VULNERABLE residents in Barnsley have been facing financial difficulties for months due to a systematic error with Universal Credit - despite the government being aware of the issue - a Barnsley MP has claimed.
Barnsley East MP Stephanie Peacock said an error in the calculation of the housing element of Universal Credit had been brought to her attention by the Barnsley Citizen’s Advice Bureau.
If people who are claiming disability benefits have non-dependents living at their home then there should be no housing cost contribution deduction made for the non-dependents.
However, in many cases - all cases seen by the CAB - there has been a £72 deduction being made for each non-dependant living in the house and the person claiming benefits has therefore not being getting the benefits they are entitled to.
Depending how many non-dependents live in the house this means that sometimes there is a deduction of up to £144, £216 or even £288.
The CAB works to get these deductions overturned but it can sometimes be a lengthy process and takes time to be reviewed by the Department for Work and Pensions.
Not all of the cases in Barnsley are picked up on by the Bureau as they are usually only noticed when someone reaches out to them regarding another matter.
A further implication is that the Department for Work and Pensions then passes information to local authorities which is used to calculate council tax, this subsequently means that this incorrect deduction is also applied to people’s council tax reduction meaning that in addition to being underpaid Universal Credit by more than £70 a month for each non-dependant, they are also being given too little council tax support - a missing £7.65 per week per non-dependent.
Stephanie said this is not the fault of Barnsley Council as they can only use the information given to them by the Department for Work and Pensions.
To try and rectify this error back in February she asked the government questions to try and determine the extent of this error across the borough and was told that to receive this kind of information would incur ‘disproportionate costs’.
“Vulnerable people in Barnsley are being forced into greater financial distress due to the wilful neglect of this government and their disastrous Universal Credit policy,” she said.
“Time and time again, people are subject to erroneous deductions of vital funds they’re entitled to and depend on due to a systematic error with the Universal Credit system - one that the government have themselves acknowledged.
“Yet nearly nine months after I raised this problem and was assured a fix was imminent, the Tory government has yet to act and vulnerable claimants continue to suffer.
“They must take urgent action to immediately address this error.”
