Craig Berry

This is such a good corrective by @chrisgiles.ft.com to the "working-age welfare spending is exploding/out-of-control" narrative that more & more people seem to see as an incontrovertible fact www.ft.com/content/ee67...

It's important to get the new support conversation for disabled people right...

@kslharrison.bsky.social shows the way, in a new paper for @citizensadvice.bsky.social👇

Work Capability Assessment delays are leaving disabled people in limbo Disabled people can get extra support under Universal Credit (UC) if they’re found eligible after a Work Capability Assessment (WCA). But…

Work Capability Assessment delays are leaving disabled people in limbo

Excellent piece by @scollerton.bsky.social

wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/work-capabil...

No more waiting on the 5 week wait This autumn, the government has the chance to take action on one of Universal Credit’s longest-standing problems: “the 5 week wait”.

📢No more waiting on the 5 week wait, says my @citizensadvice.bsky.social colleague @julia-rt.bsky.social

The 5 week wait for a first UC payment means families end up in debt to DWP -leading to deductions from future payments that cause real hardship

This needs to change medium.com/citizens-adv...

Reconsidering Mandatory Reconsideration: Is the system fit for purpose? Mandatory reconsideration (MR) is a process that allows benefit claimants to request a review of a decision about their benefits claim. MR…

⚠️ Mandatory reconsideration needs reconsidering ⚠️

Waiting times for benefits appeals have increased significantly - the system isn't fit for purpose

Excellent analysis by my @citizensadvice.bsky.social colleague Buki Akinosho wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/reconsiderin...

@the-independent.com covered this story yesterday bsky.app/profile/crai...

Very curious to see DWP say 'advances are not loans'. The advance payments people access to cover the 5 week wait absolutely are loans, with repayments causing significant and unnecessary hardship

No more waiting on the 5 week wait This autumn, the government has the chance to take action on one of Universal Credit’s longest-standing problems: “the 5 week wait”.

📢No more waiting on the 5 week wait, says my @citizensadvice.bsky.social colleague @julia-rt.bsky.social

The 5 week wait for a first UC payment means families end up in debt to DWP -leading to deductions from future payments that cause real hardship

This needs to change medium.com/citizens-adv...

Reconsidering Mandatory Reconsideration: Is the system fit for purpose? Mandatory reconsideration (MR) is a process that allows benefit claimants to request a review of a decision about their benefits claim. MR…

⚠️ Mandatory reconsideration needs reconsidering ⚠️

Waiting times for benefits appeals have increased significantly - the system isn't fit for purpose

Excellent analysis by my @citizensadvice.bsky.social colleague Buki Akinosho wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/reconsiderin...

UK poverty crisis as 500,000 children in homes trapped in benefit debt cycle Exclusive: Tens of thousands of families are forced to take out loans to cover the five-week wait until their first Universal Credit payment – but many struggle to pay it back

UK poverty crisis as 500,000 children in homes trapped in benefit debt cycle - @julia-rt.bsky.social's research on Universal Credit deductions covered in the Independent

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

ICYMI - the public don't support cutting Universal Credit or freezing Local Housing Allowance 🧵

The govt wants to get more disabled people into work, but isn't making full use of the tools at its disposal

In my new report for @citizensadvice.bsky.social I've looked at how our social security system could do more to make sure that when disabled people want to work, work really does pay /1

ICYMI - the public don't support cutting Universal Credit or freezing Local Housing Allowance 🧵

Plus it doesn't ask about English ethnicity, does it? I thought there was now a write in option for people who say they are white, and English was a popular answer

Some fantastic insights and policy ideas in @beccastacey.bsky.social's new report. We can't simply will more disabled people into work, there needs to be greater support - and the benefits system might be going in the wrong direction 👇

Chart from https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publications/benefit-cuts-dont-have-widespread-support/ showing that the majority of people do not support planned or expected social security cuts in the UK

📢 Benefit cuts don’t have widespread support

You can access the full briefing here: www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publi...

In general, we found knowledge of benefit rates surprisingly high among working-age cohorts

But the main exception is PIP. eg Only 20% of people are aware that the highest rate of the PIP daily living component is less than £500 per month

Our research also asked about knowledge of benefit rates, as well as attitudes to cuts. And this is part of the explanation for the views of young people: they are more likely to over-estimate benefit rates, but also more likely to be confident in their answers

...20% of men support the freeze, and an additional 9% want the government to go further. The respective results for women are 16% and 5%. And women are far more likely than men to answer ‘I do not support this proposal’: 46% compared to 36%

Women and working class people are less likely to support benefit cuts. Especially the case for women and the expected freeze to housing cost support...

There is an interesting story in the full briefing about young people being more supportive of cuts than other working-age cohorts. But even young people still tend to oppose rather than support the proposals included in our survey

There is slightly more support (35%) for raising the eligibility age for UC health from 18 to 22, but almost the same proportion (33%) oppose this cut too

The UC health cut has been approved by parliament. But the the government still has the opportunity to decide against cutting support for housing costs at the Autumn Budget - and therefore align itself with public opinion

Only 26% of people support freezing or cutting further the maximum amount of UC housing element available for private renters. ⚠️41% oppose this cut ⚠️

Only 26% of people support the enormous cut to the UC health element being introduced in April 2026. ⚠️38% oppose this cut ⚠️

This 👆 is from our new survey research, testing knowledge of benefit rates, and attitudes to planned and expected cuts. Full results and research details at www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publi...

Chart from https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publications/benefit-cuts-dont-have-widespread-support/ showing that the majority of people do not support planned or expected social security cuts in the UK

📢 Benefit cuts don’t have widespread support

DWP plans will see more than 50,000 disabled people lose job support DWP plans mean large numbers of disabled people will no longer qualify for a work allowance to support people looking for employment.

Great to see @beccastacey.bsky.social's research covered here by @cjayanetti.bsky.social in the @bigissue.com

www.bigissue.com/news/employm...

DWP plans will see more than 50,000 disabled people lose job support DWP plans mean large numbers of disabled people will no longer qualify for a work allowance to support people looking for employment.

At least 50,000 disabled people could lose access to financial employment support if the government goes ahead with plans to scrap the WCA benefit assessment, according to a new report from Citizens Advice

The true figure is likely to be higher

By me, for Big Issue www.bigissue.com/news/employm...

Some fantastic insights and policy ideas in @beccastacey.bsky.social's new report. We can't simply will more disabled people into work, there needs to be greater support - and the benefits system might be going in the wrong direction 👇