The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) has condemned new regulations introduced by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on February 27 which could affect more than 120,000 working people on Universal Credit. An increase to the Administrative Earnings Threshold (AET) means that more Universal Credit claimants will be moved from the ‘Light Touch’ group to the ‘Intensive Work Search’ group.
However, the DWP staff union said the pilot scheme now being rolled out in 60 jobcentres across Central Scotland and England will force “thousands of Universal Credit claimants to compulsorily attend jobcentres 10 times over a two-week period”, something it believes could “increase the risk of poverty and make claiming benefits more difficult”.
It warns that people who have been claiming Universal Credit for 13 weeks who fail to attend an additional meeting with their work coach could be sanctioned and risk losing their benefits, plunging them into poverty.
