Universal Credit

Author
Discussion

Trax

1,527 posts

231 months

Thursday 19th October 2017
quotequote all
edh said:
top class whataboutery.... I'm sure these charities would love to have freephone nos. I bet they answer the phone a damn site faster than DWP though. Many people visit CAB so they can call DWP / Council etc.. without having to pay crazy phone charges - and you can walk in and be seen, for free, unlike a jobcentre. My local CAB's are all 0300 or standard landline numbers - which ones use 0845?
labour party HQ is an 0845 number..... Google it!

edh

3,498 posts

268 months

Thursday 19th October 2017
quotequote all
Trax said:
edh said:
top class whataboutery.... I'm sure these charities would love to have freephone nos. I bet they answer the phone a damn site faster than DWP though. Many people visit CAB so they can call DWP / Council etc.. without having to pay crazy phone charges - and you can walk in and be seen, for free, unlike a jobcentre. My local CAB's are all 0300 or standard landline numbers - which ones use 0845?
labour party HQ is an 0845 number..... Google it!
rofl

LBC tried that one - and your point is?

SantaBarbara

3,244 posts

107 months

Thursday 19th October 2017
quotequote all
drainbrain said:
Yes that's right. Knowing HOW to fill in the form is vital and probably a lot trickier than it sounds. Bit like not knowing which menu choice to make when none of the options fit your exact requirement.

Easily resolved by having an efficient and effective helpline which is one of the most important improvements UC needs to make.
Sufficient staff such that you are not in a Q for thirty minutes.

edh

3,498 posts

268 months

Thursday 19th October 2017
quotequote all
SantaBarbara said:
drainbrain said:
Yes that's right. Knowing HOW to fill in the form is vital and probably a lot trickier than it sounds. Bit like not knowing which menu choice to make when none of the options fit your exact requirement.

Easily resolved by having an efficient and effective helpline which is one of the most important improvements UC needs to make.
Sufficient staff such that you are not in a Q for thirty minutes.
How about "press 1 if you'd like us to call you back.." ?

Trax

1,527 posts

231 months

Thursday 19th October 2017
quotequote all
edh said:
rofl

LBC tried that one - and your point is?
m

Just proves that they are scummy tossers.

edh

3,498 posts

268 months

Thursday 19th October 2017
quotequote all
Trax said:
edh said:
rofl

LBC tried that one - and your point is?
m

Just proves that they are scummy tossers.
Why? Who's forcing you (or anyone else) to call that number?

btw it's an 0345 number on their website
https://labour.org.uk/contact/

bitchstewie

50,767 posts

209 months

Thursday 19th October 2017
quotequote all
I've been listening to bits about this on LBC on and off over the last few days.

From what I think I know of it it sounds like a reasonable idea very badly implemented.

I think the calls were the most polarising in so much as some were slightly infuriating such as "they make you take a job you don't like" and others were bloody difficult to listen to because you could hear the despair in peoples voices - and rightly or wrongly I'm lucky in that the closest I've ever got to being in that sort of situations is listening to someone on the radio trying to explain it.

It was pretty thought provoking.

austinsmirk

5,597 posts

122 months

Friday 20th October 2017
quotequote all
Rovinghawk said:
austinsmirk said:
maybe rent/ctax paid by govt to council direct and vouchers for food and utilities is the way forward. give it long enough it could happen.
Leaving aside the handwringing over those getting free stuff being 'stigmatised' over vouchers, you just know that £10 vouchers will be swapped for £5 cash to buy beer & fags. They'll then whinge about not being able to feed themselves/their families on the amount of free money given.
17 years ago I (or headed the team/contract) that used to process Asylum seekers coming into the city. house them into furnished flats. A good thing in my view, they'd had a bad time and you could see evidence of torture.

Anyway, back then I had staff hand out Netto vouchers for food. That didn't last long, as they could be "identified as Asylum seekers" and thus be targeted in the shop queue. Or so said the do gooders.

so we handed out cash.



JagLover

Original Poster:

42,265 posts

234 months

Wednesday 22nd November 2017
quotequote all
Looks like they have listened about some of the most significant issues.

Pensions, savings and welfare
-£1.5bn package to "address concerns" about the delivery of universal credit
-Seven-day initial waiting period for processing of claims to be scrapped
-Claimants to get one month's payment within five days of applying
-Repayment period for advances to increase from six to 12 months.



Edited by JagLover on Wednesday 22 November 13:26

andymc

7,334 posts

206 months

Wednesday 22nd November 2017
quotequote all
JagLover said:
Looks like they have listened about some of the most significant issues.

Pensions, savings and welfare
-£1.5bn package to "address concerns" about the delivery of universal credit
-Seven-day initial waiting period for processing of claims to be scrapped
-Claimants to get one month's payment within five days of applying
-Repayment period for advances to increase from six to 12 months.



Edited by JagLover on Wednesday 22 November 13:26
get off your fat arse, knock off the tele and get a job like the rest of us

austinsmirk

5,597 posts

122 months

Wednesday 22nd November 2017
quotequote all
I'm involved in UC (ish) to some degree.

the only issue with it, is people are effectively utterly feckless and have spent years having to do nothing, to get free money.

the only reason why people might have delays, issues with claims is because they simply cannot complete a form, provide ID, proof of income etc.

so the knock on effects are immense.

the nod to me yesterday was, if a claim is made and you get everything provided as you should, instantly, you'll pretty much get yr money instantly.

but people simply won't, because why should they, because its not "their" rent, their council tax and so on to sort. its "paid" for them...............

Sticks.

8,706 posts

250 months

Wednesday 22nd November 2017
quotequote all
austinsmirk said:
I'm involved in UC (ish) to some degree.

the only issue with it, is people are effectively utterly feckless and have spent years having to do nothing, to get free money.

the only reason why people might have delays, issues with claims is because they simply cannot complete a form, provide ID, proof of income etc.

so the knock on effects are immense.

the nod to me yesterday was, if a claim is made and you get everything provided as you should, instantly, you'll pretty much get yr money instantly.

but people simply won't, because why should they, because its not "their" rent, their council tax and so on to sort. its "paid" for them...............
So you work for DWP?

andymc

7,334 posts

206 months

Wednesday 22nd November 2017
quotequote all
Sticks. said:
austinsmirk said:
I'm involved in UC (ish) to some degree.

the only issue with it, is people are effectively utterly feckless and have spent years having to do nothing, to get free money.

the only reason why people might have delays, issues with claims is because they simply cannot complete a form, provide ID, proof of income etc.

so the knock on effects are immense.

the nod to me yesterday was, if a claim is made and you get everything provided as you should, instantly, you'll pretty much get yr money instantly.

but people simply won't, because why should they, because its not "their" rent, their council tax and so on to sort. its "paid" for them...............
So you work for DWP?
I worked for DWP about 10 years ago (actually printed giros/benefit books) and the people who tried to claim for crisis loans was a source of much amusement with inflated theft claims/dog has ate my clothes etc etc, the same people would invariably "not receive" their giro in the post and a new one would be issued, the first was always cashed mysteriously by the lucky finder, these knackers use the benefit system as a life style choice as opposed to the safety net it's meant to be

Ian Geary

4,462 posts

191 months

Wednesday 22nd November 2017
quotequote all
andymc said:
get off your fat arse, knock off the tele and get a job like the rest of us
But that's a massive - and lazy - over simplification.

(There's a slight chance your comment may be ironic, and I will receive a woosh parrot in the post.

But unfortunately I suspect the sentiment is genuine.)

I'm no social justice warrior, and sit reasonably comfortably in my middle class bubble.

But to think the problems with UC just boil down to laziness is plain wrong.

First off, many are actually in work. It's just that their family income is nowhere near living costs, especially in London. The ones I know work hard, are constantly stressed about money, and quips about "working harder at school" don't take account of how hard some people find it to learn.

Secondly, there are plenty of people who care for sick or elderly relatives, so can't work full time. A bit of housing benefit to keep a carer in a home is a damn sight cheaper than the relative going into full time care, or the family being made homeless, going into temp accom, the family falling apart and the children going into care.

Thirdly, there are -shock horror - some families with single parents, who again work damn hard but can never make ends meet without state help.

I'm not denying that there isn't a hard core of professional skivers who play the system. They are surprisingly good at it, and one wonders how they'd get on if they actually put that effort into improving their life.

But then you have the permanently confused, baffled, simple minded or mentally ill people who just struggle with life. A system like this just grinds them down and spits them out.

40 odd years ago they'd have worked in the local factory/dock/mine, lived at home or a few doors from their Mam, drank, smoked and died youngish.

Nowadays, they get bounced round these systems until they end up with drug problems on the streets, and the police and nhs have to puck up the pieces.

Uc and in work benefits are really the symptom of our economy not adapting well, rather than the underlying problem. But the speculator driven cost of housing doesn't help either.

Ian

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Thursday 23rd November 2017
quotequote all
Ian Geary] said:
First off, many are actually in work. It's just that their family income is nowhere near living costs, especially in London.
So, umm, move out of London?

Murph7355

37,648 posts

255 months

Thursday 23rd November 2017
quotequote all
TooMany2cvs said:
So, umm, move out of London?
They have rights you know.

James TiT

234 posts

85 months

Thursday 23rd November 2017
quotequote all
TooMany2cvs said:
So, umm, move out of London?
Can they get a relocation grant to help them move?

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Thursday 23rd November 2017
quotequote all
Murph7355 said:
TooMany2cvs said:
So, umm, move out of London?
They have rights you know.
Yes, they do.

Which legally-enshrined rights say they must be able to live somewhere they can't afford?

kowalski655

14,599 posts

142 months

Thursday 23rd November 2017
quotequote all
TooMany2cvs said:
Ian Geary] said:
First off, many are actually in work. It's just that their family income is nowhere near living costs, especially in London.
So, umm, move out of London?
Then who will do the poorly paid cleaning,waiting on,lifting etc crappy jobs at minimum wage? I cant see the powerfully built company directors paying a shed load more to the menial staff so they can live without UC, but if they all move, then no peasants to serve the great and good of London

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Thursday 23rd November 2017
quotequote all
kowalski655 said:
Then who will do the poorly paid cleaning,waiting on,lifting etc crappy jobs at minimum wage? I cant see the powerfully built company directors paying a shed load more to the menial staff so they can live without UC, but if they all move, then no peasants to serve the great and good of London
People who get the train in.

Just like most of those who they're cleaning up after get the train in, because they've moved out to be able to afford a better way of living...