Universal credit? Universal deficit more like…
Do you remember Iain Duncan Smith? Architect of the Universal Credit (UC) system which was meant to make a complex benefits system easier for people to navigate and transition from into the world of work? In some cases by moving people over from benefits they could live on to less benefits they couldn’t live on (guess who – go on, guess which group was badly affected by that – yay! Disabled people again!) IDS is long gone, but the moves he put in place are still being rolled out, with most disabled people now on track to be moved over fully to UC from slightly better legacy benefits in the next two years.
Many of us disabled people are not happy about this. Which is why it’s a great relief that the Court of Appeal has blocked an attempt by the DWP to overturn a High Court ruling from a year ago which ruled that two UC claimants known as TP and AR were unlawfully discriminated against when the DWP refused to repay their monthly benefit losses from being switched to UC in full.
