Ministers told to expect backlash as millions lose out from universal credit

Senior government adviser warns of effect of cuts to welfare budgetMinisters will face a backlash against reform to the benefits system when millions of claimants moving on to universal credit realise their income will be cut, the government’s most senior welfare adviser has warned.Paul Gray, chairman of the independent social security advisory committee, said that the decision to take a “substantial chunk” of funding out of the budget for universal credit risked undermining the good intentions of the reform. In 2015 his committee forced the then chancellor George Osborne to rethink and eventually ditch £4bn-worth of cuts to the tax credits system but the cuts to the universal credit budget remained. Continue reading…
Via: Ministers told to expect backlash as millions lose out from universal credit