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Closed Pay Universal Credit from Day One

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The Government MUST scrap the 5 week waiting period for Universal Credit to enable people to pay living costs during the coronavirus crisis. People eligible for benefits should be paid from the day they apply.

Many people in insecure, casual work or workers that are self employed will potentially be losing some or all of their income over the coming weeks, meaning they will have to rely on the welfare system as an essential safety net to get them through the more severe phases of the Government's strategy.

Through no fault of their own, workers are being made worse off as a result of this pandemic. The Government must step in and grant Universal Credit from day one.

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  • Related activity

    MPs to debate Work and Pensions Committee Report on the DWP’s response to the coronavirus outbreak

    MPs will debate the Work and Pensions Committee Report on the DWP’s response to the coronavirus outbreak this Thursday 26 November in the main House of Commons Chamber. The subject of the debate has been determined by the Backbench Business Committee.

    This will be a debate on a motion proposed by Stephen Timms MP, Chair of the Committee, on which Members may vote at the end of the debate. It calls for the Government to take note of the report, and to increase relevant legacy benefits in line with increases to universal credit, to take steps to return people who have been inadvertently left worse off under universal credit compared with their previous benefits, and to suspend the no recourse to public funds visa condition for the duration of the coronavirus outbreak.

    The debate will start in the afternoon, following the debate on the final report of Climate Assembly UK.

    Read the report: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/1558/documents/14743/default/

    Watch the debate: https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/4a97645c-8b6c-4ccc-a267-b564dfeab638

    Find out more about how Parliamentary debates work: https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/business/debates/
    Find out more about the Backbench Business Committee: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/202/backbench-business-committee/

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    If this petition gets 10,000 signatures, government will respond to it.

    If this petition gets 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

    This petition will stay open until 8 October 2020.