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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent

Automated UK welfare system needs more human contact, ministers warned

United Kingdom DWP
Mother and child photographed from behind
Researchers found the problems particularly affected single mothers working part-time. Photograph: Folio Images/Alamy

More human contact is needed in the UK’s automated welfare system, ministers have been warned, as it emerged 350 low-paid workers every day are raising complaints about errors in welfare top-ups, causing financial hardship and emotional stress.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) handled 126,286 disputes about errors made by its decade-old automated “real-time information” (RTI) system in 2022, a freedom of information request revealed.

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