you @theresa_may – People will be left destitute because of *your* Universal Credit roll out. End this 55p a minute rip-off now. pic.twitter.com/D2y0lRGbPw
— Rachael Swindon (@Rachael_Swindon) October 11, 2017
The Universal Credit helpline costs 55p a minute for those asking for help to claim it. @theresa_may won't commit to changing that. #PMQs
— Momentum 🌹 (@PeoplesMomentum) October 11, 2017
55p a minute helplines are a scandal for benefit claimant. May should just agree with Corbyn and axe the charge. She didn’t #PMQs
— Kevin Maguire (@Kevin_Maguire) October 11, 2017
55p per min to phone the #UniversalCredit helpline. @jeremycorbyn asks PM to make it free. She totally ignores the question! #PMQs……however….
Business Support Helpline: 0300 number
Invest Northern Ireland: 0800…
National Careers Service: 0800…
ONS (surveys): 0800..— Parliament View (@parliamentview) October 11, 2017
Corbyn says Universal Credit helpline costs 55p a minute, which is pretty awful however you look at it. PM doesn't promise to make it free.
— Kate McCann (@KateEMcCann) October 11, 2017
The situation was worsened – if that’s possible – by Tory minister for Cheese, Liz Truss, who was sent to the BBC’s Daily Politics and The World at One programmes to justify her boss’s gaffe:
"If it's a landline its cheaper, I understand, but many people know don't have a landline" @afneil "Why are you charging them 55p a min?" pic.twitter.com/xyf9zxdOkA
— BBC Daily Politics and Sunday Politics (@daily_politics) October 11, 2017
https://twitter.com/Barkercartoons/status/918143047174586368
Yes it was. You can see the moment she realised she was in trouble – her face drops around 40 seconds into the clip.
But she went on to make matters worse:
Liz Truss on #wato re #UC. Doesn't understand probs of people waiting for benefit or paying 55p pm to phone Shambles! DWP @Debbie_abrahams
— Kathy Brooks (@kathydelph) October 11, 2017
There was only one conclusion to reach, and here it is:
The DWP is only interested in the "ka-ching" of premium phone lines, it seems.
— Samuel Miller (@Hephaestus7) September 21, 2014
And here’s the clincher – it was left to BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg (possibly after a phone call from her friends in the Tory government) to point out that people can ask the DWP to call them back:
Also important for people to know they can ask for an immediate call back because of the expense
— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) October 11, 2017
Knowing the DWP, though, is there any guarantee that the call would be returned?
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Liz Untrustworthy
Greedy Tories even want to make money out of poor people who have the misfortune to have to get help for their Universal Credit.
Aboslute joke! Does she not realise you can’t just go into the jobcentre to get the advice? You HAVE to call UNiversal Credit to arrange an interview. You HAVE to call them for an advance. 37 minutes I was on the phone to them last week. 25 of them were on hold, so how can you ask them to call you back because of the expense when most of the expense is on hold?! Great money making idea. MAke claimants wait for 20 minutes and get your £10 for the pleasure of calling them. Disgusting, vile party who just want social cleansing
There is a simple answer to the 55p a minute charge, EMAIL! No matter what you want email them, if they say phone the 55p a minute line, reply with NOTICE OF PROSECUTION IMPENDING. Give them 7 days then start the proceedings, and don’t stop them until they pay up. I normally give them 14 days, but in this case drop it to 7 days, you want a paper trail and emails cause paper trails, even if they delete their copy you still have yours. Normally 01 to 03 numbers are included in the mobile operators free minutes but these are premium rates and don’t apply to mobile numbers.
I have success with this method on several occasions, from ESA to JSA and other benefits they always take the full time given to pay up or send the information requested. It is up to the claimant whether they give the DWP 7,14 or 21 days but where there is a time limit 7 days seems more than enough to me, as the DWP will use the without good cause rule, for any excuse they can, or they will say they have passed the time limit, normally 1 month from the date on the letter.
Not everybody has email.
Benefit claimants are in poverty. Many of them are extremely vulnerable.
So many of them are completely unable to do as you suggest.
Let’s do a BBC style reality check here…..
The call back still needs the initial call in the first place which can take a good 15 mins waiting for someone to connect so is £8.25.
That’s around 10% of the weekly JSA – the equivalent for May on her PM’s salary would be around £152 for the same call if she made it.
(but then again, she could claim it back on expenses)
Can someone find the delivery number for the premium rate number and publish it.
I wonder if May has ever eaten a spam sandwich with stale bread?
This is a red herring. The helpline isn’t free, but it’s only the standard landline charge – it costs no more to call the UC helpline than it does to call your mother. It only costs 55p a minute if you’re using the most expensive tariff from the most expensive mobile company (Vodafone). Most people will pay considerably less (under 5p a minute) and many will pay nothing at all. I’m no fan of UC or this government, but choice of telephone service is a personal matter.
I understand it is free in Wales- no idea how this happened. I have waited up to 30 minutes for a call to be answered but of course it is answered immediately in the first instance electronically and I presume the charge started running from then.