Struggling families in Sunderland, South Shields, and Middlesbrough are being hit hard by "deductions" to their benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The Mirror reports that two million people across Britain are having an average of £62-a-month taken from their benefits to pay back loans and debts. These include advances, rent, gas, electric, water and council tax arrears, child support, and old tax credit overpayments.
In February, 45% of Universal Credit claimants had benefit “deductions” averaging around £65, taken by the DWP and nearly half of those (43%) were to repay advances people take out to bridge the five-week wait for the first Universal Credit payment.
